“…Givemea steamed azuki bun…”

Fromthisoneword, the worst tragedy of my life—one of the five worst tragedies of my life—began to playout.

Mid-August. Daybyday, the heat was intensifying. Today marked another sweltering day with a maximum temperature of 35 degrees.

Underthe boiling heat, my irregular lifestyle ultimately led me to suffer from summer fatigue. In recent days, the only food that passed through my throat was somen noodles. Even the wind from the fanwas unpleasant.

Everysummer rolled by without me purchasing an air conditioner, despite my constant thoughts that it would be a good idea to do so. Buying such a thing would be a nuisance to take care of and, above all, a wasteof money.

Whenthat thought crossed my mind, my sister said to me, “Big brother, you’re going to dry up and turn into a dried fish someday,” so I pinched her and replied, “You just want me to buyan air conditioner so you can have a comfortable Internet life, don’t you?”

Mysister + air conditioner = outrageous electricity bill. Thatwas obvious.

Thoughwithout joking, I reckoned it wouldn’t be unexpected if I was a dried fish right now. Thelack of rain recently made everywhere dry and oppressively hot.

Practicallyevery day in my house, I was looking for a place that was a little cooler, and I was living an intemperate life, fueled by the fan, but…

Today, Icame to a certain place on foot, unusually, whipping my body that complained of sluggishness.

Noparticular reason existed, simply because I felt like it.

Forthat reason, I stepped into a cemetery behind a temple, which was far from the local community. Perhaps the trees planted surrounding the cemetery emitted a lot of negative ions, or probably the air was appropriately cool, which was a solace that a fan could not deliver. It was incredible that it was cooler outside than at home. I was glad I stepped out of the house.

Iwondered if there were many other people around this time of the year. The vast cemetery was vacant, with only a monk sweeping the floor in the corner. When the monk saw me, he gave a light bow to me.

“It’squite hot, isn’t it?” Translator: MadHatter

Ireplied with a small, “Oh, hello.”

Fromthe water drawing place, I borrowed a pail and ladle to fetch some water, and bought a bundle of incense sticks. At the entrance to the cemetery, I carefully confirmed that no one was really there.

Isearched among the many rows of gravestones.

“Tombof the Hyuga family”.magic

Thereit was… Not shared on aggregator websites

Abouquet of lovely, fresh flowers. Not a single weed had sprouted, and the grave showed signs of having been meticulously tended to.

Visitingthegrave.

Avisit to a gravesite by myself, I thought to myself, would not suit me.

Butreally, just somehow… I decided to drop by here.

Whetherit had to do with the conversation I had with Kinoshita the other day, or with the photo I happened to stumble upon in the closet was unclear butI was drawn to this place, and I ended up coming here to visit the gravesite.

Hyuga. My… juniorin high school.

I lit abundle of incense and laid a small bouquet of flowers, much poorer than the ones offered earlier.

Waterwas sprinkled on the gravestone, which reflected the sun’s rays and glowed dazzlingly. Before long, the area was enveloped in the smoke and fragrance of the incense sticks.

“Hyuga…”

Forthe first time in a long time, I mentioned that name.

Although I didn’t have any intention to talk to the gravestone, standing there was no point, right?

Well, nobodywas around as well…

“It’s beena long time…”

Isaidthis, but the gravestone neither spoke nor responded.

Notknowing what else to say, I shut mymouth.

Hyuga.2dew

Real name―Hyuga Aoi was one of my juniors in highschool.

Eventhough I didn’t treat them particularly well, they were an odd little fellow who would appear in unexpected places and at unexpected intervals and follow mearound.

Now, theywere sleeping under this grave.

Whetherthis was the case or not, Hyuga died when I was in my third year of high school.

―Bysuicide. 2e3dwx

Ontop of that, by jumping off the old school building.

Atthe time, various theories were speculated, such as bullying, accident, etc. The exact cause remained unknown.

Theywere not the sort of person who would attempt suicide. Everybody agreed on that. Despite not having an outstanding appearance, they were always overly cheerful. They were the polar opposite of me, being straightforward and earnest, and displaying a smile toeveryone.

Evennow… I found it inconceivable that Hyuga jumped off the roof of the old school building on a day when it was raining heavily and was discovered in a disfigured state.

I still couldn’t believe they threw their own life away and died after all theseyears.

And I had never visited their grave since their deathuntil now.

Moreaccurately, I didn’t want to.

BecauseI was escaping from the situation.

Eversince then, I was terrified that I might have pushed Hyuga away.

Pushingthem to consider suicide, and then pushing them down.

That I led Hyuga to theirdeath.

That I killedthem…

Notdirectly, but indirectly…

Hyugaand I were not friends. Norwere we lovers. Simplyput, we were seniors and juniors. Our relationship was unstable, with me being capricious, and Hyuga being unpredictable, so we only met and talked lightly atschool.

Peoplearound me used to ask me, “What kind of relationship do you guys have?” but I didn’t put much thought into it. I merely gave them a little attention since they were playing around with me. I didn’t like Hyuga, and probably they didn’t like me either, as I was responding to them in an appropriate manner.

Notwithstanding, itwas true that I didn’t dislike themeither.

Hyuga always listened to meearnestly.

Sometimesthey nodded their head in silence. They kept giving responses to make the conversation go smoothly.

Hyuga was a mysterious and strangeguy.

A truly strange guy, butopen to my ideas and opinions. They accepted me and believed inme.

Theywere a good fellow.Yet, I betrayedthem.

I didn’t believe in Hyuga.32rde

Icalled them a liar.3edc

Irefused to believe in Hyuga, who believed in me.

Hyugatold me that they could see things that other people couldn’t. I didn’t believe it, so Isimply dismissed it.

Iwould only respond with, “Hmm,” and leave it at that and Hyuga didn’t press the issue any further. The only thing was, they looked slightly lonely at mywords.

Iremembered them laughing and remarking, “You are always straightforward and never wavering.”

Oneday, Hyuga persistently told me a story. I could only vaguely recall what they said… but I could not recall the content of what theysaid.

Thatguy was desperately trying to tell me something. Trying to convey something to me, trying to make me understand. It was as if Hyuga wasn’t Hyuga at all. Normally, they would never do that, yet their voice rang out and their behavior was beyond strange.

I was so bewildered that the only thing I could do was push them away.

“Idon’t get it. Don’t make me play along with your delusion.” I probably said something worse than that. Back then, I had no doubt that what I couldn’t see wasn’t true. I was convinced that the rumors in school, my classmates who were kicking up a fuss, and the members of the occult research club were all dancing around adelusion.

Iwas disappointed to find out that even Hyuga believed in such an invisible and insignificant entity, and that was when I uttered those words.

Wasthat the trigger or was there another contributing factor?

Immediatelyafter that, Hyuga committed suicide.

AlthoughKinoshita and those close to me said it wasn’t my fault, the girls in class who thought we were lovers at the time, and Hyuga’s parents kept accusing me of being responsible for their death.

Theykept accusing me of saying things like, “What did you say to Hyuga?” or “What did you do to Hyuga?”

Icouldn’t admit firmly that I had nothing to do with the incident, but it made me want to escape from Hyuga’s existence. I struggled to forget about them as if I was on the run.

Eventhough it was tough to get the memory out of my head, as time went by, the bitter memories faded away.

Intheend, I had utterly forgotten about them. Not shared on aggregator sites

Afterall this time, it was hopeless to investigate whether they truly had the same ability to see invisible people as Takenaka and Hirai. Iwondered if they were speaking the truth.

Becausethey were not the kind of people who would easily fabricate lies that would hurt people.

Eventhough I knew that at the time, how foolish was I for not believing them? Had I believed Hyuga, would they not have died?

Confirmationwas futile but now that I had awakened to my own supernatural powers, I had to admitthat I had made a mistake.

Should I have chosen to run away, I could have. Nevertheless, I didn’t opt for that optionand continued to work part-time at the convenience store. At least, I thought it was a way to atone for my sins, a punishment formyself.

To know what Hyuga, whom I failed to trust, had been seeing all aloneso far.

Not to let myself flee from the cruelty I had perpetrated onmyself.

Lately, I had been wondering if it might have been Hyuga who had led meto that place.

Perhapsthey harbored resentment against me for not believing in them and were telling me to reevaluate my own prejudices.

Iwondered if it was resentment… after all.

Weretheystillsuffering?

Didyoucommit suicide, Hyuga, becauseof what I said…?