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At the Hayami Family's Entrance
At the entrance of the Hayami family home.
With a different kind of tension than usual, I pressed the intercom.
"Oh, Ryuji-kun," greeted Mrs. Minako Hayami.
A mother of beauty unimaginable for 33 years old.
She had a dignified demeanor, much like Ryoko.
"Mom, today..." Ryoko faltered.
"It's about Hinata, isn't it?" Her mother's voice was tinged with deep worry.
"Recently, that child... she's been acting strange," Mrs. Minako continued, gracefully guiding us to the living room.
"She hasn't been as enthusiastic about piano lessons as before."
"She's been leaving food unfinished..."
"In the mornings, she doesn't get out of bed until late..."
Her beautiful profile looked down worriedly.
One could glimpse her anguish as a mother.
"She went to her lesson today for the first time in a while, though."
"What time will she be back?"
"She should be back around 6 o'clock..."
Her mother's eyes welled up.
"Ryuji-kun... I wonder if something happened to her."
"I will definitely find out the cause..." I said evasively.
I couldn't talk about my ability, so I could only nod.
"Mother, Hinata's room..." Ryoko spoke.
"Yes, please," Mrs. Minako smiled gently.
Her trust in me, who she adored like her own son.
That now felt a little heavy.
"Then..." We ascended the stairs.
We had to find some clue in Hinata-chan's room.
Chopin posters on the wall.
Neatly organized textbooks on the desk.
"Her behavior started changing about two weeks ago, didn't it?" I nodded at Ryoko's words.
"Can I borrow her backpack?"
A red elementary school backpack.
As I picked it up, images immediately flooded into my mind.
âMy vision distortedâ
A sunny schoolyard.
Cheers rose from the soccer field.
"Maeda-kun, go for it!" Hinata-chan's voice echoed like a transparent wind.
On the field was Nobuhiro Maeda.
His footwork was unimaginable for a 5th grader.
Dribbling, shooting.
Goal!
"Amazing!"
Applause erupted with cheers.
The girls' cheers.
Hinata-chan's smile.
Maeda-kun's success.
Pure feelings of support.
" " " " " Good work! " " " " "
Many girls offered sports drinks and towels to Maeda-kun.
Among them, a white towel offered by Hinata-chan.
"Thank you, Hayami-san," Maeda-kun's refreshing smile.
"Always cheering me on."
His gesture of wiping sweat.
A shy expression.
A pure moment of elementary school students.
...And then.
The figures of the surrounding girls.
Glaring eyes.
(Something will happen after this...)
The memory broke off.
I was pulled back to reality.
I touched Hinata-chan's backpack again.
Another memory flooded in.
Hinata-chan's black twin tails swayed in the wind.
Her well-defined features, very similar to Ryoko's.
Her always adorable smile brightened the classroom.
Her straight posture was proof of a pianist.
Next to Hinata-chan was Aira Nakanishi.
Her long black hair shimmered like silk.
Calculations hidden in her large eyes.
Her model-like figure and perfect sense of style.
She exuded an aura of excellence, occasionally showing a cold gaze.
Erika Ivanoff.
Her blonde twin tails were like a foreign doll's.
Her mixed-race features, with impressive blue eyes.
She had a unique, gyaru-style fashion.
She was always fiddling with her smartphone behind Aira-chan.
Mao Sasaki.
Her brown ponytail was tied roughly.
A petite figure, but with sharp eyes.
Her clothes were sloppy and baggy.
Her good athletic ability was evident in her demeanor.
In a corner of the classroom.
A calm time before going home.
A circle of four girls.
"Hey, hey, camping is going to be fun, isn't it!" Hinata-chan's voice bubbled.
A pure smile.
"Indeed," Aira smiled elegantly.
"For the tent, I think the four of us should be together."
"I think so too!" Erika said, shaking her blonde hair.
"I want to take lots of Instagram-worthy pictures."
"Ugh, I hope no bugs come out," Mao said with a slightly dismissive tone.
The smartphone continued to record.
On the surface, a close-knit group of four.
But...
Aira's gaze occasionally sharpened.
The tension behind Erika's smile.
Mao's restless gestures.
"I'm a little scared of the test of courage..." Hinata-chan said anxiously.
"It's okay," Aira's voice held something.
"We'll take good care of you."
The weight of those words.
The darkness behind that smile.
"Thank you, everyone!" Hinata-chan's innocent joy.
(She doesn't notice.)
(The heaviness of this atmosphere.)
Again, I saw another memory.
Memories of a different day after school resurfaced.
Behind the school building.
In the melancholic light of dusk.
"Hayami-san!" Maeda-kun's voice trembled.
"I've always...!"
The ace of the soccer team.
His uniform wet with sweat.
His face bright red with nervousness.
He held out a trembling letter.
"I like you!"
Silence.
Hinata-chan's surprised expression.
Maeda-kun's desperate gaze.
Hinata-chan quietly shook her head.
"I'm sorry..."
"I already have someone I like..."
Maeda-kun's expression crumbled rapidly.
"Why...?"
"Am I... not good enough?"
Tears spilled.
The end of a boy's first love.
Hinata-chan could say nothing more.
She ran away from the spot.
The smartphone recorded.
A bittersweet confession.
A gentle rejection.
A boy collapsing.
...And then.
In the shade of a cherry tree.
Another shadow.
Aira's figure.
Her face twisted in agony.
An expression as if she had swallowed poison.
"Maeda-kun..."
A faint voice disappeared into the wind.
This footage was the beginning of something.
In my hand, the backpack continuously displayed memories.
Images only I could see.
Ryoko just watched with a prayer-like gaze.
"..."
Ryoko desperately tried to read the changes in my expression.
The anguish of an older sister thinking of her younger sister was palpable.
"Did you... see anything?" Ryoko asked in a small voice.
But I couldn't answer yet.
How much should I say, while protecting Hinata-chan's privacy.
Memories from a few days later flooded in.
The scene from yesterday's classroom resurfaced.
"Good morning, Aira-chan!" Hinata-chan's bright voice.
But.
Aira didn't even look up.
"..."
Her back passed by silently.
"Eh...?"
Hinata-chan's smile,
Gradually clouded over.
Erika and Mao, behind Aira, smiled.
"Something..."
"Did I... do something...?"
Her voice trembled.
Lunchtime.
The usual circle of four,
Today, only three.
"Aira-chan, together..."
"I'm sorry," Aira's cold voice.
"I want to eat with just the three of us today."
She left the classroom, taking Erika and Mao with her.
Hinata-chan's pained expression.
Eating lunch alone.
Tears spilling onto the desk.
"Why...?"
"Did I... do something..."
Her pure heart was slowly being wounded.
The atmosphere in the classroom grew heavy and cold.
Aira-chan's behavior in the classroom.
Her attitude had clearly changed.
"Hey, Hinata-chan," a cold tone.
An intimidating demeanor.
Hinata-chan was bewildered.
"Why don't you come to my place sometime?"
Aira-chan's sudden kind invitation.
Hinata-chan was happy.
The next day after school.
A room in a luxury apartment building.
Aira's room was like a model home.
"Here, sit down?" Aira's voice was strangely gentle.
"It's a chance for us to make up, after all."
Hinata-chan sat on the pink sofa.
An anxious expression.
"Hey, Hinata," Aira offered her smartphone.
"We're best friends, aren't we?"
The smartphone screen shone brightly.
"B-but..."
"Dad and Mom said..."
"No social media..."
"That's nothing," Aira laughed maliciously.
"If you don't tell your parents, no one will know, and of course I won't take pictures of your face."
Aira grinned.
"Shall we make fun videos together? Just the two of us, best friends."
Hinata-chan's heart wavered.
A promise with her best friend, or a promise with her parents.
"Hinata," Aira's voice turned cold.
"You don't want to be with me anymore?"
"That's not true!" Hinata-chan denied hastily.
"Then," Aira thrust her smartphone forward.
"Prove it?"
The ignoring in class.
The cold attitude.
All the reasons were here.
A trap to lure an innocent heart.
The smartphone intended to record everything.
"I..." Her voice trembled.
"I'll try..."
Aira's eyes flashed with a dangerous light.
"Good."