Chapter 5 Part I

It was lunch break on Friday and tomorrow's special exam was rapidly approaching.

I, Horikita Suzune, thought back on the events that had taken place the night before.

Just as I was thinking it was about time to go to bed, I received a text message.

I remember my heart nearly skipping a beat when I saw who it was from.

It was a message from my older brother.

He had only written a single line of text.

[Is there anything you regret?]

This single message that seemed to be asking me a question.

After reading it several times over, I thought about what I could do despite having lost my way.

However, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

If I let it get away from me… The next time I'd be able to hear my brother's voice would be during graduation.

[Would you be willing to talk with me?]

Having made up my mind, I wrote out this message in response.

Even though all I had to do was hit send, my fingers were heavy and I couldn't easily bring myself to do it.

"Haa…"

I stabilized my breathing and pressed the button. The only thing I could do now was wait for my brother's response.

Around the time when my anxiety over whether or not he would reply had almost faded, a response came back in the form of a phone call.

Instead of anxiety, I felt relief.

Fortunately, he had responded with a phone call. It would've been hard for me to message him back with my trembling hands.

"…It's me. Suzune."

"You said you wanted to talk?"

"Yes…"

"What did you want to talk about?"

"…Uh, your message… Why did you send me it…"

"Is that really important right now? Is this really what you needed to talk to me about over the phone?"

"N-no that's not it."

Feeling like he was about to end the call, I quickly, frantically denied it to stop him from doing so.

"If it's okay with you… would you be willing to meet with me in person?"

"In person?"

"Y-yes."

"When you first enrolled here, I suggested that it would be better for you to drop out. The moment you rejected my offer, your relationship with me was over. You do understand that, don't you?"

He brought up the cold, hard facts of the matter. I could only imagine his decision to contact me like this as nothing more than a whim.

The relationship we had as siblings was simply that distant.

Truthfully, I wanted to talk to my older brother about all sorts of things.

About everything that had happened so far. About what would happen in the future.

But… he would never ask me for something like that.

"It's something I want to ask you about in person."

He was silent. I slowly continued to speak.

"This will be the last time… After this, I will not involve myself with you ever again."

It was the only thing I could offer him.

"Alright, I understand."

That was the conversation that took place last night.

I was now heading out to meet my older brother.

To avoid being seen by others, we arranged to meet at the special building, a place usually devoid of other people.

By the time I arrived at my destination, he was already there.