The person who likes me is a yandere.

Luo Tianyi's sharp blade pierced my heart once again. And this time, it was the words I least wanted to hear, the words I couldn't bear to hear.

"...How would I know?"

"what?"

"...How would I know about such things now?"

To protect my own heart, I started to verbally give up on myself.

Are you serious?

A fierce glint flashed in Luo Tianyi's eyes.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think! What more do you want from me? Are you only satisfied if I lie? To me, she's just someone I recently met. How could I possibly think of protecting her like an older brother for the rest of my life? Of course, saying that would be a lie!"

...What am I saying? Why did I say something like that to Masaki? This has nothing to do with Masaki... This is terrible, I'm such a terrible person. Luo Tianyi stared straight into my eyes—

"...Say it then!"

Then he said this quietly.

"what……?"

"Even if it's a lie, just tell me."

No, but—

"You still don't understand!?"

"Gee!"

Luo Tianyi stepped into the house without changing her shoes and forcefully pulled me up by the chest.

"The only one who forgot is you! You forgot on your own! Ayase still remembers you!"

"Hey, it hurts so much, Luo Tianyi. Let go."

"I don't know what you're running away from, but you can't run away from your family."

"...Luo Tianyi"

"I can't run away from my family..." I sensed a different kind of light shining in Masaki's eyes as she said these words, so I fell silent.

Why were you in such a panic when you came out?

"what?"

"Forget about family and brothers, you can forget about them if you want. What are you thinking right now? How are you feeling about this situation where it's pitch black outside and Ayase isn't coming home?"

"Now...at this very moment...?"

Luo Tianyi nodded, released her grip on my clothes, and gently pressed her hand against my chest.

My feelings at this moment—after being asked that question by her, only one answer came to mind.

"I'm very worried."

"That's enough!"

"Goooo"

She punched my chest hard, with such force that it felt like she was about to break my sternum, making me cough.

"Let's go find out when you and Ayase broke up."

"Ahem, uh... it should be 5 o'clock, right?"

"It's been two and a half hours already. They might be lost."

"Hey, this kind of thing..."

"How could that be..." I swallowed the words back halfway through. Right, how could I have forgotten? That girl... Ayase is the kind of super airhead who wouldn't even take the train alone in broad daylight. The pitch-black night outside seeped in from behind Luo Tianyi, making me increasingly uneasy.

"This is bad, what should we do?"

"Cheer up! Do you know where Ayase might go?"

"This one……"

Thinking about it is a waste of time, and besides, I don't have any memories to search for.

"You call yourself an older brother?!"

I told you not to say that.

"Okay, okay. Let's split up and search. We'll call each other in an hour."

"Okay. Oh, but I don't have a cell phone."

"Wow, I'm impressed!"

The neighbor, who had already run out, stopped in her tracks.

"I'll write down my number for you. Call me in an hour. Whether you find it or not, make sure to contact me!"

Luo Tianyi's mind worked quickly, and she promptly gave me instructions.

She seemed quite worried about Ayase. Despite being a girl herself, she wasn't afraid to walk alone at night and rushed into the dark street without hesitation.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: We must find it!

After parting ways with Luo Tianyi at Lian Zhang's doorstep, I ran off in the opposite direction without saying a word.

"……strangeness……"

Then, I stopped at the first corner.

Wait a minute, where should I even begin? I'm not a native of this area, and I'm unfamiliar with this town. To be honest, I don't even have a general sense of direction. Searching aimlessly like this will only make me lose my way.

Am I an idiot?

I punched the telephone pole next to me hard.

What am I doing? Even if it reduces efficiency, I should still be with Luo Tianyi. The only places I can find on my own are the game center, coffee shop, and park we went to today. And I've only walked this date route once before.

No, wait a minute.

I muttered to myself instinctively.

"Yes, that's enough!"

It was the date route. Ayase firmly believed that was the only way to awaken my memories, and she burned with an extraordinary obsession with completing the date as usual, even yelling at me when I was being negative. The date went smoothly and without any fun, Ayase herself said so.

"It's the final place... Ayase must be there!"

...But where exactly is that place? My leg, which had taken one step, stopped abruptly. Ugh, what's going on! I'm stuck again! Remember! Remember! Remember!

I opened my arms and repeatedly slapped the telephone pole until my palms were red and swollen.

Isn't there any way to recall it? Even for a moment, no matter how slim the possibility, isn't there any way to recover the memory...?

Yes, we have it.

Yeah, there is one. What am I doing? It gave me hints about how to recover my memories from the beginning. I just didn't follow them…

"That's right, we have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it. Thanks!"

I thanked the telephone pole that had silently endured my outburst, and this time I didn't stop running. Yes, this time I had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it.

There are fewer people at the game center now than during the day.

However, the age range and arrogance of the customers have increased, creating a negative impression of a gathering place for shady characters that complements the darkness outside.

...I really don't want to stay here any longer.

I tried my best to avoid any confrontations and quickly made my way through the booths towards the photo booth. For a guy like me to single-handedly break through that girl's circle was a really difficult task... but for Ayase, I had no choice. It's okay, I've already come up with a plan.

"I can't believe it, where did that guy go? Seriously, where is he?"

I muttered to myself as I barged into the photo booth section.

I placed my right hand above my eyes as if looking into the distance, mobilizing about 30% of my body to look around. This made it seem more like I was looking for someone, thus reducing suspicion.

...That's right, this is my tactic. Anyone who has a problem with it, come forward if you dare.

"What's wrong with that guy? He's disgusting!"

However, some dissenting voices immediately appeared. That guy pointing at me and yelling—I've seen him before…he's someone I know…who was it again? Wait, no, I recognize that face. It's that guy with the awful perm…right, it's Yi Jun from our class!

"What's wrong, Kurobe?"

"Likes and dislikes, even the shallow words are there."

"Really? That's hilarious!"

Ah, yes, yes, it's the Kurobe. Also, Seki, Suzumura, and Karashima, who always loses things, are here too. All the senior students from Class 2-1 are here. You guys have such a good relationship.

"Qianyu, what are you doing in a place like this?"

"He's definitely trying to pick up girls; he's here to hook up with a nice woman!"

"So funny!"

Where's the humor?! Not funny at all! That joke was the least funny of all! I get it, you guys probably just wanted to say "it's hilarious," right?

The four of them laughed like a trained orchestra, at the same time, in the same tone and with the same volume. I wanted to argue, but I didn't have the time.

"Hey, don't run away!"

I intended to ignore them and walk right past them, but as I brushed past them, Kurobe roughly grabbed my shoulder.

"What do you want?"

"Let go, I have an emergency!"

"Shut up, who cares about you, you idiot!"

Seeing that I was trying to escape, Kurobe probably thought he had something on me, and pushed me even harder. Seriously, everyone said I didn't have time.

"Besides, I had completely forgotten that Qianyu could speak so loudly. Her speech has certainly improved since she was discharged from the hospital."

"It's obvious, he was so arrogant when answering questions in class."

"And then suddenly you started fawning over the class monitor, what's wrong with you?"

"They're clearly getting carried away, aren't they? And they're being incredibly persistent with us."