Volume 1
Chapter 4 Part
1
Translator : PolterGlast
August 30th.
The day has finally
arrived.
I had designated a
beach a short distance away from the residential area where we live as the
place to kill Serina.
The beach we visited
yesterday was not suitable for the murder because it was a little far from
where Serina lives and it was a famous beach among the locals with many
tourists. There was also the childish reason that I simply did not want to
stain the place of my memories with blood.
The reason I chose a
beach was not because of the typical setting found in novels. A wide, flat area
is much better for keeping an eye on your surroundings than a place like a
forest where you don't know who might be lurking. After all, what we feared
most wasn't being seen by someone during the murder, but being caught before
the murder was carried out.
Fortunately, the beach
we chose as the murder site was not scenic and there were no houses nearby, so
it was seldom crowded, regardless of the time of day. It almost seemed like the
place itself was telling me to kill someone here, but that was probably just an
auditory hallucination that only I, a crazy person, could hear.
We were making plans
in a private karaoke room. Unlike a café or family restaurant, the private room
allowed us to avoid the eyes of others when we were having disturbing
conversations.
On the monitor
attached to the wall, a video of idols dancing was playing.
"The location is
good, but how are you planning to call her out there?" Hikaru asked.
"I want you to
call her there," I said. "Serina has a crush on you. I'm sure she'll
come happily."
"Huh?
Really?"
"Yeah. Besides,
if I remember correctly, she did confess to you once."
Hikaru made a sour
face. "I don't remember at all."
"What a terrible
person," I said while chuckling.
At that moment, our
eyes met, and we stared at each other for a while. After a while, unable to
bear it, we both burst out laughing. We no longer had any guilt about taking
someone's life.
"But, asking her
like that feels like I'm taking advantage of her feelings."
"Junior
girl?"
"Don't talk about
it."
We laughed again.
"Well, let's talk
about the plan," I said, and began to outline the murder scenario.
"First, Hikaru will call Serina on a public phone and give her a
reasonable excuse to come to this beach."
It's a bit of a
hassle, but there's no other way since Hikaru doesn't have a smartphone.
"A reasonable
excuse, huh? ...Alright."
"When Serina
shows up, I'll come out and talk to her. It probably won't take more than three
minutes."
I wanted to talk to
Serina one last time. Once she's dead, we won't be able to talk anymore. I felt
that would leave a bad aftertaste. I didn't want to keep thinking about her in
the future.
I tucked the knife I
bought at the home center into my belt, hidden by the hem of my clothes.
"After we're done
talking, I'll use this."
With this, I'll stab
Serina.
"After the call
ends, there probably won't be anything for you to do, but if she tries to
escape, please help me."
"Understood. If
Rin collapses after the murder and can't walk, I'll carry you
princess-style."
"I'd hate that,
but if it comes to that, please do."
"Leave it to me.
I think the public phone booth was near the station, right? What time?"
"Around Around 7
p.m. She has an early curfew."
It's 9:00 a.m. now,
and we still have ten hours to go. I wondered what to do until then, but I'm
sure the day will pass in a flash. We can just eat together and chat. I know
that time seems to pass twice or three times as fast during times like this.
Hikaru is using my
smartphone to look for a café that serves a late breakfast. As I watched his
profile, muttering about how picky I am with food, the words slipped out of my
mouth.
"Hikaru, you're
my Masaki."
Hikaru's eyes widened
in surprise.
For whatever reason,
he pulled my hand and told me to run away. He pulled me out of my worst days.
My gray days had been vividly colored by his appearance.
It was an enjoyable
escape, despite everything that happened.
It was all thanks to
Hikaru.
"Look at that
silly face," I laughed, poking his shoulder. "Well, please take care
of me."
---
Deep down, I thought
this summer would last forever. I unconsciously tried to convince myself of
that.
I mocked myself for
being an idiot.
All times eventually
come to an end.
But I want to believe
that there is a meaning in the way it ends.
---
The beach, with its
tumultuous sound of waves, had a desolate atmosphere as if it were isolated
from the rest of the world. The sun had already set, and the surroundings were
dimly lit and extremely desaturated compared to the daytime. Beneath the leaden
sky, gray waves rolled in and out.
I was waiting for the
moment to come from a small observation deck across the road from the beach.
I wondered if Hikaru
had managed to call Serina. I was sure that he would be able to lure her out
with his words, but Serina was no fool either. There was a possibility that the
plan would go awry if she became suspicious and didn’t come.
While I was feeling anxious,
Serina appeared on the beach after a few dozen minutes.
She appeared,
descended the stairs to the beach, and looked around. She must be looking for
Hikaru.
I left the observation
deck and ran down the stairs Serina had taken. A few dozen meters ahead, I saw
Serina's back as she faced the sea. I approached her and called out,
"Serina."
Serina's eyes widened
when she caught sight of me.
"Why are you
here?"
She looked like she
had seen a ghost.
"I asked Hikaru
to call you," I said, trying to sound calm. "I wanted to talk."
Serina wasn't wearing
any makeup. Maybe she came in a hurry after being called by Hikaru. The only
thing that adorned her was the colored contact lenses she always wore, but it
was enough for her beautiful features. Serina standing on the beach was so
hauntingly beautiful that I felt like I had suddenly been thrown into a movie
scene.
"Huh? What do you
mean?"
Serina distorted her
pretty face and spat out those words. Her eyes filled with hostility, and I
couldn't help but flinch.
Waves washed in and
out on the beach. I could hear the waves crashing in the distance.
Serina opened her
mouth again, but closed it once before opening it again.
"Are you having
fun being a grade below me?"
"Yeah, it's much
more comfortable than last year."
"You're still so
insensitive."
Serina lowered her
eyes once and then directed her knife-like gaze at me again.
"I hated that
about you."
"Sorry."
"Just an apology
isn't enough. Do you have any idea how much your insensitivity has hurt
me?"
"But Serina, you
didn't say anything. I won't understand unless you tell me."
I said it in a strong
tone. I could see Serina flinch for a moment.
"You should be
able to understand that much. Just figure it out."
Serina spat out those
words.
"It's arrogant of
you to expect me to figure it out when you didn't say anything yourself. You
should say what you want to say."
I continued rapidly.
"That's what I
hate about you!" Serina shouted angrily.
"What exactly?
Tell me specifically. I won't understand otherwise."
"Stop it!"
Serina's scream echoed
across the gray beach. The vibrating air struck my skin.
"You were meant
to be alone. You're so insensitive and quick to hurt others with careless
words. You should never be with anyone."
I let out a small
sigh. I then patted the knife at my waist over my clothes as if to make sure,
and walked towards Serina.
We've talked enough.
All that was left was to thrust the knife into her chest.
Stab her, kill her,
and that would be the end of it. That was my intention.
"...Hey, why did
you spread those lies?"
It's pointless.
There's no value in asking this. Since I'm going to kill her anyway. I thought
I had already decided that it didn't matter whether I had a reason to hate
Serina or not.
Yet, a question that
had been in my heart all this time, slipped out of my mouth. I looked at
Serina. I noticed a strong look of dismay in her eyes.
♢
"Is this
true?" It was the day of the opening ceremony of the third semester of the
first year when I received a message from Miu.
I secretly checked a
screenshot on my smartphone while the teacher was talking in the morning
homeroom. That screenshot sent my high school life into hell.
It was a screenshot of
a post on a social networking service, with two photos combined into a single
image, and a short text in the center.
One photo, slightly
blurry, looked like it was taken from the shadows. It was shot from an angle
similar to a celebrity scandal scoop, and it showed me and Naruse Yoshiya,
Miu's ex-boyfriend and a senior two years older than me, sharing an umbrella in
the snow.
On the day the photo
was taken, I remember staying late at school, and it started snowing heavily,
but I forgot to bring an umbrella. When I was wondering what to do,
Naruse-senpai spoke to me and offered to share his umbrella with me to the
station. That was the whole scene.
The other photo was in
sharp focus. It was also of two people sharing an umbrella, one of them being
Naruse-senpai, and the other person's face was hidden so you couldn't tell who
it was. They were going into a house, and a nameplate that said 'Naruse' was
visible.
[Yorunagi Rin looks
quiet, but she's actually a b*tch. She stole Miu's boyfriend.]
Such text was attached
in white letters on a black background.
The icon part was
cropped out, but judging from the font and image processing quirks, I could
tell it was Serina's secret account.
There's no way that
girl in the photo is me, because I've never been to Naruse-senpai's house.
I zoomed in on the
photo.
It was probably Naruse
Momoka—I think she's Naruse-senpai's younger sister. She was a third-year
middle school student and should have been wearing her middle school uniform at
the time, but you can't tell from her uniform because she's wearing a coat and
a scarf.
When you put the two
photos side by side, both of them look like me.
"Hey, Yorunagi,
do it with me too."
"You idiot! Cut
it out."
"What are you
gonna do? Sharing an umbrella, huh?"
"No, something
better."
From that day on, the
boys started harassing me.
They were good friends
with Serina and used to talk to me and go to the cafeteria with me. I thought
it was a terrible slander, but they had been friends with Serina since middle
school and were on Miu's side, preferring her over a newcomer like me. Of
course, a girl who stole a close friend's boyfriend was an enemy.
If they had looked
closely at the photo, they would have known it wasn't me. But I think they
didn't care whether it was true or not. They just wanted a convenient toy to
ridicule to pass the time.
The arrogant
superiority of the strong who could hurt others for amusement. I was fed up
with it.
They were smart enough
not to circulate these photos to the entire class. The more they spread it, the
more likely it was to be exposed as a lie, and the more likely it was that
adults would notice the harassment they were causing. The photos were shared
only among Serina, Miu, and a few other boys who were close to them. I don't
know how Hikaru knew about it.
It wasn't spread all
over the school so it's ok... no, of course it's not okay. Sexual topics are
the most avoidable things for a sensitive sixteen-year-old girl. I didn't want
to make any more noise about that kind of thing. And yet, Serina was stirring
things up so much that it was beyond repair.
When I found out that
I would be in the same class as Serina and the others again in my second year,
I felt a deep despair along with a sense of resignation. I continued to go to
school for the first twenty days or so, but after the incident with Goto, I
realized that I no longer had any allies and stopped going to school.
I don't want to think
about it anymore. Their bullying was so ridiculous that it seems trivial now. I
decided that I wasn't that fragile.
However, Serina
remained tugging at my heart.
♢
"Serina, remember
when you were heartbroken and I left early, saying I had plans? I felt bad
about it. I wish I had asked if you wanted to take a day off from your
part-time job. I'm sorry. I didn't understand."
I thought that my many
other insensitive comments and inability to say kind words had hurt Serina. I
felt sorry. I felt it was my fault.
Serina said nothing.
She just looked at me with murderous eyes.
"Serina, even you
would never understand if I didn't tell you, right?"
I said calmly.
"It was painful
for me. I was being falsely accused, bullied by the boys, and told all sorts of
things that weren't true."
Words poured out of my
throat one after another. These were all things that had been in my head for a
long time, and I never thought the day would come when they would be released.
Oh, it's pointless.
There's no point in saying this.
"Hey, tell me.
Was I such a terrible person that I had to go through such pain? — Or was it
just for your pleasure? Just for your amusement?"
I've always wanted to
know. I don't want to make up. I don't need an apology for spreading the lie. I
just want to know the answer to this question.
If I did, I might be
able to hate Serina.
"Serina, I
thought of you as a friend."
"Go die!"
Serina's angry voice
echoed sharply across the quiet beach.
I quietly exhaled.
This must be her
answer.
I quickly closed the distance
between us. ―So that I could thrust my blade filled with hatred into her chest.
Serina took a step
back. Meanwhile, I took two steps towards her.
Serina distorted her
beautiful face and glared at me. I could see her clenched teeth through the gap
between her lips.
When my left hand
grabbed Serina's shoulder, she said,
"Why Natsuno-kun
like someone like you?"
It was like an
electric shock to my heart.
I even thought time
had stopped.
I couldn't hear the
sound of the ripples, and I was thinking about something with a completely
blank mind.
"Huh?"
A dumb voice escaped
my lips.
I tried to think about
something. I didn't know what that "something" was.
Serina's pained voice
brought me back to my senses. I had intended to grab her shoulder, but before I
knew it, I was pressing down near her neck.
"What's that?
What do you mean?" I shook Serina's shoulders and asked.
"Let go!"
Serina shouted.
"Answer me."
I pushed Serina down
onto the beach. I grabbed her shoulder with my right hand and put my weight on
it. I pressed her thighs down with my knees, grabbed her wrist with my left
hand, and pushed it down to the ground.
"Answer me."
Then Serina opened her
mouth as if she had given up.
"... Natsuno-kun
rejected me, but I couldn't give up, so I confessed again," Serina spoke
stutteringly. I waited for her to speak with my eyelids straining.
"When I asked if
there was someone he liked,"
My heart raced. Amidst
the pounding of my heart that felt like it might shake my body, I put even more
effort into preventing my hand from shaking as I gripped Serina's arm.
"He said,
Yorunagi Rin,"
It felt like I'd been
shot in the forehead.
My vision blurred, and
I was overwhelmed by a floating sensation as if I couldn't tell up from down.
At that moment, I must
have loosened my grip. Serina pushed me away and took a step back to put
distance between us.
It would be bad if she
escaped now.
I pulled out the knife
and pointed its tip toward Serina.
Serina froze. Her
pupils under the colored contacts narrowed.
I slowly approached
her. My hand trembled along with my own heartbeat as I held the knife.
"What about that
photo?"
Serina opened her
mouth to hide her agitation.
"That day, when I
was about to go home, I saw you and Yoshiya-senpai walking together."
Serina continued, her
breath short due to her agitation.
"I thought maybe
I'd have a chance if Natsuno-kun lost interest in Rin."
Serina retreated, but
her back bumped into something and she stopped.
"Natsuno-kun."
"…………Hikaru."
Hikaru, who had
appeared without me noticing, was standing there quietly.
I was confused by the
relief of him coming to the rescue and the bewilderment of whether what Serina
had just said was true.
While I was unable to
do anything, Hikaru drew out a knife from its sheath with the same smooth
motion as drawing a gun.
I heard a short gasp
from Serina.
"Hikaru,
wait!"
"Rin"
Hikaru called my name.
All sounds and scenery
instantly faded away.
All I could see was
Hikaru with a knife and Serina with a frightened face.
Hikaru's movement
toward Serina seemed to be in slow motion, and I watched the unreal scene as if
I were in the audience of a theater.
My body was stiff as
if bound, my breath stopped, and I couldn't even blink.
I wasn't even allowed
to close my eyes and prepare for the despair that was slowly approaching.
"…………Hikaru!"
I took a deep breath
and finally managed to speak.
But it was too late.
All I could hear was a
scream, the sound of the waves, and the spattering of blood.
And then, silence.
♢
-----
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