Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051604232886910
Only the sound of rain echoed quietly.
Sharing a single umbrella, the two walked slowly along.
Along the way.
Suddenly, Kana stopped in her tracks.
“…Are you really Shunta Kikuchi?”
Shunta stopped too.
“…Huh?”
(What does she mean…?)
Kana stared intently at Shunta.
For a moment, silence hung between them.
Eventually, Kana suddenly looked away.
“…Sorry. Forget what I just said.”
“…U-uh-huh.”
They started walking again.
But an awkward silence, different from the one just moments ago, lingered between them.
After a while, Kana muttered softly.
“You’re… totally different from the you I saw at school.”
“…………”
Shunta couldn’t say a word in reply.
(Is this… really real?)
(What the hell is this world?)
(To begin with, what did this version of me even do at school…?)
A flutter stirred deep within his chest.
Maybe now, he could ask her.
That thought flashed through his mind for a split second.
But—
(No way.)
(If I ask something like, “Is this world a dream?” she’ll think I’m completely crazy.)
(But…)
Ignoring Shunta’s hesitation, Kana broke the silence.
“…Can I ask a different question?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you help me yesterday?”
Shunta tilted his head slightly.
“…Did I bother you?”
“I didn’t say that!”
Kana, who had spoken out without thinking, immediately looked away, looking embarrassed.
“That’s not what I meant… Why did you help me?”
“Because you looked like you were in trouble.”
“…Is that all?”
“And—”
Shunta smiled, looking just a little embarrassed.
“Because you helped me, too, Kawaguchi.”
“……Me?”
“When I bumped into Nagata.”
Kana’s eyes widened slightly.
“You stood in front of me back then, didn’t you?”
“……It’s no big deal.”
Kana turned her face away sharply.
“It wasn’t like I was shielding you or anything…”
“Yeah.”
“……What kind of answer is that?”
“Even if that wasn’t the case—”
Shunta gave a small laugh.
“You saved me, after all.”
“…………”
“Thank you.”
There was no lie in those words.
Kana couldn’t say anything; she just stared at Shunta’s profile.
(……I don’t get it.)
(I really don’t get it.)
The Shunta Kikuchi she used to see at school.
And the Shunta Kikuchi walking beside her right now.
They were just—too different.
Just then.
“……Oh.”
Shunta looked up at the sky.
“…It looks like the rain has stopped.”
Kana looked up too, following his gaze.
The sound of the rain had faded without her noticing, and pale moonlight was peeking through a break in the clouds.
“…You’re right.”
Shunta closed the umbrella.
Then, he gave Kana a small smile.
“Thanks for today.”
“…Yeah.”
“Well then, be careful on your way home.”
With that, Shunta turned his back on her.
His figure gradually grew more distant.
(…………)
For some reason.
She felt she couldn’t just let him go home like this.
She didn’t even know why herself.
It was just—
“Wait!”
Before she knew it, the words had slipped out.
Shunta stopped in his tracks and turned around.
“……Kawaguchi-san?”
“…………”
Kana hesitated for just a moment.
Then, she let out a small sigh.
“Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“Huh?”
“I haven’t trusted you yet.”
Even as she said that, she didn’t look away.
“But…… I’m starting to feel like it’s wrong to judge you based only on what I’ve seen of you at school.”
“…………”
“So—”
After a brief pause.
Kana looked straight at Shunta.
“Just a little longer… I’ll try to really get to know you.”
“…………”
Shunta’s eyes widened.
Those words sank deep into his heart.
—Now is the time.
That’s what he thought.
He was scared.
The moment he said this, Kana’s feelings—which had finally started to change—might all go back to the way they were.
She might end up hating him.
She might think he was crazy.
Even so—.
“…I have something I want to ask you, too.”
“Huh?”
Shunta clenched his fist.
Then, he took a single deep breath.
“Kawaguchi san.”
“…What?”
“Is this… a dream?”
“…………Huh?”
Kana’s eyes widened.
Shunta continued without hesitation.
“Or—is this reality?”
“You… what are you talking about—”
“I don’t care if you hate me.”
He cut her off.
“I don’t care if you think I’m crazy.”
“…………”
“I don’t care if you never speak to me again.”
Even so.
He couldn’t figure it out on his own anymore.
What was happening?
Why was he being hated?
Where was this place?
And—
What should he do?
Shunta bowed his head deeply.
“Tell me.”
“…Huh?”
“About this world—the one I don’t know.”
His voice trembled slightly.
“About the Shunta Kikuchi—the one I don’t know.”
“…………”
Kana fell completely silent.
Even so, Shunta didn’t raise his head.
And then.
He forced out his final words.
“…Please help me.”
“——!”
Kana’s eyes wavered.
Yesterday, when she was in trouble.
This man had reached out to help her without asking for anything in return.
And now, that same man.
Was bowing his head right before her eyes.
“…………”
She still didn’t understand what he was saying.
A dream.
This world.
A Shunta Kikuchi I don’t know.
Nothing makes any sense.
Even so—.
(……When he looks at me like that)
Kana clenched her fists tightly.
Enough.
There was no way she could just leave him like this.
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