Chapter 91 The Promise of Reunion in the Future
“What if… when we grow up…?”
“Hey, hey~ Kanade~ can you hear me~?”
In the spacious Japanese tatami room, the bedding has been laid out in two rows.
Kanade sits cross-legged on his own bedding, wearing a clean tracksuit.
Even though Rin has tried to talk to him several times, he seems not to have heard.
Rin curiously stares at Kanade, who has been absent-minded ever since returning from the bath.
Kanade keeps mumbling about something.
At this moment, even when facing the “intense” gazes from the other boys in the room, he remains oblivious.
This piques Rin’s curiosity immensely.
Something must have happened when that guy sneaked out to take a bath.
The other boys in the room seem to have noticed Kanade’s unusual behavior as well, and a few of his friends gather around him.
“…Wah!? What, what are you doing?”
Kanade finally comes to his senses when he realizes the area around him has become crowded.
“Be honest, what stage are you and Hoshimiya-san at?”
Meanwhile, in the outdoor hot spring designated for female use,
Nagisa is also surrounded by girls.
The news of Nagisa regaining her memories was communicated to her teacher by the medical staff during her hospital stay.
Adding to this, Nagisa’s high popularity at Hoshikage High School meant that by the time she returned to the hotel, the news had already spread.
So now, the girls have come to congratulate Nagisa and to learn about the intriguing rumor they had heard in the car.
“Did Hoshimiya-chan and Tsukimi-kun really go all the way?”
“Is that rumor true? Is it really that enjoyable…?”
These girls truly embody the curious enthusiasm of adolescent teenagers, don’t they?
Nagisa finds it hard to handle their fervor about such topics.
It’s a trap that she herself set for the sake of impressing Ayako.
As a result, Nagisa can’t complain about anything at this moment; she can only rely on the persona she has built to pretend she doesn’t understand what they are talking about.
However, there is one thing.
Nagisa intends to clarify here, which is—
“Actually, Kanade-kun and I were pretending to be in a relationship to investigate the curse at school.”
The boys who heard this exchange glance at each other, seemingly skeptical of what Kanade had said.
Only when they saw Rin’s expression of “Ah, it must have been exposed,” did they gradually realize that it seemed to be true, just as Kanade had said.
“Since the relationship is fake, then about climbing the ladder to adulthood with Hoshimiya-san—”
“That was definitely a misunderstanding—”
“—Tsukimi, you bastard, did you really end up taking advantage of your innocent childhood friend?!”
“Eh!? How did it turn into this explanation!?” Kanade exclaimed in shock.
“If Hoshimiya-san feels sad because of losing her first time to Tsukimi, she will definitely be hurt after she grows up.”
“That’s such a hurtful statement! I’m feeling extremely sad right now! And I’ve still kept my first time!”
“I see, so when you kept mumbling about wanting to become an adult, it meant…” Rin interjected into the boys’ conversation with Kanade.
“No, no, no, although it might be coincidental, it’s not what you imagine—”
“You want to become a dirty adult and abandon Nagisa…”
“Why do you twist it into such a pessimistic meaning!? And apologize to all the adults in the world for me!”
“So what do you mean by wanting to become an adult?”
“I just simply want to grow up faster and become an adult!”
“For the sake of being able to date two people at once?”
“Rin, how much misunderstanding do you have about adults!?”
“I really don’t know what to do with you~ Then I’ll take care of this!” Rin’s expression showed a mix of helplessness and confidence.
“Do you have a good method—” Kanade’s eyes lit up.
Rin took out her phone and displayed the screen to all the guys.
On the screen was a QR code.
“As long as you scan this, you can grow up.”
“Th-this is…” In front of the other boys who dared not move recklessly, Kanade hesitantly took out his phone and pointed it at Rin’s screen.
“It’s a link to an adult film website.”
“That’s definitely not the kind of growth I need!” Kanade complained as he set his phone down.
“This is a rare opportunity for growth, you know?”
“I don’t need this kind of opportunity at all!?”
But along with Kanade’s complaints, the boys hurriedly took out their phones to scan the QR code.
“Kanade, it’s very rude to judge the things others recommend based on your fixed impressions~”
“Ah, no, you might be right…”
“Every single thing in this world can become something you might never encounter in your life, so the more you engage with them, the more experience you’ll gain—”
“Um, um, I’m very sorry—”
“After all, this is a hard-to-find adult education film featuring an elderly gentleman in his eighties and another in his seventies, transcending gender and age.”
“Give me back that moment of reflection I just had!”
“Eyes! My eyes!!!” “Ahhhhh! Wrinkles!” “Loosened skin! Is it an entrance or an exit!?”…
The boys who had just opened the link wailed.
“You see, everybody has learned a lesson about growth that they may never encounter in their lifetime!”
“Indeed, in a certain sense, it’s growth! But it’s not the kind of growth I wanted!?” At least these boys certainly wouldn’t easily scan unknown QR codes in the future, right? Kanade silently mourned for the boys who had collapsed into a pool of blood for three seconds.
“I really don’t know what to do with Kanade-kun~”
“Why do you look at me with that judging gaze as if I’m a reckless child!? Isn’t it Rin who’s the weird one here!?”
“At this point, we can’t avoid using a simple and powerful method!” Rin said confidently, patting her chest.
“And that method is—”
“Take a photo and then use software to edit it.” Rin opened the camera on her phone.
“Ah, I see…” Kanade realized. Indeed, some current software features can naturally age a person’s image in a photo—
“But it still feels like it won’t lead to the growth you want, right? Kanade-kun, you’re definitely thinking that now, aren’t you?”
“Telepathy!? How do you know my thoughts!?”
“Using editing software is just to give you a rough idea and understanding of your future. What’s that saying? Once you have a goal, you know the direction to move towards.”
“!? I never expected to hear such reasonable advice from you, Rin. I misjudged you before!” Kanade was very touched, “So what should I do now?”
“First, stand up straight against the wall…”
“And hold a board in your hands… Ah, a plain one is fine; I’ll edit your name on it later.”
“Alright, this upright posture…”
“OK~ Lastly, just need to cover your eyes with a black strip—”
“—Am I a criminal? Are we taking a picture of a criminal’s photo!?”
“Doesn’t it feel like growth? At first glance, it’s clear that this guy has an interesting past—”
“I feel like others will just see me as a minor criminal with a bleak future!?”
“Is that so? How about we edit the background to be a courtroom and have a judge pronounce your death sentence—”
“What did I do to deserve the death penalty!?”
“Looks like it has a story, doesn’t it?”
“Too much of a story!? But how does that relate to growth?!”
“Of course, because your life has reached its final moments, you could say you’ve completely grown up.”
“I don’t want such dark and sad growth!”
After a round of complaints, Kanade felt exhausted and plopped back down on his bedding.
“So why do you want to grow up, Kanade?” Rin sat down beside him.
This time, Rin asked with a slightly serious expression.
“……Because.”
Kanade looked up, thinking about the promise he made with Nagisa when they were in the outdoor hot spring—
“If, after we grow up, there’s still no one by our side who can accompany us for a lifetime…”
“……At that time, would you, Kanade-kun, be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?”
