Chapter Nineteen: Ominous Signs
The morning sun shone through the window, illuminating the Super Research Club.
As usual, Chika arrived at school.
In the corridor, she was stopped by her teacher, the advisor of the Super Research Club.
“Amamiya-san, you forgot to return the key to the Super Research Club room to the office last night, didn’t you?”
“Eh!? This is…”
Seeing Chika’s flustered expression, the teacher waved her hand.
“I’m not blaming you, Amamiya-san, forgetting sometimes happens, just remember to return it next time~”
“Y-yes, thank you, teacher, I have to go now—”
Chika bowed her thanks and hurriedly turned to leave.
“Hey! Amamiya-san, don’t run in the corridor—”
Chika left the shouting teacher far behind, thinking she would apologize later when the opportunity arose.
—Tsukimi-san, you wouldn’t…
The route to the Super Research Club that she had walked countless times before felt unsettling to Chika today.
She quickened her steps, jogging to the door of the Super Research Club.
Reaching for the doorknob, she felt it was not locked.
Without hesitation, Chika pushed the door open.
The sunlight streamed in through the window, hitting Chika’s face as she entered, causing her to squint and shield her eyes with her hand.
“Ah… good morning… is it already this time…?” came a weak voice.
Seeing Kanade still in the Super Research Club made Chika feel a little relieved.
But she was quickly startled by Kanade’s haggard appearance.
At that moment, Kanade had heavy dark circles under his eyes, bloodshot eyes, and messy black hair, clearly having not slept at all the previous night.
In contrast, the Super Research materials that had been neatly arranged on the desk were now scattered chaotically across the table and floor.
Kanade, following Chika’s gaze, looked apologetic.
“Ah, I’m sorry… I’ll clean it up in a bit…”
“Forget about that for now, Tsukimi-san, you mean to say you stayed here all night and didn’t go home?” Chika asked with concern.
“Ah, I got so absorbed in searching that I lost track of time… Haha, don’t worry, I’m fine…”
“How can you be…?”
“More importantly… there’s something even more important…” Kanade’s weak voice interrupted Chika’s words.
Kanade pulled out a few old, slightly yellowed sheets of paper from the desk in front of him.
“I found it, the first draft of ‘Dokidoki-chan’ that was submitted to the school as the results of our club activities back then…”
After such a long effort, finding further information about the ‘cursed spirit Dokidoki-chan’ should have been a cause for celebration.
But Chika sensed no joy on Kanade’s face.
“No, the information recorded here is even less than what’s in the published materials…”
“The ‘Dokidoki-chan’ recorded here isn’t even a cursed spirit, and there’s no curse involved…”
“The so-called ‘Dokidoki-chan’ was merely the mascot of a large shopping mall in the city back then…”
“…There’s nothing about any curse…”
“Tsukimi-san—!?”
Halfway through his explanation, Tsukimi suddenly felt dizzy and fell forward.
As his consciousness slipped into darkness.
—As expected, I still couldn’t find a way to save you, Konomi…
…..
…..
“What’s wrong with this child?”
“Honestly, although he’s young, coming to school after an all-nighter, I really don’t know if I should call him a good student or a bad student…”
“Don’t worry, he just fainted from lack of sleep and low blood sugar; he just needs to rest.”
…..
Kanade’s consciousness in the dark vaguely heard what seemed to be the health teacher’s voice.
—Did they carry him to the infirmary?
—Was searching for materials all night too much for one person?
But the feeling of disappointment from finding nothing outweighed the regret that he still couldn’t help Konomi.
—Konomi, I want to see you again…
—I want to say I’m sorry…
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
In the darkness, a familiar yet seemingly crying voice that felt like Konomi’s echoed.
Was it a hallucination born from missing Konomi?
—Konomi? Are you here to see me?
“….. It’s all my fault, Kanade-kun, that you…”
—No, this has nothing to do with Konomi…
“Kanade-kun, I’m sorry…”
—I should be the one apologizing…
“I… I will never let you…” Konomi’s voice grew fainter in the darkness.
—No, Konomi, what are you doing? Where are you going?
Kanade felt an inexplicable anxiety, struggling to escape the darkness.
“—Konomi!”
Kanade kept his hand outstretched forward, suddenly sitting up from the bed, drenched in sweat.
But the reflection in his eyes was not Konomi’s figure.
Instead, it was Mana, who appeared displeased in the fading evening light.
Mana’s platinum side ponytail and her uniform from Hoshikage High School gave her an ethereal quality under the sunset, with her deep and graceful face featuring crimson eyes fixed intently on Kanade.
“Good morning.” Mana frowned, greeting him in a teasing tone.
“….. Mana?”
Kanade panted heavily, momentarily unable to comprehend the situation.
“Wasn’t Konomi-chan disappointing you?” Mana pulled up a chair and sat by the bed.
Only then did Kanade realize he was lying on a white single bed; from the surrounding environment, he was in the school infirmary.
However, the health teacher seemed to be absent, and the pristine room contained only him and Mana.
Then Kanade couldn’t help but turn his gaze toward the setting sun outside.
“You slept the whole day.” Mana explained beside him.
“I thought you had caught some strange illness for not coming to school, but it turned out you were pulling an all-nighter…”
Mana’s eyes squinted like a cat’s, and she sighed. “I truly feel like an idiot for being worried about you.”
“…. I’m sorry for making you worried, Mana…”
“Yes, yes, so?”
“….. What?”
“So what was your reason for staying all night at school?” Mana gave him a look that said, “You’d better tell me the truth.”
“When I came in, I saw a third-year senior who came to check on you; although I managed to gather some info about you staying overnight in school from her, unfortunately, she escaped before I could ask more…”
“Mana, why do you sound like a detective…?”
“Don’t change the subject, so what’s the truth? Tsukimi-kun, surely you’re not the type to be singing the praises of youth in a dark school at midnight for no reason?”
“This is…”
“Since you woke up calling Konomi-chan’s name, it must be related to her, right?”
Mana didn’t give Kanade a chance to breathe, pressing on with more questions.
“And the atmosphere between you two has been a bit strange lately. Does this have something to do with it?”
“What exactly happened between you and Konomi-chan?”
Mana’s crimson eyes carried a resolute firmness under the sunset.
Kanade realized that unless he confessed in the face of Mana’s current state, there was no way he could leave her side.
