Chapter 2: Miscommunication via Brainwaves Is Actually Pretty Common

Maybe… it’s finally happening.

—Maybe I’m about to make… a friend!

Someone actually came to the rooftop today, a place that’s always been just me, all alone!

And not just anyone—I know them!

It’s my classmate, Kishine-san. She’s the only person who kindly says “good morning” to me every day, even though I’m always so awkward. She’s this sweet girl with straight black hair that really suits her and seems a bit timid.

W-w-w-what do I do!?

Oh! I need to say hi first, right?

“Kishine… Rio?”

She seemed a little spaced out, maybe because she was staring at the sunset. Even more absent-minded than in the morning. So I called out to her.

Like, “Isn’t the sunset beautiful, Kishine-san?”

But of course, my mouth had to betray me again, and what I thought never made it out.

…Ugh, I’m so dumb. I want to get closer to her, and I go and call her full name without honorifics right off the bat? And I didn’t even manage to say that line about the beautiful sunset that I’d been rehearsing!

Ughhh, first impressions are super important!

See? Now she’s staring at me wide-eyed 'cause I suddenly acted all high and mighty!

…Is she gonna leave? What if she just walks away?

But… but I really think I could be friends with someone as kind as Kishine-san!

I wanted to say wait, but I couldn’t get the words out, so all I could do was silently watch her, heart pounding.

Then, Kishine-san said:

“—Are you a ghost? Or… are you an angel?”

—It was such a dazzling response, I felt a shock run down my spine and straight through my chest.

Wh-what!? Wait a second!

This is the most excited I’ve ever been!!

Kishine-san, that was amazing!

That one line completely floored me!

How do you even say something that cool so casually!? I wanna say something clever too!

“Shirogane. Classmate.”

But all that came out of my totally disappointing mouth was a super plain self-introduction. Not mysterious at all, and the way I kinda lisped only made it more pathetic.

Ughh, ughhhh!!

My mouth is a total clunky samurai disaster!!

See? Now Kishine-san is rubbing her eyes in disbelief!

…Wait, not her ears? Her eyes?

W-wait a minute… does she actually think I am a ghost? Has she been thinking all this time that there’s just some ghost showing up at school every morning?

N-no way… right!?

“…………Ah.”

Hmm?

“Ahhh!?”

Kishine-san suddenly gasped like she realized something. Like she’d just now figured out I was her classmate.

W-wait, she really thought I was a ghost until now!?

…Kishine-san, you’re joking, right?

“H-hey.”

“Not ghost. I have feet.”

I tried showing her my feet like, See? I’m totally solid!, and she kept glancing between my face and my feet.

That reaction was all the confirmation I needed.

She really, truly thought I was just some ghost student who’d been haunting the school this whole time.

…Wait. Hold on.

Isn’t that kind of… a cool position to be in?

A mysterious girl so quiet and solitary that people think she might be a ghost. Standing alone on the rooftop at sunset, staring into the distance like she’s hiding some deep secret.

…Yeah. I think I could totally work with this!

“Shi–Shirogane-san, why are you…?”

She asked me that, almost like the timing was perfect.

So I looked up at the sky, painted in bold strokes of red and black.

“—I thought it looked like I could walk across it.”

I declared it like a signature catchphrase, with (mentally) the most smug expression ever.

Yes! This time I said it right!

I couldn’t help wondering how Kishine-san would react. When I lowered my gaze from the sky, I saw her hair and cheeks tinted by the sunset’s red.

“Kishine… you too?”

Somehow, just then, she felt like a comrade.

I asked her, heart pounding.

—Like, did you also come up here to do the whole mysterious rooftop loner thing?

Kishine-san slowly nodded.

And in that moment, with the birth of a new ally—Mysterious Kishine—I clenched a deep victory pose (my body didn’t move, but in my heart, it was epic).

UOOOOOOHHH—!!

I’m really gonna make a friend at lasttttt!!

---

Shirogane-san stood right on the boundary between red and black.

She was just there, and yet it felt like she controlled the entire space around her. That’s the kind of presence she had.

—Maybe… this girl really can fly.

That’s how otherworldly she seemed. So detached, so transcendent.

And because of that, with a dry mouth and a trembling voice, I spoke.

Swept up in that unreal atmosphere.

“Yeah… that’s right. I came here… to fly.”

My heart was pounding so loud I could almost hear it, but still, I told Shirogane-san why I was really here.

The moment I said it, my skin prickled.

It felt like I’d just confessed a terrible secret.

I shrank into myself as I glanced at her face.

You’re here for the same reason… right?

But Shirogane-san’s expression didn’t change.

“You are too… right, Shirogane-san?”

I asked her, unable to shake the anxiety.

Wanting confirmation. Wanting to know I wasn’t alone in this.

—But Shirogane-san slowly shook her head.

“I’m not flying. I’m walking. On the sky.”

It was a correction… but not one I could really understand.

…What is that supposed to mean?

If you step out into the sky, you just fall.

“You can’t walk on the sky.”

It was a tiny correction, but for some reason it felt like she was rejecting me. I snapped back without thinking, a little harsh.

“……”

Shirogane-san didn’t respond.

She just kept quietly staring up at the sky.

The red was fading, swallowed up, the sky nearly all black now.

…Don’t ignore me.

Say something.

Otherwise, I… I won’t know what to do.

I can’t look away from her right now.

“…How do you walk on the sky?”

In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore and asked.

I didn’t want someone who might feel the same way I do to just brush me off like it meant nothing.

“—Stairs.”

“Huh?”

“I’m waiting. For stairs.”

I felt relieved just to get a response. But then confusion hit me.

Stairs?

Weren’t we talking about walking on the sky?

“…Sorry. I don’t really get it.”

This time, I was honest.

Because I wanted to understand. I wanted to share Shirogane-san’s world.

Shirogane-san finally lowered her gaze from the sky and looked at me.

And just stared. Directly.

…Wh-what is it?

“Kishine, do you want to climb too?”

“C-climb what?”

“—The angel’s stairs.”

Her words slipped easily into my ears, even though I didn’t understand them.

Somehow, I got the feeling. Even if I didn’t get the meaning.

A staircase coming down from the sky.

A staircase prepared by an angel.

At the very least, Shirogane-san believed in it.

“There’s a staircase to heaven…? That really exists?”

“Sometimes.”

“…Heh. That’s so weird.”

“Sometimes.”
That vague answer made me laugh a little.
I realized—Shirogane-san’s idea of an angel was surprisingly easygoing.

“…Weird?”

Even with her blank expression, I could sense her puzzled tone.

Along with that, the strange atmosphere that had filled the air until now gently melted away.
The otherworldly Shirogane-san was gone—replaced by a normal girl.

…Though, she still wasn’t quite the same as the one in the classroom—quiet like air itself.

“Maybe a little.”

“I see.”

Her presence felt clearer now—closer.
And somehow, in the dark, her white hair seemed to glow.

“If Kishine says so, maybe that’s true.”

Maybe it was because Shirogane-san had acknowledged me.
She hadn’t ignored me—she’d looked right at me.

“Kishine.”

Even the way she said my name… it felt so much more intimate now.

“What is it?”

“—Let’s watch for the angel’s stairs. Together.”

Her invitation was like a fruit—sweet, overly ripe, on the verge of bursting.

And I nodded, simply and honestly.

Because somehow, I felt today wasn’t that kind of day.
That line—“Let’s walk the sky”—felt far more beautiful than just jumping off.

“…Yeah. Let’s do that.”

In response, Shirogane-san still wore no expression.
But she quietly walked up to me, and said just one thing:

“…I’m happy.”

Her voice was flat, but her words carried the innocence of a little girl.
And somehow, that made her unbearably endearing.
For the first time in ages, my heart felt warm again.

Maybe it was in that very moment…
that I truly met the real Shirogane-san for the first time.

And that little happiness—just that small, precious moment—filled my heart to the brim.

—That’s why I could believe it.

—That there has to be a better day to die.