Chapter 2: How I Met That Dark Red
A year had passed since then.
And still, there was no sign of Hikari.
There was only one reason.
The relatives of the one who had been his legal guardian at the time refused to file a missing person report.
"It’s just a runaway. He’ll be back soon enough."
That was their blunt response when they were told about his disappearance.
As a result, the police didn’t move.
No matter how close you are to someone, unless you're their legal guardian, you can't file a missing person report. And without one, the police won’t take action.
The only loophole would be if there were signs of foul play—
For example, kidnapping.
Whether it could be called luck or not, all of Hikari’s valuables, including his wallet, had been left untouched at home.
If it had really been a runaway, he would’ve needed money.
That gave some weight to the theory that he might’ve been abducted.
But that lead was quickly shut down during the investigation.
His home was an apartment—not even a well-insulated one—so if there had been any sort of struggle or screams, the neighbors would’ve noticed right away.
On top of that, the room hadn’t been disturbed at all until I entered it, and there were no signs whatsoever that anyone had broken in by force.
What sealed it was the surveillance footage.
The camera at the apartment entrance—
According to the manager, it was positioned so that no one could enter or exit without being recorded.
And yet, after Hikari came home that day, not a single suspicious figure appeared on the footage.
Not even Hikari himself was seen leaving.
In the middle of everyone’s confusion, someone said it:
—Could this be a
?Something like being spirited away.
Normally, in the 21st century, people would just laugh it off as a ridiculous fantasy…
But with no other explanation, and no evidence of foul play, the police couldn’t label it a crime.
And so, the investigation was dropped.
…That said, it’s not like the people around him just stood by doing nothing.
Take his classmates, for example.
Including me, they were determined to find him if the police wouldn’t.
That flyer distribution I’d just been doing on my own—
At first, it had been a group effort, with many more people involved.
But the timing was just too cruel.
It was the third year of junior high—
The season when exams loomed large.
Some found things they had to prioritize.
Others were stopped by their parents.
One by one, people dropped out.
…High school entrance became a turning point.
The class splitting up gave everyone the perfect excuse to put a lid on it—
And now, to all my former classmates but me,
The missing boy had become a taboo subject.
…I must’ve been lost in thought for a while.
Before I knew it, the sun had completely set, and darkness had swallowed the world around me.
The only things lighting the night path were the round moon hanging in the sky and a scattering of streetlights here and there.
That said, after riding a few trains to get here, this was a route I’d long since grown used to. No matter how dark it got, there was no chance of me getting lost.
My injured foot still hurt even when I wasn’t walking, but I pressed on slowly.
“…If I could run, I’d hurry home in a flash.”
I muttered to myself as the park near my house came into view.
Without thinking, my eyes wandered in that direction.
What came into sight were the same old jungle gym, rusted with age, and a swing set that sat far too low for high schoolers to use.
And then, there was the blue bench—where I’d spoken with Hikari that day.
Naturally, nothing had changed since a year ago.
There was no reason for anything to have changed.
Maybe it was just all this thinking about the past making me feel oddly nostalgic.
…But there’s something about a park at this time of night, bathed in moonlight, that gives it a strange atmosphere.
I didn’t want to end up seeing something creepy.
So I turned quickly, ready to walk away—
“…Huh?”
But despite myself, my gaze stopped at a single point.
“…A person?”
There, sitting quietly, was a girl.
She looked to be a middle schooler, probably a little younger than me.
Perched neatly on the bench, she hummed a tune to herself while gazing up at the night sky.
To be fair, a girl being in a park wasn’t strange in and of itself—
Though it wasn’t the safest idea given the hour. Still, it wasn’t unheard of, especially during summer vacation.
You’d see kids on their way back from cram school or a convenience store from time to time.
So then, what was it that caught my attention?
…It was her appearance.
Her silver hair, flowing all the way down to her waist, shimmered brilliantly under the moonlight.
It reminded me of fine silver thread.
Translucent and radiant, it swayed gently in rhythm with the tune she hummed.
In contrast, her clothing was entirely black.
She seemed to be wearing some kind of rough fabric draped over her like a cloak, blending so seamlessly with the twilight that it looked as if she were melting into the darkness.
If it weren’t for the gleam of her silver hair, I might’ve passed right by without noticing her at all.
That absurd thought actually felt plausible.
…Like a fairy had stepped out of a picture book—
The sight was so enchanting, I couldn’t look away.
I wanted to see her delicate, beautiful face up close.
Drawn in before I even realized it.
Like a moth to a flame.
Step by step—
I started moving toward her.
Crunch.
Then, I accidentally kicked a stone by my feet, and a faint sound echoed through the stillness.
That sound was loud enough to catch the girl’s attention, and her gaze, which had been fixed on the moon, slowly dropped to the ground—and then shifted toward me, the source of the noise.
“Ah, s-sorry. Did I scare you? I’m someone who lives around here—”
Luckily, the sound I’d made had snapped her back to reality.
I hurriedly tried to explain myself.
A high school boy creeping closer step by step to a younger girl on a dark street at night—anyone seeing that would have no reason not to think I was suspicious.
“You shouldn’t be out wandering around at this hour. Well, then.”
Though there was no way to shake off the awkwardness completely,
I mumbled something vague and harmless, then turned on my heel to leave—
That was the plan.
“...Wait.”
However, before I could turn away, the girl’s sweet soprano voice stopped me, and our eyes met.
The feeling that hit me then was the complete opposite of the intoxication I’d felt moments before—
It was a gut-wrenching, stomach-tightening discomfort, like my insides had been grabbed and squeezed.
Her eyes—red, yet dark and muted—looked like congealed blood.
Not a beauty, but a stranger’s face.
I knew I shouldn’t get involved.
My whole body screamed a warning.
But my limbs refused to obey.
No matter how much I willed myself to move, I couldn’t even take a step back.
Sour bile rose in my throat, sweat poured down my skin, and still the girl slowly got to her feet.
She approached me with a mocking slowness.
I tried to say something, anything—but my mouth only opened and closed uselessly, producing nothing but hollow, whistling breaths.
Then, when she was about ten steps away—
She suddenly kicked up a clump of dirt forcefully.
Her path was straight toward me.
And yet, she showed no sign of slowing down.
Then—
“Yosuke! It’s you, right? It’s me, Hikari! I’m back!”
She tackled me in an embrace and, with a sparkling smile that was completely different from before, shouted right in my ear.
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