Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093094101424177/episodes/16818622176151504327
A convenience store at night. The unnecessarily bright lighting leaked out and stabbed my eyes, causing me to look away involuntarily.
The night air was muggy.
Two elongated shadows stretched across the asphalt.
Moist breath fell to the ground.
“I can’t believe I’m hungry.”
“…I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
It sounded like a beast starved for love.
…Well, maybe that’s not what she meant. After some thought, I handed it to her.
“Here you go, a rice ball. It was cheap.”
There was no gloomy atmosphere.
Orimoto’s suspicions were cleared up for the time being. I had nothing to do with the incident.
I was just an ordinary person who, for some reason, could see Orimoto Ryoka, who was invisible to others.
I wanted her to understand that much.
But it’s impossible, impossible, impossible.
The most I’m good at is arranging books on shelves; there’s no way I can manipulate memories or cognition.
Orizono, who had received the rice ball, squinted and frowned, her expression a mix of confusion and a wry smile.
“…I’m getting you involved in something strange, aren’t I?”
The window glass of the nearest convenience store was fogged up and blurry from a combination of condensation and humidity.
But if you squint your eyes,
you can definitely see me and Orimoto standing there.
It was the moment we stepped out of the family restaurant.
My stomach growled. —That is, Orimoto’s.
In other words, she was hungry. No wonder she was staring at the café menu as if it had holes in it.
“Thank you ! …Oh, I’ll pay you back, I won’t just keep it !”
“I’m not saying you have to give it back right now. But you will.”
“Hmm, of course !”
This girl, Orimoto, might be tougher than she looks, and perhaps mentally strong as well.
She was ignored by everyone.
Treated as if she didn’t exist.
It’s still hard to believe, but she was pushed into an extraordinary situation. Yet she was eating her rice ball with such relish.
If I were to add sound effects, it would be “fuga fuga fuga.”
“…You’re in a good mood, aren’t you? Are you actually okay with this situation?”
“Where I wanted to die just a moment ago?”
“Oh? …Oh, oh?”
I couldn’t understand. Huh?
A moment of silence.
—Wait, wait.
She wasn’t as cheerful as I thought.
A heavy breath stuck in my throat.
“When I was pushed, to be honest…I was scared, but I also thought, ‘Oh, I see.’”
When she calmly said she wanted to die, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.
“…It’s not my place to say this, but isn’t it too early to die? There must be a solution.”
“Did you hear me? Just a moment ago?”
Orimoto corrects me.
Even if it’s someone I know, a classmate, I can’t just watch them commit suicide. It would make the meaning of my rescue, which exposed me to shame, meaningless.
“I never imagined I’d be this exhausted in just a few days, but if it weren’t for Kasugai kun, there’s a high chance I would’ve jumped off the bridge.”
“Jumped…”
Orimoto touches her cheek with her index finger.
“When I woke up, my room was gone. I wasn’t in the family photo.”
Orimoto said, staring at the streetlight. There was a faint, ethereal glow around it.
“Oh, there’s a grain of rice on my cheek. How embarrassing…”
Orimoto casually ate the grain of rice from her cheek.
That casual gesture suddenly relaxed the tension that had been building up. She was just there, being herself.
“I don’t appear in my friends’ eyes, and when I touch them, they look startled. It’s like they think I’m a ghost or something. If I take someone else’s personal belongings, they disappear. If I let go, they can find them again. Can you believe that? It’s like a bad dream, isn’t it?”
She seemed to be the talkative type, as she appeared.
She spoke with a certain intonation, but it was never boring.
Gradually, I found myself listening intently.
Orimoto’s long eyelashes trembled, and she occasionally played with the tips of them with her fingertips. To me, it was the gesture of a beautiful girl, and I found myself staring at her unintentionally.
“I’ve said it before, but it’s only been a few days ! To be pushed to this point in just a few days…I’m so weak…”
Orimoto let out a faint sigh.
“…Normally, existence doesn’t just disappear. This isn’t a simple problem. Besides, it’s scary to just accept that it disappeared.”
“But you, Kasugai kun, are talking to me with a pretty calm expression. What if it’s not me who’s crazy, but you?”
I couldn’t think of a response.
I thought to myself, “That’s true.”
I couldn’t come up with an answer to her question of “Which one of us is crazy?” right away.
…No, wait, it’s just Oritomo, right?
I can talk to other people. I spill water. I’m treated like a strange and annoying person.
“That’s not true. The clerk was worried about me.”
“…I’m really sorry about that. I thought it would be easier to get them to believe my situation…”
I scratched the tip of my nose.
“Well, it wasn’t sudden.”
“What do you mean?”
Orimoto widened her eyes in surprise and leaned in to listen. Even that gesture was cute.
I thought, “Being a beautiful girl or a handsome guy is a real advantage.”
In recent years, criticism of looksism has been on the rise, but appearance is still justice and a weapon.
“I can’t be seen by anyone ! If someone told me that, I’d say they need to get their head checked, but the discomfort hasn’t gone away in the past few days.”
“I see, you’re a realist.”
“…..I highly doubt this is reality. I only believe what I see, that’s all.”
I noticed one onigiri was missing.
I had given her two. Orimoto started peeling open the other one, so she must have been really hungry.
The first onigiri was still in her mouth, making one side of her cheek bulge. —Was she talking with her mouth full? But we weren’t in a relationship where manners could be pointed out, and the situation was what it was.
“Rice isn’t going anywhere.”
When I said that, Orimoto shook his head vigorously. Her chestnut-colored hair swayed from side to side.
The sweet scent filled the slight distance between us.
“It’s running away ! You know, when I got home, there was no side dish for me, and when I served the rice, my mom panicked and it was a big deal !”
“…Not that…”
Orimoto leaned in close, and my dazed face was reflected in her eyes. She had beautiful double eyelids.
No wonder she was the subject of rumors at school.
It makes sense that he’s a member of the Sera harem, and that this beautiful childhood friend exists because of that man.
I envy him, but I don’t want to take his place.
It might be interesting if I did, but given my personality, I couldn’t endure the resentment of the other guys.
When I took a step back, Orimoto seemed to notice the physical distance between us and frowned slightly.
“Anyway ! Dinner is running away ! It’s not running away, it’s just not there ! …Yum yum yum.”
“…Where are you sleeping?”
I suddenly wondered.
“Huh? What’s with you all of a sudden? I was starting to think you were a nice person, but are you actually a pervert, Kasugai kun?”
“No way ! I was just wondering if you’ve been staying at home for the past few days because you said you have no food !”
I corrected the misunderstanding by going into detail.
I’m not good at talking in long sentences.
After laughing for a while, she said, “It’s okay, I’m sleeping in the hallway” with another melancholy line that stuck with me.
Orimoto’s “former” bedroom had already been turned into a storage room, and it was even smaller than the hallway.
“—Well, I am going home, but…”
“I can’t rest ! Plus, I don’t have any money, so right now, I can only rely on Kasugai kun !”
Orimoto stated that she had lost all her savings, including the New Year’s money he had been hiding, his bank account, and everything else.
“……Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
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