A Story About a Girl Who Took Life for Granted and Fell in Love With a Kind and Introverted Boy - Chapter 36

Clatter, clatter!

I arrived at the hospital room and slid the door open forcefully.

The sweat on my forehead dripped down to my right eyelash and stayed there, a droplet faintly visible in my field of view.

“Huff… huff…”

Catching my breath, I scanned the hospital room.

Kenji lay on the bed, as always. His mom sat in the chair beside him, and next to her stood the nurse, Asahi-san.

“Tashiro-san…”

Kenji’s mom looked at me, her expression softening slightly.

“K-Kenji… Is Kenji awake yet…?!”

“No, he hasn’t responded yet. Tashiro-san, please, call out to him…”

Before she could finish her sentence, I rushed to Kenji’s side.

I looked down at him as he lay there, quietly asleep.

“…Kenji.”

I crouched down and gazed at him intently. Taking his left hand, I held it tightly to my chest.

“Kenji… Kenji…!”

“………………….”

“Can you hear me? It’s me, Kanna!”

“………………….”

“Please, wake up…! Kenji, wake up!”

“………………….”

Kenji remained unresponsive as usual.

The sound of the heart monitor filled the room, the only evidence that Kenji was alive.

“Saitooo!”

“Saito-kun!”

At that moment, Yanagihara-san, Fujiyama-san, and two others who had followed me arrived at the room.

“Oh! You’re Kenji’s friends, aren’t you? You’ve visited before, right? Right?”

Kenji’s mom ran over to them with a delighted expression. In contrast, the four of them looked tense.

It was understandable; to them, Kenji’s mom was still the person who had once tried to harm him.

“W-what are you doing here?! Saito-kun is about to wake up! We won’t let you interfere!”

Despite her fear, Yanagihara-san confronted Kenji’s mom. Nagasaki chimed in, shouting, “Yeah, that’s right!”

Even so, Kenji’s mom maintained her gentle smile. If anything, her joy deepened, her smile radiating genuine happiness.

“Oh, my… Kenji has such wonderful friends…”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. She took Yanagihara-san’s hand in hers and said,

“Please, call out to him. Call Kenji as much as you can…”

“What…?”

“Please, I’m begging you… Help wake Kenji up… Please…”

“………………….”

Confused by the drastic difference from the image they had of her, Yanagihara-san and the others exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to respond.

“Everyone, come here.”

I called out to the group.

“Call Kenji’s name as much as you can. Let’s all call him together.”

“………………….”

Hearing my words, the four of them shifted from uncertain expressions to determined looks.

They quickly gathered around the bed, each calling out to Kenji.

“Saito-kuuun! Wake up! Wake up!”

“Saito-kun, everyone’s waiting for you!”

“Saito! Can you hear us?! Respond already!”

“Hey, Saito! Aren’t you tired of sleeping yet? It’s time to wake up!”

The room was filled with voices calling Kenji’s name. Even his mom joined in, shouting, “Kenji! Wake up! Everyone’s here for you!”

“………………….”

Just then, Kenji’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Kenji?!”

“Oh?! Saito! Wake up, Saito!”

Fujiyama grabbed Kenji’s shoulders and shook him vigorously. The nurse, Asahi-san, quickly intervened.

“Stop! He’s suffered a head injury and lost consciousness. Shaking his head too hard could be dangerous!”

“S-sorry…!”

Fujiyama immediately let go of Kenji and tried to calm his heavy breathing.

“B-big sis…?”

A small, hoarse voice came from the doorway. Looking over, I saw Miyuki standing timidly, watching us.

“Miyuki! When did you get here?!”

“I-I came to visit Kenji, but… what’s going on?”

“Perfect timing! Come here, Miyuki!”

“Huh? Huh?”

Looking bewildered, Miyuki hesitated, but my frantic beckoning eventually drew her into the room.

“Miyuki, Kenji might wake up.”

“What…?”

“Keep calling his name! Let’s call Kenji together!”

“………………….”

“Don’t worry. Kenji will definitely wake up!”

“…Kenji-san.”

The voices calling out to Kenji echoed throughout the room.

“Saitooo!”

“Saito-kun…!”

“Saito! Please wake up already!”

“Saito-kuuun!”

“Kenji! Please, wake up, Kenji!”

“K-Kenji-san…!”

“Kenjiiiiiii!”

…Still, Kenji didn’t wake up. Occasionally, he showed faint reactions, but his eyes remained closed, and he didn’t utter a word.

“Damn it!”

At that moment, Nagasaki, seemingly frustrated, tried a different approach.

He pulled out his phone and suddenly started playing a comedy skit video.

“This guy’s hilarious!”

“What the hell are you doing, Nagasaki?! Be serious!”

Naturally, Fujiyama rushed to stop Nagasaki’s bizarre antics.

“Hey, Saito! Can you hear this skit? It’s hilarious!”

“Stop that!”

“No, no, Fujiyama, I’m dead serious about this!”

“How is this serious?! Stop fooling around!”

“I’m not fooling around! Look, if Saito hears something he likes, maybe it’ll excite him enough to wake up!”

“What?!”

“Last time I was napping in the living room, my parents started watching this skit, and I immediately woke up shouting, ‘Are you watching that comedian?!’ I swear, if it’s something you love, you can hear it even when you’re asleep. So, I thought if Saito heard this skit, he’d wake up too!”

“You idiot! Playing what you like won’t do anything! Use your brain for once!”

“What did you say?! You can’t know until you try!”

Just as Nagasaki and Fujiyama’s argument heated up, Naito-san stepped between them.

“Calm down, you two. Fighting won’t help.”

“Ugh…”

“But Fujiyama started—”

“What’s really important right now? Waking Saito-kun up, right? Fighting isn’t going to accomplish that, is it?”

“………………….”

Hearing Naito-san’s calm reasoning, the two frowned but let their tempers cool.

Wow, Naito-san is amazing. To keep her composure and bring two arguing guys under control in a situation like this…

Kenji’s favorite thing…

Something that Kenji loves so much that it makes him want to leap out of bed…

“!?”

At that moment, an epiphany struck me like a bolt of lightning.

Maybe, just maybe, what Nagasaki had been trying to do wasn’t entirely meaningless.

“………………”

I stared at Kenji’s face intently. After taking a deep breath, I shouted:

“Hey, Giovanni! Is that riverbank bathed in moonlight!?”

“………………”

The moment I spoke, Kenji’s right hand twitched slightly, curling into a loose fist.

“Ah! There was a reaction!”

Yanagihara-san, who had also been watching, widened her eyes and exclaimed.

Her voice drew everyone’s attention to Kenji.

“What’s going on!? Did something happen!?”

Fujiyama-kun asked, and Yanagihara-san replied with an enthusiastic nod.

“Yes! He moved his hand! His right hand!”

Could it be…?

This might work. It might really work!

“Everyone! Let’s put on a play right here! Let’s do Night on the Galactic Railroad!”

I turned to the four classmates in the room and called out to them.

“Kenji has loved Night on the Galactic Railroad since forever! He feels a deep connection to Giovanni. I’ve even heard he memorized most of the story. If we perform it right here, maybe he’ll wake up!”

“!”

Everyone in the room turned to me with wide eyes.

Swallowing hard, I stood up resolutely.

“Alright! Let’s do this!”

I gathered the four classmates in the center of the room and began the play with the volume and passion of a real performance.

“Hey, Giovanni! Your dad’s bringing back a coat made of otter fur!”

“I know about the Scorpion Fire. The scorpion burned to death, and its fire still burns on to this day.”

Back then, Nagasaki had played Zanelli, the bully, while Naito-san had portrayed Kaoru, the girl who sank with the ship.

“Uh, um… you fool! Complaining to me won’t solve anything! Take it to the big boss with the ragged cloak and impossibly thin legs and mouth! That’s what I told him!”

“Ah, look at that! That’s the famous Albireo Observatory.”

Fujiyama-kun and Yanagihara-san, who hadn’t taken on roles back then, searched for the script of Night on the Galactic Railroad on their smartphones and read lines aloud to fill in the supporting characters.

“Ah, crap! I forgot my lines already!”

Hearing Nagasaki’s complaint, Yanagihara-san quickly held her phone up to his face.

“Here, use my phone!”

“Whoa! Really? Thanks a ton!”

They supported each other and kept the play going.

“Yeah, that’s right, Giovanni! We’ll always be together!”

Naturally, I played Campanella. I spoke my lines with more passion and emotion than ever before.

“When someone does something truly good, they’re the happiest person of all! That’s why I think my mother will forgive me!”

“Whoa… Tashiro-san still remembers all her lines flawlessly!”

“As expected of Tashiro-san, the one who played the lead.”

My classmates watched me in amazement as I performed without needing a script.

…Kenji.

We’re performing Night on the Galactic Railroad, your favorite story.

But we’re doing it without you. Without Giovanni.

Kenji, won’t you join us? Won’t you help us perform this play? Without you, it feels incomplete. Without the lead, it feels lonely.

Come on, Kenji, come back… come back to us…

“Ah! Sis! Kenji-san is…!”

Miyuki’s voice echoed through the hospital room.

Startled, I turned to look at Kenji.

Though his eyes remained closed, his right hand reached straight toward the ceiling.

His fingers flexed as though trying to grasp something.

“Kenji!!”

“Saito-kun!”

“Saito!”

“Saito-kun…!”

“Whoa!? Is Saito really—!?”

“Kenji!? Are you awake, Kenji!?”

“Kenji-san!”

Without thinking, I grabbed his outstretched hand and held it tightly.

Kenji gently squeezed back.

In that moment, tears burst from my eyes.

(Ah…! Kenji… Kenji is here… he’s alive… right here with us…)

I could feel his warmth directly. Through his skin, I could sense his blood flowing beneath. It was undeniable proof that Kenji was alive.

Though faint and weak, it was a reaction, and it was real.

I realized then that no moment in my life would ever bring me greater happiness.

Every nerve in my body vibrated with joy. My tears were so hot, they felt like boiling water.

Kenji, thank you.

Thank you for being alive.

Thank you for being here.

Truly, thank you…

From the bottom of my heart…

“Camp…pa…nella…”

A faint, hoarse voice reached my ears.

I slowly turned my tear-soaked face toward him.

Kenji’s eyes were slightly open, and a soft smile graced his face.

“Hey… Campa…nella…”

Kenji spoke slowly, his voice dry.

“Let’s… always… stay together…?”

“………………”

“And let’s… keep going… together… to find everyone’s true happiness…”

“………………”

I…

I, who had just declared that I’d never feel joy greater than this moment, found my happiness surpassed yet again.

The room was eerily quiet. Perhaps my brain had blocked out everything but Kenji’s voice.

Ah.

Kenji.

Kenji.

Kenji…!

Kenji!

Kenji!!

“………………”

Tears blurred my vision until I couldn’t see anything.

But I knew—beyond the haze, Kenji was there.

“…Yeah, that’s right, Giovanni.”

My voice trembled as I replied to his line.

“We’ll always be together from now on.”