Volume 1
Final Chapter Part
1
Translator : PolterGlast
August 31st.
I woke up in a
business hotel in the morning.
I wonder what happened
after that. I remember being dragged onto a bus by Hikaru. I don't remember
much beyond that.
I sat up and looked
around. My eyelids were swollen, and it felt like my field of vision was
narrower than usual.
Hikaru was sitting on
the bed next to me.
"How are you
feeling?"
When Hikaru got up and
took a step closer to me, my body tensed involuntarily. Perhaps sensing this,
Hikaru quickly moved away from me.
As my head regained
its composure, I began to notice some of the strange things about him. I had
many questions that I wanted to ask him, such as: ―He didn't listen to my words
and stabbed Serina, and whether what Serina said was true. There were so many
questions I wanted to ask him. But I had no idea where to start.
Whatever the reason, I
have no intention of forgiving Hikaru's actions.
When I suddenly looked
up, I was surprised to see Hikaru looking sad. I must be out of my mind because
I immediately felt a pang of guilt.
I couldn't shake off
the distrust I felt towards him. Still, I could say this much.
"By meeting you,
Hikaru, I became human."
Hikaru gaped for a
moment, then chuckled. Then, in a slightly mean voice, he said, "Rin is human
from the start."
I nodded slightly.
The monotonous sound
of the cicadas made a loud, choked sound as if it were squeezing out its last
breath, then stopped completely.
"Today's the last
day, what do you want to do?"
Will you stick with
me? Hikaru continued.
"As if you're
going to let me go," I smiled and said.
---
Cicadas were chirping
in the distance.
With their last
breaths of life, they chirp loudly, sharply, and strongly.
The sun radiated
violent heat overhead.
Having decided to buy
some food before heading to our final destination, I left Hikaru, who was
checking out and headed to a nearby supermarket. I hadn't eaten anything since
last night and was starving. Apparently, even after witnessing the murder of a
friend, my stomach still growled.
I had checked the
online news this morning and had seen reports of Goto's death. The article,
titled "30-year-old man found strangled to death at home; police confirm
murder," described the incident in a very simple manner, in stark contrast
to the gruesome scene I had witnessed through the door.
The article stated
that no suspects had been identified. However, the media reports and the actual
investigation might not be the same.
We were already beyond
the point of no return.
"Rin?"
Suddenly, I heard my
name being called from behind so I turned around.
Miu was about ten
meters away.
A tall, slightly
tanned girl with long hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was once a good
friend of Serina and I. She was looking at me with serious eyes.
Miu was wearing her
school uniform. Seeing that, I remembered that it was a weekday and school day.
Outside of our world, time was still flowing as usual.
"What are you
doing here at this hour?"
"... I didn't
feel well."
Looking closely, her
complexion did look pale. I wondered if she had heard about Serina's death, but
I thought it was too early for her to hear about it. She might have heard
something about Goto. She was quite the sensitive
girl.
However, Miu didn't
say anything about those things.
"You've been
absent from school for a while."
"How do you know
that?"
I exclaimed in
surprise. We were in different grades and classes, and we had no contact at
all.
"Since I became a
third-year student, I've been going to Rin's classroom every day," Miu
said, her eyes downcast. "I was worried about whether Rin was doing
okay."
I didn't know how to
react. Should I be angry and say that it was none of her business, or should I
be happy that she didn't hate me?
In the end, I chose to
remain expressionless. I didn't have the energy to face her right now.
"Will you come
back to school?" Miu asked.
"I don't
know."
"Why?"
"I can't answer
that."
I tried to turn away
to leave, but Miu stopped me and I faced her again.
"Rin, what are
you doing here?"
I couldn't say that we
were on the run, playing a game of murder. After a few seconds of hesitation, I
opened my mouth.
"I'm on a
date."
I replied with what
little humor I had left in me. It was probably the first time in my life I had
said that word, and it felt completely unnatural. It felt uncomfortable.
Then Miu said
something strange. "With Natsuno-kun?"
"Why do you think
so?"
"I'm not sure.
Natsuno-kun hasn't been coming to school either after all."
Did Serina tell Miu
how Hikaru felt about me? No, given Serina's pride, she probably wouldn't.
"Do you hate
me?"
I didn't answer.
"I understand.
It's only natural that you hate me. I knew you were innocent, but I couldn't
stop Serina."
I guess it can't be
helped. It's much harder to blame a friend for something one thinks is wrong
than to praise them.
"Serina didn't
hate you, Rin. You were a little strange, but I thought that was part of what
made you, Rin. I think she just lost control for a moment. And then she
couldn't take it back, and she didn't know when to apologize."
"Miu, you're so
kind."
When I said that,
Miu's face contorted.
Why did she have such
a hurt look on her face? If one were qualified to make such a facial expression,
would Miu qualified to make that face? Whether she was or not, I had no right
to blame her.
"I can finally
hate Serina."
With that, I turned my
back on her.
I had to hurry and
finish my errands and return to Hikaru.
Even if the end result
was ruin, I knew that the end of summer would come mercilessly. For now, this
was enough. There was no other choice.
If it were fiction,
this would be the last chapter. I had already made up my mind long ago.
When I first decided
to kill someone. No, that's wrong.
From the day I took
Hikaru's hand. I think it's better to think of it that way.
---
We rode the train for
about an hour and then walked the rest of the way. The destination Hikaru had
mentioned was supposed to be somewhere ahead.
Blue sky, heat haze,
dripping sweat, and cicadas. Without any wind, I walked along the asphalt road,
exposed to the warm heat trapped in the heavy air. Trees lined both sides of
the road, and the sound of cicadas pierced both of my ears. Even though summer
was coming to an end and the cicadas were dying, there were still some stubborn
ones.
In addition to the hot
and heavy air, my body was sluggish as if I were recovering from an illness,
and I followed behind Hikaru in a daze.
I wondered if there
was someone Hikaru wanted to kill ahead.
It was 2 PM, and the
heat was suffocating.
The road stretched out
ahead of us, with a gentle slope, gradually draining our energy. Furthermore,
the awkward atmosphere between Hikaru and me, which had been there ever since
he killed Serina, was suffocating. I had to do something about this situation.
I took out a folded
umbrella I always kept in my backpack and rushed to Hikaru's back.
"Here, an
umbrella."
The tip of the
umbrella's ribs poked Hikaru's nape. Since I was a bit short to cover Hikaru,
who was tall, with the umbrella, I wanted him to hold it if possible.
Hikaru was silent for
a few seconds, as if thinking about something, then muttered.
"...Have you ever
seen anyone walking with an umbrella in any of the escape movies you've
watched?"
I stared at him
blankly, then burst out laughing.
He was the same old
Hikaru I liked.
"Just get under
it, you're going to get heatstroke,"
I walked beside Hikaru
as if skipping.
"Well, try saying
‘heat stroke’ slowly."
"Gross. Shut up
and take it."
Hikaru took the
umbrella, but it was too small to cover both me and him, who was bigger, so we
had to get as close as possible. The heat was so intense that I was afraid I
would get heat stroke, which is why I had put on the umbrella.
"Hey, what did
you say to call Serina over?"
I don't think it's
easy to call someone to a beach far from a residential area. I couldn't do it.
How did Hikaru get Serina to come?
To my question, Hikaru
answered without looking at me, as if he didn't care.
"I said that
Rin's drowned body was found."
"...Really?"
"It's true."
No way. I laughed
dryly. There's no way she would move because of my dead body.
And yet, I couldn't
help but remember. The incredibly surprised look on Serina's face when she
noticed me, and the fact that she wasn't even wearing makeup to meet someone
she liked. It seemed possible that she had rushed out after receiving a call
from Hikaru.
After thinking that
far, I decided that couldn't be the case.
A heat haze shimmered
at the end of the gentle slope. Scattered cumulus clouds floated in the sky.
---
"Rin, look."
I don't know how many
hours we'd been walking. The sun, which should have been overhead, was now
tilted to the west.
I heard Hikaru's voice
and lifted my face, which had been turned towards the ground.
"This
place..."
I knew this place.
It was a small,
unmanned station without a ticket gate. The first thing I noticed was the
station name sign, covered in ivy, followed by a dilapidated bench. The station
building was covered in lush greenery, almost invisible as it blended into
nature. Weeds grew wildly on the old railway tracks.
Among the photos
Hikaru had given me before our escape was one of this abandoned station.
"It's a nice place."
I said, looking
around. As I did, Hikaru climbed the stairs and entered the station. I folded
up the umbrella, put it in my backpack, and followed him.
The station had a
roof, and the surrounding area was covered in plants, making it cool. A sudden,
refreshing breeze passed through, and a bead of sweat trickled down my back.
Hikaru turned around
and said, "Did you know? This is the filming location for [Hymn of
Summer]."
"Really?"
"Really. Look,
it's the unmanned station where Kaito and Masaki first got off when they
started their escape. The trains were still running back then, so the
atmosphere was quite different."
"I see. ...I've
watched it so many times but I never noticed."
Now that he mentioned
it, I could see the resemblance to the station in the movie. I was a little
shocked that I hadn't noticed it was a place from a movie I loved, even though
the atmosphere was slightly different.
I touched a pillar
with peeling white paint. When I pressed it slightly with my fingertips, small
pieces of wood fell off. Looking up, I saw a tall tree branch piercing through
the roof, with a patch of blue sky visible through the hole.
I wondered how many
more times people would visit this station. When would the next person come to
this small, abandoned station after we left? Maybe in a few years, or maybe
more than ten years later.
This lonely place
seemed to suit us well.
"Hey, who's it
going to be today?"
I asked Hikaru,
referring to who he was going to kill.
Hikaru looked up at
the blue sky, then slowly turned his body around.
"―I want to kill
you, Rin."
Hikaru had the same
expression on his face as last summer.
On the fourth floor of
the chemistry lab. It was a year and about a month ago that I called out his
name, who was sitting on the window sill with his back to the school building.
The resignation and
empty expression in his dark eyes must have been a symbol of his suicidal
thoughts.
―I wonder why Hikaru wants to die.
I looked up at the
dilapidated roof, thinking about the words Hikaru had given me.
Because I have no
future. That's what Hikaru had said. ―If that's the case, then it's the same
for me.
"Okay."
In an instant, my body
tilted backward.
Just as I thought I
was going to fall, I realized that he was holding me in his arms.
"I'm lying,"
Hikaru whispered in my ear.
"It's okay, kill
me," I said.
"I won't,"
Hikaru said like a child.
When we started this
escape, I had a vague premonition. I thought I wouldn't survive this summer. I
thought that was what it meant to kill someone. Now that I did not kill anyone
in the end, only my half-hearted resolve remained in me. I wanted to save it
somehow.
A temperature much
gentler than the summer heat slowly flowed into my body. It reminded me of
thermal equilibrium, which I had learned about in physics class. I was
disgusted with myself for thinking of such things at a time like this.
After the cicadas'
voices faded away, Hikaru's body temperature left mine. With a sense of
reluctance, I took a step back and faced him.
We looked into each
other's eyes without saying anything. Due to the position of the roof and the
sun, a boundary line between the shade and the sunlight was drawn between me
and Hikaru. Hikaru, bathed in sunlight, squinted his eyes.
With the distant
cumulus clouds and the late summer sun behind him, Hikaru opened his mouth
calmly.
"I'm the one
who's going to die now."
He said that it had
already been decided since that day in the chemistry lab that summer.
Summer ends.
People die eventually.
Light fades out.
It's only natural. I
knew that. But, ―
I just prayed that now
wasn't the time.
Even though I
understood that this prayer wouldn't be answered.
---
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