The person who likes me is a yandere.

Suddenly, a gust of wind lifted the skirt of the high school girl in front of me. Although I couldn't see her underwear, the guy riding a racing bicycle behind her seemed to see it clearly. He kept looking to the side as he rode straight towards me. I barely managed to dodge him.

Getting your shirt stained with ice cream or not even seeing your underwear is a minor issue.

In short, we need to find Qiong now.

It was 5:30 PM. I was walking through the streets in September, contemplating my bad luck.

Imagine someone with extremely bad luck buys a horse racing ticket. He only bets on the horse he truly wants to win. However, his luck is so bad that his ticket… won't win.

However, even the unluckiest person must have a way to bet on the right horse in a race.

You only need to bet on all the horses to win.

Of course, even if he wins using this method, he will still lose money—unless the odds are extremely high.

But you're sure to win.

I'm not lucky today; I might not run into Sora by chance while just walking around.

But I have a feeling that if I explore every place Qiong might go, I can find Qiong.

Even after I've searched every place Qiong might have gone, and still can't find her... If Qiong was already preparing to travel to unfamiliar lands and boarded a train or other means of transportation to the North, then I'll lament my bad luck.

I tried going home again. I also tried going to the high school. Sora wasn't there. I tried calling Sora from a public phone, but I couldn't get through. I called Asuna, who seemed to have safely explored the abandoned hospital.

"The zoo... the aquarium... the mirror house... I can't find Little Dome anywhere."

...A room with mirrors? Where can I find such a place?

"A zoo and an aquarium? If we find Sora, I really want the three of us to go together next time."

I blurted it out unconsciously, but just imagining it makes me happy. If I can find Qiong safely, this dream can come true.

“…I said, Asuna.”

"what happened?"

The worst possible scenario that Qiong, who had disappeared without a trace, would encounter kept flashing through my mind. Everything I do today is going to be a disaster.

I said defiantly, as if trying to shake off negative thoughts:

"We absolutely have to find Sora. If Sora isn't here, maybe I won't be unlucky every day starting tomorrow, but I'll be extremely unfortunate."

Asuna answered in a firm voice:

"Hmm, seeing Asami's unhappy face is unfortunate for me too. I will definitely find Xiaoqiong. Goodbye, I'm going to look for the abandoned school building in the suburbs."

The phone hangs up.

As expected of Detective Asuna. She's only just moved here, yet she already has a deep understanding of the town's ruins.

It was almost 7 p.m.

I wandered the streets, my mind filled with thoughts of Qiong.

Do I understand Qiong?

It's embarrassing that I didn't even know where Sora, who ran away from home, went.

I wandered aimlessly and inadvertently passed by a road and saw a large department store, Ebisuya, located at the beginning of the road.

I was supposed to go shopping at Ebisuya with Asuna today, and I should be having dinner and watching TV now.

...Wait, something's not right.

If Asuna hadn't come yesterday, I would have gone shopping with Sora today, just like any other day.

"……what."

Thinking about this, I remembered the little promise I made with Qiong.

Four days ago, when we went shopping, we bought expensive meat and enjoyed two delicious sticks together by the river. We made a promise that next time we went shopping, we would buy mentaiko (spicy cod roe) sticks as snacks.

That was a tiny agreement, hardly even a proper agreement.

But... I can't think of anywhere else right now besides that.

On the contrary, I can't help but berate myself for not remembering that promise until now. Is it bad luck that I can't remember it? No, it's not bad luck. It's simply that I, useless as I am, forgot that promise.

I went straight to the riverbank.

The shoelace broke again. This is the third time today.

But I ignored it and continued driving.

It's just a broken shoelace. It's not a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Hinata, please stay here.

I trod on the grass, which shimmered with golden light under the setting sun, and climbed the embankment slope with a prayerful heart.

As I stood on the cement walkway leading up the embankment, I anxiously looked down at the slope.

This is the same spot I came to on my way home after shopping four days ago. But Qiong isn't here.

I gazed at the distant slope of the embankment.

There wasn't a soul in sight.

"what."

The bridge piers, standing alone on the riverbank, came into view.

There was someone on the bridge pier.

Four days ago, Qiong said he wanted to climb up there to eat some delicious food.

I walked down the embankment slope.

Although the grass on the slope only grows to ankle height, once you reach the riverbank, the grass grows to knee height, making you feel as if you are in a vast ocean of grass.

I walked towards the bridge pier by stepping on the grass.

I inhaled the scent of grass and arrived at the pedestal of the ancient bridge pier located on the riverside meadow.

It's so high up here that you have to look up to see it.

It's at least five meters long.

The iron ladder, seemingly stapled in with a giant stapler, extends upwards along the wall of the bridge pier.

I leaped onto the ladder and climbed up in one breath.

The bridge piers have oval-shaped spaces that are half the size of classrooms.

A girl sat huddled on the ground, her back to me, gazing at the sunset.

"...Qiong".

Qiong had probably been sitting here alone the whole time, and my worry for her outweighed any sense of reassurance I might have found. My heart was pounding with anxiety. Qiong seemed to take my presence for granted, but she didn't move an inch.

I sat on the ground about two seats away from Qiong, keeping a distance that could easily be filled by two people. I felt that if I got too close, Qiong would run away.

What should I say as my first sentence?

Finally, I did the same thing as usual.

Is Chapter Thirty-Nine Because of Me?

Finally, I did the same thing as usual.

"Yo, Sora."

"...Brother...I'm sorry."

Qiong sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring straight ahead. Her head rested on her closed knees, and she didn't look at me.

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. We agreed to go shopping together today and eat mentaiko-flavored food here, it's delicious, right? I'm sorry."

A faint smile appeared on Sora's profile, almost imperceptible unless you looked closely.

"So you remember... I thought you'd forgotten."

"Sorry, I just remembered."

"You're so honest... Do you have any conscience?"

How could I possibly have that?

The moment I realized that Qiong might be here, I rushed over as fast as I could.

I rummaged through my pants pockets... a bunch of natural stones. No, no, where's the food?

"Although it doesn't taste like mentaiko, it does have this stuff."

I took out the dry bread that Asuna had given me on the rooftop.

When I stretched out my hand to give it to Qiong, her shoulders trembled. I sensed a strong rejection.

"Brother, put it there."

I laid a tissue on the cement floor right in the center of where I was sitting with Qiong, and put the dry bread on the tissue.

Qiong picked up the dry bread, opened the package, and slowly chewed it.

"Did you bring a drink? Your mouth will get very dry."

"...It's so delicious...I'm so hungry."

A tear silently slid down Qiong's cheek as she looked at him in profile.

I never imagined that the dry bread could be so delicious that it moved her to tears. I always feel flustered when a girl sheds tears for no apparent reason.

Qiong said:

"…………sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Next time you run away from home, remember to leave a note telling me where you are... Hmm? That way it won't be running away from home, it'll be going out, right? Haha."

"..."

"Oh, right. While I was looking for Sora, I found a cake shop that looked really delicious. Let's go there together next time."

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, brother."

Qiong buried her face in her clasped knees. Her voice choked with sobs.