Chapter 2 — Coming of age, a ceremony needed for emanc.i.p.ation .  Part 17

“There is a point . I refuse to believe that there’s no point in remembering someone you liked . ”

“It is pointless . Death is just that, death . And memories are memories . You’re just trying to forcefully find a point where there is none . ”

“Sacchan . ” Her face clouded over, shrouded by a darkness so deep that it made the cheerful self she had been until now seem like a lie . A darkness that seemed to reflect my own .

And in addition, a dash of sorrow and pity was mixed in, something I didn’t have .

“I’m really glad I met you, Sacchan . But if you tell me that remembering is completely worthless, then–––”

The sheer amount of kindness in her pained me, as though piercing my heart .

“–––that’s just too sad . ”

I stood up .

“It is pointless . I don’t care about your opinion, but it’s pointless to me . I have no interest in you . ”

Then I spouted that as if pus.h.i.+ng her away, and left the cla.s.sroom .

She didn’t stop me, nor did she grab my hair or call out to me .

I shouldn’t have come to school—all my textbooks had been burnt to ashes alongwith my house after all . There was no meaning left in coming here .

When I left, I loudly slammed the door as a way of breaking ties with this place .

After that, it felt like a small thorn was lodged in my chest .

“s.h.i.+ro,” I called as I walked through the hallway .

But there was no answer .

I suspected that this could develop into something really annoying, so I headed to the infirmary only to find it completely empty . There, I took over one of the free beds to have a siesta…or more like a nap .

I curled up into a ball, covering myself with a blanket . Sleeping like a child in that position always felt good .

I curled up into a ball, covering myself with a blanket . Sleeping like a child in that position always felt good .

Still…the silver wolf wasn’t beside me .

I missed his warmth and feral scent . Longing for it, I only then realized it was something I missed . If I didn’t have anything—if I never had anything in the first place, everything might just have been better .

As I thought these things, I slowly started to doze off… .

A cold chill bolted through my body .

Using all my strength, I leaped off the bed and landed on the floor .

A sharp knife pierced the pillow where my head had been resting just a moment before, and the impact it made bent the frame of the bed .

That kind of strength couldn’t be human .

Something must have happened to her . I could see her solemnly standing like a flame, illuminated by the red sunlight that filtered through a gap in the curtains .

Something must have happened to her . I could see her solemnly standing like a flame, illuminated by the red sunlight that filtered through a gap in the curtains .

I had probably been asleep for a long time as it was already past the end of cla.s.s according to the clock on the wall .

“You have quite the manners, attacking someone while they’re asleep . ”

It was Budworm, whose real name I still didn’t know .

Her right eye was blazing in stark contrast to her bandaged left eye, a knife was grasped in her hand, and she was still wearing the thin summer uniform with a short skirt and white knee socks .

And all I could sense from her was a resolute and sharp enmity .

That kind of enmity called for calmness . So I took out the knife I had been carrying for a long time, never using it, and unfolded the blade with a click from the lock being released .

Seeing it, she froze .

“Why…are you holding that? That is Aya’s knife . ” She identified it with a single glance, and in turn, I replied with a low voice:

“I’m borrowing it for a bit . ”

At that very moment, she started laughing like a maniac .

“I’m borrowing it for a bit . ”

At that very moment, she started laughing like a maniac .

Sounding somewhat broken, somewhat hurt, but also entirely insane .

The facial expression she pulled was one of sorrow, as though she had just let go of something, just like a broken person .

“Did you go mad?”

“Only as much as you did . ”

She pressed her bandaged eye with her empty left hand and bent her body backwards, making her short hair flutter without breaking her laughter for an instant .

“You know, I sold my soul to a sorcerer . Now I’m the same as you . ”

She loosened the scarf wrapped around her neck with her fingertips .

The red cloth fell to the floor, unveiling the white skin of her chest .

On it, a red wound had been carved out .