CH 106

(**Sakihime’s POV**)

“Can you stand?”

Saijo-san suddenly appeared, and after I clung to her for a few moments, she smiled and reached out her hand to me.

Her smile was a gentle one, it’s different from the evil-soaked smiles that she had directed at me in the past.

In the past few days that we have lived together, she has always given me this smile.

A few hours ago I couldn’t even accept this smile of hers, but now I can accept it with open arms.

I don’t know if it is because she showed up at a time when I was feeling discouraged or because I was happy that she was looking for me so desperately that her pajamas were soaking wet and sweat was pouring from her forehead like a waterfall.

All I know is that I am not disgusted with her now.

But right now… I have no choice but to reject her hand.

“I’m sorry… I sprained both my legs, I can’t stand up…”

I said to Saijo-san and looked down at the ground.

“I see.”

She only replied shortly when she heard my reply.

I wonder if I’m going to be left out here…?

…I don’t want that.

Because I’m afraid of being left alone again in this kind of moonlight.

But I surely would.

It would be much smarter to call for help than to take care of someone who can’t move, because I know where that person is.

I couldn’t look up, thinking I was going to be alone again.

Then― Saijo-san took an unexpected action.

She suddenly lifted my left arm, put her head between my armpits, and hunched my shoulders.

“What are you doing…?”

I asked her, puzzled by Saijo-san’s behavior.

“What you ask, you can’t move, right? I can’t carry you on my back, so I’m going to put you on my shoulders and take you with me.”

Saijo-san responded as if it was only natural.

It was as if leaving me behind had never been an option.

“Why…? Wouldn’t it be better if you went back alone and called for help?　Because I can’t walk, you know? It would take hours to get me back up this steep mountain, and I can’t walk…”

“Wouldn’t that make you uncomfortable?”

“Oh…”

At Saijo-san’s words, I looked at her face.

She didn’t care about efficiency.

She just wants to take me back with her so that I don’t have to be scared alone.

I’m so happy about that…

I really appreciate it.

“Or rather, I don’t want to go home alone because I’m too scared. …To begin with, I’m also lost…”　　

Saijo-san chuckled in a bad mood and told me she was lost.

What was it that I was thanking her for earlier… but I’m still glad she’s concerned about me.

“If it’s the way back, I know it…”

“Really!?”

I nodded in agreement to Saijo-san’s question.

I know the cliff I fell from, so I know the direction I came up the mountain from that location.

It may be impossible to follow the exact same path, but as long as I know the direction, I should head in that direction.

Even if I go off the path a little, as long as I remember how I turned and walked, I won’t lose my way.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Saijo-san, perhaps motivated by the direction in which we could return, exclaimed, and began to walk, dragging me along with her.

But― after about ten minutes, her limit had come.

“Haa… haa…!”

Saijo-san was out of breath and sweating profusely, but she kept walking.

I thought it was amazing that she didn’t whine even though she was in this condition.

…I, too, wanted to learn from her.

“I’m sorry… Momoi… Haa~… haa~… I’m just dragging my feet to walk… haa~… but does your limb hurt…?”

Besides, Saijo-san is concerned about my limp, even though it must be more difficult for her.

I really feel pathetic and miserable now.

I knew I shouldn’t continue to take advantage of her.

“I’m fine… but hey, do you have any long, thick branches?”

“Heh…?　Well, of course, because we’re in the mountains, so there should be…”

Suddenly I said I wanted a long, thick branch, and she sounded puzzled.

But soon she picked up a long, thick branch and handed it to me instead of me, who was having a hard time even crouching down.

I could tell she was a very considerate person as she carefully crouched down so that I wouldn’t have to bend over.

I took the long, thick branch from Saijo-san and used it as a walking stick, shifting my center of gravity slightly to the stick to reduce her burden.

“Are you okay…? Aren’t you straining yourself…?”

She called out to me with concern as I walked with my left hand on Saijo-san’s shoulder and my right hand on the branch in place of the cane.

Really, why is this person worried about me when Saijo-san seems to be having a harder time…?

I couldn’t believe that this person was the same Saijo-san who had set me up that time.

I smile back at her even as I think about this.

“Yeah, I’m fine, is Saijo-san okay?”

“Yes, Momoi made it a lot easier.”

I’ve been able to shift my center of gravity to the cane, but only a little, so she still has a lot of work to do.

Still, Saijo-san is such a nice person to answer with a kind smile so that I don’t have to worry about it.

With me directing the direction of our walk and Saijo-san almost acting as a foot soldier― a cooperative play between the two of us, we set out to get through the mountain.

And our efforts bore fruit a short time later.

“―There they are!”

Suddenly, a bright light shone on us, and we heard a man’s loud shout.

Starting with that voice, we hear a lot of people saying.

“Thank goodness… you’re here…”

“S-Saijo-san!?”

Saijo-san, who must have been pushing herself too hard up to this point, was so relaxed by the arrival of the rescuers that she fainted and collapsed.

Naturally, I, who could not stand on my legs, fell to the ground with her.

I managed to keep her face from touching the ground, but I felt so pathetic that I couldn’t even hold her in my arms after she had worked so hard.

But now, more than that, there are words I need to say to her.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, Saijo-san. Also――― thank you.”

I thanked her from the bottom of my heart as I watched her sleeping face as she passed out―.