My Sex Friend Is My Childhood Friend? - 52-53

Chapter 52: Retry

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Now then, what should I do?

Mahiru had blocked me. I couldn’t communicate with her through messages on my phone. I tried calling, but the call didn’t go through. I could ask Honoka to help me ambush her, but unless Mahiru agreed to meet me of her own will, it would be hard to move forward from there.

Maybe I should go off-grid and write a letter to her?

In some ways, a physical letter might had a better chance of being read than a string of text on a smartphone—it would be something she could hold in her hands and keep.

But what should I write?

I thought about Mahiru.

I love Mahiru.

It wasn’t something I could explain with logic. After spending almost fifteen months together, I could say it with certainty. I also understood the context behind her calling me “gross” back then. It had come from Mahiru’s mouth, but the malice surrounding her twisted everything, and a small misunderstanding had escalated into something beyond repair.

I believed Mahiru had already paid enough for it during high school. And in the first place, I was also the one who shut her out, which only worsened our miscommunication.

And then… She became beautiful for my sake. All for the vague, uncertain possibility of seeing me again at university. When I went to the school festival—no, even outside of that—if I looked back, Mahiru had always had her eyes only on me.

And yet I… That was why the contents of the letter should be simple.

『There’s something I want to talk about. I’ll be waiting at ○○ Station at 10 on △△ day. I’ll wait as long as it takes.』

○○ Station still had an old-school meeting message board, since it was a retro tourist spot. It might come in handy if something happened. So it seemed like the right place to meet. I’d explain the details once we met. I thought it was best to keep the wording straightforward.

There were a lot of things I needed to apologize for, but before that, I wanted to express my feelings toward Mahiru just as they were. This was probably my one and only chance. I had to make sure I wouldn’t regret it. If I sent the letter by mail, I wouldn’t know for sure if it got to her. So I went to Mahiru’s house and dropped the letter directly into the mailbox, hoping it would slightly increase the chance that she’d read it.

Several days passed, but there was still no response from Mahiru. It seemed like I was still blocked.

The day of the meeting arrived.

I hadn’t slept well last night and ended up waking up too early. I’d already showered and eaten breakfast, but there were still several hours until the time mentioned in the letter.

Had Mahiru read the letter? Would she come to the meeting spot?

There was so much I didn’t know. But I had no choice but to believe she would come and do what I needed to do. I couldn’t settle down at home. I decided to head out early and kill time near the meeting place. I left the house and locked the door.

Just then, a message came through on my phone.

Is it from senpai? …Or maybe, could it be from Mahiru?

I opened the screen. It was a message from Aoi.

『Onii-chan is dead. I feel like I’m going to lose it if I’m alone. Nagi-san, please. Please come to my house.』

What…?

The message was so sudden that my brain couldn’t process it. By “Onii-chan,” did she mean Mimura-senpai? I hadn’t noticed, but it looked like Aoi had tried to call me multiple times. My mind went completely blank at that.

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Chapter 53: Senpai

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I immediately called Aoi, but Aoi was completely distraught and in no state to hold a proper conversation.

“Hic… Sob… Onii-chan… He’s dead… Nagi-san… I’m scared. I’m so scared… He died…”

I somehow managed to get Aoi’s address out of her and ran there. Luckily, her house wasn’t far from mine. Running was faster than driving. It seemed she was alone at the moment. Given how she sounded, I doubted she had been able to do anything at all.

As I ran, I called the police and an ambulance. A seventeen-year-old girl or so, suddenly facing someone’s death all by herself—there was no way she’d be okay. I checked my watch as I ran.

There were still a few hours until the meeting time with Mahiru.

It’s okay.

I told myself that over and over. Aoi’s house came into view. Without bothering to ring the doorbell, I opened the door and stepped inside.

Click.

The moment I entered the entryway, a chill ran down my spine. An eerie silence filled the air. It reminded me of when I entered the mortuary after my dad died in an accident. That unmistakable presence of death—something only those who’ve experienced it truly understand. Back then, I hadn’t been alone.

But Aoi… Where was Aoi’s room?

I started up the stairs, but I didn’t need to go that far. Just down the hallway, I saw Aoi, huddled up with her arms wrapped around her knees. When she noticed me, she crawled toward me on her knees, her legs giving out beneath her. Her face looked like that of a four- or five-year-old girl.

“…Nii-chan… Onii-chan…”

Her eyes were unfocused. I couldn’t tell what she was looking at. She was in shock. I held Aoi tightly in my arms. Her shoulders were trembling. I gently stroked her head and spoke as softly as I could.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here with you…”

Then I asked Aoi,

“Where is your brother?”

“In the… Bath…”

So it was in the direction she had been curled up, deeper inside. I opened the bathroom door. The tub was filled with water. The faucet was still running, water overflowing and spilling onto the floor.

The constant whoosh of the water echoed flatly in the room. The flowing water was tinged red, like wine. A man was sitting in the bathtub, facing up, mouth slightly open. Even though he was in the bath, his lips were dry, his complexion pale. His uneven hair seemed to be damp, likely from the steam that had risen a few hours earlier. Only his right arm hung over the edge of the tub, completely still, as if time itself had stopped.

I stood there, frozen. It was Mimura-senpai. His appearance had changed so drastically, I could hardly recognize him. That once sharp, handsome face was now bloated, covered in scruffy stubble. Soon, the ambulance arrived, and the house became a flurry of activity. Several paramedics lifted Senpai’s body out of the water.

They immediately began CPR. Watching them work, it all felt like I was seeing it on TV—unreal, distant. One of the EMTs asked me a few questions. I answered as best I could. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the error light blinking on the water heater.

So that’s what happened. It must’ve triggered a continuous flow error, switching the water to cold.

How many hours had Senpai been in that freezing bath? Then the police arrived. They asked Aoi and me about the scene when we found him, and about their home life. I repeated each question to Aoi, and she answered them one by one. 

From what she said, their parents had been posted overseas, and the two siblings were living alone together. But Aoi was too shaken to handle any more complicated questions. The police noticed that and, after a simple inspection of the house, told us they’d follow up later.

…Senpai was wrapped in a blanket and carried out on a stretcher. Aoi and I got into the ambulance with him. Aoi had her hands resting on her knees, rubbing them together over and over. I didn’t know what kind of life she’d had with her brother. But from my own experience, I could imagine what it felt like to suddenly lose a close family member.

I wrapped my arm around Aoi’s shoulders. She was trembling, her body cold to the touch. I sat beside her in silence, unable to say anything. The ambulance waited outside the house for a while, until a hospital could accept them. Once confirmed, the siren wailed, and we sped off into the city.

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