My Girlfriend is a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 23 – Love Calls Come All of a Sudden

“Thank you for the meal.”

Coincidentally, we finished eating at the same time. I tried to eat as neatly as possible, but Shizuku’s plate was still much cleaner, and aside from the sauce that wouldn’t disappear without licking the plate, she had finished eating perfectly. We chatted about trivial things for a while, but when the conversation dried up, we stood up.

“Shall we head to the next place soon?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

To avoid any chance of Shizuku’s true identity being noticed, I insisted on paying. I planned to escort her out first, then quickly settle the bill. Just as I was about to head to the reception desk, a high school girl who was struggling with her wallet stood in front of me.

“Oh? Um, please wait a moment. That’s odd… I don’t have enough money.”

It was a scene I occasionally saw at convenience stores. In most cases, people would be looking for coins to make up a fraction of the amount (to make giving change easier), but this was the first time I’d seen someone genuinely short of money. If I waited five minutes or so, they might walk away from the counter, but I couldn’t stand the thought of my date time with Shizuku being consumed by such a trivial thing.

I had no obligation to help, but I called out to her for my own sake.

“How much are you short?”

“Eh?”

The high school girl seemed surprised by the unexpected savior. She must be from a different school, judging by her uniform. She looked about a year younger than me. Initially wary of being approached by a stranger, the girl reluctantly disclosed the shortfall in a barely audible voice.

“…It’s 800 yen.”

I wordlessly took out 800 yen and added it to the tray where there was already some money. The girl, who hadn’t expected to be helped, was stunned for a moment, but since she now had enough money, the accommodating cashier completed the transaction without further ado.

“…T-Thank you very much.”

“Don’t worry about it. Oh, excuse me, could you handle the payment over here as well?””

After seeing the girl shyly dart out of the store, I settled my bill. There was no such thing as a farcical situation where someone who had helped another suddenly found themselves without money, so I was able to leave the store normally.

“How generous of you.”

Outside the shop, Shizuku smiled playfully.

“I’ve never seen someone offer money to help others.”

“That’s an exaggeration. There are plenty of people like that. Otherwise, charity drives wouldn’t work, right?”

Plus, the fact that the amount of money was small also played a part. If it had been twenty or thirty thousand, I probably wouldn’t have helped. In theory, I hated donating ten thousand yen at once, but I would casually give ten yen for a donation. Moreover, unlike donations to a vague cause where it’s hard to feel the impact, this time it clearly helped someone. Doing good deeds really lifts one’s spirits.

…Not that it was appropriate to say for someone harboring a death row convict.

“Now, lead the way to the next place. It might be just the thing to shake off the sluggishness.”

——————————

Kigaoka Park. Nowadays, many parks have had their playground equipment removed, but the equipment installed in this park is not your average stuff. By placing obstacles in harmony with the natural environment, they’ve created what could be called a field athletics course.

It’s a place that parents, who fear their children getting hurt more than their own lives, seldom visit, but it’s quite famous in Kidatsu City. Of course, most of the visitors are families, but it wasn’t like junior high and high school students do not come here either. Lately, influenced by Kusune, some people have even started doing parkour-like activities.

Parkour in the city is extremely dangerous if you’re not as skilled as Kusune, but you’re free to do whatever you like here. I’d say that all of the athletic people around me used to play in this park.

“Wow. I had no idea such a place existed.”

“Here, you can move your body to your heart’s content. Look.”

Inside the athletic area, you could see several students. Around them were parent-child duos playing catch, a man relaxing for a nap, and a middle-aged woman casually posting photos on social media. People of all ages and backgrounds love this park. No one here was trying to snoop into everyone’s background, so Shizuku should be satisfied here.

“Hmm, indeed. But this place is perfect for practicing parkour. My only concern is bumping into Kusune.”

“No matter how good her senses are, no one would notice Shizuku at a glance, and I think she would be more interested in me.”

I muttered while watching a man on a log-built platform hesitating to jump down. His friends seemed to be urging him on, but he still didn’t leap. Even though there was a raft floating directly below, scary things are still scary. I understand how he feels.

It sounded nice to freely roam around the city. Superheroes in movies were always doing that. So it was understandable to idolize that, but it’s easier said than done. Without superhuman abilities, you can’t do those stunts, and even with knowledge, you might get injured if you don’t know how to land, for example.

And Kusune, who jumps over crowds by kicking telephone poles, was clearly superhuman, so we should not imitate her. Though I doubt anyone would try.

“Could it be you’re not too keen on this? Did the infamous Shizuku Nanagi get cold feet?”

“Don’t provoke me. Such teasing won’t work on me… But well, it’s annoying to be made fun of by you, so fine. Let’s get some exercise.”

Too easy.

Someone with a high tolerance for teasing would just brush it off. Shizuku doesn’t have tolerance; she’s just pretending not to be affected. Still, her not refusing outright was a bit surprising. I thought she’d use the skirt as an excuse.

Shizuku took off her platform sandals.

“Huh? Are you going barefoot? You’re going to get hurt.”

“The place I was confined in had razor blades scattered on the floor. This is nothing.”

What kind of prison was that?

Even criminals have basic human rights, yet a prison floor littered with razor blades is tantamount to depriving them of freedom of movement. While I was still feeling upset about the unexpected truth of the prison, she suddenly dashed off.

“…Wow.”

The moment her toes touched the raft, she took a big leap. It was evident that no force was generated because the water surface remained calm, yet Shizuku defied the laws of physics and landed on the wall of the platform. After landing with a backflip, she effortlessly slid down the nearby slide.

But this place wasn’t empty. She noticed a child obstructing her path halfway down the slide. Just sliding down would be fine, but the speed at which she entered the slide was too fast for an adult, enough to kick the child off from behind if she didn’t completely stop. If it were me, I would grab the edge of the slide and forcibly halt, but Shizuku, without hesitating, twisted her body in midair and flung herself up while hooking her hand onto the wooden structure supporting the slide. There was water below her feet, and even if she didn’t get injured, she’d be soaking wet. For her, who had no spare clothes, getting wet was a problem she had to avoid at all costs, even if it meant risking her own life.

…Really?

Regardless of its truth, if she hung in midair for too long, gravity would eventually pull her down. As the onlookers were overwhelmed by her movements, Shizuku moved across the wooden structure like grabbing a ladder, then swung her body like a pendulum and leaped. The landing point was another raft, and even an amateur could understand the impact of her landing by the ripples spreading across the water’s surface.

―――She must be using some kind of mysterious power.

Whether it’s just my imagination or not, I don’t mind, but what could it really be? Compared to Kusune’s movements, hers seem somewhat floaty, as if her weight doesn’t exist…

“Um, excuse me? Hello? Hellooo?”

(e/n: sorry i can’t think of a better phrasing. she’s basically just repeating あの～)

So captivated by Shizuku’s movements, it took me a while to notice the whispering voice behind me. When I turned around, the woman had tears in her eyes.

“Ah. I’m sorry, what is it?”

Reverse pickup lines were fantasies and impossible to happen. In a sense, she might be one of those who, after watching Shizuku’s movements, wanted to know who she was. She might be deceiving her lover’s family, but there’s no need to apply the same deception to strangers, yet at the same time, it feels awkward…

“T-Thank you for earlier.”

―――Earlier?

“That, just now, the thing just now.”

(e/n: same as earlier but with さっき)

The only thing I remember was how delicious the food at Tessei was. I’m not that foolish to speak so carelessly, but because I’m focused on the date with Shizuku, everything else was processed as irrelevant information in my brain. So even if you say ‘just now,’ it takes some time for me to recall.

“Ah, that’s it! Did I perhaps get the wrong person…? But, it must be you! You’re the one who covered the eight hundred yen for me, right?!”

“―――Ah, that time.”

“I’m Mitsuru Aikura! What a coincidence to meet you here! If you’d like, how about a cup of tea at a nearby cafe?”