Chapter 39: Silly Child, Run!
During lunch break.
Like usual, Kanade went to the kiosk with Rin to buy bread.
After some internal struggle, Kanade finally decided to tell Rin about the scene he witnessed that morning.
As a close friend, Rin pondered for a moment after hearing it.
“That’s probably a confession letter.”
“C-Confession!?”
Rin shot an incredulous glance at Kanade, who seemed overly surprised.
“At this point, what are you surprised about? It would be strange if someone as cute as Nagisa has never received a confession letter from a boy, right?”
A stunning beauty like Nagisa, with her outstanding appearance and top-notch personality, had been the center of attention since the beginning of the school year.
The reason she only received a confession letter now probably had a lot to do with her being constantly attached to Kanade, her childhood friend.
Just by observing the interactions between Nagisa and Kanade, it was clear that this pure and lovely black-haired beauty had feelings for her childhood friend.
Moreover, she was hopelessly infatuated.
However, because of the dazzling charm that Nagisa exhibited, even unrequited love seemed to inspire boys to take risks and gamble on their luck.
Rin could understand those feelings.
“Well, well, don’t worry~”
Rin reassured her.
“Even though she received a confession letter, it doesn’t mean Nagisa will definitely accept it, right?”
But surprisingly, Kanade’s face didn’t show any signs of anxiety.
During the time since that incident, he had vaguely sensed that Nagisa’s attitude towards him was a bit ambiguous.
If he wasn’t being overly sentimental, then Nagisa should have feelings for him.
Though he couldn’t be 100% sure that this affection was romantic in nature—
He firmly believed that even if Nagisa was confessed to, she wouldn’t say yes.
—She promised to stay by my side forever…
……
……
At the same time.
“Nagisa, thank you for agreeing to help.”
“No problem, as the class representative, this is part of my job~”
Alice, who was the duty student that day, was moving some documents to the teacher’s office.
The enthusiastic Nagisa volunteered to help.
So the two of them walked together, each carrying a stack of documents towards the office.
Nagisa’s waist-length, jet-black hair and Alice’s golden twin tails swayed gently with their steps.
Since many students were having lunch at that time, there were very few students in the corridor leading to the office.
Seeing this as a good opportunity, Alice spoke up:
“By the way, Nagisa, do you have time after school today?”
“After school?”
Nagisa showed a pensive expression, then quickly smiled: “Sure, where are we going?”
“I have something I want to tell you, Nagisa.”
Alice carefully chose her words.
“And if possible, I hope you can keep it a secret from others…”
If Nagisa really has something to do with the “Crown-type,” then it could potentially trigger a fight.
To avoid innocent bystanders getting caught up in it, the fewer people who know, the better.
“…Does that mean you can’t tell Kanade and the others?”
“…Yes, if possible.”
Worried that Nagisa might become suspicious, Alice added: “Because it’s something… I only want you to know.”
“Could it be—a secret between best friends?”
Nagisa showed an excited expression.
“Sure! I’ve always dreamed of sharing a secret that only two friends know~”
Alice felt conflicted as she looked at the innocent Nagisa.
The actions she was about to take might hurt this girl, possibly shattering their friendship built over time.
Deceiving her like this tortured Alice’s conscience, yet she could only produce a dry sentence in the end—
“Thank you, Nagisa.”
…..
After school.
The sky was a bit gloomy.
Dark clouds gathered over the city of Kawanokoshi.
“I’m sorry, Kanade, but I have something to do after school, so I’m not sure if I can join the Super Self-Research activity on time.”
“If possible, could you tell Chika-senpai for me?”
“Thanks~ Even though I’m not sure if I’ll join the club activities, we promised to go home together, right?”
Nagisa’s words from during break echoed in Kanade’s mind.
Moreover, it was quite rare.
No matter how Kanade indirectly asked her what she was up to, he was met with evasions.
Even when he asked Mana, she wasn’t clear about it either.
This made Kanade feel a bit anxious.
Could it be that Nagisa was really planning to go on that confession date?
After Nagisa left the classroom, Kanade stayed at his desk, lost in thought.
At this moment, Rin leaned over from behind.
“Hey! Kanade, do you want to join me in checking out some clubs today?”
“Since I haven’t joined a club yet, the teachers have started pestering me~”
Surprisingly, Kanade did not respond in shock at all.
In fact, he looked somewhat heavy-hearted.
“Ah~ You’re still worried about what happened today?”
“It’s fine, after all, it’s Nagisa we’re talking about…”
Seeing that his comforting words did not reach Kanade’s heart, Rin sighed and shifted his thoughts.
“If you’re that worried, why don’t we secretly follow her to observe?”
“!?”
At these words, Kanade finally reacted.
“Is it really okay to do something like that?”
“Well, while it may not be right, when that guy from the neighboring class confessed, a bunch of us followed just to watch the fun, hahaha~”
Rin laughed heartily and patted Kanade’s shoulder.
“After all, you’re just ‘happening’ to pass by, right?”
“——You should have said that to me ten minutes ago!”
Kanade said, and suddenly jumped up and rushed out of the classroom.
“Then I won’t join in on the fun~”
Rin waved goodbye, staying behind.
“I heard confessions usually happen in the corridor behind the school building~”
…..
At the same time.
Alice arrived at the meeting place she agreed on with Nagisa—
The rooftop of the school building.
“Sorry for the wait.”
As the duty student, Alice was somewhat late.
Meanwhile, Nagisa had been waiting by the railing for a long time, her slender figure swaying in the breeze, with waist-length hair fluttering.
Hearing Alice, Nagisa turned gracefully, her starry eyes shimmering with a faint glow under the dark clouds.
“It’s fine! Alice-chan is right on time~”
Facing the smile of Nagisa, Alice silently recited her prepared words in her mind.
“Actually, I have a secret about myself that I want to tell you, Nagisa.”
Alice felt her throat go a bit dry.
“Because you consider me a friend—”
“—No, you’re my best friend!”
Nagisa interrupted Alice to add.
“…..Thank you.”
After taking a deep breath, Alice gathered her courage.
“So I don’t want to deceive you, Nagisa—”
As Alice spoke, she reached up to her right eye.
“—After seeing this, will you still consider me a friend, Nagisa?”
Alice Astrea.
Since childhood, she had possessed a very high level of spiritual vision.
Within her naturally occurring heterochromatic eyes, her right eye harbored the power to see through magical reactions and reveal the true forms of fantasy creatures.
As Alice skillfully removed her green contact lens with her fingers—
“Gross!” “Whoa~ That’s just a monster!” “Monster! Monster Alice!” …..
Memories of being disliked by classmates in elementary school involuntarily surged in the depths of Alice’s mind.
—This is the price of power.
Prepared, Alice raised her head.
What she saw through that eye was—
……
……
The dark clouds hung low, as if it were going to rain at any moment.
In the open space behind the school building.
Kanade, rushing over in a hurry, happened to stumble upon the confession moment.
“Hiiragi-san! I like you! Please go out with me!”
The boy’s loud and excited voice made Kanade halt in shock, peering around the corner.
Standing there was a boy and a girl.
The girl’s jet-black hair swayed gently in the wind, while her coat rustled in the cold breeze.
Kanade recognized the boy’s face a bit.
He seemed to be a senior from the third grade soccer club, someone whose gossip about being confessed to by girls Kanade often heard from Rin.
He was a refreshing and handsome guy who was quite popular among girls.
This caused Kanade’s heart to clench tightly.
—No way, Nagisa isn’t the kind of person who only looks at appearances…
—If that were the case, she wouldn’t be by my side at all…
Kanade thought to himself.
—So Nagisa wouldn’t…
“Sure~”
The soft voice drifted into Kanade’s ears along with the wind.
It echoed in Kanade’s mind.
But his brain refused to comprehend the meaning of this response.
“—Huh?”
Kanade couldn’t help but voice his surprise.
This drew the attention of the two standing there to the black-haired boy hiding around the corner.
“Are you—” The senior from the soccer club seemed to recognize Kanade.
But at that moment, Kanade could not hear what he was saying at all.
All of his focus was on the black-haired girl who had turned to face him.
“…You’re lying, right? Nagisa…..”
Kanade trembled, attempting to squeeze out a voice from his throat as he faced her dark eyes.
(“…But can you really keep this up forever?”)
(“Maybe Nagisa will be taken away by someone else?”)
Rin’s earlier words flashed through Kanade’s mind.
Igniting the dark flames in his heart.
—No way, there must be some misunderstanding.
The girl who had always been by his side in his memories.
Suddenly, there was another man beside her, not Kanade.
The thought of Nagisa possibly being with another man in the future was not one he hadn’t imagined.
But he never expected that when this day finally arrived, it would hurt this much.
Why? Deep down, he knew better than anyone that he wasn’t worthy of Nagisa.
But just the thought of Nagisa smiling at a man other than him—
Just the thought of Nagisa acting shy and coquettish with someone else—
(“It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll always be by Kanade’s side.”)
Kanade felt like his heart was engulfed in a dark flame, burning him inside.
It hurt so much he could barely breathe.
The strength in his whole body seemed drained.
—We promised to always be together…
His surging emotions stirred the magic within him, causing his light yellow eyes to flicker with a golden gleam.
Kanade felt his vision becoming sticky and distorted—
Making it impossible to see the way forward.
Like a drowning person, he desperately reached out towards the girl in front of him.
“Nagisa, actually I—”
“—Silly child! Run!”
DD-chan’s voice exploded in Kanade’s mind like thunder.
Snapping him back to reality.
“Don’t look at its face!”
“—Face?”
Just as DD-chan finished speaking.
Kanade suddenly found his perspective switching to a third-person god’s-eye view.
From this perspective, the beautiful and cute face of the black-haired girl seemed to suddenly be pixelated, making it blurry—
Her usually gentle smile stretched into a crescent-like grin that reached her ears—
Her slender limbs twisted and distorted—
Kanade finally realized that the person standing in front of him was not Nagisa.
But—
“Run!”
