By the time we had eaten dinner and finished cleaning up, it was past eight o’clock.\n
The sun had already set. It was already dark behind the lace curtains. I took in the laundry that had been hanging outside. Thanks to the sunshine during the day, it was already dry.\n
Sayaka was taking a bath, and my father was lying down on the sofa. I folded the laundry I had taken in silently, piling up my father’s, Saeko’s, and my portions separately.\n
After that, I went back to my room.\n
In my room, the clothes from my delinquent days that I had been looking at earlier were spread out on the bed. I tried it on once and found that I could still wear it. I’ve grown in size since then, but the originally large size and the elastic stretching made it fit my current body.\n
I took off the clothes I was currently wearing.\n
Then, I put on my new clothes from my delinquent days.\n
Left-arm, right arm. Left leg, right leg. I zipped up the front and turned to look at the figure.\n
There was the image of the old me.\n
The me I used to be when I lost everything.\n
I walked downstairs in my clothes.\n
My father was still relaxing in the living room. Sayaka hadn’t come out of the bath yet.\n
I only showed my face and said,\n
“I’m going to the convenience store.”\n
My father glanced at me and replied, “Oh.”\n
I put on my shoes, opened the front door, and went outside.\n
It was a little chilly. It was getting deeper into autumn. The temperature has been dropping drastically lately.\n
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I started to walk.\n
Streetlights illuminated my feet. As I moved forward, shadows formed around me. Sometimes they disappear, and sometimes they are born again, spinning around and around.\n
The moon is not out today. The night was darker than usual.\n
It was quiet. I could hear the barking of a dog. There were not many people on the street. Most of the stores were closed. It’s not a very lively place, to begin with. But today, there seemed to be even fewer people than usual.\n
I felt inside my pocket. My phone is still there.\n
I passed by a convenience store and went further in.\n
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a river. The riverbed where the delinquents gather is further away.\n
I could hear my footsteps. The further I got from the station, the fewer streetlights there were. There were no more shadows under my feet.\n
As I approached the river, I heard the faint sound of flowing water. I crossed the bridge and reached the other side. Then I walked further downstream along the river.\n
I’m almost there. Soon I’ll see them.\n
I squeezed my hands in my pockets.\n\n
The delinquents were at the riverbed according to the information I had received.\n
Yamazaki’s information was correct. There were six of them in total, including the guy in the purple T-shirt I’d seen at the arcade. He still had the marks on his face from when I beat him.\n
The rest of the group was the same as when I saw them at the arcade.\n
The six of them were shouting and drinking canned beer and chuhai. About half of them were also smoking. They were sitting on the grass, clapping their hands and making a fool of each other, even though there were not many people around. (TN: chuhai is a kind of alcoholic drink)\n
Even though there were not many people, there were still houses nearby. I’m sure they can hear them. It would be a nuisance to the neighbors. But it was obvious that they were a bunch of jerks, so I guess it was impossible to warn them.\n
I put on my hood and hid behind the bridge in front of the riverbed.\n
I needed to find out if what Yamazaki was saying was true or not. As I listened, I managed to hear some conversation.\n
“Hey, I’m going to push you into the river!”\n
The voice was coming from the leader of the group, who used to wear a purple T-shirt under his school uniform, but was now wearing a red leather jacket.\n
He was looking at his fellow delinquent who was a little smaller in stature. Perhaps there is a pecking order among the delinquents. The way he was laughing and threatening them was almost like bullying.\n
The leader puts his arm around the little guy. Then he pressed the cigarette that he had been holding between his fingers to his cheek.\n
“It hur……!”\n
“Are you shitting me? Ah? Try saying that again.”\n
The delinquents around me giggled at the scene. I couldn’t understand what was so funny. They must be apes or something. They didn’t look very civilized to me.\n
He threw his cigarette behind him. Fortunately, the fire seemed to have already been extinguished and there was no chance of it spreading. The leader then kicked the little guy in the back as hard as he could.\n
The little guy lost his balance and fell into the river, rolling.\n
There was a splash of water. The sound of the water rushing could be heard.\n
The current of the river was weak. But if it was strong, it would be quite dangerous. The little guy quickly got out of the river, but got kicked again and fell back into the river.\n
The laughter gets even louder.\n
They were having fun and enjoying themselves.\n
What a bunch of jerks. But I had no obligation to help him.\n
The little guy, drenched in water, came out of the river on all fours.\n
The leader grabbed the little guy by the hair. He was whispering something.\n
I have no idea what exactly he was talking about.\n
But soon, the little guy shouted out.\n
“I can’t! Isn’t that a crime?”\n\n
A pitiful voice. Then the little guy’s head was pressed to the floor as hard as he could.\n\n