The story we started

And at this moment, the dark picture suddenly became clear, as if someone had pulled open the curtains in a dim room, and the sunlight illuminated the dark world.

[An old man sits quietly at a desk facing the open window, closing an English book with "cinderella" written on the cover, and turns his head to look at the center of the scene.]

[The sun shines on her face, making her old features obscured by light and shadow, but it is still possible to tell that she is an old lady with wrinkles all over her face.]

The moment he saw this person, Zaimokuza outside the light curtain finally had no doubts anymore, and spoke the other person's name in a trembling voice.

"grandmother?"

"Eh? Grandma? Is this person your grandma, Zaimokuza-san?"

Yuigahama Yui's curious question came from behind, but Zaimokuza didn't react at all. He stared at the old man who appeared in the light curtain, and his eyes gradually became moist.

"..."

Seeing his expression, Yukinoshita Yukino realized something and silently closed her lips, and reached out to hold Yuigahama Yui's right hand. When she looked at her confusedly, she shook her head gently and put a delicate finger in front of her mouth.

At the same time, another voice sounded in the light curtain, but the picture still did not move, and was frozen on the old man's face.

Seeing this, everyone understood that the angle of the light curtain was now someone’s first-person perspective.

[“Grandma! Grandma! I want to hear the story of The Three Little Pigs next!”]

[Amid the young and excited male voice, a hand handed the old man a book with "Three Brothers" written on the cover and three cute little pigs and a big bad wolf printed below.]

[“Mo? Please spare me. I have told three stories in a row. Let me take a break.”]

[“Next, you can take a look for yourself.”]

[Faced with the storybook handed over, the old woman took it with a wry smile, then reached out to the picture, and could vaguely see a few strands of white hair looming around the edge as she rubbed it.]

[“But, grandma, I can’t understand English! And you speak it better, much better than the kindergarten teacher!”]

[A young male voice said in dissatisfaction, and two thin arms wrapped in clothes stretched out from both sides of the screen and grabbed the old man's arms.]

[“Then Yihui, you need to study hard. In the future, you will be able to understand storybooks by yourself, and you won’t need grandma to read to you.”]

[“No! I want you to tell me the stories, grandma. Only your stories are the best! They are much better than the stories I read myself!”]

[Faced with his grandson's willful request, the old man still had a kind smile on his face and spoke softly. ]

And the fact that she called her grandson "Yihui" confirmed the people who had made some guesses when they saw those white hairs.

This perspective of the light curtain is exactly the perspective of "Zaimokuza Yoshiteru".

Or rather, his memory.

【“Yihui.”】

【"What's wrong, grandma?"】

[Feeling that the old hand rubbing his head seemed to increase the force of the touch, the childish voice asked curiously. ]

[“Yihui, do you know? There is a kind of story in the world that can make people feel proud and happy that no other story can.”]

[“Hey? Is there such a story? I want to hear it! Grandma, please tell it to me!”]

[Faced with his grandson's excited and coquettish behavior, the old man smiled and shook his head, speaking softly. ]

[“Grandma can’t tell this story, because this story…”]

【“You wrote it.”】

[“I…I’ll write it? I’ll write the story?”]

[“That’s right? I have always believed that the stories written by you, Yihui, are the most beautiful and the best stories in the world.”]

[Feeling the boy's hesitation, the old man held out his hands, held his right hand in front of his eyes, and spoke gently.]

[“Grandma told you a lot of stories that she knew and wrote, but Yihui, you never told grandma your story. This is very unfair. You can’t be so cunning.”]

[“I want to hear your story, can I? Yihui.”]

[“But I’m not good at studying, and the stories I write are terrible. People in kindergarten who read the stories I wrote before said that my writing was terrible and asked me to stop writing…”]

【"Ha ha ha ha?"】

【Listening to the boy's frustrated mumbling, the old man laughed for the first time, stretched out his hands and hugged him. 】

The scene on the light screen became dark again, and only some patterns on the clothes could be vaguely seen, because the owner of the perspective had buried his face completely in the old man's arms.

[“That’s because you, Yihui, have just started to learn how to tell stories. Everything is hardest at the beginning, so it’s normal.”]

[“What I believe in is the story you will write in the future. I believe that story will be the best and will move people who read it to tears like a kitten or sob with snot hanging down their noses!”]

[“Can I really…write a story like that?”]

[As the boy spoke in confusion, the view turned to the old man's face again.]

[What comes into view is a sincere smiling face. ]

[“Of course you can. You have to believe in yourself. After all, you are grandma’s proudest grandson. I believe you can become a great storyteller.”]

[The old man said softly, and then stretched out his right little finger towards the screen.]

[“Let’s make a pinky promise now. I will wait for you forever. I will wait for you until you can write a story that touches my heart or makes me smile.”]

"..."

Zaimokuza bowed his head deeply, his whole body shaking from time to time, and his hands on the seat were clenched into fists.

Snapped--

The touch on his shoulder startled him for a moment, and he turned his head to look to the side.

Hikigaya Hachiman was looking at him. Although he was silent, the weight on his shoulders was real.

Zaimokuza moved his mouth, lowered his head without saying anything, and no longer looked at the old man on the screen, not even willing to glance at him.

【"--Um!"】

[Faced with the little finger extended by his grandmother with an encouraging smile, the boy hesitated for a moment, and then his perspective shook a few times as he nodded firmly.]

[He stretched out his right pinky finger and hooked it with the old man's pinky finger. The two fingers, with huge differences in skin color and age, were tightly hooked together in the sun, making the first oath in his life.]

[“Make pinky promise, grandma! You must keep your promise, or I will hate you forever!”]

[“Okay? I’ll do as Yoshiki says. A promise cannot be broken, so grandma will definitely wait for you to write the story for me.”]

[Finally, the picture freezes on the old woman's smile with her back to the sun. The light coats her cheek contours with a layer of platinum. Every wrinkle at the corner of her eye is clearly visible, which is the mark left by the years.]

[The only thing that remains unchanged is the emotion behind those eyes, which have changed from gentleness to kindness, and are still so gentle and warm. ]

【Then, the picture gradually turned dark, completely covering the old man's smile.】

[“Yes, a promise cannot be broken… You actually taught me that.”]

A voice sounded, mature and firm, but with an indelible sadness.

And this voice is very familiar to everyone in front of the light curtain.

That was the voice of the "protagonist" of the "story", "Yoshiki Zaimokuza", the smiling man of the future who would always have a smile on his face.

[“…But why, grandma who taught me this, you——”]

【“But you broke your promise?”】

[Thunder roared across the sky, illuminating the dark rainy day for a moment, and then heavy rain poured down.]

[In a world with heavy rain, a thin boy holds a book, trembling all over and lowering his head.]

[In front of him, there is a black coffin.]

[Patter. 】

[The pile of books slipped out of the boy's arms and fell to the ground, and a page of paper slipped out from one of the books.]

[The page reads:]

【——Test number: █▌█▌█▌】

[——Admitted candidate: Zaimokuza Yoshiki.]

[——The above is the certificate that you passed the entrance examination of our school in 2010.]

[——Your smile at the entrance ceremony will be forever preserved in the hearts of all the faculty and staff of this school. ]

【——March 2010, 3. 】

【——Chiba City Sobu High School. 】

[——Principal: █▌█▌█▌. ]

2. The name "α" is two-in-one

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, Health Center. 151txt.com

"Because my parents were busy with work when I was very young, it was actually my grandmother who raised me, and she has always been the person I am closest to."

"Just a few years ago when I was preparing for the entrance exam to Sobu High School, my grandmother suddenly became ill and was hospitalized."

"So during that time, I had been thinking about the story in my mind, and wanted to write it down and show it to my sick grandmother in the hospital. I hoped that her condition would get better after reading the story I wrote. So every day I was preparing for the exam and doing my best to write, trying to finish the story as soon as possible... This is the only thing I can do for her."

"But on the day I passed the Sobu High School entrance exam... my grandmother died in the hospital due to worsening illness. I was still in the examination room at that time, so I didn't even get to see her for the last time."

"In fact, I know very well in my heart that grandma did not break her promise to me. The one who broke her promise... was me."

"Although it doesn't make sense, I have been thinking about one thing in the past few years. If I could finish writing that story for my grandma before her condition got worse, would my grandma... not have died?"

Zaimokuza spoke of the past with a sad expression, and everyone was silent after hearing it.

"So you've been blaming yourself all this time? For not being able to see your grandma for the last time, or for not being able to fulfill the promise you made to your grandma?"

Hikigaya listened to his confession in silence, then spoke softly.

"…I don't know, maybe it's both."

Zaimokuza shook his head and spoke in a low voice.

"During that time, I was in a daze. I locked myself in my room except to go to the toilet and take a shower. Even meals were cooked by my mother and delivered to my door."

"My phone was always turned off. I didn't answer any calls from anyone. I cut off contact with everyone I knew and lived like a primitive man in a cave. Now that I think about it, I just wanted to use this self-exile to calm my inner pain and get over the grief of my grandmother's death as soon as possible."

"It was not until the day of the Sobu High School entrance ceremony that I came out of the stinking room filled with all kinds of household garbage. My appearance at that time scared my parents."

"why?"

Although he knew it was inappropriate to say this, Tobe Sho couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Because the way I looked at that time was very different from the way I was before."

"How big is it?"

In response to his best friend's question, Zaimokuza was silent for a while, then spoke hesitantly.

"In about half a month... my entire body was completely swollen. Afterwards, I measured it on the scale and found that I had gained nearly 50 kilograms."

"Huh? In other words..."

Shizuka Hiratsuka glanced at Zaimokuza's graceful figure, which could only be described as "round". Not only the corners of her mouth, but even half of her left face began to twitch.

"You told us before that you used to be very thin... weren't you bragging?"

"——I've always told the truth, okay? Is it so hard to believe that I used to be handsome? Why do all of you look at me as if I saw a sow firing a rocket? Hey! Why are you guys still turning your heads away?!"

Facing Zaimokuza's fierce complaints, everyone turned their heads away tacitly, trying not to smile.

Zaimokuza Yoshiteru does have some strange qualities. When talking to him, no matter whether the topic is good or bad, it seems that the whole process always ends with a smile.

When interacting with him, it seems that everyone will have a smile on their face in the end, and there will no longer be any haze or darkness.

"…Hey, Zaimokuza."

"What's wrong? Hachiman."

As everyone laughed, Hikigaya reached out and patted Zaimokuza's shoulder, and spoke softly as he looked over at him.

"Everyone's life will always leave some regrets, this is the same for everyone, no one is special."

“But even so, human beings are ultimately a kind of life that lives in the present and looks to the future… So let the pain and regrets of the past stay in the past along with the people of the past.”

“I believe that the past should not be a constraint on the present, but a stepping stone from the present to the future.”

"...Hachiman."

Listening to Hikigaya's rare outpouring of sincerity and advice, Zaimokuza felt somewhat surprised and at the same time moved.