Chapter 52

[Dear Little

i

Sister. Translator: Madhatter

Apparently, one

i

of my foolish acquaintances has been stranded in the sea of trees, so

i

your brother valiantly sets off by himself to look for

i

them. I am not committing suicide, so please

i

don’t be mistaken and make a fuss about

i

it.

If you

i

don’t hear from me by the time you read this letter, please, I beg you, file

i

a missing persons report with the police.

Once

i

again, please don’t make a fuss when you read this.

And

i

no, it’s not a prank, I’m serious.

Don’t

i

throw it in the trash halfway through reading the letter. Because if something happens to me, it will all depend on your cool-headed discretion.

Seriously, please.

P.S.

It’s

i

not suicide, it’s really not suicide.

From

i

your brother.]

As

i

for the cause and effect of this, I

i

had no idea, but I, a 25-year-old freeter, was going to step into the sea of trees where suicidal people were found lying around as corpses year

i

after year…

In

i

case

i

of emergency, I left a note to my sister, who would probably visit around midday today, containing a clear explanation of why I was

i

going there.

Determined, I left my

i

house. Not shared on aggregator sites

Should

i

the worst-case scenario unfurl, it

i

would impose immense hardships on my family, including my sister.

I

i

would absolutely endeavor with all my efforts to refrain from such a situation.

Besides…

i

When I was writing this, I was wondering if this might be a kind of suicide note. This note would function as a suicide note unless I returned unscathed, despite I shook my head and felt it was an omen. It was terrifying.

Speaking

i

of terrifying, what I found most disconcerting at this point was that I was unable to predict my sister’s response after reading

i

it.

Hopefully, she

i

would stick to the letter’s directions, but given that my younger sister was a highly eccentric second-year junior high school student, it seemed more likely that she would be distraught or throw it in the trash instead of believing in

i

it.

I

i

beg

i

you not to let the latter happen. Even worse, she could be too engrossed in the Internet to notice this note.

That

i

was

i

possible…

Please, come

i

on my little sister, saying

i

that everything hanging by a thread on me depended on you was not an overstatement.

With

i

my bag over my shoulder, I headed for the convenience store on my

i

motorcycle.

Yakumo, the

i

young man, had apparently gone

i

to the convenience store earlier; whether

i

by flying or by instantaneous movement was uncertain, but a short while ago, he vanished right before my

i

eyes.

Right

i

after that, I

i

searched everywhere in the room for a flashlight but was unsuccessful. Without any other choice, I decided to get one at the convenience store where I

i

worked. Cell phone flashlights weren’t that reliable and I knew I needed

i

a proper one.

Ah… that

i

was fine. I hoped

i

the night shift workers wouldn’t be suspicious of me.

While

i

worrying about that, I parked

i

my bike in a corner of the convenience store parking lot.

There

i

was no trace of Yakumo. Hadn’t he arrived

i

yet? Well, whatever, I had something to do before he

i

arrived.

I

i

peeked into the store from outside. Of course, discreetly, so as not to draw too much attention.

O-Ohhh… Oh.

“…For

i

real?”

To

i

my bad luck, these were the people I least wanted to see right now. Along with other customers inside the store, Takenaka and Hirai, who were standing at the cash register, seemed bored. They

i

were the strongest spiritual duo I had ever met.

To

i

avoid being discovered, I hid in the corner of the store.

Ugh, of all people, it

i

was those two.

What

i

should I do… Would

i

they think nothing of me showing up at this hour and going out of my way to buy a flashlight at a place like this?

Although

i

they may not be able to figure out that I was going to head into the sea of trees, they struck at the heart of the matter in a strange way, even though they

i

were different types of people…

I

i

pulled up the hood of the hoodie I had worn to ward off insects, looked down, knowing it was suspicious, and decided to enter the store without looking at them if at

i

all possible.

I

i

mean…

Suspicious, suspicious, suspicious…! I

i

was too suspicious!

This

i

was not a good idea at all, they

i

were totally suspicious! Not

i

only the two of them but even the customers in the store were glancing at me! Even

i

if I told myself to avoid contact with them at all costs, they

i

would have recognized me!

Inwardly

i

impatient, I

i

came to the shelf in front of the store where batteries and chargers were lined up.

There

i

it was—a decent-sized flashlight. What? Batteries were sold separately? The

i

convenience store quality was so stingy, making me buy not only the flashlight but the batteries

i

as well…

While I didn’t have time to complain about

i

it, the price of this cheap light, which could be sold even at a hundred-yen store… Once this case was over, I would confront that man about

i

the bill.

“―Um, Hakamada?”2ws

“Owapu!?”21ews

The

i

hood fell off in

i

reaction to the idiotic voice I made as I jumped back. Before

i

me was Takenaka with a slightly troubled look on his face.

“Ah, I knew

i

it.”

It’s you, Hakamada.

When

i

Takenaka

i

said that, I exclaimed internally.

I-I… have been exposeddddddddddd.

That

i

was

i

way too fast! Not

i

even three minutes had gone by!

To

i

my

i

stiffening, Takenaka made an uncomfortable face and awkwardly greeted me with a “Good evening.”

Well, of course I

i

said “Good evening” in return.

Even I was uncomfortable meeting this person because Takenaka probably saw the previous hellscape that Hirai had

i

shown me… In

i

short.

Ughhhhhhhhhh!!

I

i

wanted to get out of the store right now!

Hirai

i

was

i

at

i

the cash register behind the shelf, saying, “Oh, Hakamada!” and waving her hand.

Even

i

Hirai

i

spotted

i

me.

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