Takemura Itsuki
“T-The heck…?”
My eyes were wide open in fright and shock as I desperately looked at the mess in front of my eyes. The plateau of rocks and pieces of bricks lay in front of my eyes, with fire on top, and thick black smoke rising up. I quickly moved my right foot up at the bricks, and then the left one some distance front. My left foot was just in front of the fire. I bent my back towards the bricks, moved them right and left, and then turned my head to the front. “H-How can I find Haruto i-in this shitty fire?” I desperately thought. I moved my eyes to the left, and then to the right, and then stepped to the right and moved my head down at the ground. I then straightened my back and stood on my toes, trying to get a glimpse of the other side of the flames. “Haruto!” I shouted. “Haruto! Are you alive?!” I turned my head to the left and stepped a little at the left, my head still facing the fire. “Haruto! What kind of a shitty friend are you, huh?!” The sizzles of the flames were the only voice that touched my ears in reply. The rest of the place was completely silent, with just the sizzles of the flames all over. I then turned to the left and looked at the left edge of the wall. I hurriedly walked towards it through the uneven bricks. As I walked, my left leg suddenly slipped a little. I quickly balanced, and continued to walk through the uneven bricks. I walked at the edge and turned to the right, looking at a little space between the broken wall of the house and the fire. I started to walk through the space, my eyes fixed on the fire. He frowned as he walked. “WHAT KIND OF A SHITTY FRIEND ARE YOU, HARUTO?!”
“… HARUTO?!”
“Haruto?”
The voice echoed a little before it was suppressed again beneath the sizzles of the fire. I panted in and out as I looked at the fire, and then walked towards the fire. I stepped my right foot just in the front of the flames. I quickly held the lower part of the blue top I was wearing, started to move it up my body, moved it up through my face, and then held it in my right hand. With my upper half of the body exposing off my skinny skin, I moved the cloth up, and then jerked it on the ground. I then started to extinguish the fire with the top, moving it up and down repetitively angrily. A narrow stretch of ground of about the length of the arm and the width of my arm were extinguished as I stepped upon it, stood up straight, and started to kick at the ground. “WHAT KIND OF A FRIEND LEAVES HIS BEST FRIEND BEHIND ALONE, HUH, HARUTO?!” I shouted on top of my lungs, kicking the ground repetitively in anger and rage. “He was the only one who never left me,” I thought. Then, I moved my head at the sky and shouted it out loud, “YOU NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE, DO YOU?! THEN WHY NOW?!” I turned to the ground again. “I… It’s my fault…” I then turned my head at the sky again. “IT’S MY FAULT, AIN’T IT?!” My right foot stayed on the ground, surrounded by the fire all around it. My head was tilted at the sky, my arms hanging down, my hands clenched in fists. I then turned my head to the ground. “I knew all this time that you were depressed, but… I never paid heeds to it. I never thought it to be this serious, maybe because I was immersed a lot in my own fun and shit.” I clenched my hands harder and closed my eyes. “I know… how shitty you would have felt…” I moved my head to the sky. “AT LAST, I’D BEEN IN THE SHIT WHERE YOU ARE, HARUTO!” I moved my head to the ground, a drop of tear emerging out of the edge of my right eye. “Still… I paid no heeds. I wanted someone to pay heeds when I myself was in the situation, and I… never paid heeds to the only one who helped me get through all that shit…” I opened my eyes, and slowly turned my head to the front. “I… am sorry…” I moved my hands up and covered my face. “Please… stay by me…”
“Please…”
***
“Where are Haruto and Itsuki?” Ichika asked as she emerged out of the entrance of the narrow house. Her right arm was on Airi’s shoulders. Airi was looking at the front seriously as she walked with Ichika towards the carriage at the back of the black horses standing, facing the door. She turned to the right around the horse, walked by the carriage at the back, and then turned to the back. She held the handles of the carriage and opened it out. “Hey, Airi? Where’re Haruto and Itsuki?” Ichika asked again worriedly. Airi silently held Ichika’s waist and moved her body up from the ground. Ichika stepped up at the carriage, holding the carriage from her left hand. She then crouched down on the ground of the carriage, moved her back towards her right, giving support to her wounded back, and then turned to the left at Airi again. “Where’re Haruto and Itsuki, Airi?” Ichika asked again.
As Airi closed the doors, she said, “You just go to sleep now. I’ll take care of the rest.” Airi closed the carriage.
“Airi?!”
“Don’t worry, they’re fine, and they’ll be beside you soon.”
