I Asked A Beautiful Girl, Who Was About To Jump Off The School Rooftop, 'If You're Going To Die Anyway, Could You At Least Take My Virginity Before You Go?' To My Surprise, She Agreed. - Chapter 76: A Day Without Yakumo.

A Day Without Yakumo.

September 6.

The first Friday of the new semester.

I, Hatsune Ichigaya, was walking to school alone.

This has been rare lately.

Ever since I started spending time with Yakumo-kun, we’ve been walking to school together almost every day.

“Yakumo-kun…”

The person I love, my boyfriend.

He may be a little self-critical and not the best with communication, but I’m the same way, so being with him feels comfortable.

More than anything, Yakumo-kun is someone I can truly rely on, and when we’re together, I feel happy.

But right now, Yakumo-kun isn’t by my side.

August 28.

After wrapping up a study session at the Ueno house, Yakumo-kun walked me to the station, and we parted ways.

Then, shortly after, while I was on the train, he messaged me: “I’ll be going on a journey to find myself for a while.”

It sounded like a lie at first glance.

Yakumo-kun is hiding something.

Where he’s going, when he’ll be back—none of that was in his message.

In the end, from that day on, no one knew where Yakumo-kun went.

This is the second time he’s disappeared.

The first time was during Golden Week in the spring semester.

The details of where he was during that time were unknown to everyone, but he told me directly.

Yakumo-kun apparently transferred to another world.

It sounds unbelievable, but I didn’t think it was a lie.

Yakumo-kun possesses a mysterious power beyond this world.

The flow of time is different between that world and ours, and Yakumo-kun spent several years over there.

That’s why he’s more physically mature than other boys in our grade.

When I saw him for the first time after he came back, even as just a classmate back then, I almost thought he was someone else.

“This situation… it’s really similar to the last time, isn’t it?”

Once again, no one knows where he went, and he’s disappeared without a trace.

I think he’s gone back to that other world.

What’s different this time, though, is that he left a message before leaving.

His last transfer to the other world seemed to happen by accident, but this time, it’s probably his own decision.

It’s hard to imagine that he might have been kidnapped or involved in some unrelated incident here.

With the powers he gained from that other world, I’m sure he could handle any trouble here on his own.

That gives me some peace of mind.

“I don’t know his purpose, and that makes me anxious… but this is Yakumo-kun, so he must have a reason, right?”

With these unresolved feelings, I arrived at school.

“Good morning, Ichigaya-san!”

As I entered the classroom, a girl from my class greeted me.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, so you’re flying solo again today?”

“Yeah…”

I nodded as I took my seat. Around my desk, three girls had gathered: the class representative, Ochiai-san, and Koganei-san. They had become my friends since the middle of the first semester.

“You seem a lot less cheerful without Ueno-kun here.”

“Well, that’s part of what makes you so cute, Ichigaya-san!”

It felt a bit like they were teasing me, but I figured they were trying to cheer me up.

“Is Ueno-kun working or something?”

“If I remember correctly, it has something to do with your family, right? In that case, it can’t be helped…”

“It’s lonely not having my boyfriend around.”

My friends were gossiping about my relationship with Yakumo-kun.

I hadn’t made his disappearance public.

I worried that if it turned into another big incident like during Golden Week, it would cause problems for him.

So, the official story was that he was resting due to work related to my family.

The Ichigaya family, of which I am a member, is well-known as a prominent family in a famous conglomerate.

Yakumo-kun was helping with that work.

I had explained it this way to my classmates.

I also asked my grandfather, the chairman, to communicate this to the school and Yakumo-kun’s family. I thought it would be difficult to get his cooperation, but he helped without asking any questions.

“Speaking of which, Ueno-kun is amazing, isn’t he? Working with the Ichigaya family… Could it be that you two are already engaged?”

“Wait, so Ueno-kun is going to be a son-in-law?”

“To be honest, I’m still surprised to learn that you’re the daughter of the Ichigaya family.”

In an effort to hide the truth about the other world transfer, I ended up letting my classmates know that I’m part of the famous Ichigaya family.

As a result, it was speculated that my relationship with Yakumo-kun was no longer just a casual student romance, but rather that we had already made a promise to marry and that he was studying business to become a son-in-law.

“Well, it’s not like we’re that far along in the conversation yet…?”

“From how embarrassed you look with all these comments, it seems like you might have those desires after all.”

Despite my denial, they continued to tease me.

Marriage with Yakumo-kun…

I’m not sure what the future holds, but I want to work even if I get married.

If possible, I’d like to become someone who can manage the Ichigaya company, just like my grandfather and father once aimed to do.

As for my boyfriend, Yakumo-kun… He seems to have made a good impression on my grandfather, so maybe he’ll end up working alongside me?

I don’t need a mansion like my grandfather’s, but I do dream of living in a house with a garden.

If my work mainly consists of desk work, I could probably do it from home instead of the office, allowing me to manage household chores in between.

As a married couple, I hope that Yakumo-kun and I can support each other both professionally and personally.

And the ones who will bring us comfort after a long day of work will be our adorable children.

I envision our children—one boy and one girl, maybe three in total.

What would they look like?

I can’t say for sure, but I’m certain they would be irresistibly cute… What am I even imagining?

“Hey? Ichigaya-san?”

My friends were looking at me curiously as I zoned out.

I had let my daydream about the future with Yakumo-kun slip into our conversation.

I guess it’s probably because it’s been too long since I’ve seen him.

“Sigh…”

I wonder when Yakumo-kun will be back.

No matter how much I daydream, I’m still alone right now.

The reality of this situation made a sigh escape my lips.

“You seem really affected by this.”

“Even if he has his busy reasons, leaving such a cute girlfriend who loves him behind is just plain wrong of Ueno-kun.”

The class representative and Ochiai-san exchanged words while observing my state.

“Alright, let’s switch things up! How about we go to karaoke after school?”

“What about the preparations for the cultural festival?”

“Since many people have club activities today, let’s just cancel for now.”

My friends enjoy teasing me, but they’re also genuinely kind.

***

After school, I went to a karaoke place near the school with my friends for a change of pace.

It was past eight o’clock when I returned to my apartment, a single room where I lived alone.

“Hehe, that was fun.”

Yes, while I was with everyone, it was lively and enjoyable. I was able to distract myself from the loneliness of not having Yakumo-kun around.

But now, in the silence of my room, I was all alone.

“I thought I’d gotten used to this quiet…”

The reason I felt uncomfortable being alone was that having Yakumo-kun by my side had become the norm for me. He occupied a significant part of my heart.

“I’ve always loved him, but being apart makes me realize that feeling even more…”

If I continued like this, I would only feel down. To mask the silence, I turned on the television.

A travel program was playing on the screen.

There wasn’t a specific show I wanted to watch; I just needed some noise. I left it on that channel without changing it.

“Well then, time to change clothes.”

I took off my uniform and put it away in the closet. Just as I pulled out my loungewear and had put on only a shirt, something caught my eye.

“What’s this…?”

It was the bath towel that Yakumo-kun had used the last time he came to this room.

In other words, it was one of the traces he left behind.

I instinctively picked up the towel.

“…”

I brought it closer to my face.

It had been washed, so naturally, it smelled of detergent and fabric softener. But mixed in, I thought I could faintly detect Yakumo-kun’s scent.

“Hmm…”

Almost unconsciously, I found myself inhaling the fragrance.

“…Yakumo-kun.”

Before I realized it, I was gripping the towel tightly and had thrown myself onto the bed. A wave of bittersweet emotions surged within me.

I curled up on the bed, one hand clutching the edge of the towel as I buried my face in it, pressing my nose against its softness.

“Mmm…”

It was a constricting, frustrating sensation in my chest.

As the heat spread throughout my body, I tucked the other end of the long towel between my thighs.

That spot…

With one hand still gripping the towel, the other slowly crept down between my thighs.

Since I had taken off my uniform, I was only wearing shorts below.

I let my fingers gently caress the skin of my inner thigh.

It felt slightly ticklish.

But it wasn’t enough at all.

This little bit couldn’t quell the heat coursing through me.

“Yakumo-kun…”

It might be inappropriate to feel this way when the person I love is missing.

But I can’t help it; the longing is too intense.

It’s been two weeks since I last saw him.

I suppose it’s understandable.

Even amidst my inner turmoil, my fingers reached for the source of my sorrow.

Just as I began to trail my fingers beneath my underwear…

A breaking news alert blared from the television, which I had left on.

Startled by the high-pitched sound that pierced through the tension and excitement I was feeling, I shivered slightly.

“…That scared me.”

Snapping back to reality, I turned my gaze toward the television, curious about what was happening.

The subtitle at the top of the screen displayed something shocking.

“What?!”

—Two frail individuals were discovered on a beach in a certain prefecture on the Sea of Japan. Could they be the missing son and daughter-in-law of the chairman of the Ichigaya Group? No life-threatening injuries reported.

As I stood there, stunned by the news, my phone rang. It was a call from my grandfather.

“Could it really be…?”

On this day, my parents—who had vanished without a trace when I was little—were found.