Suddenly, I was witnessing the heartbreak of a childhood friend, and the commotion of the students coming to school in front of the entrance did not stop.
It was kind of amazing.
Next to me, my childhood friend Kanae, who had become my girlfriend, muttered in dismay.
Yeah, I totally agree with you. I donât know whatâs going on anymoreâŚ
After the soccer teamâs morning practice and voluntary practice, I met Kanae near the school gate and was walking to the classroom when I suddenly witnessed my childhood friendâs public heartbreak.
In the end, Souta walked away with his shoulders heaving.
Iâm a little worried about himâŚ
âIâm sorry, Kanae. Iâm going to go check on Souta. I think heâs probably at home.â
Souta has always holed himself up in his room whenever he fails at something.
He has always been good at studying and athletics, and has often received awards for his painting and calligraphy, and even the food he cooks at home is worth money.
Since he never fails, he often goes ahead with his own ideas and makes mistakes, and because of his talent, the scale of the mistakes he makes is huge.
Also, due to his lack of experience with failure, he would make things worse by reacting on the spur of the moment, and it would take him a long time to recover from the situation.
Iâm sure there are thoughts and conflicts on a level that ordinary people cannot understand, but right now Iâm worried about Soutaâs safety.
âIâm coming with you!â
The force of her hug on my arm strengthened.
âIâll be skipping school, butâŚâ
âI donât mind at all! Iâm curious too⌠Oh, Chris!â
Kanae immediately called out to Soutaâs sister.
In the end, there were four of us who followed Souta, who had left the place, to his house.
We walked down the long corridor of Soutaâs house, which could be called a mansion, and I, Kanae, My junior Rinka, and Soutaâs sister approached the closed door of Soutaâs room.
âAre you okay, brother? Please answer me.â
âIâm sorry, Souta-senpai. I was actually going to tell you secretly laterâŚâ
The younger sister spoke frantically, while the younger Rinka spoke sadly.
âHey Souta, Azaka-senpai is putting out the fire at school, so youâll be fine.â
To be honest, I have my doubts about the effectiveness of the fire extinguisherâŚ
âHey Souta, can I at least hear your voice?â
Kanae also makes a weak sound.
Then there was a rattling sound from behind the door. came from the other side of the door, and then a piece of paper came out from under the door. It wasâŚ
âYukiya! Kanae! Why are you all atâŚ?â
It was a note, rich with emotion expressed through stammering, exclamation points, and three-point leaders.
And the next one will come out soon.
âI donât intend to see anyone at this time, so I suggest you all get back to school.â
A gentlemanâs tone of voice and an uptight attitude. I was relieved to see that he seemed to be doing well for the time being.
âBrother, please open this door!â
âIâm sorry, Souta-senpai.â
However, from there on, there was no word at all, and we were only calling out to her, when suddenly Chris started to lose her temper.
âBrother! Thatâs enough, please!â
Perhaps because of her excitement, her intonation was a bit fuzzy.
âDonât be embarrassed to make me apologize only to you, Linka! Itâs the brother who started the whole thing in the first place!â
Kanae let out a small scream⌠and Rinka, the junior, cringed on her own.
âYou mean youâre going to confess right there? To say no to either, or both, of them! How would someone feel if they were rejected in a crowded place like that? The feelings youâre feeling right now are what youâre trying to give to others.â
Chrisâs voice shook the air.
After a while, another piece of paper came out.
âI didnât mean to hurt you. I was just trying to do what I had to do as my character, a loner. But if I need to apologize, I will. I donât expect you to understand from the start. What do you mean, youâre not lonely? Iâm used to being alone.â
Chrisâs hand crushed the note.
âWhat is this? Whatâs with all the characters and loner characters? I read the book to understand my brotherâs hobbies too! If you did that in real life, it would be even more disgusting!â
I heard a rattling sound from the other side of the door, and after a moment of silence, an unexpectedly long reply came out.
âIâm convinced that this âloner styleâ is the strongest style to conquer student life, as written in many novels! Iâm going to stick to this âbroodingâ style no matter if the kids cry, the women scream, or my parents die! Iâll never stop! This is my absolute rule!â
Even though it was written, I hadnât heard such passionate words from Souta since I was in elementary school, and I felt nostalgic. I remembered that Souta was quite a hot-blooded boy when I was in elementary school.
But of course, it didnât strike a chord with Chris, and she screamed out in anger.
âApologize to Rinka-san and Azaka-senpai! Come out right now and apologize properly! If you donât come out, Iâm going to break down this door and drag you out!â
Chris held up a jar that looked like a piece of furniture in the hallway, and I hurriedly stopped her.
âYeah! Yukiya⌠san, let me go⌠let me go⌠nuu!â
As expected, Chris is thin and her strength is weak. However, she seems to be serious about throwing it, and twists her body to try to shake off our restraint. Despite her appearance, she may be quite a feisty type.
Eventually, the edge of the jar held by the rampaging younger sister entered my neck.
âGeez!â
I scream in agony and pull my hand away. It hurts like hell. Kanae jumps at me, half-crying, âYuki-kun!â She jumps at me.
Just then, the door in front of us opened vigorously and Souta himself, the man we had been looking for, appeared, pissed off.
âYukiya! You! What are you doing to my sister?â
It seems that the timing is really bad today, and as soon as Souta came out, both of them collided with each other â Souta with his momentum, and me with my recoil from the release of my restraints.
The shattered jar, the crumbling Souta, the three screaming girls, and the stunned meâŚ
And this finally led to a situation where adults had to intervene.
A few days later, Soutaâs parents, who had flown back from overseas after receiving the news from Chris, came to greet us, saying that they had decided to send Souta to study abroad for a short while, due to his strong desire.
As a mere high school kid, I donât know how they put it together, but they said Soutaâs return would be in six months at the earliest.
In addition, it seems that Soutaâs parents are heading overseas for their work today, and Souta was waiting in the car parked outside.
âYouâre leaving, Souta?â
While my parents and Soutaâs parents were greeting each other, I spoke to Souta through the open window of the car.
âHuh, they all look the same and say the same thing â âgoodbyeâ is just an everyday thing for me, but oh well.â
As he said this, Souta opened the window wide.
âSouta, call any of us regularly, okay? Also, make sure you come backâŚ!â
âWhy are you going?â and âPlease donât go!â were meaningless words now, so I reminded him not to lose touch with us.
But I think I was a little too forceful, and Souta nodded his head in a reluctant way, saying, âI understandââŚ
âWell, well, well⌠I mean, you canât afford to worry about me, can you? Donât ever break up with Kanae until I get back.â
With that said, there are still some parts left ⌠Souta laughed invincibly.
Soutaâs parents came back just then, and after greeting me as well, they got into the car.
âOh, and Yukiya, donât miss school tomorrow, okay?â
Then the car started moving and Souta left.
Like Kanae, Souta is a childhood friend with whom I shared many years of my life, from kindergarten to high school.
So, no matter what I do now, I feel pain in my heart with regret and loneliness that I should have been more involved, should have played more, should have talked more.
âSee you later, SoutaâŚâ
The murmurs of hope for a reunion melted into the night and disappeared.