Drowning in
Summer
Prologue
Translator : PolterGlast
As we approached a
hill, the vehicle swayed wildly.
I was not used to
riding with two people, and not knowing how to balance myself, I clung
desperately to Hikaru's shoulders.
After skipping the
opening ceremony and running out of the school, Hikaru kept pedaling his
bicycle along the countryside road.
"Are you serious
about not going back to school?" I asked.
"Yeah,"
Hikaru nodded. "There is no way I can go to school after what I did. If I
get caught, I'll probably end up in prison, not just a juvenile detention
center."
Hikaru, who had just
killed his mother, continued to pedal with a blank expression on his face.
"That's why I'm
running away. Until this summer is over."
Despite being late
summer, cicadas were shrieking loudly. The riverside road was littered with
dried-up earthworm carcasses and overturned cicadas.
Summer in Hokuriku is
surprisingly hot. People tend to think it’s cool because it’s a snowy region,
but the summer heat is intense, and heat stroke alerts are issued frequently.
As someone who’s sensitive to heat, I'd considered moving to a cooler country,
but gave up because I can't speak English.
After cycling on the
asphalt for a while, we got off the bike and sat on a bench in the shade of a
tree. Sunlight filtering through the leaves created dappled patterns on the
ground. Staring at the white clouds drifting across the deep blue sky, I
thought about how I should be in an air-conditioned classroom right now.
"I thought of a
fun game. Want to hear it?" Hikaru asked.
"Sure," I
said.
"It’s a bit of a
weird game, but I think Rin will like it. You’ve got a twisted sense of humor,
after all."
Hikaru, who knew my
taste well, said confidently. I replied, "How rude," but was secretly
excited. He never failed to surprise me.
However, as Hikaru
explained the game to me, I gradually found the blood draining from my face.
"Are you
serious?" I asked, and Hikaru replied in a serious tone of voice, "Of
course."
Seven people are going
to die in the game. And that too, will be committed by us.
"That's
ridiculous, there's no way I'd do something like that."
When I refused, Hikaru
smiled wryly.
"It’s just a
game. Relax."
There’s no way to
relax when human lives are at stake. Hikaru said such an outrageous thing with
a light, casual tone. I involuntarily fell silent.
Meanwhile, my
eighteenth summer was drawing to a close. It was late August, and the
temperature had exceeded thirty degrees Celsius since morning.
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