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61. Travel
And then, the day of the trip came.

The weather is good, and the clear sky looks beautiful. What a good day.
We planned to go to the destination by car, and Maria will be the driver. I was ready to go, but I was told to wait for my mother, so I went out first and wait for her outside while looking at the sky.
“H-h-h-hello!”
“Hmm?”
Kikusui-san, my neighbor, is one of today’s travel members. Her hair is trimmed more than usual, but the bear under her eyes is still there. She wears a long T-shirt and jeans. It kind of a sporty, and looks like an easy to move outfit. Supposedly, you will have an ‘active and healthy person’ image, but when she is the one who wears it
 Yeah, she still looks ‘unactive and unhealthy’

 Besides, her image doesn’t suit this good weather.


After all, Her image is that
 a person who like to watching TV while wrapped in a blanket in a small room with the lights turned off.
“Ah, Kikusu-san, Good morning.”
“T-t-t-t, thank you, very much for inviting me today.”
“Well, you always share something nice to us, so don’t worry too much. And, my mother will come out in a little more time, so please wait a little longer.”
“Y-y-y-yes! I understand.”
Maybe people might think she can talk normally, but our eyes didn’t meet at all during this conversation

. But, it seems that after I get used to it, I don’t really care about it anymore.
When I was thinking about such a thing and looking at Kikusui-san, she gradually began to flutter.
“Wa-was there something strange?”
Kikusui-san begins to check her clothes looking for anything strange.
There’s nothing strange about it 
 just that, your behavior is strange, but let’s think of it as your personality

But if I don’t reply anything, I’ll looked like a strange man who stares at a woman without saying anything 

And that’s not good
 yeah, it’s not good 

“No, there’s nothing strange about it. Just that your appearance today is different than usual, so I was a little fascinated.”
I’m not telling a lie. After all, I was able to see it
.. I mean, I was observing it. Besides, she looks ‘fresh’ now since usually she always wore jerseys on both the top and bottom. Though, Kikusui-san herself is far from the word “fresh”

If anything, it feels like she’s less ‘fresh’ than usual, she somehow looks so tired.
After hearing my words, Kikusui-san stiffened for a moment. When she realized it herself, she took out her smartphone, and began to operate it with a tremendous force.
“Hmm, what are you doing?”
When I asked her because I was surprised by her sudden movement, Kikusui-san raised her head and she looked so apologetic.
“I,I,I,I’m sorry, I’m excited when I heard the current words, and I think I can use it for my novel
”
“What!? do you plan to use it for your current novel?”
“W-w-well, I’m not sure yet, whether I’ll use it or not. B-but, I thought that words like that would drag women into the abyss of love 
”
Drag into the abyss
 What a dangerous word. And, I’m not that kind of person!
“The woman who was struck by the words I mentioned earlier goes to ruin herself like a moth invited by a flame shining in the darkness 
”
So dangerous
, it sounds even worse.
“You see, I’m asked to write a book with a different ‘taste’ from what I’m writing now
”
“The one you’re writing now
 isn’t it the one you shown to me the other day? So, you’re writing something different at the same time?”
“Yes. I was asked for one short story for now 
 And, I was wondering what to do, but now I have an inspiration.”
“I see, can I ask you what it is?”
“Y-y-yeah, it’s okay. After all, I got it from Hatano-san.”
“Did you just say that you got it from me?”
“Yes 
 I’m going to write about a woman who will give various tributes to a pretty boy
”
Please wait a moment!!!

However, it seems that the voice of my heart did not reach Kikusui-san, she continues talking.
“The pretty boy gives sweet words to the woman who is the main character and makes her give various tributes to the pretty boy
. And later on, the woman notice that she got deceived 
 but still she can leave the pretty boy’s side
 or something like that. “




It’s definitely not me!! and I’m not deceiving anyone!

But, somehow it sounds like a bad ending story
  I.. No, I mean that pretty boy is going to be okay in the end, right?
“And
 Have you thought about the ending?”
“The ending? N-n-n-no, I haven’t decided yet, but
  I thought about something ‘bloodbath’ for the ending
 I wonder if it’s okay to end it like that
”

That’s strange, huh? Even though today is such a good day with a nice weather, I felt like it suddenly become cloudy.
Please, I want you to avoid that kind of end if possible
. Well, it’s not like I thought that the pretty boy is me
 Really

After that, Maria and my mother came out of the house, said hello to Kikusui-san, and got into the car.
The car was always parked in our home for a long time, but I remembered that Maria had maintained and changed it a little, so I asked her where she changed.
“The part that I changed?”
“Yeah, you said that you changed something, right?”
“Yes, but it’s still just a part
 The one that I changed was the glass.”
“Glass?”
“I changed it to a bulletproof one.”
“

For what?”
“Of course, to be careful of some snip
 theft.”
“

”
“

”
Silence runs between me and Maria.
Then, my mother said, ’it is important to be careful, right?’, and Kikusui-san kept muttering, ‘bulletproof’ and ‘sniper’, while operating her smartphone.
And so, we went on a trip with such a car.