Chapter 39

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There are white walls, white beds, and

white clothes.

No matter where I look, my vision is

filled with flawless white, and even the holographic projection is a light

color.

I’m in a hospital room.

I’ve visited this place many times

since I was a child, but I still didn’t like the smell of disinfectant in my nose.

I, Kitou Miko, am sitting in a

visitor’s chair, making eye contact with my mother laying on the bed.

“… Hey

Miko”

“What? Mom”

“I want to see your boyfriend.”

“There isn’t one…”

This is what I thought when I suddenly

opened my mouth.

She wondered if there was anyone I was dating,

who I liked, or if my mother would be so eager to interfere in their daughter’s

love lives.

I’ve told her many times that I’ve

never been in a relationship with anyone, but she still asks me frequently, and

I have a feeling she’s just messing with me.

No, there are people I like.

But I didn’t bother to report it, so I

just brushed it off as usual.

“It’s such a waste to have such a cute

face. Don’t you ever be confessed?”

“It’s none of your business, mom.”

“You’re such a pretty girl. There is

no way you can’t get a boyfriend, no matter how pretty your face is..”

“It’s a big help”

I was annoyed, but I couldn’t think of

anything to say back, so I just expressed my dissatisfaction.

Perhaps seeing my situation, my mother

opened her mouth in amazement

“Mou. Why don’t you at least bring

them here before I die? I’m not asking you to show me your grandchildren’s

face, you know.”

The words were light-hearted and did

not imply any deep meaning, but the word “death” lingered in my ears.

“… Stop. Don’t do that”

The joke wasn’t funny, and I could

feel my tone becoming harsher.

“Oh… Don’t get mad, Miko. I’m not

serious.

“… I’m not angry.”

I’m not angry. That is true.

I’m not angry.

“But… Stop it.”

It’s just that, deep down, I don’t

want to hear those words.

“…”

My mother was sickly.

She was hospitalized for the first

time before I started elementary school, and ever since then, she has been in

and out of the hospital, only to collapse again and go back to the hospital.

I had never seen her in pain, but her

white hospital gown, which had become more familiar to me than any of her

clothes, gave me a more fragile impression of her.

Although she had much longer to live,

the doctor’s diagnosis was that she could die at any time.

余命の宣告はされていないけれど、いつ死んだっておかしくない、というのが医師から受けた診断だ。

The name of the disease is unknown.

Cause unknown.

There was no cure.

To think that I have been living in

such a state for so many years makes me feel rather strange.

I thought that he would stay by my

side forever.

“Miko.”

“Hm?”

“Aside from your boyfriend, take good

care of your friends.”

“……Yup”

“―――― Inori-chan? … Inori-chan?”

“……Eh?”

Because of Kanae-chan’s voice, I

regained consciousness.

When I noticed, Kanae-chan was waving

her hand in front of me, and she was anxiously staring at my face.

“Are you okay? It seems like you’ve

been absent-minded all day.”

“Ah… Don’t worry about me.”

Yes, I am. I was in the middle of a

stream.

I just remembered the conversation I

had with my mother this morning, and it seems I broke my concentration.

I regretted my actions and rushed to

find the ball of light.

But I couldn’t find it anywhere.

“… What about that Kanae-san?”

I asked Kanae-chan with a dull eye.

Hearing my words, Kanae-chan returns

her answer to my question, increasing her anxiety.

“The stream is over… Are okay? Did you

feel sick?”

“… I’m fine.”

It seems that I was in a daze for

longer than I imagined. I’ve never experienced anything like this before during

a stream.

“…”

But I knew the reason.

I knew exactly why I was distracted,

why I couldn’t see what was going on around me, and why I was bothering Kanae.

I stared into the void and only directed my

voice at Kanae-chan.

“… Kanae-san”

“Yup?”

The cause of my condition.

That is.

“Let’s say goodbye to us today ….

Today is the last time we play together.”

This word I had to say had dominated

my head all the time.

☆ 彡 ☆ 彡 ☆ 彡 ☆ 彡

“Let’s say goodbye to us today ….

Today is the last time we play together.”

The voice was cold, with no visible

emotion.

“Eh?”

I could feel my body tense up at the

sudden words that hit me.

It’s not that I can’t think calmly

about why my brain can’t even read what was said.

“… What do you mean? Are you saying

goodbye for today?”

“Wrong.”

“Let’s meet again tomorrow, right?”

“Wrong.”

“No, it’s not. I’m tired, Inori. I

don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“……Wrong.”

Inori-chan just stubbornly repeated

that it was different.

She won’t look me in the eye.

“… Did I do something to upset you?”

“…………”

“Is there a reason?”

“…………”

“… I’m sorry Inori-chan. I’m an idiot,

so I don’t understand unless you tell me.”

I felt so sorry that I wanted to lower

my eyes.

But when I took my eyes off Inori-chan

now, I felt like I would never be able to meet again, and I was desperately

enduring with a strong tie.

There was no light in Inori-chan’s

eyes, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

She kept a mask-like blank expression

on her face.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to go.

Unless you can at least tell me why.”

At least, I thought Inori and I were

friends.

I don’t want to think that it was a

one-way thought.

“… Reasons?”

In response to my words, Inori opens

her mouth.

And she forced her to raise her mouth,

apparently with a fake smile, and what she said to me.

“It’s a strange thing for us to be

distributing together,” she said. The number of your subscribers is way out of

proportion. What do you think? Since you started spending time with me, the

number of subscribers has increased dramatically, hasn’t it? “

“Eh??”

“To be honest, I was uncomfortable

because I felt like they used me. I’ve worked so hard to get this far on my

own. Kanae, did you ever have any difficulties? No, I haven’t, have I? Thanks

to me, you’ve become a celebrity in no time at all.”

“I didn’t mean that...”

I could feel my eyelids burning as I

listened to the first thing she revealed to me.

I felt like crying, which was out of

character for me.

My heart is in pain.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

Inori-chan muttered and opened the

menu screen.

I touched the hologram a few times, and

finally, it showed me my friend’s list.

“…Eh, no, wait.”

I knew in an instant what she was

going to do.

She was pointing at Kanae’s name.

The words “delete” lined up.

“Please, wait.

My voice didn’t reach her.

She didn’t even care.

Why is this happening?

“…Goodbye…”

“Wait!!!!”

A small sound effect echoed back to

me.

It was a noisy sound as if something

was being scraped off.

Unable to believe this fact, I

hurriedly opened my friend’s list.

It was gone.

The name at the top had disappeared.

“Lie, why is that?”

For me who meet her only in the VR

world. That is the only connection.

There was no other way to contact her.

If Inori-chan logs out now, that’s the

end of our relationship.

I will never see you again.

“Please wait. No, I’m not. I’m

really...”

Inori-chan turned her back on me.

“Inori-chan! Inori-chan!”

Please don’t ignore me.

This is not the way to say goodbye.

“―――― Ah.”The figure turned into a

light and disappeared from in front of me.

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