The Love of My Childhood Friend, Who Has Overcome a Terminally Ill Diagnosis, Is Overwhelming
“Akkun. I’ve been looking for you.”
Smiling as usual, Kanade said.
Judging by the way she spoke, it seemed she’d finished dinner with Kadokura and the others and had been looking for me.
Why on earth?
“…I’ve been looking for you.”
Apparently, there was no particular reason.
“More importantly, what are the two of you doing here?”
“Oh, studying.”
Come to think of it, Kanade somehow knew yesterday that I was studying in the library.
Since she knows this is where I usually study, and considering the reference books spread out on the desk, she should have been able to tell we were studying without even asking us—so why did she go out of her way to ask what we were doing…?
“I see. Studying, huh. Hmm. Hmm. I see.”
It seemed Kanade understood that we were studying.
“…Um, Takagaki-san? Is that right?”
Kanade addressed Takagaki-san without breaking her smile, as if to put him at ease.
“…N-no, that’s not me.”
“Huh? It’s not?”
“Why are you lying…?”
To my bewilderment…
“T-this guy is…”
Takagaki-san, on the verge of tears, lunged at me.
“Hmm?”
Kanade tilted her head slightly, smiling.
Takagaki-san noticed the third party present and showed the discretion to stop their usual banter.
……That’s Takagaki for you. Unlike a certain Kadokura, she’s a sensible person.
“……Ugh. Why does this have to happen to me?”
Takagaki muttered.
“Takagaki san. I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you for a while.”
“I didn’t really feel the same way…”
“Eh? That’s mean.”
Kanade pulled out a chair, deliberately moving it to a spot right between us, and sat down.
“Hey. Since we’re here, and to get to know each other better, why don’t we talk for the rest of the break?”
“……Um…”
Takagaki-san was clearly at a loss.
“……No, Kanade.”
“……Why?”
Kanade’s tone seemed lower than usual.
“Takagaki-san is studying right now. Let’s let her concentrate on her work.”
“……Hmm. You’re really kind, A-kun. To Takagaki-san, anyway.”
“……Sorry.”
I looked down.
“It’s true that I… haven’t been kind to Kanade. After all, I couldn’t save you back then.”
I felt a little queasy.
A heavy atmosphere enveloped the library.
“C-come on. Akkun, I’m just kidding. It’s a joke, okay?”
Kanade’s voice was cheerful.
“Seriously, Akkun. I’ve told you so many times. You really did save me, you know? I mean, the fact that I’m alive right now, and that I’m here as I am… it’s all thanks to you.”
“……Kanade?”
“Akkun. Just as I have you, you have me, right?”
……Kanade’s words sounded incredibly sweet.
For a moment, I was tempted to go along with her sweet words and accept everything.
I shook my head.
“Sorry, Takagaki-san. For interrupting your studying.”
“……Yeah. You really are a distraction.”
“……Sorry.”
“……”
“S-sorry. Just kidding.”
Takagaki-san looked like she was about to cry again.
“Kanade, I don’t want to bother her any more, so let’s go.”
“……Okay. If you say so, A-kun.”
“Take your time”
Takagaki-san waved weakly at us.
We walked down the hallway, which was noisy with other students.
We weren’t walking side by side.
Kanade was walking right behind me, staying close.
“Akkun.”
“……”
“Akkun.”
“……Ah, sorry.”
“Are you feeling sick?”
Her voice was gentle.
“I’m fine.”
“Want to go to the nurse’s office?”
“I’m fine.”
“……You know, I hate seeing you look like you’re in pain, Akkun. So please don’t push yourself.”
“I’m not pushing myself…”
“……Akkun.”
I turned around to face Kanade behind me.
“Do you enjoy school…?”
Kanade’s eyes, unlike just a moment ago, were flickering with a hint of sorrow.
…I didn’t sense even a trace of the unease I’d been feeling toward her lately.
Her eyes looked like she was genuinely worried about me.
“……School isn’t a place to have fun; it’s a place to study hard.”
“……Akkun. I’m just wondering, but…”
For a moment, Kanade’s face twisted into an expression of deep sorrow.
“Is it my fault that you look so miserable…?”
And then, in a voice that sounded as if it might vanish at any moment, she asked me.
It had been three days since we’d been reunited.
The Kanade I saw today… was no longer the girl who’d once suffered from illness and felt weak; she had grown into a lady exuding a unique aura.
She never showed any signs of weakness, always smiling, and the poise she had acquired after narrowly escaping death… made her seem almost like a major figure.
This was the first sign of vulnerability she had shown since our reunion.
[From someone who’s nearly died, being bullied by a mere high school student is nothing.]
That was the first sign of vulnerability Kanade had shown since saying something like that.
…I never imagined it would have anything to do with me.
“…I’m sorry.”
“I knew it… I knew it was like this.”
Kanade looked like she was about to cry.
“No. That’s not it.”
At my words, Kanade looked up.
Her face said… “There’s no way that’s not it.”
It was a little scary.
“……Kanade, do you have time after school today?”
I asked.
“There’s a place I want to go.”
Wanting to put her at ease, I plastered a clumsy smile on my face.
“……There’s a place I want to go, just the two of us.”
Maiasa