「W-Wait, Onii-chan!! You’re too fast!!」
We dashed out of the house to search for Natsuki, who we couldn’t contact, but within minutes, my younger sister Hina began to fall behind.
It was expected, but we don’t have time to waste, so I decide to ask Hikari to handle it.
「Hikari, can you?」
「Sure thing~ Hinata-chan, over here, over here!!」
She must have understood what I meant. Hikari calls Hina over and crouches down.
「Eh? Eh?」
「Hina, get on.」
「Come on, piggyback ride.」
Contrary to my urgency, Hikari speaks to Hina cheerfully.
She must be trying to keep things light so I don’t get too anxious seeing my lack of composure.
…Probably.
Anyway, there’s no time to waste. I nod at Hina, and after some hesitation, she climbs onto Hikari’s back.
「T-This is kind of embarrassing…」
「Hina, that won’t do.」
「Eh?」
She must feel embarrassed. But just putting her hands on Hikari’s shoulders isn’t enough.
「Hold on tight like you’re choking her neck, and don’t bite your tongue.」
「L-Like this?」
「The Hikari Express!! Departing now!!」
「Wah!! Kyaaaa!!」
Feeling Hina tighten her grip, Hikari starts running while saying something silly.
Even though Hina is relatively small, she still weighs several dozen kilograms, which should be significant. And with her clinging on, it should hinder body movement even more.
Yet, Hikari runs at a speed that seems unaffected by Hina’s weight. I curse my own stamina for only being able to barely keep up with Hikari carrying someone.
Looking to the side, I see Daiki running alongside with an easy expression, still having energy to spare.
These monsters. They’re so reliable.
In terms of perceived speed, it’s probably close to sprinting on a bicycle. We head towards the glowing dot indicated by the smartphone while maintaining our pace.
Although the distance is gradually closing, the dot keeps moving as if trying to distance itself from us, perhaps due to poor reception or because Natsu is on the move.
Natsu has always been bad at remembering directions, but because of that, she should have developed a habit of using the map app on her smartphone since childhood.
If so, either she’s in a situation where she can’t even do that, or she dropped her smartphone and someone else picked it up.
If it’s the former, we need to get there as soon as possible, but if it’s the latter, we’ll have to search the area thoroughly.
Either way, it’s not a good situation.
At that moment, Daiki handed me his smartphone. Why now?
「Shougo, it’s Asaki.」
With that one word, I thought Asaki might have found a clue, so I took Daiki’s smartphone while running.
「Hello, it’s Shougo.」
「Shou-niisama, I have bad news.」
Asaki immediately conveys bad news without any preamble. It must mean there’s no time for pleasantries.
「Go on.」
「Yes, the school janitor saw Nanami-senpai leaving the school. It seems she left through the gate with another woman.」
With a woman? A member of the kendo club, perhaps? If so, it could just be a detour, but why is it bad news?
「But a little while later, Amano-san was seen passing in front of the school gate.」
Hearing the name Amano, a sharp pain shoots through the back of my eyes.
「Moreover, it seems Amano-san was not alone, he was accompanied by several men from outside the school. There were men clearly not of high school age.」
「So, there’s a high possibility that Amano went after Natsu.」
「I hope it’s just needless worry, but it seems likely. It’s still speculation, but Shou-niisama’s concerns may be correct.」
Amano aside, I’m particularly bothered by the part about the men Asaki mentioned.
Thinking of the worst-case scenario, it explains why Natsu’s smartphone location is constantly moving. Unfortunately, it fits.
The pin’s movement doesn’t seem like the speed of someone walking slowly while looking for directions. Sometimes it stops and doesn’t move, but when it starts moving again, the speed of the location change is considerable. It suggests that Natsu might be running.
The identity of the woman who left the school with her is still unknown, but considering she’s not heading home, the need to run, and her not answering the phone, it seems highly likely that Natsu is being chased. It could be that she’s rushing home, but… that seems a bit far-fetched.
Is she safe? In a way, the fact that the dot indicating Natsu’s location is still moving is a relief. If she had been caught, she would either stay in one place or move more slowly.
I hope it’s not too late, but either way, we need to find Natsu as soon as possible. We’re just a short distance from the pin indicating her location. We should make it in time, I told myself.
But at this distance, shouldn’t we be able to see her by now? Could the position be slightly off due to signal issues? If so, we might have to search the area.
With that judgment, I decided to split into two groups as originally planned.
「Daiki, Hikari. Let’s split up as planned.」
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
「Got it.」
「I’m counting on you to protect Hina.」
「Leave it to me. I won’t let a finger touch her.」
Normally, I’d tell Daiki to explode, but in an emergency like this, he’s nothing but reliable.
Judging from Asaki’s information earlier, there’s a high possibility of trouble even if we find Natsu.
If so, there’s no one more dependable than these guys in such situations.
We split into two groups, me and Hikari, and Daiki with Hina, and search for Natsu, using our smartphones to approach from both sides.
What is that Amano guy thinking? Are Natsu and Amano really dating? Such doubts were forming in my mind.
Since we haven’t been able to talk, could there be some misunderstanding? Of course, the premise is that it’s all because of what I saw that day.
At that moment, a sharper pain than before shot through the back of my eyes.
But these past few days, although I’ve seen Amano calling out to Natsu, I’ve never seen Natsu calling out to Amano.
If anything, she seemed to be trying to come closer to us.
In reality, that was also thwarted by him, and above all, I feel guilty for not calling out to Natsu myself…
Could I be misunderstanding? I started to think so, perhaps wishfully.
If that’s the case, looking at it from a different perspective, it means he’s been following Natsu around without considering her feelings.
And the thought that he’s even cornered Natsu in a place like this fills me with an indescribable rage.
At that moment, a dull ache throbbed in my left eye, and my vision blurred.
「Damn it, not now…!!」
「Shou-nii?」
The usual, no, an even greater pain attacks me. I try not to let Hikari notice, but the pain only intensifies, and the world gains color. Red, crimson.
I quickly cover my eye with my left hand, but it seems I couldn’t escape Hikari’s dynamic vision. Hikari looked at my left eye with a grimace.
「Shou-nii… that eye.」
「Don’t say it, Hikari. Now’s not the time.」
Hikari loses her usual cheerfulness and just looks at me with concern.
She probably understands. Why this eye is turning red, the reason for it.
「…Then later. You absolutely have to tell me.」
「Yeah, that’s fine. For now, we need to…」
I search for Natsu while enduring the pain. My left field of vision is now completely dyed red, and while I can still see, it’s not suitable for searching.
──Where? Natsu, where are you?
I desperately look around, but perhaps because my attention is scattered, I can’t find Natsu.
Driven by impatience, I gradually lose my composure.
「──No!!」
「!!」
Just now, I heard a faint voice. It sounded like a young woman’s voice.
I was half convinced it must be Natsu.
「Hikari!! Did you hear that!?」
「Yeah, ah!! Shou-nii, over there!!」
I turn my right eye in the direction Hikari is pointing.
I couldn’t see clearly yet, but I saw someone restraining another person from behind.
And someone in front of the restrained person reaching out their hand.
──By the time I recognized this, I was already running.
「Shou-nii!?」
Hikari calls out, seeing me suddenly start running. Sorry, Hikari. I don’t have the luxury to respond right now.
「Stop it!! Shou-chan!! Help me!!」
This time, I heard it clearly.
Natsu is calling for my help. If so, these guys are──enemies!!
「Aaahhh!!」
I charge towards the man restraining Natsu, letting out a battle cry as if to shake off the pain in my left eye.
Fortunately, thanks to my trained reflexes, the opponent has no time to react and allows me to approach.
I grab the opponent’s face and slam him to the ground.
I saw the expression of the man who didn’t understand what had happened, but I ignored it, pulled his head slightly towards me, and slammed the back of his head into the ground with force.
Feeling the man lose consciousness, I release him and move towards the man in front of Natsu.
The man seems to notice and stretches out both hands to stop me.
But merely outstretched hands mean nothing. I brush aside his arms and grab his throat with my right hand.
The throbbing in my left eye hasn’t disappeared, and I felt like screaming, but the moment I saw the face of the person whose throat I was grabbing, my emotions turned to rage, followed by a brain-burning pain that attacked me.
Because the man in front of me was none other than that Amano.