CH 52

Chapter 52: Meeting In Hell

TL: Akabane

***

On the day before GW, me and Ayashiro saw off Yuzuriha and Milan, who were going back to their parents' house, at the airport.

"Uwaaaa. I can't be with you guys even though I'm on holiday! Sigh."

"That's right. That's sad. I'm sorry too. I wish I could have spent time with everyone."

We met by chance. So there was no way to make plans for GW. We could only choose to spend time with our families that we had made in advance. If we had known the future, we could have chosen a different path. Maybe it would have been more fun.

"Hey, what about Tokiwa? How would you have spent GW if you had known we were going to get along like this?"

Ayashiro said so on the train on the way back from the airport.

"Well, I would have spent it with you guys in a funny way... of course I would have."

But what was really going on? When I learned that Igarashi was almost drugged with sleeping pills, I think my mind was already occupied with closing the culprit to GW.

"Yes, that's right. I like to think so too. It's fun because you never know what the future holds. Some people say that, but in reality, the future is only based on the accumulation of the past. Therefore, our choices are always drawn from the past. It is the same for me. The family vacation starting tomorrow is more than just a little important to me. I'm honestly relieved that I don't have to think about which way the scales will tip when I weigh it against you guys..."

We don't know what happened in her past. But I do know that it has scarred her. I had a strange certainty. I would eventually touch that wound. That's what I think.

"You've been tense lately. They were worried about you. Do you think you'll be able to resolve it?"

"...I'm okay...I'd like to think...no...I miss them. I miss you so much..."

Igarashi helplessly makes my heart grow restless. The memories inside me are terribly heavy. I know I was loved, and that's why my heart freezes with the weight of it.

"Yeah. Hey. How about this?"

Ayashiro gently holds my left hand with both of hers. It's warm. Very warm.

"I guess this is your moment of truth. I'm sorry. Forgive me for not being there for you at that time."

"No, you're not. This is enough."

And the train has reached the transfer station at Ayashiro. Here we parted for a while. Our hands are separated. But for a while, her fingers caress the back of my hand, as if she's regretting the absence.

"Well, see you later."

"Yeah, see you."

We waved goodbye. Ayashiro is no longer with us. But her warmth remains. It was warm enough to fill the loneliness in my heart. So I said.

"It's okay to be a little selfish, isn't it? Ririse."

I mutter to myself. And then my GW begins.

The newcomers' camp of the circle "Ronghi Javelot," in which I participate, is quite a large group. There are about 100 freshmen, both male and female. There are about 20 seniors of the top caste who have been selected. It's a huge group. I got into this camp through Kekai's connections, but in reality, there was a selection process called an interview for each university. Naturally, the girls were checked for their face and style, while the boys were checked to see if their parents had a big family or if they were upper-class citizens.

"It's more than just riajuu-enrichment, it's advance enrichment, or upper-class enrichment. It's fine if it's just a peek, but it's hard to say whether it's a good idea to attend..." 

At 7:00 in the morning, in the plaza of Tokyo Station, the meeting place, all the beautiful girls were gathered together in a seriously unnatural way. The guys looked like they were bonbons, too. The disparity in the college circle is much more severe than that in high school. Seriously, the caste system in high school is very small compared to that in college.

"And then I found the culprit."

I don't even want to say his name. Let's just call him Kuzu Blue. He's out there with a bunch of other guys picking on the girls in the neighborhood. I'm sure he's just trying to get some hot summer fun on his dad's yacht. Normally, this is where I'd start making friends with Kuzu Blue. Right now, I had other priorities. I step away from the students for a moment and dial the phone, and after about five rings, the guy answers.

||  "Hello, I'm sorry. Who is this? The number is on the screen, but the name isn't showing..."

"...Huh...it's me. Tokiwa..."

||  "Eh?! What? Tokiwa?"

It's Igarashi that I called. We didn't exchange contact information after the leap. But I know her phone number. I remember it from the previous world.

||  "Umm... What's that...?"

"...... That ...... Oh! Oh, God! I can't! I can't put it into words properly!"

There are many things that need to be said. But I still can't sort them out. I'm choking on words because I made the phone call on the spur of the moment.

||  "Is it about the other day? That... that... that was..."

"That's... that's... that's okay now... it's not... it's not... what I want to say is... fuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

Inhale as hard as you can.

"Don't travel."

||  "...What? Eh? Don't go? Travel...?"

"Just don't go. Then come to me right now."

It's really stupid. Instead of smartly sabotaging the trip or making it difficult for Hagiri, I just tells Igarashi to not to go on the trip. How dumb I am.

||  "But I have to go now...I promised to go on the trip."

"Choose me over that promise."

||  "...Eh...why? Why are you saying that now? I told you I'm not..."

"Because I want to do something different ・・・・ at this moment."

If Igarashi kicks off the trip, I'll be there to pick her up right away. After that, I don't know...we'll run away together out of Hagiri's reach for the duration of GW. Fortunately, I have plenty of money. It doesn't matter.

||  "I don't understand what you're saying."

"I don't know either...but I want to do this. Don't travel. Don't go. I'm coming to get you right now."

||  "But I...I...already...hmm? Huh? You're kidding, right... that's not possible..."

Somehow I can hear Igarashi's puzzled voice from the other end of the phone. Could it be that Hagiri is by her side, listening to what she's saying?

"Is that you? Are you there?!!!!"

At that moment, I was tapped on the shoulder. Probably a student from the circle or something. Many people talk to me in this kind of place in a familiar manner.

"Sorry, I'm in the middle of something."

I said without turning around. He tapped me on the shoulder again.

"I'm on a very important call! Leave me alone!"

I yell more without turning around. But he still taps me on the shoulder. I can't hear Igarashi's voice from the phone and I was getting annoyed enough. So I decided to turn around and threaten him directly.

"Listen, I'm doing the biggest dare of my life right now...fugyu?!"

The moment I turned around, his jabbed me in the cheek with his finger.

"K-K-Kyahaha! I can't believe you're falling for this nowadays! Fufufu. It's so fun...ufufu."

To my surprise, I turned around to see a smiling Igarashi. She was wearing a neat long-skirted one-piece dress and sneakers. A fashion with a sense of being somewhere else.

"...Eh? Umm? Huh? Why? Eh?? Haaa?"

My mind was so bugged that I couldn't use words properly anymore.

"I'd like to hear that! You called me out of the blue and said a bunch of super pointless things!"

"Ah...ah...yeah...yeah...fuuuuuuuuuuu. Calm down, calm down...why are you here? Are you going on a trip from here by any chance? Where is he, Hagiri?"

"If it's Chusho, he's not here. I mean, Tokiwa is going on a trip too. But you're asking me to go on a trip, isn't that weird? Are you stupid?"

"No, no, no! I'm going on today's circle trip for various reasons..."

Whenever Igarashi starts to talk, the story usually gets mixed up. I'm really scared because I don't understand what's going on. What the hell is going on?

"Yeah! I'm going to participate in this circle trip for various reasons!"

"I didn't see your name on the preliminary list of participants..."

"Hm? Yeah, that's..."

"Riri! What are you doing? They're about to call the roll! If you don't come back, you'll be left behind...? What are you doing?! Why are you here?!"

To our surprise, Mashiba came running to our side from the circle's meeting place.

"Today's trip! I asked Tomoe! I want to go on that circle trip over there, so she let me in!"

"...Don't tell me you're going with Hagiri?"

What am I supposed to do then? Hit him anyway? Kick him?

"Hagiri is not here. I mean, why are you here! You're ruining my circle trip! Oh...God...that's the worst..."

Mashiba is staring at me with a blatantly disgusted look on her face. On the contrary, I was very relieved that Hagiri wasn't there.

"Oh no. I'm already a college student, aren't I? That's why I was thinking that I'd like to go on a trip with my circle or club activities rather than going on a GW trip with my family... haha."

Somehow, Igarashi is embarrassed and beaming. Well, I can somewhat understand the feeling.

"Traveling with your family? Where's Hagiri?"

"So it was a joint family trip between the Hagiri and Igarashi families!"

Is this what Igarashi want talking about? Haha, that's funny. I unintentionally cover my face with my hands. If there was a hole, I would want to be in it forever. That's how I feel. But if I think about it calmly, going on a family trip with both families is already at the level of a fiancée. I might as well get out of the hole.

"Riri is so fickle, isn't she? I was really surprised that she suddenly called me yesterday and asked me to join her on a circle trip..."

"Oh no. I'm sorry! Thank you, Tomoe!"

Igarashi hugged Mashiba tightly. Mashiba also looked not too happy about it. I understand what's going on. She don't travel with Hagiri. I am feeling happy about that. And even though it's a circle trip, it's with Igarashi. That's strange. I can no longer hide my elated self.

"Hey, Mashiba! And Igarashi! The bus will be leaving soon!"

There was a guy who came by our side. When I saw him, my elation and happiness were instantly blown away. The culprit, Kuzu Blue, was standing by Mashiba and the others, looking familiar. That was it. This trip had originally come to kick the culprit to the curb. Oh no. I looked at Kuzu Blue's face. He was looking at Igarashi with a somewhat unpleasant look and seemed to have a nasty smile on his face.

"Yes, yes. Let's go, Riri. Leave those punks alone, leave them alone!"

Mashiba headed toward the bus with Kuzu Blue. Me and Igarashi stayed behind.

"To be honest...I'm relieved."

Igarashi turned over, cheeks flushed red, and muttered in a whisper.

"If he had come to get me...I wonder if I could have been honest...hahaha! That's not what I just said! Forget it!"

Igarashi looked up and had a happy smile on her face.

"I'm looking forward to the circle trip! Let's have lots of fun together!"

Saying that, Igarashi made a short run toward the bus.

"Oh no...I'm stuck..."

I shouldn't be participating in a good thing with the culprit. But I can't tell her not to go on the circle trip in this condition. If I say such a thing, she'll be disappointed and become Hagiri's property. But it is difficult for us to run away together now. We have Mashiba by our side. If she reports to Hagiri, it will be a terrible situation. I don't think Igarashi will be able to make a calm decision at that time.

"It's hell no matter which one I choose...damn..."

It's cursed. The road is stained and comatose. But still... Even on such a road now.

"But I have Ririse by my side. I can't choose any other path."

I willingly head for the bus. If hell is the only way, at least I want to be where she is. This is how I ended up in the hellish newcomers' camp.