Not Suicidal |
[Dear Little Sister.
Apparently, one of my foolish acquaintances has been stranded in the sea of trees, so your brother valiantly sets off by himself to look for them. I am not committing suicide, so please don’t be mistaken and make a fuss about it.
If you don’t hear from me by the time you read this letter, please, I beg you, file a missing persons report with the police.
Once again, please don’t make a fuss when you read this.
And no, it’s not a prank, I’m serious.
Don’t throw it in the trash halfway through reading the letter. Because if something happens to me, it will all depend on your cool-headed discretion.
Seriously, please.
P.S.
It’s not suicide, it’s really not suicide.
As for the cause and effect of this, I had no idea, but I, a 25-year-old freeter, was going to step into the sea of trees where suicidal people were found lying around as corpses year after year…
In case of emergency, I left a note to my sister, who would probably visit around midday today, containing a clear explanation of why I was going there.
Determined, I left my house.
Should the worst-case scenario unfurl, it would impose immense hardships on my family, including my sister.
I would absolutely endeavor with all my efforts to refrain from such a situation.
Besides… When I was writing this, I was wondering if this might be a kind of suicide note. This note would function as a suicide note unless I returned unscathed, despite I shook my head and felt it was an omen. It was terrifying.
Speaking of terrifying, what I found most disconcerting at this point was that I was unable to predict my sister’s response after reading it.
Hopefully, she would stick to the letter’s directions, but given that my younger sister was a highly eccentric second-year junior high school student, it seemed more likely that she would be distraught or throw it in the trash instead of believing in it.
I beg you not to let the latter happen. Even worse, she could be too engrossed in the Internet to notice this note.
That was possible…
Please, come on my little sister, saying that everything hanging by a thread on me depended on you was not an overstatement.
With my bag over my shoulder, I headed for the convenience store on my motorcycle.
Yakumo, the young man, had apparently gone to the convenience store earlier; whether by flying or by instantaneous movement was uncertain, but a short while ago, he vanished right before my eyes.
Right after that, I searched everywhere in the room for a flashlight but was unsuccessful. Without any other choice, I decided to get one at the convenience store where I worked. Cell phone flashlights weren’t that reliable and I knew I needed a proper one.
Ah… that was fine. I hoped the night shift workers wouldn’t be suspicious of me.
While worrying about that, I parked my bike in a corner of the convenience store parking lot.
There was no trace of Yakumo. Hadn’t he arrived yet? Well, whatever, I had something to do before he arrived.
I peeked into the store from outside. Of course, discreetly, so as not to draw too much attention.
O-Ohhh… Oh.
“…For real?”
To my bad luck, these were the people I least wanted to see right now. Along with other customers inside the store, Takenaka and Hirai, who were standing at the cash register, seemed bored. They were the strongest spiritual duo I had ever met.
To avoid being discovered, I hid in the corner of the store.
Ugh, of all people, it was those two.
What should I do… Would they think nothing of me showing up at this hour and going out of my way to buy a flashlight at a place like this?
Although they may not be able to figure out that I was going to head into the sea of trees, they struck at the heart of the matter in a strange way, even though they were different types of people…
I pulled up the hood of the hoodie I had worn to ward off insects, looked down, knowing it was suspicious, and decided to enter the store without looking at them if at all possible.
I mean…
Suspicious, suspicious, suspicious…! I was too suspicious!
This was not a good idea at all, they were totally suspicious! Not only the two of them but even the customers in the store were glancing at me! Even if I told myself to avoid contact with them at all costs, they would have recognized me!
Inwardly impatient, I came to the shelf in front of the store where batteries and chargers were lined up.
There it was—a decent-sized flashlight. What? Batteries were sold separately? The convenience store quality was so stingy, making me buy not only the flashlight but the batteries as well…
While I didn’t have time to complain about it, the price of this cheap light, which could be sold even at a hundred-yen store… Once this case was over, I would confront that man about the bill.
“―Um, Hakamada?”
“Owapu!?”
The hood fell off in reaction to the idiotic voice I made as I jumped back. Before me was Takenaka with a slightly troubled look on his face.
“Ah, I knew it.”
It’s you, Hakamada.
When Takenaka said that, I exclaimed internally.
I-I… have been exposeddddddddddd.
That was way too fast! Not even three minutes had gone by!
To my stiffening, Takenaka made an uncomfortable face and awkwardly greeted me with a “Good evening.”
Well, of course I said “Good evening” in return.
Even I was uncomfortable meeting this person because Takenaka probably saw the previous hellscape that Hirai had shown me… In short.
Ughhhhhhhhhh!!
I wanted to get out of the store right now!
Hirai was at the cash register behind the shelf, saying, “Oh, Hakamada!” and waving her hand.
Even Hirai spotted me.