The story we started

[Looking at the snow that continued to fall in front of him, Zaimokuza reached out and took one of the snowflakes with doubt.]

[“So cold!”]

[After the hexagonal crystal fell into Zaimokuza's hand, the cold feeling brought by the temperature of his palm told him that this was not an illusion.]

[“How could this happen? Why did it turn out like this? How on earth should I…”]

【Zaimokuza felt increasingly confused and took a step forward driven by the doubts in his heart. He was eager to know what was going on.】

【Clang! 】

[Because of his big steps, Zaimokuza's heels accidentally hit the legs of the chair, and a book that he was sitting on slid off the chair onto the snow-covered plastic playground, leaving a clear indentation on the snowy surface.]

【"Um?"】

【Zaimokuza looked at the brown-covered book at his feet, which looked a bit old, and squatted down to pick it up in confusion, and then brushed off the snow on the cover.】

[“…What’s wrong with this book? Not only is there no name written on it, but there’s not even a single word written on the pages?”]

[He checked both the front and back of the book cover, and after not seeing any title that should be the book's name, he opened the book. But what he saw made him frown again.]

[Crash--]

[The white pages of the book quickly turned between the covers at both ends as the fingers moved, but there was no handwriting on any of the pages inside until the last page of white paper turned over and the bottom page of the cover was exposed.]

[“Hey? Why do strange things always happen one after another?”]

[Looking at the wordless book in his hand, Zaimokuza scratched his short white hair that was almost longer than his ears in distress. Everything he discovered in succession made him feel an indescribable sense of weirdness.]

【“…”】

[Just as Zaimokuza squatted on the playground and scratched his head, a pair of black eyes in the dark of the building were quietly watching his back. The dark irises reflected his divided back through the wire mesh of the playground.]

[The man stared at him for a while, then turned around and walked in another direction without any regrets. When he walked out from under the building, the faint light from the sky illuminated the Sobu High School uniform he was wearing, which was a pitch-black base with a few white stripes on it.]

[A ghostly black figure passed by the playground exit not far away, which Zaimokuza was facing when he was half-crouching, and continued to walk slowly forward toward the aisle in front.]

[Patter. 】

[The black shoes, the same color as the school uniform, stepped on the snow, making a slight sound that was insignificant compared to the entire campus.]

[But for Zaimokuza at this moment, when this faint sound of footsteps fell into his ears, it was no less deafening than the thunder exploding in the sky.]

[“——Who is it!?”]

[Without time to think, Zaimokuza instinctively put the book inside his windbreaker, quickly turned around to look in the direction of the voice, and asked the question first.]

[The figure wearing the Sobu High School uniform didn't care that he had been discovered, and ignored Zaimokuza's questioning. He still kept his pace without looking back, and walked slowly towards the corner in the distance.]

[However, in contrast to the calm attitude of the figure, Zaimokuza is completely unable to calm down. ]

【“——”】

[Looking at the figure outside the wire fence of the playground, walking around the corner towards the teaching building, Zaimokuza's mind suddenly went blank as if it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer.]

[“…How is that possible?”]

[Looking at the back figure disappearing around the corner of the building, his eyes couldn't help shaking at this moment, and his lips trembled synchronously. ]

【Zaimokuza stood up slowly. When he stood up completely, he even took several steps back unsteadily. He only managed to steady himself by reaching out and grabbing the back of the chair behind him.】

[“That person is——!!!”]

[His right hand gripped the back of the chair so hard that his palm turned pale. He stared at the corner where the figure disappeared. At this moment, an unprecedented shudder ran through Zaimokuza's body.]

【"……etc!"】

[Soon after, Zaimokuza came back to his senses from the shock and suddenly realized that the figure had left. He immediately used his palm to push the chair down, and at the same time, using the reaction force to lean forward, his feet pulled off the ground and rushed in the direction where the figure left.]

[The black soles stepped on the ground, leaving two clear shoe prints on the snow covering the playground.]

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"That person is..."

"It's definitely him."

When that figure appeared in the light curtain, not only did "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" in the light curtain react extremely greatly, but even the other people here also reacted.

Everyone simultaneously focused their attention on Zaimokuza Yoshiki, the "protagonist", and on another person—

Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Hikigaya, who was being stared at by everyone in the health room, rubbed his messy black hair helplessly, and at this moment he inexplicably felt a little sad.

"Although I have always hoped to show my face in the light screen, to be honest..."

He looked up at the light curtain, chasing the figure into the teaching room, and seeing "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" climbing the stairs anxiously with a look on his face, and couldn't help but sigh tiredly.

"I didn't expect that I would appear in this way in the end... Tsk, I'm not Uchiha Sasuke."

[——How is it possible? ]

[Patta, pat, pat—]

[The crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor. Zaimokuza had already forgotten the school rule of Sobu High School that "no outdoor shoes are allowed into the teaching building". His black sneakers left black footprints with snow on the floor of the teaching building as he ran.]

[While chasing after the figure who turned his head and disappeared around the corner of his vision, he clenched his teeth tightly while running, so hard that his molars made a creaking sound.]

[——How could it be you? ]

[Zaimokuza, who had climbed up the stairs, suddenly looked up and saw the figure again taking his hand off the stair handle and turning to the left.]

[Zaimokuza knew the direction the other party was heading, and even knew where his destination was. ]

[Because turn left at the exit of the staircase, and then continue walking straight for a distance, after turning a corner in the corridor at the end, there is a row of old empty classrooms... There is a club activity room formed by students located in one of the empty classrooms. ]

[And the name of that club is the Service Club. ]

[——You’ve clearly already…]

【Zaimokuza held onto the handrail of the stairs and lowered his head, his whole body trembling.】

【“……!”】

[A familiar name that he hadn't seen for many years appeared on his lips. He opened his mouth, but felt something stuck in his throat.]

[He gritted his teeth again, ran to the upper level of the stairs, and continued running along the path that the figure had just walked until he reached the familiar corner.]

[After turning the corner, the scene before my eyes once again showed an extended corridor.]

[That figure appeared in the distance, standing quietly in front of the sliding door of a classroom, not moving away.]

[Looking at the figure that appeared in his field of vision, looking at the familiar profile of the face with the upper half of the face covered by bangs, Zaimokuza no longer had any doubts at this moment. ]

[The moment I saw him, the blockage in my throat melted away like snow encountering a blazing fire. The air flowed into my throat along with the wind, vibrating the vocal cords, brewing the familiar name.]

[I have hardly ever mentioned this name in the past few years, but when I say it again, there is no sense of alienation caused by the passage of time. It feels as familiar as before.]

【Zaimokuza, who was standing at the end of the corridor, looked at the familiar man and shouted out the man's name at the top of his lungs.】

【"——Hachiman!!!"】

13. The Door of Memory: The Sunshine of Midsummer 6k

【Hikigaya Hachiman. 】

【A name that Zaimokuza Yoshiki will never forget. 】

[During his school days, especially before high school, Zaimokuza had many relationships that could be called friends, but since graduation, he has lost contact with many people. Just like those people who appear in many people's school life, they are not a big friendship, but just a passing visitor who accompanied you through a journey in your life. ]

[When you reach the end of your journey, those people will leave the road you once walked on, and you will never see them again, and even the memories will fade away with them. ]

【But among those friends, there is one name that is completely different from those names that have long been lost in the sea of ​​time and memory. Zaimokuza has never forgotten even for a moment the person represented by this name and everything about him.】

[A person can have many friends in his life, and even relationships above that. Whether it is a boyfriend or a girlfriend, it is not a singular existence. 】

[Even for many people, even lovers, who are ultimately synonymous with relatives, only need to have that thought in mind to find a substitute for the other person.]

[Although the number of friends in life can be endless, the ones who can be called close friends are only a handful. ]

【And Hikigaya Hachiman is like this to him. 】

[Hikigaya Hachiman - Zaimokuza Yoshiteru's first and perhaps only best friend in his life. No one can replace him in his heart.]

[Because the so-called replacement is nothing but a self-deception. If the person in your memory is really replaced by someone else one day, it is just that you have forgotten the original person.]

【And Zaimokuza never forgot him. 】

[But it was precisely because he had never forgotten that he could not believe the person he saw before his eyes more than anyone else.]

[“Is it really… you?”]

[“Say something, Hachiman!”]

[Zaimokuza stood at the corner of the corridor, the cold light shone in from the window where snowflakes were dancing, covering his entire body with a layer of slightly cold blue.]

[The other person was standing right on the wall behind the row of windows. The light passed through his body, only illuminating half of his face, but not his body.]

[With the Sobu High School uniform he was wearing that seemed to blend in with the surrounding darkness, his face, half illuminated by the cold light, was filled with an inexplicable sense of paleness, like an overexposed photo, or like the only blank space in an all-black ink painting.]

[As ethereal as a ghost—Zaimokuza could only come up with this description.]

[He was surrounded by a sense of being detached from reality, and there was no trait in him that could be associated with a living person. Therefore, even though he had already confirmed that the other person was the person he was familiar with in his memory, Zaimokuza still did not dare to be completely sure in his heart, and even asked questions with such caution. ]

【“…”】

[Faced with Zaimokuza's question, Hikigaya Hachiman turned a deaf ear and stood silently in front of the sliding door leading to the Service Club without turning his head.]

A junior high school in Chiba Prefecture.

"elder brother?"

It is not only the "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" in the light curtain who has this doubt, but also the Hikigaya Komachi in reality.

Originally, she was very happy that her brother could become a character on the screen and show his face in front of the whole world. She thought that this might attract many good girls in reality to notice her brother and become interested in him.

Even if there really is a girl who is blinded by this (crossed out) - and has good vision and takes a fancy to her brother, then she has earned a future sister-in-law for free, and solved the problem of her brother's popularity with women that she has always been worried about. It is a win-win situation (sure)!

A world with a bright future for everyone has been born!

But now, she has completely gotten rid of this idea.

Looking at "Hikigaya Hachiman" who was in the darkness on the light screen, Hikigaya Komachi's eyes were fixed on the half-familiar profile, her eyes were full of doubts and a bit of strangeness.

That face, that attire, there was no doubt that it was the brother she was familiar with who had grown up with her. There was no way Hikigaya Komachi could make a mistake about that.

But she had never felt such a hollow temperament in her brother.

Although Hikigaya Hachiman's aura has become very gloomy and depressed since he graduated from junior high school, and his pair of eyes that were once quite good-looking have completely turned into dead fish eyes full of dha like stinky salted fish, but only his appearance has changed, and his heart is still the person I have been familiar with since childhood.

But at this moment, Hikigaya Komachi was completely unable to tell others with confidence that this was her brother as she had done in the past.

Because no matter how depraved her brother has become compared to before, he still has the aura of a "human".

But this "Hikigaya Hachiman" in the light curtain... Hikigaya Komachi couldn't feel anything familiar about him.

There is no darkness, no light, no evil, no justice, even the dull and stale atmosphere that she had always disliked in the past is gone.

He gave people the feeling of being an empty shell, or even like an exquisite wax model made of a real person.

To be frank, judging from the first impression that "Hikigaya Hachiman" on the light curtain gives people now, as long as he closes his eyes, even if he is directly wrapped in a shroud and dragged to a movie set for a funeral scene to play a cameo role as a corpse, no one will think that he is acting. Instead, they will wonder how the director got such a real corpse as a prop.

So, when Hikigaya Komachi looked at the "stranger" who had the face of her brother, for the first time, a question that could be said to be absurd arose in her mind.

Is this person...really his brother?

[“Hey, answer me!”]

[“Are you really…Hikigaya Hachiman?”]

[With the emotions surging in his chest, Zaimokuza couldn't help but take steps towards the corridor ahead. The crisp and heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor where only the two of them existed, and even in the entire campus. ]

【“…”】

【Click.】

[Hikigaya Hachiman said nothing. His closed lips were like a welded iron door, never opening or closing even once.]

[He just very calmly stretched out his hand and opened the sliding door of the service department, and walked in as Zaimokuza's eyes widened.]

【"--etc!?"】

【Seeing him walk into the classroom, Zaimokuza rushed forward without hesitation, but he still didn't arrive before the sliding door closed.】