My Girlfriend is a Death Row Inmate - Chapter 41 - When Night Meets Crossroads

Chapter 41 – When Night Meets Crossroads

“Hey, hey. Why… won’t you go home!? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, that’s not it. Sometimes, Kokkuri-san doesn’t go away.”

This is bad. What should I do? Miharu-senpai looks like she’s about to let go of her fingers any moment now. Even if it doesn’t work, it’s human nature to want to block out annoying sounds.

“What should I do!? Hey, what will happen if you don’t go home!? What should I do!?”

I couldn’t tell her to patiently keep calling for it to go back. That would be too cruel. Senpai has endured enough, more than enough. It’s not ordinary mental strength to be able to calm down, even temporarily, when someone calls out to you. In terms of labor, she has already crossed the line of overwork.

“Miharu-san! It’s okay, let’s just keep going like this!”

“What do you mean by keep going!? Do we have to keep playing Kokkuri-san!? Do I have to keep enduring this broadcast!?”

“We have to end ‘Karakiri-san’!”

I raised my idle hand and held out my little finger.

“The ‘limit’ placed on Senpai is ‘finger limit’, right? Then we should be able to end it like this. Let’s do ‘pinky promise’.”

Without letting go of the 10-yen coin, I made a pinky promise with my other hand. It’s not difficult at all. Anyone can do it if they can use both hands freely. Senpai kept her breath rough and watched my finger for a while, but she must have calmed down because I presented her with a simple and clear solution. She also held out her little finger and intertwined it with mine.

Her fingers are thin. It’s hard to say they’re beautiful. They’re skinny, scrawny, and shaking. It’s no wonder she doesn’t show herself in the classroom. In most cases, women take care of their appearance for themselves. It’s because they want to be cute, they want to be beautiful. It’s not narcissism or anything; it’s a common emotion. It’s not just about wanting to be attractive to women as a man. There are also those who want to be handsome for themselves. Most people naturally appreciate beauty.

To be honest, Senpai is ugly right now. I could never say she’s beautiful. But once this is over, she’ll be able to say goodbye to this side of herself. She’ll be back to her usual self. I’ll bring her back.

“… Just in case, should we say it together?”

Words are unnecessary. I took a deep breath and shouted loudly, breaking the gloomy silence.

“”We cut it off!””

I still don’t feel like I’m in the middle of it all. I was just an outsider pretending to be involved, so it would be strange if I did feel it. The only one who should feel it is her, and no one else.

Senpai… She didn’t let go of her fingers.

“…cut it off.”

“Huh?”

The eyes that had been shaking with tears became calm. The rational movement returned to her eyes as they stared at me.

“… I can’t hear… anymore… that means—”

“It means you’ve escaped ‘Karakiri-san’.”

“———! !”

She’s not crying because she’s sad.

She’s not crying because she’s happy.

She’s crying because she wants to cry. Miharu-senpai’s eyes were overflowing with tears as if to say so.

“Yes… yes……! I can’t hear… I can’t hear it anymore… Ah. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahauuhahahahahahahahaha!”

“―――Good for you, senpai.”

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha……………… I don’t have to worry anymore. There are no more…… no more voices…………”

“Wait, Senpai!?

Literally freed from the voice that had been troubling her, she fainted on the spot, perhaps out of relief. Thanks to my caution at the point where she was laughing like a prelude to madness, I was somehow able to support her body, but it’s quite a challenge to send Kokkuri-san back calmly like this.

I know it’s unavoidable, but I shouldn’t have loosened my tension yet. Kokkuri-san hasn’t ended yet. According to the field trip theory, we can only call it a success when we’ve calmly ended Kokkuri-san. I’ll say it again, but I don’t intend to blame her because it’s easy to say.

She has always been troubled by the broadcast, no matter when or where. Who could complain about a sloppy finish at the end? She’s not the protagonist of a story or anything. Even if she couldn’t take the best course of action, that’s reality.

“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san. Please go back— go back!”

There was no response.

“Kokkuri-san! Please go back! Go back!”

It moved to ‘No’.

“Go back, Kokkuri-san! Go back!”

‘Shi’

‘Ne’

“What the hell is this for real!?”

I’ve never heard of Kokkuri-san being so provocative. I almost let go of the 10-yen coin because of its annoying persistence, but this might be a strategy. Just as a devil might offer a deal in the dark, it might be trying to make me step on the forbidden rule on purpose.

“Go back, Kokkuri-san! Go back!”

‘Ka’

‘E’

‘Ra’

‘Na’

‘I’

(tl/n: kaerenai: can’t go back/can’t return)

“Go away! Get out of here!”

It moved to ‘No’. I was getting annoyed.

“Ah, come on, seriously—!”

“That’s enough.”

The girl who stopped me from tearing the paper before sending Kokkuri-san back had wavy hair that fell to her back, and she was a blonde. Her left eye was hidden, and she wore a red raincoat. When did she come up here? As mentioned earlier, the old school building is extremely dilapidated, and if you walk normally, your footsteps are sure to be heard.

“Umm, who are you?”

Ignoring my question as if it were natural, the girl placed her finger on the 10-yen coin.

“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san. Please return.”

I thought the rotten-hearted Kokkuri-san would refuse again, but my prediction was completely off. Kokkuri-san said, “Yes,” and moved to the torii position.

“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, thank you. Please leave.”

That was the end of the procedure. When the girl let go of her finger, I cautiously let go of mine, and nothing happened.

“Phew…”

I was finally able to relax and felt relieved. To put it mildly, I was tired. To be honest, I was exhausted. I knew the sleeping conditions in this ruin were terrible, but right now, I wanted to sleep like mud, regardless of the place. That’s how tired I was.

“Well, I’m leaving now.”

“Huh?”

As the girl tried to leave as if nothing had happened, I grabbed the hem of her clothes. She narrowed her eyes slightly and shook off my hand.

“What do you want? Kokkuri-san is already over.”

“Ah, who are you?”

“I don’t know. Well, it’s fine.”

The woman took a business card out of her raincoat pocket and held it to my neck.

“My information is on this card. If you don’t understand, ask Maria or something. See you.”

“Ah, you know Maria—wait, wait a minute! Don’t go yet! How did you know to come here?”

“………… I can’t tell you now. If you want to hear the rest, come to my place properly. I’ll be waiting.”

No matter how much I tried to keep her, she wouldn’t listen. The girl who had rushed out into the hallway disappeared without making a sound.

I wanted to check the business card, but I didn’t have the energy left. I was exhausted. I had enough strength to go home on my own, but I didn’t want to leave Miharu-senpai behind. So, I decided to just fall asleep like this.

The sleeping conditions were terrible, but I didn’t feel bad since I was with Miharu-senpai.

My drowsy consciousness quickly sank into a deep sleep.