The person who likes me is a yandere.

"There's no need to apologize to me."

"But because of me. I'm sorry."

"So, that's why..."

"sorry."

Oh, I see. She's a little confused.

That old man was acting strangely. Arguing with someone like that, and then getting beaten up, combined with fear, guilt, and anger, made her somewhat irrational.

Normally, he would look me in the eye honestly and directly, but now he's avoiding my gaze.

"Um, Tohka-san," I nervously and fearfully reached out to pat her back, but I was startled by my own thoughts and quickly withdrew my hand.

"Uh-huh."

"...It's all over now. See, you're not hurt. You're alright."

That's true, the area where I was hit did hurt a lot, but that's all. I wasn't injured.

"That's true, but it's very dangerous to talk to someone like that."

"I understand, but he really went a bit too far. It was a slip-up..."

There's nothing we can do about it.

"……that"

"Yeah, there's nothing we can do about it."

After hearing what I said, Tohka seemed to finally calm down, and her gaze became steady.

"Thank you, thank you. You saved me."

You're welcome, you're welcome.

Tohka apologized to me with a slightly more formal gesture, and I returned the apology in kind.

"Hmm, Tohka-san, are you here to shop?"

"Ah, um."

It seems that Tohka came to the supermarket after going home, and she wasn't wearing her usual uniform.

This is the second time I've seen her in casual clothes; the last time was back in her first year of high school on that date.

She was wearing a slightly long blue T-shirt and jeans. The whole outfit looked very simple.

But because it was different from my usual uniform, I felt inexplicably shy.

I looked at Tohka, who was sitting a little distance away from me, but I really couldn't muster any energy. The conversation always turned back to that old man from before.

"That person is quite famous around here. His name is Tadokoro, and he lives alone in an apartment nearby."

"Is he always drunk and acting crazy in the store?"

"Yes, that's right. How should I put it, he wasn't actually drunk."

"Is that so?"

From a distance, he does indeed look like a drunk person. However, upon closer inspection, you'll find that he doesn't smell of alcohol at all.

I guess it's because she was only drinking the canned liquor in her hand, and her complexion didn't change at all.

"Ah, that's really strange. He always has a dazed look on his face and says some inexplicable things. He says things like, 'I'm a survivor of the Kamikaze Special Forces, I was forced to do labor in Siberia,' and so on."

How old is he?

Tohka's face showed a look of astonishment.

"If we're being honest, he should be around ninety years old this year. I'm not sure of his exact age though. At his age, you wouldn't be able to tell from his appearance."

"That's true."

"However, his claim that he was hospitalized during World War II due to illness seems to be true."

"Such rumors actually exist?"

"Ah."

"...You know quite a lot."

"I still listen to gossip and rumors quite often."

If I remember correctly, I heard that news when I was still in middle school.

That day, Grandpa Tadokoro leaned against the sales counter, his face flushed. He looked completely drunk. But the unconscious babbling that came out of his mouth made everyone who heard it feel that the world was too dark.

"Grandpa Tadokoro seems to have never been married. All his relatives and family members are gone. He seems to have always been alone. Perhaps this is related to what he experienced in the hospital."

"...What does this mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure either, but something must have happened that made her not want to get involved with anyone anymore. This is probably the only way she can survive. No, maybe she's forgotten all other ways to survive. But even so, she must still feel lonely. That's why she does things that bother people and deliberately causes conflict with others. Didn't he say Tohka-san is 'annoying'?"

"I didn't care."

"Well, that's good. Grandpa Tadokoro didn't really mean it that way. You see, Tohka, you're very pretty. He must have been happy when you talked to him. Even if you didn't approach him with feelings of closeness, you're still a girl, aren't you? At his age, he hardly has any opportunities to talk to girls anymore. That's why he got so angry when I interrupted."

"........."

"Huh? Are you shy?"

"No way!"

"Really? Anyway, I don't think he meant any harm."

Even if you explain it to him like this, the problems he caused will not be substantially resolved.

"That's true."

Indeed, as she said, from an outsider's perspective, Grandpa Tadokoro was just a troublesome and annoying old man.

"If Grandpa Tadokoro had been able to get along well with someone and have a touching romance, he wouldn't have ended up like this. But in reality, such an opportunity never came, and time just passed by. Although this might have been the normal course of events. So now he's doing those things at that supermarket."

"So that's why you said he was pitiful?"

"Yes, that's right. It's very painful to feel lonely and have no one to care about you."

I don't know when it started, but I felt my cheek that had been hit was slightly hot.

Inside the air-conditioned shop, the heat on my cheeks slowly seeped into my skin, and my brain began to go numb.

I always feel like I'm no longer myself, and my mouth is still saying things on its own.

"Actually, I don't want to speculate about the thoughts of someone many times my age. Because if someone like me were to speculate about him, it would only make me seem more pathetic, wouldn't it? But I still can't help but think about his situation. If only someone had been willing to help him, things wouldn't have turned out this way. Being his friend, taking care of him kindly, or something like that would have been fine..."

But, as expected, it's impossible. No one wants to accept someone like him. And once you get involved with him, you'll probably have to take care of him until he passes away. Grandpa Tadokoro will probably be alone until he dies. I wonder who will be the first to find his body. Ugh, I don't want to think about it anymore. I should just play dumb, forget everything, and become clueless.

Forget all the things you hate and the things that cause you pain.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Not Knowing How to Face It

Perhaps an unknown death is a relief than such a painful existence. Because he's already half-dead. But he won't die; even in that state, his human body will still be alive.

“A soft whisper…”

"If only Grandpa Tadokoro could find happiness, return to his home, with a wife, son, and daughter-in-law. His son would be grown into an uncle, and his adopted daughter, who married into his family, would be a beautiful aunt. He would also have many grandchildren. The whole family would welcome him back. They would eat together, and afterwards, he would arm wrestle, play Go, and cards with his grandchildren. He would die in a warm bed."

Surrounded by family, with someone to accompany me, happiness is all around. If only it could be like that. But reality is rarely what we hope for, probably. Grandpa Tadokoro will probably die in the winter, because it's too cold for him all alone. How pitiful. It would be so much better if I could just forget all the unhappy things. If it weren't Tohka who had amnesia, if it were him instead, that would be so much better. Because Tohka didn't do anything wrong. It's all my fault, and Grandpa Tadokoro didn't do anything wrong either… Anyway, one day I will too—”

"Simple language".

The thin film of foam surrounding my body suddenly disappeared, and my tired body instantly regained its vitality.

"Huh? Ah, what's wrong?"

Are you tired?

"No, no. Huh? Did I say anything just now? I think I said something, didn't I?"

"...Don't worry about it, Qianyu."

As she spoke, she touched my forehead with her hand. I felt very at ease.

"Grandpa Tadokoro will definitely be happy. All those things you said before were just your guesses. He's definitely living a very happy life."

"Yes, is that so..."

"Yes, that's what I think."

Tohka nodded vigorously.

"Therefore, Qianyu, there is no need for you to think that way. There must be things in this world that could threaten your survival. You can live a happier life."

I couldn't help but stare at Tohka's face. It was clearly a lie; she was telling a lie as fragile as a bubble, yet her face wore a very gentle expression.

A frustrated face looks awful.

The next day, when I saw myself in the mirror, I was shocked. It was truly awful. Do I really look like that?

It should have been at least slightly better before than it is now. To put it another way, it's a change in degree to the point where you could ask—"Who are you, anyway?"

It felt like every part of her face had shifted slightly. Her face, which was barely presentable before, now looked completely distorted, filled with a sense of despair.

The prominent eye bags seem to be the biggest reason.

I couldn't sleep last night. Although the blow I felt after being beaten by Grandpa Tadokoro was partly due to the experience, the real reason for my insomnia was the humiliation that followed.

—I said a lot of things I shouldn't have to Tohka, ughh!!

This is it. It suddenly brought back some embarrassing memories from the past. Everyone remembers rolling around in their blankets in first grade, right? That feeling of unease stayed with me all night.

It's abnormal to talk about such sentimental things with people of the same generation. Because when you talk about it, there's bound to be a genuine outpouring of emotion. At least so far, I've only talked about similar things with Mizui. Even when I really lost my composure, I ended up confiding in Tohka and being comforted by her. It's so embarrassing...

How should I face Tohka from now on? Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

Because I was really in a bad mood, I skipped class for the first time in a long time. I spent the whole day playing games, and when Aki Tomoya came in the evening, I started complaining, and then I skipped class the next day too.

I felt the guilt of skipping class again, a feeling I hadn't experienced since junior high. I skipped Thursday and Friday, so Saturday and Sunday are just around the corner. In effect, I enjoyed a rare four-day weekend. I had a mini-golden week all to myself. This only amplified my dread of Monday.

As evening approached, I heard my mother calling me from the living room. I went out to peek out and saw that some guests had arrived. Not wanting to get entangled with them, I eavesdropped for a bit. It seemed my mother was flattering the guests.

Wow, the guest is a beauty, and seems to be a celebrity too. She's very mature and polite, and works very diligently. In contrast, our child is a complete failure—not good-looking, and with poor grades. At home, he's lazy and unmotivated, skipping school like today is a frequent occurrence, and he won't listen to anything we say.

While humility is one of the Japanese virtues, this was practically speaking ill of her own child. The mother continued to badmouth me, and finally—