My Ex-Girlfriend’s Sister Ran Away to My Room, and We Can’t Stop Making Mistakes. - Chapter 29: More About Yourselves.

More About Yourselves.

As the forecast predicted, the afternoon brought a torrential downpour.

People hurried past through the curtain-like rain, huddled under their umbrellas. The shop began to grow crowded as more customers stepped inside to take refuge from the storm.

“Saki-kun, the floor is getting busy. Can you help out out there for a bit?”

Following the Master’s request, I carried the sandwiches I’d prepared to the customers. On my way back to the kitchen, my eyes caught someone outside. Beyond the glass window, a figure was waving at me.

It was Mii. Holding an umbrella, she was smiling at me with an expression of pure, innocent joy.

That idiot.

Vanilla had specifically told me not to meet her in front of the shop.

Mii moved her lips silently, signaling to me. She seemed to be saying, Your shift is almost over, right?

When I nodded, she stood still, looking satisfied. Apparently, she intended to wait right there until I was finished.

I had about fifteen minutes left until my shift ended. Even with the small overhang of the roof, it had to be freezing out there in the cold, driving rain. I could see her back trembling slightly as she waited for me.

I returned to the kitchen and started toasting bread. I wanted to get back to her as quickly as possible, but I couldn’t leave my post until the clock struck the hour.

“Oh, a patrol car.”

Next to me, the Master, who was dripping coffee, spoke up.

I saw the flash of the siren as the car sped past just outside the shop.

“I wonder if something happened.”

“Maybe,” I replied noncommittally, placing the toast on the prep table.

Suddenly, a sickening premonition surged through my chest. I set down the eggs I was holding and peered outside to check on her.

Mii was gone. The spot where she had been standing with her umbrella was empty.

“Mii!”

My heart turned to ice. The sound of the patrol car faded into the distance, the wail of the siren echoing sharply in the back of my ears.

Before I knew it, I was outside the shop. She was crumpled on the water-soaked ground.

“Hey, Mii!”

It was exactly like that time in Shibuya. A seizure triggered by the sight of a police car. She was already hyperventilating, her entire body shaking violently.

Her breath came in shallow, frantic gasps. Her face was deathly pale—so drained of color that she didn’t even look alive.

“Mii, are you okay?”

I called out to her loudly while rubbing her back. She didn’t respond. Her eyes were unfocused. This was far worse than the last time. My own clothes began to soak through as the rain beat down on us.

“You can’t move, can you? It hurts, doesn’t it?”

Her trembling body offered no answer. I had to call an ambulance. She needed to be seen at a proper hospital.

“Hold on.”

“Saki-nii…”

As I reached for my phone, Mii stopped me. Her hand, when it touched mine, was terrifyingly cold.

“I’m… fine. I’m fine… so…”

“But—”

“No… hospitals…”

Tears were streaming down her face like a child’s.

“I don’t… want to…”

For some reason, my hand wouldn’t move. This was no time for hesitation, yet I found myself wavering. Mii was crying, and I was paralyzed.

I didn’t know if this choice was the right one for her. Was I about to make another mistake?

The raindrops felt like needles. The wind was freezing. My head and my hands felt frozen, locked in place.

“Saki-kun.”

That voice snapped me back to reality. Someone was holding an umbrella over us. I turned to see Vanilla standing there, her face etched with worry.

“Vanilla-san.”

“Wait a second. I’m calling an ambulance.”

Vanilla pulled her phone from her pocket. Just as she was about to dial, Mii spoke up again.

“No…”

It was a voice squeezed out with desperate effort.

“Mii-chan?”

“No… Please…”

“You’re in so much pain, what are you trying to endure? If it’s about the money, we’ll figure it out.”

“No… Sis and the others… they’ll come…”

Heavy tears spilled from Mii’s eyes, mixing with the rain and dripping onto the pavement.

“I won’t be able to stay here anymore…”

“Please,” she begged, her voice raw with urgency. She began to wheeze again, her shallow breathing turning into a whistle. The tremors grew even more severe.

“Mii…”

The hand I held was becoming colder by the second.

“Saki-kun.”

“I… what should I do?”

“Pull yourself together,” Vanilla told me, still holding her phone. “I don’t know everything that happened between you two.”

The rain intensified. Puddles began to soak into my shoes. I could sense a crowd of passersby starting to gather.

“But right now, I think you should forget about all of that.”

She dropped to her knees, pulling Mii gently toward her. Her skirt spread out into the puddles.

“Decide. What matters most?”

She held the umbrella over the three of us.

“Mii-chan, can you hear me?”

She rubbed Mii’s back gently. Slowly, tenderly, as if comforting a wounded animal. Vanilla’s own clothes were quickly becoming drenched.

“You have to start valuing yourselves more.”

Mii wouldn’t stop crying.

Years ago, on the night of a summer festival, Mii had gotten lost. When Ayumu and I went to get her, she had been wailing at the top of her lungs, heedless of the people watching.

I was so scared, she had said over and over. Ayumu had told her she was being dramatic, but she had held Mii close, looking just as relieved.

“Mii-chan, breathe out. Slowly.”

Vanilla spoke to her in a quiet, steady voice. Slowly, Mii began to exhale, taking her time.

“Slowly. Take it slow.”

Even after all these years, nothing had changed. I was still standing to the side, just a bystander watching from the periphery. As she continued to focus on her exhales, Mii’s breathing gradually began to steady.

“Have you decided?”

Vanilla looked up and asked me. Finally, I found my voice.

“I’m taking her to the hospital.”

Vanilla nodded once and put the phone to her ear.