CH 7

Monday. This is the second Monday that I’ve met with Mitsumine. That is to say, today is the day that we are supposed to go pick up the pearls, and it is also the fateful day that determines whether or not Mitsumine will choose to commit suicide.

It was on this important day that Mitsumine got off the train looking incredibly, incredibly tired.

“Hmmm, what’s wrong, Mitsumine? You’re looking real sleepy–.”

“〜〜Shut up! I ended up staying up all night!! Because of somebody!”

Mitsumine shot me an accusatory glare and punched me in the back. Perhaps the reason her eyes were gathering tears is because she was trying to stop herself from yawning.

“Oh, did you seriously watch what I recommended?!”

“It’s because somebody was desperately begging me to watch an episode, you know!?”

And of course that “somebody” she is referring to is me. Today(a Monday) is the important day that determines whether or not Mitsumine will continue living. That’s why I had wanted to be with her on Sunday as well, if possible.

I was worried that she might hasten her plans or something.

However, we didn’t have plans to study together on Sunday, nor did I have an excuse to take her out somewhere. Despite that, I still wanted to make her lean more towards choosing to live.

So that’s why, when we were about to part ways, I had begged her to watch an episode of my favorite anime series, the internet anime series titled “The Adventures of Samegon.”

[TLN: “Same” can mean shark in japanese]

The story follows the protagonist Samegon, a shark, as he swims through the ocean and eventually grows up to become a splendid adult shark. Though it sounds like an anime aimed towards children, it’s got a lot going for it with its surprising animation quality, incredible story development, well done romance, and deep, intriguing ideas. All of this has caused it to be a very popular topic on the internet. It even got rank one on Savannah Prime, the streaming service it’s shown on, cementing its place as a legendary work. On top of that, it has 5 seasons that all build on each other, making it pretty much a necessity to binge watch all of them in order to satisfy the anticipation of what comes next.

If Mitsumine sees an episode and gets even a little hooked, she probably won’t die on Sunday. That faint hope that had been running through my head is why I had recommended the show to her, but I had no clue that she would become this addicted.

“So then how much have you finished?”

“For now, I’m completely caught up–”

“You’re completely addicted, huh….”

“Is that a problem!?”

An immediate reply.

Well, Samegon is really interesting. I still remember how my classmates had been so dubious when I first recommended it to them, but, after watching just one episode, they ended up staying up all night to watch to the end.

“I mean Samegon is such a good kid. He tries so hard to get through things alone. Plus, even though he’s a shark, he doesn’t have much confidence, yet, despite that, he still tries to help other people so much, you know.”

“…..”

“I’m so glad that he finally realized he couldn’t do everything alone and chose to have companions, even if he was scared that he would hurt his friends by getting close to them. I cried each time another companion joined him.”

“Yeah, one of the greatest parts of the anime is how Samegon’s growth is clearly conveyed, you know…Still, you finished what I recommended to you in one day….Amazing! You’re such a great person.”

“I really am. Be more grateful to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed up all night for something like this.”

As Mitsumine said this, she puffed out her cheeks in a pout, but, even then, the hints of a happy smile could be seen on her face.

In the first place, I didn’t think of Mitsumine as the type of person that would pull all-nighters. From what I heard during the study group, apparently her parents don’t come home often, so maybe that’s why she doesn’t get caught or yelled at. Maybe that’s also the reason why she puts so much pressure on herself.

“Hey, Mitsumine–”

“What?”

She was looking at me blankly.

“….It’s nothing.”

There’s no way I could tell her that today was the decisive day.

Mitsumine is a bit like Samegon, I guess. I wonder why it is that she can cry over an anime protagonist making friends but is still so set on dying alone.

School ended. We had finally gotten through our boring classes, and we were headed to the beach that we had visited a week ago. It was almost 5 pm, but it was still bright out.

Normally at 5 pm the trains would be packed. However, most people don’t bother going to the beach on weekday evenings, and thus we ended up in a train car with only us in it.

The train continued to advance, and the scenery around us gradually became more and more unfamiliar. As we got closer and closer to our destination, my heart began to quicken, thumping heavily. Eventually, all I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat, and all I could feel was the pain of my heart pounding in the left side of my chest.

“…..Um, Mitsumine.”

That was a lie. I could feel my right shoulder. It felt pleasantly warm, and there was a comfortable weight lying on it. It was Mitsumine’s head.

Apparently, her all nighter had caused her to reach her limit. She had been close to nodding off as soon as we got on the train, and, eventually, she had fallen asleep. As I watched over her innocent, sleeping face, I realized that this might be the last time I could meet Mitsumine.

And yet, no matter what I did, I couldn’t imagine a world without Mitsumine. I was so scared of losing this pleasant warmth lying on my shoulder.

“It would be nice if you could continue living alongside me, even if it’s just a little longer.”

I whispered that to her in a small voice. Even just saying that made tears well up in my eyes. Even though no one was watching, I pretended to yawn, trying to make myself believe that my watery eyes weren’t caused by tears. I told myself that it was normal for me to be yawning, considering that I had also stayed up all night because I was too anxious to sleep.

—-Because I felt like if I cried here, it would make the possibility of Mitsumine committing suicide into reality.

“Mitsumine, Mitsumine. Wake up, we’re here.”

“……..Ugh..”

I called her name a few times, and she eventually opened her eyes. She looked groggy. Then, in a half asleep state, she spoke a few words in between yawns.

“I….fell asleep….?”

“Yeah, you were completely knocked out.”

“Uuu…..No, but it was completely your fault that I stayed up all night. And then you pushed me even harder by having me share my impressions. You’re terrible.”

“….That’s why I took responsibility by being your pillow–”

We continued exchanging snide remarks as we exited past the ticket gate. I walked towards the ocean, pulling a still-sleepy Mitsumine along with me.

“We never finished our game of shiritori, huh…”

[TLN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiritori%5D

“Yeah.”

“The sky looks really pretty right now.”

“I guess.”

“Sure is hot, though.”

“Yep.”

“…….The ocean feels so far away…”

“…..Yeah.”

Hey, are you still planning on dying after this?

I couldn’t bring myself to ask that one essential question. Instead, we just talked about entirely trivial things. And we continued like this, trying to avoid the core issue, until we got to the store where we had extracted our pearls.

“Excu–se me, we were the ones that came here last week–”

“Oh! The lovely couple!”

The lovely couple, huh. Listening to those words, my heart began to ache.

I can’t be getting agitated now.

I faked a laugh and followed the employee to the back of the store.

I felt so unbelievably hollow. I felt like I was losing my mind.

“Here are the completed products. The two of you are a couple, so we chose to process them into rings!”

“Oh~! Thank you so much!!”

The employee smiled and showed me a tray with two small rings on it.

“These are rings that are worn on the pinky finger. They’re called pinky rings. We made a pair of pinky rings for another couple that came by recently, and they ended up really happy with the way they matched.”

The word “match” made me feel tense.

We aren’t even a couple to begin with, and, to Mitsumine, who wants to die, this kind of thing is a curse that restrains her.

I wonder what kind of face she’s making right now, listening to what the employee is saying.

“Hmm~~These are great.”

Obviously, I was more concerned about Mitsumine’s feelings on the rings than my own.

But, still, what do I call these emotions of mine, this concern that I feel?

And will Mitsumine still be present in this world tomorrow, laughing together with me?

I felt my spirits sink lower and lower. In contrast, the employee smiled an even bigger smile and continued speaking.

“And then apparently after that they went to an aquarium together. One of their pictures with their rings in it went viral on social media, so we’ve had a bunch more people come recently!”

“Hmmm—-, what a coincidence. We have plans to go to the aquarium next week too!”

Mitsumine, who had been looking down this entire time, raised her gaze and said that to the employee.

“……Huh?”

The moment I heard those words, it felt like I had been thrown deep underwater. Mitsumine’s voice as she discussed the promise we had made a few days ago grew further and further away. Trying to break myself from this trance, I stepped on one of my big toes with the other foot. It hurts. It hurts like it normally would. This isn’t a dream.

So basically….

——-Is it safe to say that I’ll be able to laugh together with Mitsumine next week as well?

“I can’t believe you, A-kun. I hate you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, go easy on me. I lied. There’s no way I would forget our promise!”

“No way. I won’t ever forgive you. Don’t follow me. Why don’t you just stay here and watch the sea for the rest of your life? And while you’re at it, why don’t you sink in too and become seaweed?”

“No—, I really want to go to the aquarium–”

“Seriously? You were the one who forgot our promise, weren’t you? In actuality, I was the only one that was looking forward to it, huh?? Ah, I can’t believe you! I’m going to invite someone else to go along with me!”

“I’m seriously sorry! It was a promise that I had basically forced onto you, so I thought that you would have forgotten about it….”

We were on the way back to the station.

Mitsumine, who, in contrast to her strong words, was half crying, and me, who was desperately apologizing to her, were walking together, stretching our shadows in the light of the evening sun that had finally decided to set.

“……Hmmm. So that’s why you looked like you were dying, A-kun.”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing…..I’m curious about the jellyfish too. I can’t die until then. If I did and you decided to go watch them by yourself, I would resurrect as a ghost just to curse you forever.”

“…….”

We certainly had made a promise. A promise to go to the aquarium.

But we hadn’t decided on a day, and it was just a verbal promise too. Back then, I had wanted to do all that I could to keep Mitsumine from committing suicide, so I decided to make a promise like that, even if it was only a verbal one.

Even I could tell how much I had forced an agreement out of her, but she was still looking forward to it.

That’s way too cute. She’s too precious.

And, more than anything else, hearing the words “I can’t die until then” from her mouth means that I’ll be able to see her tomorrow. I’m really happy about that.

“…..What are you smiling to yourself about….I’m still mad at you, you know? You’re completely unbelievable! There’s no way I’m going with you!”

“Waait?! Wait, I’m begging you, just give me one more chance!! A last chance! Please give me a last chance!!”

“I gave you one just a second ago. A last chance is a last chance because you only get one of them.”

“Uuuu…..”

“But, well, I’m kind, so I’ll give you one more chance, okay? But this is your real last chance!”

Mitsumine’s expression was the exact opposite of her words. She was smiling happily, with her index finger pointed at me.

“When we go to the aquarium, we’re going in the route of the things that I want to see! I really want to see the penguin’s waddling walk, so I won’t forgive you if we’re late to see them!!”

It seems that this perfect, beautiful girl is going to continue living for another week.

[TLN: The new series in question. Was asked to TL this by Luls#1730. Also thanks to one of my irl friends for buying me the raw. Expect chapters once every 2 weeks or something like that. I might be able to get another one done before the end of winter break though idk.]