My Girlfriend is a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 16 – Does not exist

Not everyone in the world may be like this, but I’m the type who suddenly gets motivated when there’s a reward waiting for me at the end. Spending the weekend in the same old routine doesn’t disappoint me. On the contrary, I should think positively. My daily life is being protected by Shizuku.

Hey, hold on. Don’t say I’ve been captivated by her charm.

That was more like confirming our trust in each other, with no ulterior motives involved.

“I’m off.”

Now that my level of happiness has reached its peak, no words can reach my ears. Habitual liar? Whatever. Delusional? Is that so? What absurd, baseless labels. How can you use such negative words when the world is full of hope?

As I glanced back at the window in the room, Shizuku peeked out from behind the curtain and secretly waved her hand. It was almost as if she’s more childlike than her actual mature demeanor. So adorable, so precious.

I was wrong. There’s no need to ponder over whether to believe Shizuku or Kusune. It’s Shizuku, without a doubt. Because she trusts me. Not just her words, but her eyes convey that above all. While there may have been issues surrounding me (I realize now that ranting about bullying was a terrible move), nonetheless, my family didn’t support me.

There’s no such thing as unconditional love. Even among close relationships, there are expectations, and once trust is lost within a family, it’s over. I believe the phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’ originated here.

…I’m not regretting past mistakes; I’m talking about trust. My family didn’t trust me. So I stopped trusting them. Trust is built on credibility. Without trust, there’s no reliance. And relationships are often a mirror; the treatment you give to others often reflects back to you.

What good does it do if I don’t trust Shizuku, who trusts me unconditionally?

　―――Come to think of it, she said she’d come to pick me up, but she’s not here yet, huh?

No, I’m actually quite thankful she didn’t come. It would be troublesome if she somehow sensed Shizuku’s whereabouts with their mysterious intuition, and if that led to a brawl, I’m confident they’d knock me out in five seconds flat. On one hand, I think they might be struggling with handling something unpleasant, but on the other hand, considering their robotic, mechanical way of speaking, it’s possible they’re simply not coming because I haven’t given them the okay (the conversation was interrupted by gunfire).

“……Ko”

Because I had been looking down, I had no choice but to stop. Those who don’t stop are surely the perpetrators. Within just thirty meters from school, there were crow carcasses falling at regular intervals. Five of them.

While I occasionally saw crow carcasses from time to time, I had never seen such a large number before. It was simply eerie. However, my resolve wasn’t so weak that I would skip school over something like this. Since I couldn’t avoid the bodies themselves, I ran with all my might and pushed through.

Why did this have to happen?

It would have been the perfect story to tell, and if I were in my right mind, I would have told someone in class. But within the class, I am labeled as someone with a habit of lying. If I were to tell even a slightly unrealistic story, it would be dismissed as a lie…

But wait?

Since these bodies were on the route to school, others should have seen them too. Even if it’s already become a story, it wouldn’t be unnatural, and if others were talking about it, the likelihood of it being dismissed as a lie would decrease significantly. Thinking that way, my heart began to pound.

Moreover, the setup of having a habit of lying (though that’s not the case) was only applied to bullying-related situations… My anxiety might have been unfounded. The bullying is already gone, and the perpetrators are no longer in this world. Though the methods were extreme, Shizuku is indeed helping me.

Passing through the school gate and heading to the entrance, I couldn’t help but feel strangely conscious of the gazes of the underclassmen I passed. But right now, that didn’t matter. I wanted to tell someone about this story as soon as possible. And I wanted to just enjoy being part of a normal conversation. I want to be a special presence, but at the same time, I want to live peacefully. Even though that won’t happen since I’m hiding Shizuku, I can at least try to maintain that facade.

Sakisaka Ryuma is just an ordinary high school student. He doesn’t know about death row inmates, he’s never witnessed Yuuna dying in front of him, and there’s no factual basis for those three people dying in front of him. He only knows that information. Just an ordinary person who knows nothing.

―――All right.

I entered the classroom with great vigor, having armed myself with memories, not just theoretical knowledge.

“Hey everyone! The hero has arrived!”

It was so abrupt that I thought it might be a new form of bullying.

For some reason, all my classmates applauded unanimously and praised me. I didn’t know what was going on. I had no idea about it myself. If there was any suspicion, there was more than enough, rather than none.

“……Eh?”

Because I had behaved as if I were close friends with Kusune, even though we weren’t, I couldn’t complain even if someone called me out on it. But why was it that even those guys were praising me? I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t be happy to be praised, but there are surely many who wouldn’t be happy to be praised for something they have no idea about. What kind of confident person boasts about achievements that don’t exist?

“Sakisaka! Thanks for helping me. Um… Sakisaka was actually a good person, huh? I misunderstood.”

“Um… Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.”

“That’s why you were so close to Kusune-san! You’re so mean! You should say something next time, okay?”

“Huh? Oh, um… okay?”

I was so bewildered that I couldn’t even respond to their comments. Even though I had no idea what they were talking about, it wasn’t so outlandish that I couldn’t handle it smoothly. It wasn’t that bizarre. Were they experiencing some sort of collective hallucination?

Terunori was staring at me as if to say, “I’m proud of you too,” but in a different sense, I had no allies in this situation.

“Sakisaka-kun.”

“―――Uwaah!”

Before I knew it, Kusune was already standing behind me. She had her hands in both pockets of the coat she was wearing over her school uniform, and it was obvious from that situation that she came next after me. She, too, received the same welcome as I did. Contrary to my confused and suspicious behavior, Kusune didn’t move an inch.

“Ku, Kusune. What in the world is this …… uh…? Can you explain?”

“No problem. Please come to the hallway.”

I did as I was told and went out into the hallway. I asked her if she could explain, but I wasn’t going to get angry if she couldn’t. I just had no idea what was going on. But since she said she could answer, I wanted her to give me a satisfactory explanation.

“What’s going on?”

“You are being praised for fighting off the men who attacked your classmate yesterday.”

“Wait. Hold on, that’s where I don’t understand. When did I do that?”

“You don’t remember? The molester, who mainly targeted students, was waving a knife in anger, and you, in cooperation with me, subdued him.”

“I don’t remember. What’s that?”

Kusune seemed troubled… Or maybe I just imagined it. Her gaze wavered slightly, leading me to believe so. I didn’t anticipate that expression. What was she talking about?

“……Ah, so that’s how it is.”

“Don’t convince yourself on your own. Please explain it to me too.”

“No, I understand that the reason you don’t remember anything is because of Shizuku Nanagi. I don’t know why she is targeting you, but ……”

So you can’t explain it. If you’re going to do it, you should’ve done it properly. As for Shizuku’s abilities, all she can do is manipulate a person, and she shouldn’t be able to alter their memories. Moreover, there was no way that the target would be me. But she was protecting me… Protecting me…

Is she really protecting me?

“There are points I need to reflect on as well.”

“Huh, points to reflect on?”

“From my perspective, it seems like you don’t want to be pried into, so I ended up improvising and just said that we’re work colleagues.”

…………Huh?

Despite saying she’s going to reflect, her expression showed no remorse whatsoever.

“But it’s also convenient, isn’t it? Sakisaka-kun, are you really willing to help me with my work? If you receive protection from a public institution, then even Shizuku Nanagi won’t be able to lay a finger on you.”