I Hope You’re Still Alive When Tomorrow Comes - 6

Chapter 6: Transfer Student

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“Tsuchiya-kun, are you alright?”

“Whoa-!”

I was about to return to my classroom after saying goodbye to Nanami when suddenly, someone called my name and caused me to let out a startled sound.

I turned around to see Kiho standing right behind me. 

Just as I thought… She’s here.

“…Did you see everything?”

“Yes. From the beginning to the end.”

Kiho replied without missing a beat. As usual, she showed no hint of remorse in stalking me. But then, I noticed she was staring at me with a worried expression on her face. 

“Just a moment ago… Tsuchiya-kun, you looked like you were going to write a suicide letter.”

“….A suicide letter?”

“Please keep your chin up! You might feel like dying right now, but please calm down. Anyway! For now, it’s better if you just return to your seat and attend the first period like usual!”

“I’m already going to do that without you telling me to. I don’t have any intention to die or anything.”

I mean, even if sometimes I feel like dying, but that doesn’t mean I’m seriously going to off myself. Besides, rather than dying, what I really want right now is to go to my desk and just fall right here and there. I want to wallow in misery for a while. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m really fine. You don’t need to worry about me that much.”

Do I look that miserable? Like someone who’s eager to die?

“Listen, Tsuchiya-kun.”

Kiho leaned in close. She had a very serious expression on her face as she looked straight into my eyes.

“When you truly feel like dying, please remember me.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t mind sleeping with you right now, if that’s what you need.”

“What?!”

Startled at her declaration, I immediately looked around, hoping no one overheard our conversation. After all, Kiho didn’t even bother to lower her voice when she said that. Fortunately, no one was nearby. Kiho didn’t even look the least unfazed, even though I was so flustered at her bold words. 

“After all… You wouldn’t want to die a virgin, right? That’s why, if you ever feel like you want to die for real, please come to me beforehand. I will help you lose your virginity before you die at least. Alright? Let’s do that. It’s a promise, okay?”

“….Why are you assuming I’m a virgin on your own like that?”

“Huh? But you are a virgin, right?”

“Well, you’re not wrong but…”

While keeping a serious expression until the end, Kiho emphasized the promise she unilateraly made before she walked back to her own classroom. 

~*~

“Hey, hey~”

After I sat on my seat, Yano, the one sitting in front of me, turned around to talk with me. He looked kind of excited. 

“The girl you were talking to earlier… She’s that transfer student, right? Are you friends with her?”

“Huh? Transfer student?”

Unable to understand what he was talking about, I raised my head to talk with him better. 

“The girl that you were talking with in front of the classroom earlier. She’s a transfer student from class 4, right? What’s her name again… Sakashita-san?”

“Huh?”

I stared dumbfoundedly at Yano, surprised. 

“She’s a transfer student?”

I asked back, sounding slightly tense. 

“Huh? You didn’t know? She transferred here in the second semester. We don’t receive transfer students often and she’s cute to the boot, so she caused quite a stir, you know?”

“…I didn’t know.”

“Are you for real?”

Yano muttered, sounding exasperated. 

“You never show any interest in girls. There’s no one but Nanami-chan in your eyes, huh?”

At this point, I didn’t even have enough energy to respond to Yano’s teasing. 

Suddenly, a hazy part of my memory began to make sense. 

April. On the morning train. A girl that looked pale. I remembered calling out to someone like that. I made the pale-looking girl sit on a bench on the platform and then I went to call the station attendant. That girl must be Kiho. The reason why I didn’t recall encountering her was because on that day, Kiho was wearing a navy blue sailor uniform. That wasn’t our school uniform. Our school had blazers. She was wearing the uniform of a nearby all-girls school.

“I’ve been watching you ever since, Tsuchiya-kun.”

“I’m always watching you.”

The faint chill I felt when I first spoke with Kiho came creeping in. 

No, it can’t be… No way… There’s no way she transferred school just because of that. She can still confess to me even if she’s in a different high school than me. We can still have some sort of relationship even if we’re in a different school. I’m sure the transfer is just a coincidence. Yeah. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. She definitely transferred for some other reason. 

However, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, I couldn’t come up with another reason that could make her have to transfer school in the middle of the school year. Not to mention, her previous school wasn’t that much different in terms of reputation or academic performance than this school. The distance between her previous school and this one wasn’t that significant either, not enough to justify a transfer. 

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T/N: Just accept the reality bro