Chapter 22: The Protagonist Checks on the Cold TS Girl

We listened as Akegami-san and the others spoke about their past.

—During the Third Deep Calamity, most of the people around their middle school had died.

—All of Akegami-san’s family were gone, and she had been found holding the severed arm of her friend, Kumoyama Yuri.

—After that, they continued fighting the Deep Calamities, and in the end, only Akegami-san, Haraguchi-san, and Shishiba-san survived.

…Honestly, I couldn’t find any words. I had thought there might be something in Akegami-san’s past that changed her—but she had lost everything.

In the end, Kisa-san’s intuition had been right.

After that, I couldn’t manage a proper conversation with Haraguchi-san, who had told us all this, and we returned to our team room.

With a sigh, Kisa-san slumped back into her chair.

"It’s confusing calling her ‘Yuri’ when Yuri isn’t Yuri. I mean, I’ll call her Yuri anyway, but still."

Her tone sounded casual, but there was a stiffness in her voice.

"Even so, asking her directly about her real name feels like a hassle."

Kototsuka-san sat down as well.

That’s right—Haraguchi-san hadn’t told us Akegami-san’s real name. If Akegami-san was hiding it, then it wasn’t his place to say.

…Not talking about the past, I could understand. But this felt like a final line you weren’t meant to cross.

Without realizing it, I looked down at my hands. They were clenched tight—I slowly relaxed them.

I see. Hearing about Akegami-san must have made me tense without noticing. I didn’t want to accept something so absurd.

"Still… Akegami-san used to be more boyish, huh."

That was one of the things Haraguchi-san had told us.

The Akegami-san we knew was always bright and energetic, so it was hard to imagine.

Though maybe what I saw when she was down with a fever was part of that.

A sharper version of her, with a different way of speaking… I kind of wanted to meet that side too.

Though that would mean she had changed quite a lot.

"Ultimately, ‘Akegami Yuri’ is just a persona she put on, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, but I do want to know why she’s so attached to Shinozaki-kun."

…That was true. But was it really just an act?

Maybe her heart was already worn down, and she was simply searching for something—someone—to lean on.

…Come to think of it, if Kumoyama Yuri had survived, what would Akegami-san be like now?

Even thinking that felt a little inappropriate.

Still… seeing Akegami-san, who had likely lost not only her family but even her closest friend, yet continued to act cheerful on purpose…

Was it arrogant of me to want to help her?

"For now, I’d like to hear it from her directly."

"That might be difficult."

When I muttered that, Kototsuka-san frowned.

"Akegami Yuri doesn’t seem like the type to change her attitude just because her past was exposed. And honestly, I still don’t really understand what she wants."

"…That’s true, but…"

The idea that Akegami-san might want to die was just speculation. And even if it were true, as long as she wasn’t choosing suicide, there had to be some meaning behind it.

…Still, I wanted to hear it from her directly.

I wanted to properly understand what kind of person she was. We were teammates, after all.

"Alright, then let’s do this!"

Kisa-san suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Reina and I will invite Yuri to a girls’ night!"

"…Uh, what about me?"

"Well, Shinozaki-kun, you might be kind of special to Yuri, so it might be too much stimulation for her, right?"

"…Is that so?"

Special… was I?

Well, it was true she treated me differently. I’d heard she kept her guard up around others, but seemed more relaxed around me.

"…Do we really have to do this girls’ night thing?"

"If we ask in a fun setting, she might actually answer us!"

"…"

Overwhelmed by Kisa-san’s enthusiasm, Kototsuka-san fell silent.

It looked like they were really going through with the girls’ night.

…Oh right, I’d gotten a message earlier asking us to decide on a team name.

I thought we were going to decide that now, but there was no point doing it alone. Maybe I’d think about it while I had time.

The next morning, on the way to school, I happened to spot Akegami-san. She looked worse than yesterday.

"Morning, Akegami-san."

"…Yo."

Her energy was low. Looking closer, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin looked a little rough.

"…What?"

She shot me a sharp glance. None of her usual brightness was there.

I felt a bit guilty, having listened to her past without permission. I tried to say something, but couldn’t think of the right words, so I settled for something neutral.

"You look a bit pale."

"…Huh? Seriously? Oh wow, you’re right. Hang on a sec."

After checking with a hand mirror, she put it away.

"《Saint Arts》—'Heal.'"

She directed the light gathering in her hand toward her face, and her complexion immediately improved. Even the dark circles disappeared.

Wait—she could use healing skills? And it even fixed skin issues?

Her abilities were seriously convenient.

"I usually just fix it like this."

"…You do that every day?"

"Yeah. I don’t really get skincare stuff."

"That’s a pretty forceful solution."

"Shut up."

She turned away with a huff.

…She was kind of prickly today.

Apparently, Kisa-san and the others were going to drag her into a girls’ night later—would she be okay?

Well, maybe it would cheer her up.

"Shinozaki-kun!"

"Whoa—!"

"And Yuri. Morning."

A strong impact hit me from behind.

…Why was Kisa-san hugging me? Her breath brushed against my ear—it tickled.

This was getting weird. At this rate, Kototsuka-san might be the only one left with a normal sense of personal space.

"W-wait, huh…? Kisa’s like that?"

Akegami-san blinked in surprise.

"Like what?"

"I mean… are you two, like, dating…?"

Amazing. Her prickly mood vanished—now she just looked flustered.

"Not really, but if it’s Shinozaki-kun, maybe?"

"What are you suddenly saying, Kisa-san??"

"Oho, looks like you’re popular, Nagisa-kun."

She was back to her usual self. Good… probably. Though Kisa-san was saying things that were hard to tell if she meant or not.

…Honestly, it was a little scary how naturally I was accepting being hugged like this. She felt oddly warm—maybe she just ran hot.

"Hey, Yuri. Shinozaki-kun isn’t reacting at all. Did you mess him up or something?"

"Did I rub off on him?"

"Well, it’s definitely at least partly your fault, Akegami-san."

"Eh, Nagisa-kun admitted it. Then maybe if I kept kissing him, he’d get used to it and start doing it naturally?"

"Let’s not go that far, okay???"

Now that things were back to their usual energy, the situation was starting to head in a dangerous direction.

There was no way Akegami-san would actually go that far… right?

Still, the shadow that flickered across her face between moments of conversation lingered in my mind—but I decided not to touch on it yet.

After all, Akegami-san really was a wounded girl.

And because of that… I felt like I had to reach out to her.

Though… now probably wasn’t the time.