He took cover behind a wall and stopped to catch his breath. Hitori put his hands over his knees and leaned forward. Due to the summer heat, his body was heating up and the sweat was soaking his clothes wet.
Hitori stood in the alley for a few minutes and only took a peek when he had his breath under control. He saw the empty streets with a man or two entering the shops in the side rooms.
The green grass was watered and it was now shining under the sunlight. The stone pavement was dry and bright under the sun. Then he returned his head and raised it to look at the dark alley he was standing in.
The light just seemed to change paths after hitting the walls. He looked around– the darkest corner was at the end of the darkest spot in the alley. The walls facing each other looked like dark prison walls.
He remembered the bright sun. He wanted to stay in the alley forever– it was cool, it was comfortable– unlike the heat outside. But he remembered his goal to reach Akemi. Maybe she has a cooling started in her room– of course, she does.
So he checked the coast once again. Mono was missing, the nerd had vanished, and the teachers were not looking for him. He was safe to move out. His target was the portal at the end of the street, above the corner grass.
He calculated the distance and figured it might be somewhere around a hundred meters, he was not sure. And at this rate– being exhausted and out of stamina– a hundred-meter spring will tire him.
And if things go wrong, as they did with the bully, he would not be able to protect himself. He just wished this day would go without any troubles, but he thought all the troubles were going to happen today and today only.
"I better not tire myself," he said as he walked out of the shadows and stepped into the sunlight. "Ah, I hate coming out in summer."
He kept glancing around and taking a quick peek at anyone who stepped out or went inside the buildings. The hundred-meter walk was full of uncertainty and fear. But when he was a meter away from the portal, he did not bother entering it in a civilized manner.
He took a step forward, pushed the last leg off the ground, and jumped into the portal.
He rolled on his way and landed on his knees. The first thing he saw was the dormitory. He looked around, the students stared at him as they crossed the street. Hitori got to his feet, he was uncomfortable with the stares now that he was out of danger and had something else to think about.
But he ignored them and raced to the entrance. The door slid open for him, thankfully no guard asked for his identification, so he was free to take the stairs. He knew the room she was staying in, so he only stopped when he reached the seventh floor.
He went to room 707, the room at the end of the corridor. And knocked on it. He was surprisingly calm even when he was meeting her after that incident.
He was wondering whether the photos and the Murder Plans he sent had reached her or not. Guess he will know it in a minute.
He knocked again after five seconds, then came a tired voice from inside. "What is it? I told you not to disturb me, damn, even the sign is hanging outside!" she yelled.
Hitori frowned, lowered his eyes, and, yes, the 'do not disturb.' sign was hanging on the door handle.
"I don't want any help right now, so you may leave," she said, and he imagined her turning her face to the wall on the other side of her bed.
"Right," he said, "you may not need my help, but I need yours." He imagined her eyes widening and a smile spreading on her face– although he was not sure it was happening.
He heard low stutters, then a burst of saying. "H-Hitori!" He saw her jumping on the corner of her bed. "Is, is that you, Hitori?" she asked again, now he imagined her jumping to her feet and walking to get to the door.
But she could none of those, she pressed the button on her side, and the door opened. Hitori saw her sitting upright in the bed, trying to force her pelvis to stand still, a smile on her face, but not so pleased to see him.
"Come in, you, who decided to show up after months!" She raised her arms and welcomed Hitori into the room.
He glanced on both sides of the corridor before stepping into the room and closing the door. "I am sorry, I did not see the sign outside. I guess I was too eager to see you."
"Well, surprise, I was not expecting to see you till I could walk. I imagined finding you, then kicking your ass for never showing up."
"Whoa, thank god you can not—" He stopped. She realized what he was going to say, although it was a joke, her smile faded. Hitori gulped and lowered his head. "Sorry."
It did hurt, but not as much as she had expected. She turned her head to face the wall. "All you are did since you came in is apologize," she muttered loud enough for him to hear.
Hitori rubbed his forehead and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
She looked at him, it was a sort of glare. "Talk to me. Do you know how lonely and sad it is for me after Jigoku left? I can not talk to anyone, I hate talking with the healers here, they treat me more like a patient than a friend. I want love, not sympathy. But looks like only Jigoku could make me feel that way."
And she looked the other way again, expecting Hitori to say something. But his eye twitched due to her drama. He thought I did not come here to watch this.
He inhaled and was about to sigh, but decided he better not. He looked at her, still sulking. "Look," he said, "I am not your brother, so do not do that to me. No one has made me feel the way Kamiya used to, and I know I can not make you feel the way he did. But… if you stop that… we can be friends," he proposed.
She sighed and looked at him again. "Friends," she said, "okay. Ask me about my condition, friend."
Hitori stared at her for a while, then walked to her bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Well, I am on my periods, so irritated and frustrated." He did not want that information. "Besides that, I miss him. And I do not like the service here– they are annoying."
Hitori thought that he should change the question, so he said, "Well, how is your condition?" He looked at her hips and she followed his gaze.
"Better than before. They say I will be able to walk—"
"Oh, damn, good!" he exclaimed.
"—in a year or so," she completed. Hitori nodded and then thought about a question– just to continue the conversation.
"What would be the first thing you do…" He paused and rubbed his nose temple, then added, "if you could walk– I mean– when you could walk."
Her face broke into a smile and she chuckled. "You are stupid," she muttered, not letting him hear it this time.
He was dumbfounded, why is she laughing? He thought.
"What? I just, just out of curiosity. You don't need to laugh at it."
"No, sorry, I just could not hold back!" She blurted out laughing.
"I am serious," he said, but she could not stop, "alright, I am leaving—"
"Oh, wait, wait," she raised her hands, trying to grab him, and protested. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, she was controlling her laugh now. "You, you are surprisingly fun to have around."
He frowned. He turned and squinted at her. "I am here out of…" He drifted again, thinking about the words she had said: 'I don't want sympathy.' So he stayed silent.
"Well, if you ask me, then the first thing I will do is kick your ass for not saving Jigoku, but then maybe I will give you a hug for being with him even when this war was never yours to fight."
"No," he said, "I got myself involved, I would appreciate a hug from you, but if I had not got myself involved—"
"Go to hell! Damn you to the hell, I am not listening, blah, blah, blah." She covered her ears and started singing random songs. It was her way to stop someone from speaking negatively.
Hitori was confused at first and felt hurt, but when he reflected on his thoughts, he realized he should not say those things after everything that has happened.
He decided to stand still till she stops this. In the middle of singing, she took a peek and saw him standing still. She closed her eyes and said, "If you promise not to continue when I stop, I will stop."
He waited till she opened her left eye, then nodded. She was convinced. So she stopped throwing random lyrics at him.
"What you did was the best you could without knowing the consequences. Even if you lost a good friend and I lost a brother, you need to accept the reality. Like I did." She pointed at her hips.
He was surprised by her words, and it hit him that he should accept the reality… and that this was the time for him to move on. Move On. It sounded so foreign and unacceptable to him.
"How… how are you holding up, Akemi-san?"
She rested her hands on the sides of the bed and looked at the wall again. "I accepted it, Hitori. And it helped me to move on." She never looked at him as she said, "I try to forget him, and I think I have made some progress."
He took a hit he could barely handle. "Are you serious? He, he was not just a brother to you!"
"Hitori—"
"Do not say otherwise! I know better than that. How the hell can you even try to… to forget him? He needs to live in our hearts! You loved him, god damn it, you freaking loved him!"
She said nothing but nodded. "I still do. I love him more than myself– but I can not anymore. I can not."
He opened his mouth again, but thanks to the sunlight that beamed through the window behind her behind, he saw a gleaming tear in her eye. And that stopped him. He glanced behind and saw a chair.
He saw that she was still looking at the wall. "Do you want to talk about something else? Something serious, are you okay with that?" he said, grabbing the chair.
She stood frozen for a moment, then nodded just when he was about to repeat. "Y-Yes, I would love that– it has been ages since I talk about something serious."
Her voice was breaking– on the verge of crying– as she talked. He swung the chair and put it in front of her bed.
"Alright," he said, taking a seat, "let us talk about something serious." He leaned forward, pulled his hands near his chin, and extend his thumbs. Then by taking the support of his thumbs, he rested his chin on them.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel