Lonely Rock for the Blind.

Everyone here is a very, very good person.

Hiroi Kikuri was actually very clear about this.

It is precisely because everyone is such a good person that she finds herself even more unbearable.

Why do I always think of everyone as the bad guy...?

Is the band really the right one?

Will the future me, the one who chooses to continue down the path of a band, truly escape the loneliness I feel now?

Not a lonely person.

It is a lonely heart.

The drink was swallowed.

It is ingested into the body little by little.

Ah ha~ Just like Qing said, my future won't hit rock bottom... because I have many reliable friends.

"but…"

The emotions in my heart were constantly bubbling up like a swamp.

"Isn't that just a bad guy who only knows how to take..."

boom!

Hiroi Kikuri collapsed onto the table.

She suddenly remembered the boy nicknamed Pochi from the band that had ended.

She seems to resemble me... but actually she's not.

Just like that bench that day, I was in the grass, and she and Qing were sitting on the bench.

She didn't run away...

She chose to accept…

She has the courage I lack... and the confidence to be with Qing.

They are fundamentally different...

She doesn't need anyone else to push her; she'll keep going... but me...

pala...

The wine jar fell to the ground.

As for me... I can only rely on alcohol.

My mind was in a state of confusion, and I thought that being drunk meant I could do whatever I wanted. In reality, I was never truly happy.

After sobering up, the dark clouds gathered again.

My gloomy days cannot be dispelled by alcohol.

Are you all being too kind to me...?

Why is someone like me so loved by everyone?

I don't understand at all...

...

……

.........

"Those things that bother you... those things about yourself... I'll... help you solve them... It's okay if you come to me to escape... Sigh..."

Hiroi Kikuri looked tremblingly at the sleeping boy in front of her.

That's what the boy just said to himself.

Those things... I don't even dare to think about them anymore.

...Help me solve this...help me escape this...

"...I...I was just kidding..."

Kikuri Hiroi said, her voice trembling.

I was just kidding, don't take it seriously.

Whether it's what I said to you, like "just getting married if we can manage," or all those shameless, clingy things I did to you, it was all a joke...

Because I was drunk!

He's drunk, so it's all fake and can't be taken seriously. He's just an alcoholic having a drunken tantrum, so you...

Don't take it seriously...

Kikuri Hiroi dropped the bottle in her hand to the ground. She leaned against the door frame, covered her eyes, and lowered her head.

What is my heart thinking... what do I want to do right now?

I want wine...

It's gone; that sense of illusion is gone, and everything pulls me back to reality.

Her purple eyes stared at the boy in the distance, and her body trembled more and more violently.

That's not right...

"...I'm sober now..."

Fear made Kikuri Hiroi tremble and open her eyes wide.

"I…"

Hiroi Kikuri sobered up.

So what I think next, and what I say next...

It's all true.

It's no longer acceptable to use alcohol as an excuse to ignore something.

I…

"I…"

like…

"like…"

"... "

Hiroi Kikuri seemed to suddenly lose all her strength and lay down by the door.

"clear…"

Nekoyashiki Haru curled up and didn't say anything.

He was still lost in his own peaceful dream.

Hiroi Kikuri covered her face.

"I can't do it..."

Happiness is something I cannot give...

Without alcohol, I can't move forward; to you, I'm just a pure burden.

I will leave before you, much, much earlier than you.

But I think I really do like you...

This wonderful emotion, the first one felt for someone else, is undoubtedly liking.

I want to be with you, just like any other day.

Now that I'm sober, I appreciate your feelings; it's not just me being drunk, it's genuine.

But no, that kind of feeling is just a shackle on you.

It's right that we're not together; it's right that we remain just friends who are dispensable.

Because I... because I like you... that's why I think this way...

I don't deserve to be with you...

Sunshine shouldn't have come to dispel my gloomy day.

You should go to someone better... and you deserve better.

So I should leave... I should leave from here...

But I can't bear to part with it...

Under the guise of friendship, I slowly seek warmth from you, yet I dare not and do not want to possess you.

Contradictory, cowardly, hesitant, and perpetually pessimistic.

I thought that when you find your own true happiness, I could bask in the glow around you a little.

But even now…

The beer on the table was all gone.

Kikusato Hiroi stood up.

"...Now, you have found your own happiness."

"So... I should see things clearly now too."

"courage…"

"My only bit of courage..."

Kikusato Hiroi went into the bathroom and found her clothes.

Then slowly put them on.

Holding the empty sake jar carefully, Hiroi Kikuri walked towards the door.