While classes quietly went on, it was around third period’s break time that Ryouko wandered away. Even a soldier among soldiers couldn’t lie to her biological phenomena. It was only at times like these that without dragging me along she would act on her own, making them easy to pick out.
That’s why I wasn’t wary in the slightest, and I wasn’t worried either.
She didn’t return after fourth period began.
“Ladies’ Satou! … Hah, she’s still not here? Seriously, why can a student like that get by without any penalty? Hey, Mens, are you sure you don’t have to do your overseer duty today”
That last part was close to cynicism.
“But we’ve got quite a few absences… Hm? Weren’t Ozaki, Enomoto, and Ogino here last period? Oy, where are they now?”
“The bathroom, I’d say.”
Ooshima answered without delay. A warning bell rang in a corner of my mind. If only it had grown duller. I cursed my only half-baked perception. Should I go, or should I stay? While the inner conflict couldn’t be canceled out by slight hesitation, I could at least go check on her. It was my job, I told myself.
“Sensei, my apologies, but my celialgia is acting up, and I must bid you a good day!”
“What era are you from, kid?”
“And a good day to you too.”
I left the classroom.
“Hey, you,” I heard behind me as I walked straight towards the girls’ bathroom.
Along the way, I passed by three smiling girls on the way back. Their laughs came to a complete stop. The three with Ozaki ad the lead glared at me with alien-like eyes. A nasty look.
Instead of returning the glare, I entered the boys’ room with an oblivious face. Without finishing my business, I waited for the three presences to vanish before reinfiltrating the girls’ bathroom. Even though I wasn’t witnessed, it was a nerve-wracking moment.
Unlike the boys’ lavatory, the girls’ side contained a sweet scent, and a faint presence.
Three stalls. The front two were empty. The back one had a mop wedged under the handle so it wouldn’t open. It was clearly to prevent exit from the inside.
I removed the rod and opened it to find a crumpled up blue blanked. Or so I thought, only to realize it was Ryouko, rolled in her robe, crouching over the toilet seat.
It seemed a garbage bin had been thrown in from above, covering her prided robe with trash. On top of that, they must have poured water over her as she was drenched.
A part around my stomach flipped inside out. It was a bad habit. Humans always want to become heroes of justice at the drop of a hat. But when it came to Ryouko, those standard senses of values are meaningless… and yet,
“Ryouko.”
The robe dangled limply as Ryouko peeked out her face. The usual expressionlessness. While she might have looked pale, it was surely my imagination.
“They finally went and did it.”
Come to think of it, wasn’t this the first time she received a direct attack.
“They sealed you in and attacked with items from above. It’s a classic. That way, you can’t see the faces of whoever did you in.”
That would solve the somewhat surprising detail of Ozaki’s group being the ones who carried it out. A noble’s influence really is amazing. If you didn’t include dream soldiers in the count, even in a divided class, they could move the smallest units to carry out bullying.
“I doubt you’d want to return to class when you’re that dirty.”
Huddling her knees to her body over the toilet seat, she looked at me. As feeble as a little girl wrapped round and round in a blanket.
“Do you want to cut class and go on a search or something? Personally, I’d be thankful if I could walk you home and get back.”
Ryouko moved in a flash. She jumped into my chest. With enough force to push me back, she nuzzled her head into me. When she stuck to me, soaked to the skin, the moisture pierced all the way through my shirt. But more surprising than anything was the action of clinging to me in itself.
“Hey…”
Why are you getting hurt like a normal person?
Aren’t you supposed to make a prim face and say, “No problem detected”?
I couldn’t tell whether there were any tears mixed in with her soaked face or not. She simply pushed in her face and froze like that. Why was it decided that a soldier couldn’t feel pain? I knew better than anyone, even without tears or sobs, lament is something that, once established—
I tried taking her to the infirmary, but Ryouko wanted to get out of school. Leaving the campus was fine at all, but the air she gave off wasn’t one for a search, and despite my offer to walk her home, she wouldn’t tell me where she lived. She remained silent and hazy. There was only one place I knew where I could in any way manage a soaked person: my house.
“Hey, you can at least use a shower in your setting, right? You’d better properly do it yourself. I can’t look after you that far.”
A while after I shoved her into the washroom, I heard the sounds of water from the faucet, putting me at ease.
“I’ll give your clothes a quick water rinse and put them through the dryer.”
Retrieving the clothes that had been discarded over the bathmat, I stuffed them into the washing machine. In the midst, the terrifying fact that this girl didn’t wear undergarments came to light (though she did wear a leotard instead), but as my heart was already running at full capacity, so I managed to go without my mind stopping on it.
I put the washed on a quick timed rinse and shoved them into the dryer. It would take forty minutes minimum.
“There are a few towels around, if it’s not dry when you’re done, feel free to use them.”
After sending in only my voice, I left the dressing voice.
“Now what.”
What should I do. What was I supposed to do? Flustered by the lack of things to do, I looked around restlessly. Perhaps I’m actually a small animal.
“… What are you doing?”
As I was lingering, I turned to find my older sister.
“Uwaaah.”
“… Sorry.”
“I’m fine… no, I mean, why are you at the house at this hour? What about the salon?”
It was still before noon.
“… I’m on break, for lunch.”
I see, it’s a service industry, so they have their breaks staggered. I felt like ice water was injected through a tube pierced into my spine. Prominent fear is a form of cold. If my sister saw Ryouko, I’d be in a pinch. Would I? Quite probably.
“You’re going to eat out, right?”
“… I don’t have the sort of money, I want to eat at home.”
Right, my sister was an economist and a miser, she even commuted to her technical school four stations away by bike.
“Then you’re going to be finished eating in five minutes, right?”
“… There’s no way I would be. I was just about to start making it.”
Standing in front of the sink, she began prepping mushrooms. They were one of her favorites.
Standing with nothing to do, I set the kitchen table for two. The menu consisted of a mushroom-plentiful risotto, certainly a healthy meal.
“For you.”
“Ah, thanks.”
We ate mushrooms, the two of us.
“… Taste?”
“Ah, right. It tastes like mushroom.”
Truth be told, I couldn’t tell how it tasted. At that moment, a naked Ryouko was lurking in the house. If she was found, we were done for. It was dangerous if I didn’t take measures, cud I couldn’t find anything to do. Thirty minutes had passed since she started her shower. Was there any way to keep her hidden and take her out?
After the meal, my sister made for the hallway. I immediately trailed behind.
“… What?”
“Ummm, are you going out?”
“Bathroom,” My sister entered the bathroom. I got there first.
“… You’re using the toilet? It’ll be embarrassing if you go right after me.”
“No, it’s not the toilet,”
With a serious face, my sister’s hand touched the sliding door of the dressing room.
“You’re taking a shower!?”
“… I am.” World-class bullying is harsh. My sister gave a mischievous laugh and added on. “Ichirou, wanna join me?”
While I got the feeling she said something considerably amazing, it didn’t seep into my brain.
My sister’s hand opened the door. A naked Ryouko was clung fast to the round glass door of the rattling drying machine.
Her small bottom pointed towards me glistened excessively white.
My memory of the next ten minutes disappeared.
Ten minutes later, I was being interviewed in the living room. A heated interview at that.
My sister’s phone on the counter was flipped open on standby to contact my parents at any moment. She hadn’t called yet. She was taking down the last fort.
“… So to put it all together,” My sister’s voice sounded like it was rumbling from the depths of the earth.
“That young lady is just a classmate, and you’re looking after her on your homeroom teacher’s orders?”
While I didn’t have any memory of explaining, she was precisely right so I nodded.
“That’s hard to believe. She was even using our shower.”
“But it’s true…”
“You sure you didn’t skip school to get it on?”
Urp, that’s a lively way to put it.
“You’re wrong. Definitely not… I don’t see her as a member of the opposite sex.”
“And wait, what’s up with that? What she’s wearing?”
“It’s cosplay… or rather… it’s the you know what.”
“That?”
“That…”
My sister looked up to the heavens. Her hand picked up the phone. I squeezed myself smaller.
“Ichirou, that’s what does it for you? Are you still dragging it on?”
“You’re wrong, I’m not dragging anything.”
“But you did her. You must have some lingering affection.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Call her in.”
“Fine…”
I went out to the hallway, and beckoned in Ryouko, who’d changed into her costume. I tried to swap out with her, but, “Ichirou, you say,” sis called me back. It became a joint interview.
“… Girl, look, what are you to my brother?”
“……”
By the magic of invisibility, Ryouko was invisible to bystanders– in her head.
“Again. What’s with you. Picking a fight? I’ll smack you.”
The demon in my sister that had gotten her expelled from high school for violence was already awakening.
“……”
“Lookin’ down me? Yeah, making fun of me, huh?”
I kept her down with both hands as she tried to stand.
“She’s sick, please cut her some slack.”
“Ichirou, I don’t want to say it, but betraying your family alone is the one thing I wouldn’t want to see you do.”
“Yes, we’ve already… I have the same feelings smoldering within me…”
“Just smoldering?”
“No, I… feel the same. I honest to goodness feel the same.”
“Now girl, I’ll let you off this time. But break up with Ichirou. Now get out.”
While she didn’t answer in words, Ryouko shifted her eyes to me.
“Umm…” While I was at a loss for words, she briskly made her way out. “Ah, wait.”
“Leave her be. If you want a girlfriend, I’ll introduce someone, so give up on that one. What are you going to do if you’re dragged in and bullied again?”
“Bullied?” I got just a little angry, “You sure you’re the person to say that?”
For a moment, my sister’s eyes wavered.
“Once I’ve cleaned up her case… I plan to properly recuperate. But that’s something I understand without anyone telling me.”
“… I just don’t want you to…”
Seeing sis’ face, I immediately couldn’t sit still.
“I’m chasing after her… it’s my job, for what it’s worth.”
Leaving my sister standing absentmindedly, I left the living room, yet she didn’t try to stop me.
On the road in front of the gate, Ryouko leaned on her staff as she walked alone. I caught up in no time.
“… I’m sorry.”
“Ichirou was not at fault.”
From her short words, compared to the usual, her acting was just a little fainter.
“Was she family?”
“Yeah… my big sis…”
“Question, why speak formal?”
“Eh? Oh, you mean to my sister… yeah, it kinda just comes out like that.”
It was hard to talk about my own circumstances, but I did feel guilty so my mouth was looser than usual.
“Back in middle school… I was bullied some… I made my family worry.”
“……”
“My sister despised me, she would smack me around quite a bit. And wait, it was like I was bullied even at home. Then one day, she smacked me in the ear and that was that… ever since then, I’ve been talking to her like this.”
“Injured?”
I thought just a bit.
“My eardrum was punctured… though it’s healed up fine. I was real scared back then. My ear couldn’t hear anything, see. In the back of it, it was this stinging pain so harsh I didn’t know what was going on around me. Eardrums can heal up, you know? Just like skin. But even after it healed, whenever I went out in front of my sis, I couldn’t talk to her like I used to.”
I don’t really like bringing up injuries so I don’t, but I was sure this girl didn’t care too much.
She gripped my hand. Hers was frightfully cold. Taken by surprise, I twitched all the way down to my heart.
“Then let us go.”
She lifted up my hand. Her fingers like silverwork glimmered as if there was a bracelet around my wrist.
“Go, go where?”
“The other side.”
A stillness descended. There was only one thing that fit the bill when Ryouko said the other side. The other world in her heart.
To return there.
As her story went, she would return there after she gathered the dragon’s nails. What nonsense. It tired me out.
“Haha… you think I can go there too?”
“I can bring those who are the same as me. This world no longer has value. Let us go.”
That was probably the first time I heart her identify herself as ‘me’.
“If you find your nail… and it’s time for you to go… if…”
If you can’t return, then—
My feet naturally stopped. As if my vitality had drained away, my entire body felt sluggish. It was because I had no hope. If I had conviction I could go somewhere and that’s where the entrance would be, I could press forward forever. As long as I didn’t collide with the cold wall of reality. No, let’s just concede that colliding was just the start. It was whether or not there was even a gap above it to overcome. If that wall made it all the way to the ceiling, there wasn’t even any place to put in the effort.
Ryouko took a few steps forward and turned.
If as she wished, she found every dragon terminal… nothing would be resolved. I mean, it was nothing more than a good luck charm.
Her destination was empty. What conclusion would I end up seeing off?
“Ichirou.”
I didn’t think my anguish would affect her, but she spoke up with strangely sharp timing.
“It seems you are not in your best condition today. Another time.”
“I see… see you then.”
With swift feet, she left down the other side of the road. Her lonesome back was pitifully small.
My desire to chase and help her, and my desire not to get involved in a story with no salvation were at odds with one another.
That’s why I couldn’t move a single step, or so I made an excuse to myself.
Despite the fact classes were going on, an eraser scrap passed in front of my eyes. From right to left. While I couldn’t tell who did it at first, as the action was repeated, I eventually witnessed the scene of Ooshima taking the shot.
The target seemed to be Ryouko.
Ooshima’s throwing boasted quite the accuracy rate. Even if she missed, in the end, Ryouko’s surroundings were filled with the same sort, so she could fire them without any restraint.
It would be easy if I could pretend not to say, but that wasn’t quite the case.
I had an old eraser that was about to be used out in my pencil case, so I chucked it right at Ooshima. It looks like my Nobita-kun attributes were added on as it collided square with her head.
Just by having what she’d been doing done to her, she was already out looking for the culprit half-anxious, half-snapped. Since she was the queen bee, I thought she would devote herself to a strong front, but it is fragile human nature to fail to do so. The slightest accident may cause someone’s fall or turn them into a demon. I’d witnessed it time and again.
Shortly thereafter, Ooshima looked directly at me. Her expression vanished.
We were in class, so she didn’t particularly charge me, but I ended up nurturing the buds of hatred. A sigh.
“Satou, do you get what you’ve done?”
During break time, Ooshima approached with a frightfully threatening air. Her proud good looks dark red in anger, she was seriously scaring me. Where she was normally supposed to be colder and more conniving, here and there, her pitch shot up, her tone sped up, she bit her tongue, she gave glimpses of the high level of murderous intent beyond the fence, which was scary after all.
“You’re the one who started it,” can’t really blame someone for fighting back.
“Shut it! It’s got nothing to do with you!”
At her far-too-infantile phrasing, I got a bit bolder.
“It’s got everything to do with me. The teacher ordered me to look after Ryouko, you know? If you do that where I can see, it’s only natural that I do something about it. I’ll be screwed if I let it slide. And wait, you know I can report this to the teacher, right? You wanna try suspension? Want to enjoy the sights of your own home?”
Ooshima’s face froze up.
“… You’re pissing me off.”
“I’m the one who’s pissed. If you’re going to ignore me, do it to the end. Any more, and I’ll definitely pay you back in kind.”
Ooshima was shaking, she lightly kicked the foot of my desk. Just like that, with her silent glare, she squared up her shoulders and pranced out into the hall.
“… Good grief.”
When I try my best living normally do I don’t stand out, this is what I get. Not only did she have her eye on me, I ended up confronting her in a way to which there was no turning back. Aaah, what to do, what to do.
The target, Ryouko’s hair was layered in small eraser scraps like dandruff.
“It’s up to you whether you put up a resistance… but at least brush them off.”
“…?”
“What are you supposed to be… a child?”
I used my hand to comb through her hair and remove the rubber. Some were being absorbed, so it took an unexpectedly long time. While engrossed in detailed work, I abruptly became aware of a dreg-like deposit of fatigue in my heart.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll be there to help you out forever.”
“……”
“Ryouko?”
“… Something the matter?”
“Don’t space out.”
“At present, The Researcher is in lackluster condition…”
“Are you feeling bad?”
“Fatigue is accumulating. Therefore, today’s search must be put on hold.”
“Well, thanks for that. You can get used to it, but it’s still embarrassing.”
Just as she said, Ryouko seemed inexplicably down. I wondered if, like a body blow, the bullying was exhibiting its effect. No matter how different she was, bullying was a pressure that ate into the heart. Even if her delusions were too intense for her to realize it, the distortions were definitely accumulating.
“That’s the last of them.”
“… Ichirou.”
Ryouko said without looking at me.
“Mn?”
“… The Researcher thanks you.”
“Thanks are all well and good, but how about some reflection or introspection or growth, that’s what I’m counting on.”
When I returned to my seat, Kobato-san talked to me in a pose like the Mother Mary in prayer.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Ryouko-chan?”
So she didn’t notice the eraser engagement? That was proof of just how earnestly she was listening to the lesson. There was no need to worry her.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Her hair was dirty, so I just told her to get a grip.”
Seriously, she needed to get a grip.
While classes quietly went on, it was around third period’s break time that Ryouko wandered away. Even a soldier among soldiers couldn’t lie to her biological phenomena. It was only at times like these that without dragging me along she would act on her own, making them easy to pick out.
That’s why I wasn’t wary in the slightest, and I wasn’t worried either.
She didn’t return after fourth period began.
“Ladies’ Satou! … Hah, she’s still not here? Seriously, why can a student like that get by without any penalty? Hey, Mens, are you sure you don’t have to do your overseer duty today”
That last part was close to cynicism.
“But we’ve got quite a few absences… Hm? Weren’t Ozaki, Enomoto, and Ogino here last period? Oy, where are they now?”
“The bathroom, I’d say.”
Ooshima answered without delay. A warning bell rang in a corner of my mind. If only it had grown duller. I cursed my only half-baked perception. Should I go, or should I stay? While the inner conflict couldn’t be canceled out by slight hesitation, I could at least go check on her. It was my job, I told myself.
“Sensei, my apologies, but my celialgia is acting up, and I must bid you a good day!”
“What era are you from, kid?”
“And a good day to you too.”
I left the classroom.
“Hey, you,” I heard behind me as I walked straight towards the girls’ bathroom.
Along the way, I passed by three smiling girls on the way back. Their laughs came to a complete stop. The three with Ozaki ad the lead glared at me with alien-like eyes. A nasty look.
Instead of returning the glare, I entered the boys’ room with an oblivious face. Without finishing my business, I waited for the three presences to vanish before reinfiltrating the girls’ bathroom. Even though I wasn’t witnessed, it was a nerve-wracking moment.
Unlike the boys’ lavatory, the girls’ side contained a sweet scent, and a faint presence.
Three stalls. The front two were empty. The back one had a mop wedged under the handle so it wouldn’t open. It was clearly to prevent exit from the inside.
I removed the rod and opened it to find a crumpled up blue blanked. Or so I thought, only to realize it was Ryouko, rolled in her robe, crouching over the toilet seat.
It seemed a garbage bin had been thrown in from above, covering her prided robe with trash. On top of that, they must have poured water over her as she was drenched.
A part around my stomach flipped inside out. It was a bad habit. Humans always want to become heroes of justice at the drop of a hat. But when it came to Ryouko, those standard senses of values are meaningless… and yet,
“Ryouko.”
The robe dangled limply as Ryouko peeked out her face. The usual expressionlessness. While she might have looked pale, it was surely my imagination.
“They finally went and did it.”
Come to think of it, wasn’t this the first time she received a direct attack.
“They sealed you in and attacked with items from above. It’s a classic. That way, you can’t see the faces of whoever did you in.”
That would solve the somewhat surprising detail of Ozaki’s group being the ones who carried it out. A noble’s influence really is amazing. If you didn’t include dream soldiers in the count, even in a divided class, they could move the smallest units to carry out bullying.
“I doubt you’d want to return to class when you’re that dirty.”
Huddling her knees to her body over the toilet seat, she looked at me. As feeble as a little girl wrapped round and round in a blanket.
“Do you want to cut class and go on a search or something? Personally, I’d be thankful if I could walk you home and get back.”
Ryouko moved in a flash. She jumped into my chest. With enough force to push me back, she nuzzled her head into me. When she stuck to me, soaked to the skin, the moisture pierced all the way through my shirt. But more surprising than anything was the action of clinging to me in itself.
“Hey…”
Why are you getting hurt like a normal person?
Aren’t you supposed to make a prim face and say, “No problem detected”?
I couldn’t tell whether there were any tears mixed in with her soaked face or not. She simply pushed in her face and froze like that. Why was it decided that a soldier couldn’t feel pain? I knew better than anyone, even without tears or sobs, lament is something that, once established—
I tried taking her to the infirmary, but Ryouko wanted to get out of school. Leaving the campus was fine at all, but the air she gave off wasn’t one for a search, and despite my offer to walk her home, she wouldn’t tell me where she lived. She remained silent and hazy. There was only one place I knew where I could in any way manage a soaked person: my house.
“Hey, you can at least use a shower in your setting, right? You’d better properly do it yourself. I can’t look after you that far.”
A while after I shoved her into the washroom, I heard the sounds of water from the faucet, putting me at ease.
“I’ll give your clothes a quick water rinse and put them through the dryer.”
Retrieving the clothes that had been discarded over the bathmat, I stuffed them into the washing machine. In the midst, the terrifying fact that this girl didn’t wear undergarments came to light (though she did wear a leotard instead), but as my heart was already running at full capacity, so I managed to go without my mind stopping on it.
I put the washed on a quick timed rinse and shoved them into the dryer. It would take forty minutes minimum.
“There are a few towels around, if it’s not dry when you’re done, feel free to use them.”
After sending in only my voice, I left the dressing voice.
“Now what.”
What should I do. What was I supposed to do? Flustered by the lack of things to do, I looked around restlessly. Perhaps I’m actually a small animal.
“… What are you doing?”
As I was lingering, I turned to find my older sister.
“Uwaaah.”
“… Sorry.”
“I’m fine… no, I mean, why are you at the house at this hour? What about the salon?”
It was still before noon.
“… I’m on break, for lunch.”
I see, it’s a service industry, so they have their breaks staggered. I felt like ice water was injected through a tube pierced into my spine. Prominent fear is a form of cold. If my sister saw Ryouko, I’d be in a pinch. Would I? Quite probably.
“You’re going to eat out, right?”
“… I don’t have the sort of money, I want to eat at home.”
Right, my sister was an economist and a miser, she even commuted to her technical school four stations away by bike.
“Then you’re going to be finished eating in five minutes, right?”
“… There’s no way I would be. I was just about to start making it.”
Standing in front of the sink, she began prepping mushrooms. They were one of her favorites.
Standing with nothing to do, I set the kitchen table for two. The menu consisted of a mushroom-plentiful risotto, certainly a healthy meal.
“For you.”
“Ah, thanks.”
We ate mushrooms, the two of us.
“… Taste?”
“Ah, right. It tastes like mushroom.”
Truth be told, I couldn’t tell how it tasted. At that moment, a naked Ryouko was lurking in the house. If she was found, we were done for. It was dangerous if I didn’t take measures, cud I couldn’t find anything to do. Thirty minutes had passed since she started her shower. Was there any way to keep her hidden and take her out?
After the meal, my sister made for the hallway. I immediately trailed behind.
“… What?”
“Ummm, are you going out?”
“Bathroom,” My sister entered the bathroom. I got there first.
“… You’re using the toilet? It’ll be embarrassing if you go right after me.”
“No, it’s not the toilet,”
With a serious face, my sister’s hand touched the sliding door of the dressing room.
“You’re taking a shower!?”
“… I am.” World-class bullying is harsh. My sister gave a mischievous laugh and added on. “Ichirou, wanna join me?”
While I got the feeling she said something considerably amazing, it didn’t seep into my brain.
My sister’s hand opened the door. A naked Ryouko was clung fast to the round glass door of the rattling drying machine.
Her small bottom pointed towards me glistened excessively white.
My memory of the next ten minutes disappeared.
Ten minutes later, I was being interviewed in the living room. A heated interview at that.
My sister’s phone on the counter was flipped open on standby to contact my parents at any moment. She hadn’t called yet. She was taking down the last fort.
“… So to put it all together,” My sister’s voice sounded like it was rumbling from the depths of the earth.
“That young lady is just a classmate, and you’re looking after her on your homeroom teacher’s orders?”
While I didn’t have any memory of explaining, she was precisely right so I nodded.
“That’s hard to believe. She was even using our shower.”
“But it’s true…”
“You sure you didn’t skip school to get it on?”
Urp, that’s a lively way to put it.
“You’re wrong. Definitely not… I don’t see her as a member of the opposite sex.”
“And wait, what’s up with that? What she’s wearing?”
“It’s cosplay… or rather… it’s the you know what.”
“That?”
“That…”
My sister looked up to the heavens. Her hand picked up the phone. I squeezed myself smaller.
“Ichirou, that’s what does it for you? Are you still dragging it on?”
“You’re wrong, I’m not dragging anything.”
“But you did her. You must have some lingering affection.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Call her in.”
“Fine…”
I went out to the hallway, and beckoned in Ryouko, who’d changed into her costume. I tried to swap out with her, but, “Ichirou, you say,” sis called me back. It became a joint interview.
“… Girl, look, what are you to my brother?”
“……”
By the magic of invisibility, Ryouko was invisible to bystanders– in her head.
“Again. What’s with you. Picking a fight? I’ll smack you.”
The demon in my sister that had gotten her expelled from high school for violence was already awakening.
“……”
“Lookin’ down me? Yeah, making fun of me, huh?”
I kept her down with both hands as she tried to stand.
“She’s sick, please cut her some slack.”
“Ichirou, I don’t want to say it, but betraying your family alone is the one thing I wouldn’t want to see you do.”
“Yes, we’ve already… I have the same feelings smoldering within me…”
“Just smoldering?”
“No, I… feel the same. I honest to goodness feel the same.”
“Now girl, I’ll let you off this time. But break up with Ichirou. Now get out.”
While she didn’t answer in words, Ryouko shifted her eyes to me.
“Umm…” While I was at a loss for words, she briskly made her way out. “Ah, wait.”
“Leave her be. If you want a girlfriend, I’ll introduce someone, so give up on that one. What are you going to do if you’re dragged in and bullied again?”
“Bullied?” I got just a little angry, “You sure you’re the person to say that?”
For a moment, my sister’s eyes wavered.
“Once I’ve cleaned up her case… I plan to properly recuperate. But that’s something I understand without anyone telling me.”
“… I just don’t want you to…”
Seeing sis’ face, I immediately couldn’t sit still.
“I’m chasing after her… it’s my job, for what it’s worth.”
Leaving my sister standing absentmindedly, I left the living room, yet she didn’t try to stop me.
On the road in front of the gate, Ryouko leaned on her staff as she walked alone. I caught up in no time.
“… I’m sorry.”
“Ichirou was not at fault.”
From her short words, compared to the usual, her acting was just a little fainter.
“Was she family?”
“Yeah… my big sis…”
“Question, why speak formal?”
“Eh? Oh, you mean to my sister… yeah, it kinda just comes out like that.”
It was hard to talk about my own circumstances, but I did feel guilty so my mouth was looser than usual.
“Back in middle school… I was bullied some… I made my family worry.”
“……”
“My sister despised me, she would smack me around quite a bit. And wait, it was like I was bullied even at home. Then one day, she smacked me in the ear and that was that… ever since then, I’ve been talking to her like this.”
“Injured?”
I thought just a bit.
“My eardrum was punctured… though it’s healed up fine. I was real scared back then. My ear couldn’t hear anything, see. In the back of it, it was this stinging pain so harsh I didn’t know what was going on around me. Eardrums can heal up, you know? Just like skin. But even after it healed, whenever I went out in front of my sis, I couldn’t talk to her like I used to.”
I don’t really like bringing up injuries so I don’t, but I was sure this girl didn’t care too much.
She gripped my hand. Hers was frightfully cold. Taken by surprise, I twitched all the way down to my heart.
“Then let us go.”
She lifted up my hand. Her fingers like silverwork glimmered as if there was a bracelet around my wrist.
“Go, go where?”
“The other side.”
A stillness descended. There was only one thing that fit the bill when Ryouko said the other side. The other world in her heart.
To return there.
As her story went, she would return there after she gathered the dragon’s nails. What nonsense. It tired me out.
“Haha… you think I can go there too?”
“I can bring those who are the same as me. This world no longer has value. Let us go.”
That was probably the first time I heart her identify herself as ‘me’.
“If you find your nail… and it’s time for you to go… if…”
If you can’t return, then—
My feet naturally stopped. As if my vitality had drained away, my entire body felt sluggish. It was because I had no hope. If I had conviction I could go somewhere and that’s where the entrance would be, I could press forward forever. As long as I didn’t collide with the cold wall of reality. No, let’s just concede that colliding was just the start. It was whether or not there was even a gap above it to overcome. If that wall made it all the way to the ceiling, there wasn’t even any place to put in the effort.
Ryouko took a few steps forward and turned.
If as she wished, she found every dragon terminal… nothing would be resolved. I mean, it was nothing more than a good luck charm.
Her destination was empty. What conclusion would I end up seeing off?
“Ichirou.”
I didn’t think my anguish would affect her, but she spoke up with strangely sharp timing.
“It seems you are not in your best condition today. Another time.”
“I see… see you then.”
With swift feet, she left down the other side of the road. Her lonesome back was pitifully small.
My desire to chase and help her, and my desire not to get involved in a story with no salvation were at odds with one another.
That’s why I couldn’t move a single step, or so I made an excuse to myself.
Despite the fact classes were going on, an eraser scrap passed in front of my eyes. From right to left. While I couldn’t tell who did it at first, as the action was repeated, I eventually witnessed the scene of Ooshima taking the shot.
The target seemed to be Ryouko.
Ooshima’s throwing boasted quite the accuracy rate. Even if she missed, in the end, Ryouko’s surroundings were filled with the same sort, so she could fire them without any restraint.
It would be easy if I could pretend not to say, but that wasn’t quite the case.
I had an old eraser that was about to be used out in my pencil case, so I chucked it right at Ooshima. It looks like my Nobita-kun attributes were added on as it collided square with her head.
Just by having what she’d been doing done to her, she was already out looking for the culprit half-anxious, half-snapped. Since she was the queen bee, I thought she would devote herself to a strong front, but it is fragile human nature to fail to do so. The slightest accident may cause someone’s fall or turn them into a demon. I’d witnessed it time and again.
Shortly thereafter, Ooshima looked directly at me. Her expression vanished.
We were in class, so she didn’t particularly charge me, but I ended up nurturing the buds of hatred. A sigh.
“Satou, do you get what you’ve done?”
During break time, Ooshima approached with a frightfully threatening air. Her proud good looks dark red in anger, she was seriously scaring me. Where she was normally supposed to be colder and more conniving, here and there, her pitch shot up, her tone sped up, she bit her tongue, she gave glimpses of the high level of murderous intent beyond the fence, which was scary after all.
“You’re the one who started it,” can’t really blame someone for fighting back.
“Shut it! It’s got nothing to do with you!”
At her far-too-infantile phrasing, I got a bit bolder.
“It’s got everything to do with me. The teacher ordered me to look after Ryouko, you know? If you do that where I can see, it’s only natural that I do something about it. I’ll be screwed if I let it slide. And wait, you know I can report this to the teacher, right? You wanna try suspension? Want to enjoy the sights of your own home?”
Ooshima’s face froze up.
“… You’re pissing me off.”
“I’m the one who’s pissed. If you’re going to ignore me, do it to the end. Any more, and I’ll definitely pay you back in kind.”
Ooshima was shaking, she lightly kicked the foot of my desk. Just like that, with her silent glare, she squared up her shoulders and pranced out into the hall.
“… Good grief.”
When I try my best living normally do I don’t stand out, this is what I get. Not only did she have her eye on me, I ended up confronting her in a way to which there was no turning back. Aaah, what to do, what to do.
The target, Ryouko’s hair was layered in small eraser scraps like dandruff.
“It’s up to you whether you put up a resistance… but at least brush them off.”
“…?”
“What are you supposed to be… a child?”
I used my hand to comb through her hair and remove the rubber. Some were being absorbed, so it took an unexpectedly long time. While engrossed in detailed work, I abruptly became aware of a dreg-like deposit of fatigue in my heart.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll be there to help you out forever.”
“……”
“Ryouko?”
“… Something the matter?”
“Don’t space out.”
“At present, The Researcher is in lackluster condition…”
“Are you feeling bad?”
“Fatigue is accumulating. Therefore, today’s search must be put on hold.”
“Well, thanks for that. You can get used to it, but it’s still embarrassing.”
Just as she said, Ryouko seemed inexplicably down. I wondered if, like a body blow, the bullying was exhibiting its effect. No matter how different she was, bullying was a pressure that ate into the heart. Even if her delusions were too intense for her to realize it, the distortions were definitely accumulating.
“That’s the last of them.”
“… Ichirou.”
Ryouko said without looking at me.
“Mn?”
“… The Researcher thanks you.”
“Thanks are all well and good, but how about some reflection or introspection or growth, that’s what I’m counting on.”
When I returned to my seat, Kobato-san talked to me in a pose like the Mother Mary in prayer.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Ryouko-chan?”
So she didn’t notice the eraser engagement? That was proof of just how earnestly she was listening to the lesson. There was no need to worry her.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Her hair was dirty, so I just told her to get a grip.”
Seriously, she needed to get a grip.
