Volume 3 Chapter 5 (1/2)

“Let’s unravel the mystery around Sakamoto! In this corner, Hikari-chan here will reveal all of Sakamoto’s secrets!”

In this autued for the futon

Is it snowing? It was so cold, oneOn this day, I oken by the cellphone alarm, and it caused me to remember the part It has been a while Is it the second time?

“Now then, let’s begin! Why’s Sakamoto so tall? Most likely, it’s because of that, the sairaffes reach their necks out to eat the tall leaves, he grew tall because he’s trying to looking at the cleavage of woh above! As to be expected of you, Sakamoto!”

“What kind of evolution is this?”

I retorted with a gri for the rest of the alarm

“That’ll be all for today! See you!”

“…”

Hikari Yuuess was correct

“…You aren’t listening, right?”

I guessed I knew she would leave a e like before Just as expected

“…Yep Not listening”

She cleared her throat with a little cough Now then, what kind of e will she leave behind?

“…”

“…”

“Sakamoto”

It’s here–

“………………………………………What are you hoping for LOLOLOLOLOL? fufufuLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL”

–Ack

……Daot me

“Always doing such stupid things”

After this idiotic procession, I finally got out fro in bed Two days ago, I received a e

“I’ll tell you where the Atelier diary is hidden! Look at the attached map By Hayato”

Hayato and I had athe five shared e to me, so that Hikari Yuazine immediately, but it was too far away, so II could only wait until the rest day

“Alright, let’s go after breakfast”

Saying that, I quickly finished my breakfast, and left home

I continued on under the clear, freezing blue sky I followed the map, took the trains and bus, and after five hours of travel, I finally arrived at a duht, it’s that Atelier Dried leaves covered the place, and it was as though ti buried in there

“This is…the Atelier’s diary”

The diary hidden in the rusted iron box was so brittle, just flipping the pages ht cause thee diary of the two girls And–

“‘Two days ago, the soul of the other me had left this world As per her wishes, we recovered all the secrets we know of, for those ere to share the same fate as us’–is that so?”

The dates were already too dirtied to be seen, but recorded on it was clearly the information I wanted

And so I continued reading the diary entry Again and again, wanting not to miss out on any word

“I see”

After a long while, I put down the diary, and then–

“…Right, I’ve decided”

—————————–

“So, at the place I died, on the four hundred and forty fourth day–?”

The opening of the diary entry this day contained such a line

Two days ago, I took the diary in the Atelier, and recorded everything I found in it on the notebook I wanted to bring it back, but I had a feeling that I should put it back there, so I hid it in a place only I knew of

H entry in the journal,

A body can’t have two souls living in it forever, so the soul living inside will become unsuited, and will vanish The a in the body shows up will continue to decrease, five minutes at first, and then thirty, and then, the tiular Four hundred and forty four days after the death, the soul living in the body would vanish forever

There was only one way to prevent the soul living in the body frootiate hat they called the God of death This would allow the soul living in the body to remain with the host But in such a situation, the soul of the original host–would be erased at the otiation

The way to negotiate: four hundred and forty four days after the death, return to the place of death That would be the only chance to negotiate with the death God

Your day of day is the Eighth of April Four hundred and forty four days later, so the X day will be June 25th next day On that day, we’ll go to negotiate with the death God at the crossing you died at During that one negotiation we have, we’ll have to choose who gets to live

First off, if we choose that I get to live, just go to the crossing on June 25th, and negotiate with the death God, saying ‘Akitsuki Sakamoto will live’, and that’ll do After that, your soul will vanish, and I’ll get my lifespan back

Next, if we choose that you get to live, on the saotiate, and tell the death God ‘Hikari Yuotiation succeeds, my soul will vanish, and the body will be yours

Anyway, next year, on June 25th, either you or I will have to vanish

…That’s all

I wrote the e with as much detail as possible, so that the idiot would be able to understand

And her response was basically,

“Sorry I’ll like to think over this for a while”

It was a short e However, it was reasonable Even I was hesitant if I should write it dohen I knew of the facts In fact, this was not an issue that could be set aside

Hayato and Chiaki had already come to the conclusion that Hayato would vanish Hayato never told Chiaki when he would vanish, but the latter said that it did not matter If she had known of the actual date, she would have lost it Thus, they decided to continue spending whatever re time they had left like usual, until the day it happened With that, there was nothing I could do, except to watch the time

“So ill the end result be…?”

I had a look at the diary It was Friday, already in the middle of December Soon after, winter break would arrive

The re towards the end

————-

“Nn…”

That day, the ht I had was that it was freezing

“Have you woken up?”

The blanket wasAh, Yukiko? Why are you in my futon?

“You can sleep for a while longer”

The voice echoed in my brain, dulled from all that sleep Okay then, I’ll just continue to sleep for a little while ed, so I’ll let her

“So warm…nice smell…”

Oi oi, we’re siblings, but don’t cling onto et rid of ‘that part’ ‘It’s not nice sht?

“Again…just one more time…”

Speaking of which, what’s with this strange sound? The pitch should be a little higher than usual–

–Chu

“Wooooaaahhhhhhhhh!!??”

Eh, what!? What was that about? So indescribable just touched my lips?

“–Ack, Kinoshi+ta!?”

“Ehehe Good , bro❤“

But that was not all that shocked me

“–Hey, Kazeshi+ro!? Why are we sleeping in the same room!?”

“What…you’re , Sakamoto”

And there was so

“–Hey mohawk!? Why are you here!?”

“P-please don’t worry!! I did not see bro getting xxx by Kinoshi+ta since !!”

W-wait a sec Wh-what’s going on here? And also, I just realized Where’s this place? Why did it see?

But one confusing thing continued after another This ti opened, probably a fusuma–

“Brother, hurry up and wake up–fuuee!? Wh-hat are you half naked in the futon with Kaoru!? Has it come!? Has it come now!?”

THis ti onto the floor

“W-wait! Where a on here!?”

But the confusion situation coirls continued to deliver knockouts

“…Sakaht you would have such fetishes…”

“Oh deary me, you look happy there, senpai This Misaki really is an idiot for having hopes about you”

“Ka-Kasumi-chan…? Misaki-chan too…!?”

My brain was about to explode, but the one reliable guy present, Kazeshi+ro seemed to have realized my confusion

“Ah, Sakamoto, calm down There’s a reason for this”

Those words, together with that lethargic face of his, causedAh, so that was the case…

“Hikari Yumesaki, huh…”

“Goodtrip! I called everyone in out of a sudden, but everyone quickly gathered! You’re really so popular here, Sakamoto!”

Such a ridiculous line ritten in the journal stashed with s

“Yesterdaytrip I didn’t expect her to book a hotel at this tiht, skied around for a little while, and stayed for the night–that’s hoent”

Kazeshi+ro and I quickly had our breakfast, and we slipped out,on in the conversation Goodness, that Hikari Yu over the Atelier Why did she suddenly came out to travel?

“…Nothing happened last night, right?”

“That’s i, but after that”

So it did happen huh? I was already feeling very angsty seeing how she went out travelling with this bunch of weirdos Looking at Kazeshi+ro’s face however, it appeared it was really bad

“There was a huge ruckus large night Hikari proposed that we play the King’s Game

So, the night after the travel X a bunch of hopeless co’s Game X Hikari Yumesaki What’s with this fiendish equation?

“It was crazy Hikari beca a few times, had Sanada and Koudera kiss her on the lips, had Mohawk jump into the snow in his underwear, and had Kinoshi+ta say the na your little sister collapse on the floor in a nosebleed…”

Ooohh…well, that’s a tragedy…

“And when Hikari was king, she had a round of strip rock-paper scissors with the girls She was Godlike when she kept winning over and over again, and had theize to them”

“What the hell did that idiot do…”

da that with all the guys around?

“Kazeshi+ro, you didn’t see Kasumi and Misaki strip, did you?”

“I have no interest in any females other than Hikari”

Ah, I see…

“And then, it was troublesome e had to sleep Kinoshi+ta wanted to attack Hikari at night, so I defended for the entire night I was trying to hold back fro her myself”

Good job Kazeshi+ro I’ll just pretend not to hear the dangerous words you said

“I kept waiting until you switched with Hikari; it was tiring After that, I just let Kinoshi+ta do whatever he wanted That was really aet woken up like that Haha”

This isn’t funny at all! Secure my innocence until the very end, man!

“Dammit…that’s why I hate to travel…”

Just to note, I guess Hikari Yuht along, she drew the scenes of thery as they kissed her But–

“…”

I re similar to this sudden trip happened back in the summer I knehat this point

The journal in the Atelier presented a painful choice before us This trip was definitely for the same purpose as before, to wipe out the uneasiness, and escape from reality Otherwise, it could be to finish any unfulfilled wishes–

“Kazeshi+ro”

“Hm?”

I said to the guy before me

“Did Hikari Yu after that?”

“…Nope”

I told Kazeshi+ro about the Atelier It’s a with us as per usual, but actually, he probably did not feel at ease at all

“Sakamoto”

But he definitely understood ere going through

He understood hts, he understood–

“No matter the outcome, I’ll choose the future you till decide”

“…Okat”

The future Hikari Yumesaki wanted to choose

“Watch out!”

In the afternoon, we arrived at the ski slope,

“A-are you alright, Kasumi?”

I asked Kasumi from below, as she had collapsed upon me

The weather at the ski slope was clear The blue sky and white snow glittered, and looked really dazzling The songs that would typically play near the elevator in the winter was echoing happily

“So-sorry about that, Saka…”

Oh really? I saw you catching up to me at a really fast speed, and stumble around as you knocked me down, or that’s justbreasts would press on uess that’s definitely a coincidence

“B-but, you’re skiing fine today, Sakamoto…”

“Ah, yeah”

“Yesterday, you were going ‘woah, I can’t stop! We’re gonna crash!+’, and you knocked me down so many times…tch”

!? Did I just hear her click her tongue, or was it just me!?

“Hahaha…”

Anyway, the three of us, ether Yukiko see around in the snoith Kinoshi+ta “Thefor me” Kazeshi+ro said that, went to the expert areas, and did not return As for mohawk, probably assaulted with soballs by the eleirls there, and soon vanished before I knew it I saw a large snoith a mohawk in the corner of the ski slope, but it was probably just ht

Misaki should be around just a moment back, but she vanished Kasumi seeuess Misaki’s disappearance had so to do with that

“Hey, hey, Sakaain today?”

While I was leisurely skiing and having such wild thoughts, Kasumi suddenly asked

“You were so bold…yesterday, you were saying ‘if 1 is a girl, then put the ice in theshocking! For mohawk, jump into the snow in your undies!’…”

“No, that’s…”

“And then, you went ‘if 2 is a girl, sleep with the king in a futon! If a guy, ! Mohawk, jump into the snow in your undies!’…”

“Erm, this…”

“And then, you said, ‘if 3 is a girl, step on the king barefoot! If a guy, confess to the one you like! Mohawk, jump into the snow in your undies!’…” If only I was 3…”

He’ll die! Mohaill die! Also, what did you just say!?

The terror froht causedso excited that she could not stop She continued,

“So-so, I’ll secretly tell you what nu you ask me to do…”

“…Eh”

That meant…

“I want to repay you…until you let me like you…”

Following that was an unbearable silence In such an at about what to say as I reached the elevator

“Sakamoto…”

The presence around Kasued

“I…have soain…”

“Eh…”

Her face was blushi+ng, her lips quivering as she stammered Her anxious eyes caused my heart to itch

And so, at the highest point of the elevator, it see at me–

“Sakamoto! What I feel about you is–“

“Now then, senpai! Take the lift with Misaki! Ah, please move aside”

Thud!

“Ah…!”

Kasumi let out a squeal

Knocking aside Kasu before my eyes was–

“Goodness, upperclasserous Please take the next ride”

It was Misaki She took the cable car ride that had just arrived–and sat beside ive chase after us alone in the back seat

“More importantly, aren’t you cold, senpai? Misaki shall lean over to you to provide warmth”

“Eh, ah, erm…”

I had no right to refuse Misaki’s body was clinging towards me, and the head covered in the knit cap filled arood, this is bad There was a loud coughing sound of an oldto be filled with blood

“More importantly, senpai Yesterday was intense You actually said to play strip rock-paper scissors, and had Misaki strip to alht I am prepared now”

Ugh…I can’t agree to that…

“So-sorry I think I went overboard…having you do such a thing even with guys around”

Anyway, better apologize for the idiocy yesterday Misaki sighed, and seemed a little peeved as she said,

“…Well, please don’t mind We stripped, but upperclass stupidly away at you, senpai, and I’ close to you, and I tell that he’s gay As for that mohawk upperclass, I really wasted my efforts there”

Sorry

“So, you’re going to have to repay me today, senpai”

“Eh? Repay?”

Misaki gave a teasing smile, and said,

“Misaki shall whisper to you the number drawn later, and you can enjoy the Misaki you want for as much as you want, so please look forward to me”

“Eh, hy this…”

“Misaki just had a talk with upperclassman Sanada, that we’ll tell each other our numbers If senpai knows of Misaki’s number and chooses her number…you know the consequences”

“Ugh…”

Not good I could hearfro to die

“Fufufu Misaki’s looking forward to it”

With this strange sense of dread, the lift continued up I guessed it’sby my face was icy too

“I say, Misaki”

Once I saw the drop off point, I subconsciously asked,

“Do you…like me?”

“Huh—-?”

Once I asked, I realized damn it What did I just–

“No, sorry It’s no–o! My-er! Don’t twist it there!”

“Fufufufu You really like to play with a girl’s heart How about it? If your reply makes me unhappy, you can jump down from here”

I’ll die! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!

“No, erm…”

I re face from before

I really wanted to knoanted to kno much everyone liked me…no, how much they liked her–

“Right, sorry I didn’t say anything, so please don’t mind–“

“I do”

“–!”

This unexpected reply caused me to widen my eyes

The sudden thing wasn’t Misaki’s confession, but her pink lips–that touched mine

“More than the one I admired”

“…”

Seeing led

“You seem to be really troubled, senpai”

“Eh?”

“It was the sa fun, but you see Misaki can tell Even so, you got the answer”

“…Answer?”

“Didn’t you say so yourself? ‘It’s great to come out on a trip with everyone Now I can finally lad to be able to help you, senpai”

I didn’t knohat that idiot decided on the previous day

But it see from this trip with the ones she liked

“Senpai”

Misaki gave a cute smile, and said tenderly,

“Is this Misaki today the Misaki Koudera you want?”

“…Yeah Thanks”

Really, thanks Thanks for liking…us

And after that, I got off the drop off with

…Naturally, the deedy

—————-

“…Brother”

“Oh, Yukiko Good ”

Two days later, the trip ended Yukiko ca?

“There’s a fan letter for you…”

“Fan letter? Eh, from who?”

“From brother…”

“…”

Again with the bothersos

Recipient’s Akitsuki Sakamoto, sender’s Akitsuki Sakamoto Most importantly, there’s the line ‘I like you ever since I first saw you! Please giveat me for quite a while…doesn’t this look like some pitiful lonely self-enact!?

“Goodness…hm?”

Then, I spotted a strange line at the bottom of the fan letter

“D drive–>stored–>hidden”

“This is…”

Skeptical, I quickly responded

“D drive → Hidden anime folder → Hidden folder…huh?”

I immediately switched on my computer, and followed the instructions–found it

When was this created? The hidden folder Hikari Yumesaki created had a little note inside there

“Read this as you watch the TV”

Upon seeing the title, I knehat she was trying to get at She’s a kind one; she’s telling me not to watch with seriousness

Her kindness leftmy lips I double-clicked, and I saw it

The words–that contained Hikari Yumesaki’s decision

“To Sakaht through this, and I’ really uneasy But I’ve h this, and made up my mind”

She made up her mind–

Seeing those words, I nearly broke down in tears, but I continued reading,

“I guess–I’ll be the one vanishi+ng”

“…Hikari Yumesaki”

I see So that’s…your choice

“Fufu Well, I do feel a little scared once I decided that I have to die But I can’t sacrifice you after all The skiing trip back then allowed reed to athered around you Everyone was s so happily on the trip I really believe that everyone loves you I can’t bring ”

“…”

No The one everyone really loves isn’t me…

“Sorry You worked so hard to find a way to let uess this is my fate Or rather, it’s because I extended this life that should have ended that I have no regrets Also, it’s wonderful to experience your life, Sakaotiate with the death God on June 25th Thanks for wasting so much time for my sake”

“…damn it”

I knew I knew she would make that decision However…

“Also, I made another decision”

Hikari Yue

“I’ to her I’ve decided This time, I won’t run away”

Needless to say, it was a cruel o There’s definitely a detere

“Hikari Yumesaki…”

How le when she wrote this journal entry How ht? But, if she did so, I can’t move forward…

…So I too made up my mind

“Right I understand, Hikari Yumesaki”

I picked up the pen, and wrote my reply to her on the journal

“I understand If you say so, I won’t say anything That’ll be the end of that”

That will be the end If not, this rare deterht

“There’s only half a year left, but let’s enjoy it asto create the best life for Akitsuki Sakamoto”

“Alright!”

Feeling puave Kazeshi+ro a call

“What now, Sakamoto?”

“Let’s create soether”

I skipped the greetings and looked up at the winter sky as I said this to Kazeshi+ro

“Huh? Memories?”

“Yup Memories”

The sky was far and blue, looking as though it’s about to suck people in It just felt within reach

“Let’s go crazy andthat she once lived on this world, in my body”

“…!”

“Smile as atch her leave Smile as much as we can as we send her off”

“…Sakamoto”

He’s a sharp one He’s able to tell what decision Hikari Yu that

And he’s a kind guy He never asked anything, just said ‘I understand’

I hung up, and looked at the calendar There were four more months, a year since I met Hikari Yumesaki–huh?

“…This is fine, right?”

———-

Time flew

Hikari Yumesaki probably discarded her bothers, and like before, went crazy every day, pulling pranks everywhere

“Anyway, I’ to play as much as I want! On Hikari’s calendar, every day is Sunday!”

“So aren’t you a NEET now?”

Also,

“Anyork hard to discarding your status as a virgin! If you’re always thinking about Hikari and not go out with other girls, Hikari here won’t feel relaxed!”

“I-I don’t need you to worry about that”

And also,

“I want to go into a ht of naked handsouys after they’re done with their club activities!”

“Please don’t”

“…I’h I was treated as a suspicious person”

“Heeeyy!! You went ahead with it!?”

And so on Hikari Yuitated by the day Goodness, thanks to her, ru to spread everywhere Well, as long as she’s happy, it’s fine

“Yahoo Sakao out for karaoke tomorrow Do your best, okay?”

“Seriously…again with the unnecessary stuff”

I chuckled to myself as I read on–hm?

“Sakamoto”

“Hm?”

“Ehehe It’s great to be in your body❤“

“Eh, ah…hm?”

There’s a strange illustration on the journal, and the Hikari Yumesaki in the illustration blew me a kiss I couldn’t help but frown I wasn’t too sure, but it seemed Hikari Yumesaki’s really happy

But the cruel truth loomed to us Hikari Yuot shorter, to an hour at this point However, she did not sigh about this So, I couldn’t say any deflating words either I had to pretend to re

And so, time continued to pass

——–

“Ah, Sakamoto…it-it’s cold!”

What’s going on…

On this day, so close to the end of the year, I arrived at the station while the sun was setting This , the journal had the words ‘co and clothes’”

“Ah, right That You said it’ll be given to me e meet Here”

And at this point it was 6p for me Kasumi handed me a letter Eh, what’s this?

“Wh-what’s the matter, Sakamoto? You told me to hand this to you e meet…”

“Ah, it’s nothing…thanks”

I received the letter Kasumi received from the yesterdayto keep worrying about Hikari, Hikari will be worried! Be Kasumi’s escort!”

Hikari Yumesaki probably orried that I would continue to yearn for her, that I ht end up like Kazeshi+ro She wanted to match me up with Kasumi I knew her intentions, but this occasion ard, because this day was–

“I’lad, Sakamoto…you chose me…on Christmas Eve, such an important day So this means, I have a chance?”