A park near East-Koganei Station.
“Takuto-kun is really just Takuto-kun, isn't he?”
As I lifted my hanging head,
“Erina-san...!”
There was Erina-san in her private clothes, crouching down to match my eye level and smiling.
“Are you okaay?”
“Why are you here...?”
“Sakosh called me, you know? She said, ‘Help Takuto.’”
“Sako did...”
“I was eating fries with Kenji at the basement floor of the mall, but I came back. If I had already gone home, I wouldn't have come back, though.”
Erina-san sat down next to me on the bench, grinning.
“Even so... how did you know I was here?”
“Because I tracked the GPS I put on Takuto-kun and you’ve been sitting here the whole time.”
“Eh...!?”
What is she talking about? I didn't know about that.
“Ahaha, it’s obviously a lie.”
Erina-san laughed as she watched me rummage through my uniform pockets.
“...Obviously, I searched like crazy, didn't I?”
“...Sorry.”
I finally realized why Erina-san was in her private clothes, and I couldn't hold my head up.
“Get into the habit of checking your smartphone, okay, Takuto-kun?”
“Yeah...”
Am I still being lectured on the basics of being a social person even now...?
I talked about various things that happened up to today—failing the Seishun Rebellion screening, IRIA’s cover video hitting an incredible number of views, the band disbanding, and my disbandment with Ichikawa.
Whenever my throat got stuck and I stopped, Erina-san listened without rushing me.
“I see...”
“I mean, sorry. Things not going well for me shouldn't matter to you, Erina-san... This kind of thing is just an everyday occurrence, or rather, a common thing...”
“Takuto-kun, you're a piece of crap, aren't you...”
“There it is again... wait, did you say ‘crap’?”
Erina-san pulled my ear. It hurt. I'm against violence.
Exhaling a sigh, Erina-san pointed to the sky in front of us.
“In this park, there was a time when I told Takuto-kun to help me, right?”
It was right around there, under the fluorescent light that looked like a spotlight, where that exchange took place. I projected the hologram of that memory onto the spot.
‘That's why, you see. I'll push myself, okay? Because "a face that smiles while pushing itself is really cool," right?’
‘Then, is Erina-san going to keep pushing herself...?’
‘Hey, Takuto-kun...? I might not be able to push myself anymore...!’
“Yeah... I remember. What about it?”
“...Even back then, did Takuto-kun say something like that?”
“What do you mean?”
When I asked, Erina-san cleared her throat softly.
“Ahem... ‘Erina-san. How many hundreds of people do you think are having their hearts broken today alone? You confessed knowing the odds were against you, so why are you so hurt that you’re crying and screaming? Are you an idiot? Did you think too much of yourself?’ ...did you say that?”
“No, how much of a jerk do you think I am...?”
Erina-san’s imitation of me was malicious. Or rather, has her vocabulary improved slightly?
“But you're saying those kinds of things to yourself, aren't you?”
“............True enough.”
I'm sure that's my way of coping with life.
“I can't help but feel like people will think, ‘Did he really think it would go well with a song like that?’ or ‘He clearly didn't measure up, he should just be glad he could hang out with her for a bit.’”
“Who?”
“There are plenty of people who laugh at someone who falls down.”
“Eeeh, but those are all just mob characters, right? I don't care about those mobs at all.”
“Mob characters...”
Don't say such sharp things all of a sudden...
“If Takuto-kun is in pain, it's fine to be in pain. It doesn't matter if it looks uncool from the outside or what people around you think.”
Erina-san looked up at the sky and exhaled a long breath.
“I wonder why we lose sight of such simple things when it comes to ourselves...”
“I guess so...”
That’s something I’ve probably been told tens of thousands of times by now.
“Takuto-kun, if you keep crying there forever, the ground will get muddy and you won't be able to stand up anymore, you know?”
Erina-san pointed at my feet, where there were dark stains on the ground.
“It’s not that bad...”
It’s a fact that I was crying, but if enough liquid came out to turn the ground of this well-drained park muddy, that would be a major problem.
“No, it is muddy. That's why, Takuto-kun.”
Erina-san stood up and turned toward me.
“Please. Even if you have to force yourself, stand up.”
“Force myself, huh...”
“Yep. There are times when you have to force yourself. I still think so. But,”
Erina-san reached her hand out to me.
“You don't have to force yourself alone.”
“...!”
Apparently, the ground really was muddy.
For some reason, I’m afraid of taking Erina-san’s hand and standing up now.
But, that’s right.
There's no point in staying here any longer.
When I took her hand and stood up, Erina-san pulled my hand and hugged me.
“Heeere, it’s a reward for standing up, okaay?”
“Hey...”
I really wish she wouldn't do this to a man with a broken heart... for various reasons...
When I gently pulled away, Erina-san, the master of teasing, had a mischievous, nihihi smile on her face.
“If you’re ever lonely for human touch, I’ll keep you company anytime, okay?”
“No, do you even understand what you’re saying...? Just because you’re a returnee—”
“I understand.”
Erina-san met my exasperated smile with a serious expression.
“Obviously, I’ll do anything if it means Takuto-kun won’t be in pain anymore.”
Erina-san gave me a gentle punch in the chest.
“You’re bad at thinking, bad at communicating, really, Takuto-kun is just too much like Takuto-kun...”
Her voice gradually began to tremble.
“But, I,”
And then, Erina-san—
“Thanks to Takuto-kun, I can smile now, you know?”
She said that as tears began to stream down her face.