8 January.

The foul weather continues from yesterday.
The rain is heavy and the wind is strong. The forecast suggests it will turn from rain to thunderstorms later on.
We really shouldn’t go out today either.

“Amamiya-san, shall we refrain from going out again today?”
“Games again today?”
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be games, though. Reading manga to pass the time would be fine, or we could continue the game from yesterday.”
“I fancy trying one of those horror games today.”
“Eh? I’m not really into splatter horror or anything like that.”
“So that means I get to see weak and timid Mashiro trembling with fear for the first time in ages?”
“Is that what you want to see?”
“Ah, but I did see it yesterday, didn’t I? ♡”
“/// Amamiya-san, you’re getting rather naughty, aren’t you?”
“It’s all your fault, Mashiro.”

We bantered and chatted, and ended up taking turns playing that splatter horror game.
Amamiya Tōru laughed at me, scared out of my wits. She seemed genuinely happy, deep down.
That time…

Should have been spent like that.

I wish I hadn’t left the house.

　♥

All that conversation was just my imagination. The truth was, with the opening ceremony looming in a week, we’d decided to go back to that apartment where Amamiya Tōru used to live.
Fortunately, around nine in the morning, the rain had temporarily stopped. The news said thunderstorms were forecast for around two, so we could go quickly, grab only what we needed, and come straight back to my place here.
That’s what I thought.

　We arrived at the station and boarded the train.
As we drew nearer to that apartment, the body of Amamiya Tōru beside me began to tremble slightly.
She hugged her own arms and murmured. Not to me beside her, but as if talking to herself.

“I’m scared. Why? I’m scared. Terribly scared. Why? It’s incomparably worse than before, so terribly frightening. ……… I don’t want to go.”

Hearing her words, I drew her shoulders closer to me. She was sitting next to me in the train, hunched over. So forcefully, with such momentum, that I nearly toppled sideways myself.
Holding Amamiya Tōru close, I stroked her lowered cheek with my free hand.
Then gently, carefully, I turned her face towards mine.

Of course, there were other people in the carriage besides us.

But I didn’t care.
I only looked at Amamiya Tōru.
Right now, I wanted her to see only me.

　Her tear-filled eyes, those trembling eyes, caught mine.
May the entire world Amamiya Tōru sees become me.
Arrogant as it was, I wished this while flashing her my brightest smile.
I grinned widely, gently lifting one side of her cheek with my left hand.
Smile too, I implied. That was my intention.

It reached her.

　We’d spent no small amount of time under the same roof.
Shared our private lives. Shared hobbies and time.
From Christmas until today, we’d communicated so much.
Perhaps that was the result.
With just a slight gesture, she could read my thoughts.

Ah, what a strange face.

She too forced a smile, holding back tears.
So you’ve learned to do that now, have you?
I felt so happy I nearly cried myself.

　It’s alright.
It’ll work out somehow.
Even inside the flat, I’ll hold your hand and follow you.
There’s nothing to worry about.

A moment.

Amamiya Tōru’s father. That man’s figure flashes through my mind.

………It’s alright.
I heard he rarely visits home.
　He only comes when he’s truly short of money, I was told.
He absolutely won’t come to see her unless money is the purpose.
There’s no need to worry about that man.
There’s no way he’d happen to come on the very day we’re returning.

We got off at the nearest station and walked.
Amamiya Tōru’s hand, which I was holding, grew damp.
The grip tightened.

It’s alright. I’m here. It’s alright.

Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze

I squeezed her hand back, tightening my grip as I chanted to myself, “It’s alright.”

“Times like this are precisely when we should smile.”

I smiled at Amamiya Tōru once more.
Amamiya Tōru also managed a smile, albeit awkwardly.
The pressure of her grip on my hand lessened just a little.

Ehehe

She, in a situation like this. — No, perhaps precisely because of this situation.
A faint smile spread across her face, yet her words carried a core of conviction.

“Mashiro, I really love you.”

Mm.

“I love you too.”

Whether it was nerves or not, I hadn’t realised I’d stopped using honorifics and was speaking normally.

And then.

The apartment.

I opened the door to the room where Amamiya Tōru had lived.

Slowly. Slowly.

Inside.

A man stood.