A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

"I'll try to cheer up and talk to you."

"Hmph~...that's not necessary." Listening to the voice from the other side which seemed to be no different from usual, he gradually stopped taking it to heart.

"So what's the matter?"

"Just wanted to ask about the progress of your new work."

She published her first light novel "Love Metronome" under the pen name "Kasumi Shiko" in the Fantastic Library of Fuzugawa Bookstore, and the response was unexpectedly good. As a sophomore female high school student who is ranked first in her grade, she is a truly talented woman.

By the way, Uesugi Genshin also deliberately chose the same place as her as the starting point for his debut.

"Ah, are you stuck?" After all, as a novice writer, no, even for an old hand, writer's block happens from time to time.

What's more, the person on the other side had never been in a relationship before, but ended up writing a romance novel!

Maybe it's longing...

"......" The other side was silent, "No, the general direction has been confirmed, but I still have a little doubt about my final chapter."

"So is it Sayuka, who appeared in the first volume and whose love story has been making people anxious, or is it Shin Yui, who appeared halfway through the second volume and is the most popular among readers?"

"Of course it's Sayuka. Didn't you say that since she's the number one heroine, she should win in the end?"

"Well... it's a little hard to understand why 'Qingmei' couldn't win against 'Skyfall'. It's really hard to understand that the time we spent together couldn't beat the love at first sight."

But this is just an outsider's perspective. The real situation may be that they are too familiar with each other to make a move. If they really make a move, it is probably just impulsive like being attracted by beauty.

"So this isn't the ending you were expecting? Wait until I finish writing... I hope you can take a look at my manuscript in advance."

"Okay, my new work is basically finished, and if nothing goes wrong the final volume will be published next month." Uesugi Genshin is quite proud of this.

"Congratulations, you did a pretty good job for a mere Makoto-kun." The word "mere" was emphasized by the other party. "Chitose is indeed very charming. If I had a sister like her, I would also fall in love with her."

"So thank you again for your help, getting the material is really a big help."

"You're welcome. We're just helping each other. But I've been lacking inspiration lately. I wonder if Cheng-kun is free this weekend?" Although it's an inquiring tone, it feels like a strong invitation that you shouldn't refuse.

"..."

"What's wrong? Where's your answer?" the other party pressed on.

"I have nothing to do on the weekend, so it's okay for me to accompany you to find inspiration." There really was nothing to do, because there were no complicated social activities. After all, he had very few friends.

"Hmph, it's settled then." The other party's voice was filled with the joy of success.

"Yeah." It seemed as if nothing happened to the other party.

"Hey, Kasumigaoka..." Uesugi Genshin spoke at this time.

"what happened?"

"Do you believe there are ghosts in this world?"

"......Are you seriously ill? You are no longer at the age of chuunibyou. Living in fantasy all day is not what a man should do, Makoto-kun." The girl named Kasumigaoka Utaha thought the other party was joking with her and activated her passive skill.

"Do you remember what I told you about what happened today?" Uesugi Genshin just wanted to say that he really thought this matter was very strange.

"...What happened?" Kasumigaoka Utaha became a little unsure of what the other party meant.

"I saw a woman whose head was about to fall off stand up and walk."

"Prank?" This is probably the first reaction of most people. The possibility of someone cosplaying or playing a prank is much higher than that you really encountered a ghost, not to mention the variety shows unique to Japan that play pranks on people.

"No, the scene of the car accident." Uesugi Genshin denied.

"......" This made Kasumigaoka Utaha even more confused. Was Makoto telling a ghost story?

"I must have seen it wrong." Hallucination or illusion was her second guess.

"That's because I wasn't seeing things." Uesugi Genshin still believed in his own eyes.

Whether it was bloodstains, car brake marks, collision wreckage, or the subsequent driver's calls to the police and ambulance, he saw them all, and without exception, they were all real.

"What happened next?"

"...I left afterwards."

"..."

"Kasumigao Hill?"

"I wasn't at the scene. Maybe what Makoto saw was an illusion?" Kasumigaoka Utaha still didn't believe that there were any strange phenomena in this world.

"......Do you think our world is not so ordinary?" Uesugi Genshin gave the other party a hint.

Kasumigaoka Utaha twisted her long hair with her fingers and sneered, "...Isn't this the term for Chuunibyou?"

“…” Uesugi Genshin didn’t know how to explain to the other party.

"......" Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't know what to say because of the silence from the other side.

"I'm not kidding... just in case, just in case something happens, just in case something happens to you."

Uesugi Genshin felt that they were just friends now, and if he really asked for help, it would probably cause trouble to the other party.

"Remember to call me. I'll come find you if I'm okay."

Although it was just a coincidence, if there hadn't been this phone call, Uesugi Genshin probably wouldn't have said anything, and he wouldn't even have told Hachiman.

"...Makoto-kun?"

"Remember to pay attention to the news. It might just be my illusion." Uesugi Genshin continued to advise.

“…” News?

"If, if possible, don't go to school these two days, take a leave at home, and I'll see if there is anything else."

"......" Although she can catch up on sleep at school, not letting her go to school is......

"Lock your doors and windows at home and be safe."

"..." For a girl living alone, this is basic awareness.

"I see."

Is this some kind of ghost story? If so, she hoped that Chengjun would suddenly say jokingly, "I was just kidding."

After finally hanging up the phone, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt very troubled.

Very troubled.

She knew very well that the other person was a reliable boy, so she was very troubled.

Just like the protagonist in the story carefully reminds his family to be careful before going out. Generally, this kind of reminder... is a flag.

"Tomorrow..." Tomorrow is Tuesday. After all, she is a celebrity in the school and she has some self-awareness. Does she really need to take a day off to rest?

She is very conscious of her own way of doing things, so does she really need to take a leave of absence to rest?

Even if she stayed up late at night to create and study, she would just catch up on her sleep at school...

"Makoto-kun..."

Kasumigaoka curled up her voluptuous long legs, and because of her bent arches, her heels were pressed against the edge of the chair.

Holding her legs like this, she remained quiet for an unknown amount of time.

"!" I raised my head and looked at the clock. It was 7:20.

What time was it when you called Chengjun just now? Six o'clock? Or seven o'clock?

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't think any more about it, shook her head, put down her legs and stood up.

The decapitated woman...

For some reason, he suddenly shuddered at what he had just said and started looking around the room.

A feeling of self-mockery rose in my heart. I didn't expect that she would scare herself.

Humph, next time I'll go watch a horror movie with him and get some inspiration.

Although Chengjun said that, she still didn't plan to take a day off tomorrow.

While thinking this, Kasumigaoka Utaha carefully checked every room in the house, double-checking that they were locked, and also pulled the curtains.

Even I feel that this may be an exaggeration, but relatively speaking, what is more important is the burst of inspiration.

Suddenly, because of what happened just now, she was inspired to write a novel. Kasumigaoka returned to her chair in front of the table and continued her writing, shaking her legs subconsciously.

-----------------

It has been conveyed. It has been conveyed.

Uesugi Genshin stared at his phone which had gone black.

It really was a coincidence, and he would not bother others because of this uncertainty.

But when I think about what if, what if something happens and it is what I wanted to say but didn’t say, I will probably regret it.

In order to avoid regrets in the future, I said something that would make me look weird in the eyes of others.

“It’s self-satisfaction.”

Normally, no one would believe something like this until they actually see it, even if it has appeared countless times in movies, novels, TV series, and games.

But as a normal person, no one would believe it. Even if Kasumigaoka Utaha still went to school the next day, he would not blame her for anything.

Because this was his first life and he would do the same. After all, he is a normal person.

He swiped his thumb across the phone screen. The fingerprint he set was his thumb, but he didn't want to unlock the screen.

He kept sliding back and forth, and finally stopped. He didn't plan to call Hachiman again.

I looked at the clock and it was 7:20.

Go cook.

Chapter 5: The Wind Rises

"Ding ding ding..." is the alarm sound of the mobile phone.

I suddenly turned over and turned off the alarm clock that was about to reach its climax because it would get even louder next, and then my head fell back on the pillow.

After 5 minutes, Uesugi Genshin turned over and sat up, not intending to continue sleeping.

Unless I was really sleepy, I would not dare to continue sleeping because of the anxiety of being late.

I lifted the quilt, got up, and began to look for clean clothes in the closet.

There is also another set of school uniforms that are worn in rotation. I washed all the clothes yesterday, hoping to wash away the bad luck and dirt.

The desire to sleep a little longer means that I can't spare the time to prepare breakfast properly.

It is said that the idea that eating breakfast is healthy was only spoken by "experts" in the 70s in conjunction with the cereal MLM strategy. Once it was spread, it changed its meaning and has no factual basis. It is just an urban legend, just like the radiation from mobile phones.

So he planned to buy a meat bun at a convenience store on the way to school. If he had free time on the weekend, he could make it himself and freeze it in the refrigerator, and then warm it up in the microwave every morning. Unfortunately, he didn't have this idea recently.

After washing up, I looked at the time. Even if I set out now, there would still be plenty of time to get to school.

I put on the Sobu High School uniform, put on my shoes, and said to the room, "I'm going out." I have become accustomed to saying this in the past 17 years, although there has been no response.

It was the same morning, the same sky, the same town, and the same peace.

I got on the train while eating a meat bun from a convenience store which was not very filling but tasted not too bad.

My apartment is four stops away from Sobu High School. It’s not as cost-effective as riding a bike, but there’s no need to save money either.

"Thank you for your hard work." A student who was familiar with the teacher greeted the teacher guarding the gate.

Uesugi Genshin completely ignored the teacher he didn't know and went straight in from a distance.

The school is a well-shaped building. Looking down from above, it looks a bit like the Chinese character "口". Add the AV building at the bottom to form a bird's-eye view of the school. Next to the road is the teaching building, and opposite is the special building. There are corridors connecting the second, third, and fourth floors, forming a quadrilateral.

The space surrounded by this quadrilateral building is the holy place for those modern people - the atrium.

They ate lunch together as a mixed group of boys and girls during lunch break, played badminton together to help digestion, talked about love with the sunset school building as the background after school, and bathed in the sea breeze and looked up at the stars.

Yes, Sobu High School is also on the sea, facing Tokyo Bay. It is located in Mihama District in the coastal part of Chiba Prefecture. Although he has doubts about the water quality of Tokyo Bay, wouldn't the sea breeze blowing over be mixed with some strange characteristics?

I put on my indoor shoes at the door, then went in through the back door of the classroom. I sat in my seat and flipped through the comics I bought yesterday.

Then, ignoring what the teacher said at the morning meeting, the first class began.

The first class was biology, and he had to write a short essay about animals... This inspired his creative desire.