The case where I was gradually getting buried in the heavy love of my childhood friend who had miraculously recovered from their illness was perfect! - Chapter 31 : Esper?

In a dark space between the tall buildings.

A delinquent man, sweating profusely, darted into the pitch-black hideout—a gathering spot for a certain delinquent group, to which the man belonged.

“Damn… damn it all! What… what the hell was that!?”

As if he had seen something terrifying, the man sought refuge in the hideout.

He had allies here… Quickly composing himself, the man vowed to counterattack.

Their leader was formidable in fights, and furthermore, came from a wealthy family with the power to cover up minor incidents.

“Leader! Leader, help me… huh?”

However, the desperate cries of the man seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Despite being in the hideout with many comrades and a leader to rely on, it was supposed to be safe here… but the battle had already ended.

In the direction the man was looking, all the delinquents, including the leader, were lying on the ground as if they had lost their life.

They weren’t dead; there was simply no sign of consciousness.

“What the…”

“Hey, you finally came back.”

“Huh!?”

The man shuddered at the voice he heard.

Emerging from the darkness were adult men, more mature than high school students. There were three of them. The one in the middle, in particular, caught his attention — one of his eyes closed due to scars inflicted by something.

“You’re the guy from earlier… But what are you doing in this place?”

“We’ve known about this place from the start. We didn’t come to corner them; you just happened to experience something special.”

“Ho… this guy looks terrified.”

“Haha, that’s just how scary your face is brother.”

The man had been through some rough situations as a delinquent, but they were nothing compared to real battlefields.

For a mere delinquent, it was inevitable to be paralyzed by the atmosphere exuded by a man with scars standing before them.

“I-I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die!!”

“Huh? We’re not going to kill you—though we’ll tighten the screws enough that you won’t be able to be cheeky again.”

“Ah… alright…”

The man dropped on the spot as he seemed to have lost consciousness due to fear.

“Jeez, this guy has no guts.”

“Well, he’s just a high schooler after all.”

“There’s a line even delinquents shouldn’t cross. Knowing that might be beneficial for his future.”

The man took out his phone and made a call. After a while, someone answered on the other end.

“Young Lady, it’s done now….. Yes, we’ve taken care of them.”

With just those words, the call ended, and the man sighed.

A Young Lady… Was this incident somehow related to the orders of this ‘young lady’? That was something they would reveal in their own words.

“If it were any other girl, we wouldn’t have bothered coming. These guys just happened to mess with the wrong people.”

“Yeah, they picked a fight with the young lady and her friends in the middle of the street. Unlucky for them. Right, big brother?”

The two continued, and the man referred to as ‘big brother’ spoke next.

“Our wish is for the Young Lady and her friends to live peacefully. Those who interfere with that will end up like this. But well, it seems the leader of these guys was up to some shady business?”

“It looks like he was involved in buying and selling ‘those’ things. This kid probably didn’t know about it.”

“He was just a pawn at the bottom, destined to be discarded eventually. In a way, we might be his heroes.”

“Don’t say unexpected things, big brother.”

The man who chuckled had a fierce expression.

It would be understandable for ordinary people to run away in fear if they were confronted with that face. But… who were they really?

“Anyway, the Young Lady’s friends are quite skilled. I’m interested in that girl with black hair. She’ll become even more beautiful in the future, you know?”

“Hey, don’t talk about that—”

“Rescuing someone being harassed, making them fall for you — it’s just like a classic move.”

At that moment, a powerful fist struck him.

The man next to him sighed as if to say, ‘This guy messed up again,’ and the one who threw the punch was the man called ‘big brother.’

“That girl is beautiful, I agree, but please, don’t say anything more—unless you want to be killed by the miss?”

“R-right… That girl was the Young Lady’s best friend, right?”

“Not just her best friend, idiot. She’s a dear childhood friend of the Young lady. That should be common knowledge for all of us.”

“Oops… Looks like big brother loves stories about childhood friends.”

“Shut up. True love surpasses everything, after all.”

“…Here we go, big brother’s long story has started.”

Leaving them aside for now, the delinquent high schooler who had collapsed earlier was, in fact, the guy Nagisa had seen before, accompanying Kamishiro.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

“Nagi-kun, we’re almost there.”

“Y-yeah…!”

On a day off, I experienced a morning different from the usual.

Behind me, breathing heavily, was Rion, pedaling on Kurumi-san’s bicycle.

While receiving words of encouragement from her, I was engaged in running as part of my daily bodybuilding routine.

‘….Why did Rion join me?’

In the first place, it was my idea to go for a run in the morning. I hadn’t consulted anyone, and I certainly hadn’t mentioned it to Rion. Yet, today, when I stepped outside to start my training, Rion was already standing in front of my house dressed up in her workout attire, waiting for me on a bicycle. Just how… How did she know about it?

‘Rion seems fine, though.’

Even as I ran, I kept an eye on Rion’s condition. Since she wasn’t used to exercise, pedaling a bicycle could be considered a form of exercise. So, I was watching her closely, but she didn’t seem to be sweating much or showing any signs of discomfort.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I can handle light exercise like this.”

“That’s good then.”

After reaching the designated bench, we stopped for a short break.

“Fuu~… Haah…”

“Thank you for your hard work. That was almost non-stop.”

“Well, yeah. It’s not like I’m catastrophically out of shape, so this is manageable.”

When my mother wasn’t available, there were times when I ran to the hospital because I was worried about Rion’s condition… Each time, Rion would ask me what happened after seeing me out of breath.

“By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“What is it?”

“How did you know that I was going for a practice run?”

“I understand. We’ve been childhood friends for a long time after all.”

“…What does that mean?”

She knows what I am thinking just because we are childhood friends?

Well… it’s strange to think if you look at Rion up until now, you will think she is out of this world, but does really understand me so much that she can guess my future plans?… That’s scary.

“But seriously, how did you know I was going on a run? Just because we’re childhood friends?”

“Well, it’s strange even to me… I just somehow know. Since the day I thought this was the end for me and when I was miraculously saved, I’ve been able to understand clearly what Nagi-kun is trying to do.”

“…Eh?”

“Maybe… there’s a possibility that I awakened a special power because I almost died that day.”

“…Huh?”

Seriously… recalling that day makes my heart ache, but it’s true that it has become something like a distant memory.

However… Rion, did you become an esper just because of that?

“Just kidding, though.”

“…What the heck!”

“Hehe~. Well, Nagi-kun, it’s tea time.”

“Thanks.”

I took a sip of the tea that Rion had brought… hmm? I remember Rion didn’t drink with the same cup… I tried to pull my mouth away instinctively, but I had already taken a sip, so I gave up. Moreover, I could foresee that if I acted conscious of it, I would be teased.

“Oh, by the way, Rion.”

“What is it?”

“….About what we talked about on the phone yesterday, sorry for not being there.”

“Oh, it’s totally fine. I had Manami by my side.”

Yesterday after school, we weren’t together for a bit, but I heard that she had encountered a guy trying to pick her up with ill intentions while she was with Azumi-san.

“Thank you, Nagi-kun. Rather… It’s scarier to think about what will happen to them now because Manami has decided to handle this situation.”

“…Ah.”

I see… 

‘…I guess it’s better not to think too much about this.’

However, there’s one more thing I’m thinking about. When I heard that story from Rion, I strangely felt palpitations, like my heart was gripped tightly. 

My body trembled for a while, and my breathing was a bit difficult. What was that sensation?

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : Zenon#4120