Chapter 1: Endings and Beginnings part 2
It's been a while since I had dreams about that girl.
A girl I used to play with a lot when I was little, a familiar and endearing dream.
†
The inappropriate sound of flipping a newspaper echoed in the morning classroom.
It was Class 1-A of Tenrei High School. In it, Aoi Shirano, who had taken the newspaper without permission from home, spread it on his desk, looking at the news with a worried expression.
Tenrei High School is a local school classified as a preparatory school. It is a five-minute walk from the nearest station and boasts excellent facilities. The school uniform, a moss-green blazer, was designed by a well-known designer. However, the school building is old and poorly constructed, and it's only after you start attending that you notice whether it has flaws or not, which is quite common.
Aoi started attending this school this year.
It's been just over a month since Aoi entered the school. As Aoi believes in "normality," he seems to get along reasonably well with the people around him.
The notably old classroom is finally starting to become familiar.
In a corner of that class, this morning, Aoi sat at his desk, unfolded a newspaper on it, and frowned at the news while holding his chin with his hand.
"Ugh..."
The morning light illuminated Aoi's seat by the window.
Amidst that, Aoi's figure flipping through the newspaper, occasionally groaning, clearly stood out compared to the usual scene in the classroom.
However, less than half of the students had arrived in class, and none of the nearby classmates who could tease him had arrived. Students who were busy with their morning tasks glanced at Aoi with puzzled eyes but paid him no attention. Each of them was either absorbed in their own affairs, such as preparation, homework, or club activities, or had left the classroom to attend to other matters.
"Hmm..."
Aoi flipped through the newspaper while holding his chin with his hand, following the ink-soaked letters with a sleepy expression.
The unfolded newspaper was a local one. Aoi was reading a three-page article.
Since this morning, Aoi's eyes and hands had been constantly roaming around those event reports. Aoi had been looking for a specific piece of news since this morning.
That was the cause of Aoi's lack of sleep this morning and also the reason why he couldn't deliver the worksheet to his classmate yesterday.
Aoi had been looking into the incident in that building since yesterday.
Given the circumstances, that event would seem to be a rather strange murder, judging by the situation.
However, neither the television nor the newspapers reported on it at all. Even news about the death or disappearance of the woman, and even seemingly related events, although Aoi had brought the newspaper to school and checked it several times, he still couldn't find it.
Despite a person being dead.
Despite not being able to sleep well yesterday due to anxiety and tension, in the end, without police sirens or ambulances sounding in the city, the night passed without incident.
Although Aoi's thoughts were a whirlwind of anxiety, the fact that nothing happened yesterday, as if the careless killer who killed a person and buried the corpse and fled was in the same mental state as Aoi from last night until now, he found it. The young woman on the staircase who was killed by the mysterious ability of the black girl named Yukino.
In the hospital waiting room where they took him by taxi, Aoi met a young man who claimed to be the caregiver of the black girl and explained to him the identity of what he had found and that the woman who died burned was just another victim like Aoi.
Suddenly, he was released by the man's explanation.
Finally, he just said "be careful" and that was it.
Aoi went home and dawned, and now he's here.
Although he has calmed down quite a bit, he still hasn't organized his thoughts.
In the morning, Aoi used to watch the news and read the newspaper in detail. He left home early, went to check the building, where there was not a drop of blood left aside from some small burn marks. Despite all that, I still couldn't believe or doubt what happened yesterday.
"────Hey!"
At that moment, Aoi's shoulder was forcefully bumped.
"Ugh!"
"Haha, good morning, Shirano."
The person who passed by bumping Aoi's shoulder while showing a radiant smile from the morning was a tall man with black-framed glasses.
"... Ah, good morning, Shikishima."
Aoi, taken out of his thoughts, responded to the greeting. Shikishima responded with a cheerful smile and, roughly, placed his bag on the desk, attracting unnecessary attention from others with the noise.
This classmate, Yuzuru Shikishima, was a careless type and completely opposite to his name. He was sitting in front of Aoi in the attendance order. They met on the first day and since then became informal friends.
Beside him, a slightly smaller boy.
With a youthful appearance and a notably emotionless expression, he slightly raised his hand instead of a greeting when his eyes met Aoi's.
"Hey, Sawano."
"Mm."
At Aoi's response, Shikishima laughed. Although Yumihiko Sawano was opposite in terms of physique and personality to Shikishima, they were friends who went to school together since elementary school and got along well despite their differences.
"... Ugh! Shirano, what's that?"
The first thing Shikishima, who had finally calmed down, reacted to was Aoi's newspaper on his desk.
"Why a newspaper? Is your dad a journalist or something?"
"How noisy."
Aoi folded the newspaper while smiling ironically.
"As a future member of society, I've awakened to social interest... just for today."
"Just for today, you say?"
Shikishima laughed at Aoi's casual response. Of course, Aoi couldn't say the real reason. Aoi tucked the folded newspaper into his bag.
And after Aoi thought he had completely closed this topic, Shikishima said.
"No, well, the newspaper was good today."
"... Eh?"
Confused by Shikishima's sudden words, Aoi asked involuntarily.
"Why do you say 'good'?"
"Well, occasionally, you read scary books that seem like 'the worst' or 'the scariest' here. Since I'm pretty bad with that, I avoid getting close to Shirano at those times."
"..."
For the first time, Aoi learned about this, and with Shikishima's somewhat boastful chest, claiming somehow, Aoi frowned. He didn't remember reading any scary books lately.
"...I haven't read anything scary, you know."
So Aoi simply replied.
"Haha, yeah, yeah. Don't fool me. Everyone tries to trick me into reading scary stories. It's always been like that for a long time."
"I have no idea, but have they always been tricking you like that?"
"Moreover, while reading those scary stories, they try to chase me and scare me."
Looking into the distance, Shikishima asserted proudly.
Aoi looked at Sawano. Sawano, with an expressionless face, nodded. Surely, he was one of the culprits. Moreover, probably the main one.
"...But, actually, I don't remember doing that."
Anyway, Aoi couldn't remember and shrugged.
"Haha, anyway. I won't let you fool me. That's how everyone tries to trick me into reading scary stories. It's been like that for a long time."
"...But I really don't remember."
Anyway, Aoi, unable to remember, tilted his head slightly.
Shikishima pointed at Aoi and said with an exaggerated movement and a theatrical tone:
"Once more. I saw you reading those horrible books right here. I saw it with my own eyes!"
"The worst?"
"Seeing that, I panicked and ran away."
"..."
"It was shortly after entering school. There's no way you've forgotten."
Shikishima spoke of a regrettable incident, but Aoi frowned for a moment and finally things started to make sense.
"...Could it be 'The Worst Start'? The 'Incredibly Unfortunate Events' series?"
"Look! You remembered!"
"That's a children's book. It became a movie. With a touch of comedy, though."
"............"
Aoi said, and Shikishima fell silent.
With a serious expression, Shikishima looked into Aoi's eyes for a while. Then, Shikishima put a hand on Aoi's shoulder and finally spoke.
"...I believed in you, Shirano."
"Lies!"
Aoi shouted.
Sawano murmured softly.
"No, Shikishima was serious. Leave it at that. That way, Shikishima will be even more unpleasant and irredeemable..."
"No, no, no, wait a moment! That's too much!"
Faced with the exchange between Shikishima and Sawano that had just begun, Aoi laughed.
In that conversation as ridiculous as always, Aoi felt that his heart lightened. That's why Aoi likes "normal" things. Living buried in the everyday and normal is Aoi's only wish, and friends are something very important to Aoi, the most normal and everyday.
And then, at that moment...
"Um... s-so, Shirano-kun?"
Unexpectedly, the shy voice of a girl was heard from the side, and Aoi turned.
"Ah...? Ah... yes, are you Morizuka-san?"
"Y-yes. Thanks for the call yesterday..."
To talk to the girl, Aoi moved a bit away from his seat.
With glasses, and with a short braid at the back of her neck, Aoi realized for the first time at this moment that she was a classmate named Maiko Morizuka.
Yesterday, due to the incident, Aoi couldn't deliver the impressions in person. Aoi had called by phone using the contact network overnight.
It was a call to apologize for not being able to deliver the impressions due to unforeseen circumstances, but at that time, Morizuka answered the call in person and responded with a shy voice, a little surprised by Aoi's call.
Aoi apologized, and Morizuka, awkwardly, said "Don't worry" many times.
And when Aoi told her that he planned to deliver the printed documents again at a later date, Morizuka responded by saying, "I plan to go to school tomorrow, so it's okay if you give them to me there."
So, Aoi didn't need to go to that condominium. At that moment, Aoi sincerely cursed responsibility in his mind. Anyway, Aoi no longer had to go to deliver the printed documents. And so, today, Aoi encountered a classmate with whom he had barely had any contact.
She, who frequently skipped school from the beginning of her enrollment, and whom Aoi hadn't seen much.
"Um, so, the documents are here..."
When Aoi took out a large folder with the school logo from his backpack and handed it over, Morizuka lowered her head slightly and reached out to receive it.
"Ah, thank you..."
"No, sorry. It would have been good if I could have gone properly yesterday."
Anyway, Aoi was smiling.
In reality, Aoi had gone to the condominium. But he simply couldn't deliver it.
He couldn't say the reason, of course. And when he remembered that reason, Aoi realized that, if he didn't smile here somehow, he didn't know what expression he would show, and honestly, he couldn't predict it.
So, while responding, Aoi consciously showed a smile.
Perhaps because of the strange smile, Morizuka remained silent with her head down.
But it didn't seem like she was leaving. Between Aoi and Morizuka, an uncomfortable silence lingered, and Aoi felt a bit uneasy. Aoi searched for a conversation topic. The topic was quickly found.
"Um, by the way, yesterday..."
"...?"
And the topic Aoi chose after hesitating, which he really wanted to bring up during yesterday's phone call but ultimately couldn't, was a question.
"Yesterday, was there anything near Morizuka-san's condominium?"
Aoi asked. He said it feeling a bit tense.
This was Aoi's last attempt since this morning. The incident didn't even come out in the newspaper. So, since this morning, Aoi had been worried if the residents of the place where she lived had noticed something.
He said it as casually as possible, but internally, Aoi was as nervous as jumping from the roof.
Aoi waited for the answer. But Morizuka easily dispelled Aoi's tension.
"...Yesterday? At my house? ...No, nothing happened at all..."
With a puzzled expression, Morizuka shook her head.
Upon hearing that, Aoi let out a light sigh unconsciously. Was it relief or disappointment that Aoi felt at that moment? Even Aoi himself sincerely didn't know.
"I see."
"Yes, I see... By the way, Morizuka-san, why do you skip school?"
"Ah... Well, my mother is sick..."
In response to the additional question, Morizuka gave a fairly common answer.
Basically, Aoi just nodded quite naturally. But...
"I see."
"Yes, cancer... She's in danger, you know..."
Maiko Morizuka's voice became gloomy. Aoi felt as if he had fallen into a swamp.
"Ah... No, it's okay. Don't worry."
Morizuka shook her head.
"Yes, I understand. I'm sorry. Anyway, I delivered what you asked for."
"Yes, it's fine..."
Although Aoi was quite restless inside, he considered that the conversation had come to an end.
The conversation ended, and Morizuka walked away from Aoi's seat. Then, she took the folder with the documents and went back to her own seat.
"...Ah, darn. I messed up..."
While looking at Morizuka's back, Aoi muttered to himself.
Although it was inevitable, Aoi felt a bit guilty. He felt that he had lacked consideration for Morizuka due to his insistence on his own circumstances.
Aoi thought about putting aside the incident for a while. It would be better for Aoi not to get caught up in something so abnormal and not put his classmates in an uncomfortable position or give them reasons to suspect.
If he looked around, the number of students in the classroom had increased imperceptibly.
Time passed quickly when he was with friends. Although before Shikishima arrived, it seemed like quite a slow time, the clock on the blackboard already indicated that the next period was near.
The noise in the classroom enveloped Aoi.
Aoi took a deep breath as if inhaling the noise and closed his eyes.
"Yes, let's forget about this." Aoi thought to himself.
The search for evidence since this morning had practically ended in vain. Aoi thought that, if he completely ignored the incident and avoided going near the place, everything would disappear. That would be the best, Aoi thought.
Then, the bell rang, and the teacher on duty entered the classroom, ending the break time. Classmates began to take their seats, and the sound of chairs scraping the floor echoed throughout the classroom.
Amidst all that, Aoi directed a resentful look at the middle-aged man checking the attendance list on the podium. After that, Aoi, gathering his determination, slapped his cheeks and shifted his focus, taking his awareness away from everything that had happened so far.
... And Aoi would find out how futile that resolution was.
†
Time passed, and it was time to leave.
Having finished classes that day and fully regained normalcy, Aoi, ready to go home, walked out of the school gate. However, just as he was heading towards the exit, someone spoke to him from behind.
"---Shirano-kun, right?"
"..................!!"
Upon hearing his name suddenly called, Aoi felt a chill run down his spine as if an electric current passed through him. He turned hastily only to find a girl in another school's uniform standing behind a pillar near the school gate.
"Um... are you... yuko no, right?"
"Yukino Tokitsuki."
That was the girl's brief response.
Aoi realized immediately. This was the "Black Girl" who, though in different clothes, had put him in a taxi in front of the condominium yesterday and whom Aoi had bid farewell to afterward.
"Y-Yes? What... are you doing here?"
Aoi asked hastily.
Staring at the beautiful face of the girl that attracted the attention of passersby due to her striking attire, Aoi was suddenly surprised to realize that people around him were also looking.
"I came to pick you up."
"............Eh?" ||
Aoi's bewilderment faded with the gently blowing afternoon breeze.
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