Chapter 19

「You… what are you doing?」

「Uah… uh…」

The moment I recognize Amano, I tighten my grip on his throat.

There’s no need to ask what he’s doing given the situation I arrived at, but words still spill out from my mouth due to my unbearable anger.

Either way, since I’m choking him, Amano wouldn’t be able to answer even if I asked. Judging by the weakness of the sound escaping him, it’s doubtful he’s even able to breathe properly.

「Hey, answer me. Why did you do this?」

「Gii…」

Amano’s face contorts in agony as he gasps for air.

As the blood drained from his face, likely due to lack of oxygen, I loosen my grip and tossed him aside.

「!!」

I glare down at Amano as he collapses to the ground. The left half of my vision remains as red as ever.

「Look, now you can talk, right? So, I’ll ask again.」

I question Amano again, who looks at me with a frightened expression.

「Hey, why is Natsu crying? Answer me.」

I take steps towards Amano, who is still on the ground.

「Hii!! O-Oi everyone, quickly, this guy…」

「Ahh, don’t worry about it.」

There’s no need to look around.

「Hikari, Daiki. Good job.」

「They were too weak, it was boring~」

「The guys we met on the way here, we just rolled them around a bit, that’s fine?」

I sense Hikari and Daiki nearby and offer them words of appreciation while keeping my gaze fixed on Amano.

I think I’m being quite arrogant, but I deliberately switch my tone during combat to flip the switch.

Unlike Hikari, Daiki, or Asaki, I’m just an ordinary person. That’s why I’ve disciplined myself to the point of not even having the luxury to make light-hearted remarks.

「That’s enough. Hina is──」

「Ahh, she’s over there having an emotional reunion.」

Then there’s no problem. I decided to leave Hina to them since I don’t have the capacity to worry about her right now.

He will pay for laying a hand on someone precious to me. I must thoroughly interrogate, subdue, and erase him to ensure he never repeats this.

I’ve been doing the same thing over and over for the past year and a half. This is just one more time.

If that’s the case, there’s no problem, I think as I resume my steps, approaching Amano one step at a time.

「D-Don’t come!! Don’t come, you monster!!」

「Silence. Consider your position. You’re not the one giving orders here. I am.」

Whether his legs gave out or he was injured, I don’t know, but Amano showed no signs of getting up from his fallen position.

But if he has the energy to talk back, that’s enough. With that thought, I stepped on Amano’s left arm.

「Gyaah!!」

「I said be silent. Now answer quickly. What were you doing to Natsu here?」

I felt his bones crush under my sole. It’s probably not beyond treatment, but he won’t be able to move it for a while.

「Uuuhh. Why am I going through this…」

Whether he heard me or not, Amano muttered with vacant eyes.

「If you keep ignoring me, I’ll crush your other arm too.」

「Stop… please stop.」

「Then answer quickly. Don’t make me repeat myself.」

I threaten Amano with a voice laced with irritation.

The pain in my left eye, as if it were being gouged out, keeps attacking me repeatedly. Honestly, even I’m reaching my limit.

「I just came to pick up Natsuki… and then Natsuki said some weird things to me, so I thought I’d punish her with my friends…」

His words are too fragmented to understand, but I can tell he’s desperately trying to explain himself.

At this point, claiming he just came to pick her up is quite the excuse.

「What do you mean by weird things?」

「N-Natsuki said it!! That despite liking me, she was never dating me from the start!! She told me to never come near her again!!」

What is this guy talking about?

Saying you like someone but aren’t dating them could be seen as hiding your embarrassment, I can somewhat understand that.

But telling someone you like to never come near you again, there’s no way those words would come out.

「I’ve been watching Natsuki since way back!! I’m the one who knows Natsuki the best!! So why are you getting in my way!!」

「Since way back?」

That’s strange. Natsuki and I have been together since middle school, but I don’t know anyone named Amano, and I certainly don’t recognize him.

I thought they might have met after entering high school, but is that not the case?

「That’s right!! I don’t know who she was visiting, but I saw Natsuki coming to my father’s hospital every day──」

「Ahh, I see. I finally understand.」

In other words, he must have fallen in love at first sight with Natsu, who was coming to visit me.

「To think you can claim to know her best after just a year or so.」

「W-What?」

「You were probably only seeing the surface of her anyway.」

With her good looks, excellent grades, and being chosen as a representative in club activities, she must have seemed like a very attractive woman. Even to me, who has only been here a few days, she looks that way.

But I know.

She hated studying.

She was bad at cooking.

She had no sense of direction.

She often tripped over nothing.

Seeing only what looks good to you, and you claim to know her best? Don’t make me laugh.

「She was bad at using knives, so she often cut her fingers.」

「…Eh?」

「She couldn’t remember directions well, so she was always struggling with her smartphone.」

「W-What are you…」

「She tripped easily, so I had to hold her hand.」

「……」

「Even though she hated studying, she found a reason to study desperately.」

The last reason is probably──

「What do you know, when you don’t even know about her efforts, just because she can do things now?」

My vision gradually returns to its normal color. At the same time, the throbbing in my left eye begins to subside.

「I’m not saying you can’t fall in love with her. I know I don’t have that right.」

「Then──」

「But you made Natsu cry. That’s the one thing I won’t forgive.」

Perhaps having lost the will to argue, Amano looked up at me and tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. It’s safe to say he’s finally submitted. This should be enough. If that’s the case.

──Even if I erase him.

The red that had once subsided begins to dye the left half of my vision again.

Along with it, the throbbing pain in my left eye returns.

My eye color is probably changing again. Amano’s expression shifts back to one of fear.

「Did you think you’d be forgiven?」

I grab Amano by the collar as he lies there holding his arm, and pull him up with brute force.

The pain in his broken arm distorts his face, but he no longer resists.

「Shou-nii!! Don’t do it!!」

「Stop!! Shougo!!」

Hikari and Daiki call out to stop me. Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to forgive this guy.

「S-Stop… help me… I’m sorry, I’m sorryyy!!」

Amano begs for forgiveness, for help. But his pleas don’t reach me. Above all.

「Despite her asking for help earlier, what were you trying to do?」

There’s no need for further questions.

I lean forward, still gripping his collar. I was about to drive my elbow into his ribs──

「Stop!!」

──I’m hugged from behind, stopping my movement.

Normally, I would have flopped onto him and broken his ribs.

But the sensation of being hugged and that voice made me stop.

「Natsu, let go.」

「No!!」

No, what are you, a child!! That’s what I thought.

And by the time I thought that, it was too late. In other words, I had come to my senses.

Before I knew it, the throbbing in my left eye had disappeared, and my vision had returned to its normal color.

「Haa…」

Having lost interest in Amano, I let go of his collar.

It seems Amano had fainted, as he collapsed from his knees and hit his head on the ground.

「Look, I’ve let go, so you let go too.」

「No!!」

What a stubborn child…

「If I let go, Shou-chan will disappear again!!」

It’s like a parade of regression to childhood, I mutter in my heart.

「It’s okay, at least I won’t suddenly disappear like before.」

「But──but I was really worried, you know!? Me, mom and Hina-chan too!!」

「I know. I’m sorry.」

「I don’t want an apology!!」

My childhood friend refuses to accept my apology.

「You came back properly, right!? Then──」

Suddenly, a scene from the past floats in my mind.

I think it was right after I lost my parents, when I still felt resistance to the idea of returning to the Nanami house.

Unable to shake off the impression of it being someone else’s house, I tried to enter saying “Excuse me for intruding”.

『When you come home, you say I’m home, rightー!?』

There was a girl who scolded me like that.

With the same embarrassment and newfound nostalgia, I turned around.

「I’m home, Natsu.」

In my line of sight as I said that was a smile that still held the traces of that girl──

「『Welcome home, Shou-chan.』」

The girl who had grown up since then still welcomed me with the same words as before.