Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Chapter 7.6

"Haa..."

Camilla let out a deep sigh of depression as she stood on the roof watching the students leave the school after class ended.

"What should I do......"

Malicious intentions were directed toward Lisa after Ken’s incident came to light and he was expelled from school.

It was not that no one sympathized with her, even so, the majority of the students looked at Lisa with disdain.

What comes to Camilla’s mind was Lisa’s tormented and guilt-ridden appearance.

She tried to talk to her and encourage her in various ways, but to no avail.

When she called out to Lisa, she would say, "It’s okay," and apologized, "I’m sorry to get you involved."

"No, no! Now that Nozomu is bedridden, I need to get my act together..."

She shook her head, trying to change her thoughts.

Fortunately for her, Nozomu wasn’t trapped in his revenge against Lisa.

Lisa was still able to hold on because Nozomu didn’t blame her for it, but instead held back his anger and cared for her.

If Nozomu had directed his anger at Lisa, her emotional support would have been completely destroyed.

Still, the limit would be near. She was becoming weaker and weaker by the day, because of the malice directed at her by those around her.

"Anyway, for the time being, I’ll stay by Lisa’s side as much as possible now. I have to do what I can ..."

While gritting her teeth at her inability to save her best friend’s heart, she confirmed what she needed to do. *Slap!* She slapped herself on the cheek to encourage herself.

"Alright, now that I’ve decided what to do, let’s go find Lisa for now...eh?"

"A~......"

When Camilla was about to go looking for Lisa, she spotted a figure scurrying around at the entrance to the rooftop.

It was Tima, her classmate.

She was looking around as if she was looking for someone, but she seemed to be somewhat restless.

"......What’s wrong?"

"Ah, Ca-Camilla-san..."

After she was called out, Tima finally noticed Camilla’s presence.

Camilla had rarely spoken to Tima, partly because of Nozomu’s rumors that had previously been prevalent.

However, since Tima herself was quiet by nature, she was somewhat easier to talk to.

However, Camilla wasn’t talking to Tima with a smile on her face because of her guilt towards Nozomu ...

"Well, umm ... I-, I’m looking for A-, Aa-, Ai, d-did you see her?"

As for Tima, she was stiff and nervous because Camilla’s situation was complicated in so many ways.

She was so nervous that the words that came out of her mouth were not clear and the tone of her voice was strange.

"Ah, Irisdina-san? Maybe she’s already headed to Nozomu ..."

"Y-you’re right ... Ugh, I couldn’t make it in time."

Camilla’s face tensed up at the mention of Irisdina’s name.

Tima had intended to talk to Irisdina by the end of the day, but by chance, she did not have the opportunity, and in the end, she did not get to talk to her until school ended.

Irisdina left the classroom right after the class ended, and Tima followed her, but in the end, she lost her.

On the other hand, Camilla was looking at the girl who was looking down with a complicated feeling.

"...Hey, why aren’t you guys saying anything?"

"Eh?"

A question came out of her mouth unintentionally.

Tima’s eyes blinked at the words that were suddenly spoken to her.

"Y-you know. We won’t blame you if you throw cursing words at us..."

Although things became a little messed up after the incident Ken caused, Camilla was prepared to be abused by Irisdina and the others.

However, after two weeks had passed, nothing had been said to her. On the contrary, they were even concerned about her injured right leg.

Why do they treat us that way?

She didn’t put it into words, but she kept wondering so.

"Right. When Nozomu told us what you guys had done to him, everyone was very upset. Especially Mars, who was so angry that he was rushing towards Nozomu, who was not angry at all..."

"Hahaha ... I see."

Camilla’s shoulders slumped as if she couldn’t bear it.

"Nozomu-kun said that he was indeed angry... But his sadness outweighs his anger... Since we see Nozomu like that, we won’t be able to say anything."

Camilla couldn’t help but tear up.

She knew it. That Nozomu wanted Lisa to get back on her feet, even if it meant holding his anger back.

She was also grateful to them for respecting Nozomu’s wishes.

"Since Nozomu-kun didn’t say anything, We won’t say anything either. And right now, we just hope he’ll wake up as soon as possible. Maybe it’s just my feelings, but Ai..."

“............”

Tima’s expression, which had been smiling wryly earlier, became cloudy.

Camilla’s expression tightened at the mention of Irisdina’s name that came out of her mouth.

"I’m sure you’ve noticed, Camilla, but lately Ai has been acting a little strange, hasn’t she? It’s like she’s forcing herself somehow..."

"That’s... as I thought..."

Tima hesitated, fiddled with her fingertips, and gave a small nod to answer Camilla’s words.

"Yes. Because my feelings about Nozomu-kun and Ai’s feelings about him are different..."

Irisdina Francilt has feelings for Nozomu. Anyone who knew a little about their situation knew this.

Camilla, too, saw Irisdina snuggling up next to Nozomu when she happened to run into them on the street.

"I wonder if this is my first time. I’ve never seen Ai look so pained..."

Tima’s voice melted into the wind.

Camilla could not say anything at Tima’s sad expression and had to keep silent.

But from her face, Camilla could tell how much Tima cared for the two of them.

"What about you, Camilla-san?"

Tima turned her gaze to Camilla.

Camilla looked down for a moment and pondered, and then she slowly looked up at the sky.

The sun setting on the horizon was turning the vast sky red.

"I think my feelings are the same as Nozomu’s. I want Lisa to get back on her feet. She’s my best friend and I owe her a lot..."

Lisa and Camilla were, in a sense, equally guilty. Camilla believed that both of them failed to trust Nozomu to the end and caused him to suffer for two years.

She wanted Lisa to get back on her feet, just as he did. However, he and she were different, because she carried the same sin as Lisa.

That could be understood just by looking at the current Lisa.

But, even so .......

"......I see"

Tima gave a small smile and Camilla nodded her head in reply.

"Besides, I haven’t yet properly apologized to Nozomu. He might shake his head and say he doesn’t care, but still... hm?"

Despite the ironic smile on her lips, the sadness in Camilla’s voice had faded.

At that moment, a group of people hanging out behind a secluded school building caught Camilla’s attention.

From a distance, it was hard to tell what they were doing. Of course, there was no way she could hear them, but there was something unusual about them.

"That is...!"

"By any chance, Lisa-san?"

They caught a glimpse of crimson hair.

A bad premonition pierced their chest.

As if rushed by this premonition, Camilla rushed to the stairs and Tima hurriedly followed her.

=====================================

Lisa walked down the corridor at a fast pace while not making eye contact with anyone.

The gazes of contempt she received from those around her were slowly breaking her frozen heart.

Wanting to escape the gazes that pierced her like arrows, Lisa deliberately turned her legs towards the back of the secluded school building. The walls covering the school were quite high, and the dimly lit back of the school building hid it from the public eye.

But just before she could catch her breath, several students jumped out in front of her.

They all had uniform grins, sinister smiles on their faces.

"Lisa-san, may I have a word with you?"

Stepping out from the group was a female student whom she was unfamiliar with.

Probably from the same third year, she had her arms crossed and a proud expression on her face.

"......What is it?"

"I just need a little favor. Will you hear me out?"

Lisa involuntarily backed away.

The girl’s grinning smile gave her an indescribable chill.

"... I’m sorry, I have to go."

"Come on, just come here for a sec!"

"Ouch~! What are you doing!"

As she turned away and was about to leave, Lisa’s ponytail was yanked by the girl with all her might. Several strands of Lisa’s hair were ripped out.

Ignoring Lisa’s screams, the girl slammed Lisa against the wall behind her.

Coughing from the impact, the men standing behind the girl swarmed Lisa at once.

They held Lisa’s arms, legs, and closed her mouth to prevent her from chanting her magic.

"O-oi. Are you sure about this ..?"

"Who cares about this slut? Besides, I’ve never liked this woman. Even though she’s just a commoner......"

"Mmpphh!"

While saying so, the girl activated the concealment barrier.

Arrogance due to the fact that her family was of a privileged class. Lisa was untouchable until now, but her reputation had fallen to the ground because of the incident Ken caused, so the girl thought she could get rid of Lisa and decided to act now.

To put it bluntly, it was her underlings who took action for her.

Quickly, Lisa kicked the male student who was holding her right leg with her knee and injured his chin, then kicked the student who was clinging to her left leg in the side of the head.

"Bitch!"

"Fu~!"

The male student who was holding her left leg reached out to hold her right leg as well, but Lisa launched a roundhouse kick into the male student’s cheek.

With a muffled scream, the student who was kicked through the jaw fell down in agony.

All that was left for her to do was to pull off the two students who were holding onto her upper body.

"That’s enough!"

However, a lightning bolt fired by the female student, who gritted her teeth at Lisa’s resistance, hit Lisa directly in the abdomen.

"Kyaaa!"

Lisa’s whole body convulsed as she screamed.

It was definitely a direct hit. Her abdomen, where the lightning bolt had struck her, was painfully red and swollen as her uniform burned.

"Hold her properly."

"Kuh......!"

Lisa was paralyzed and unable to move, and the girl’s underlings again tried to restrain her.

Lisa still desperately tried to move her limbs, which were numb.

"Isn’t it alright? I’ve already decided you’re going to play with these guys."

"Stop joking around ... Who the hell are you guys?"

The men stuck out their tongues and licked the empty air near her ears making her tremble with disgust.

Enduring the intense pain that bound her entire body, Lisa forcibly concentrated her magic power in both of her arms.

Since right now her tongue was numb and she couldn’t cast spells properly, she was going to let her magic power run wild and blow them all away.

However, the moment Lisa heard the girl’s next word, Lisa’s whole body stiffened.

"What is this whore talking about? Do you think you’re beautiful after all this time?"

"~ !?"

"I know, you’ve been coming to his place every day. Don’t you think it’s a little unreasonable to try to get back together with him now, after such a terrible betrayal you did to him?

The girl’s mouths smiled happily at the sight of Lisa’s eyes wide open and rigid.

Her distorted smile showed that she took great pleasure in hunting down, hurting, and destroying someone who was better than her.

She grabbed Lisa by the hair and continued to sprinkle her poisonous words on her.

"Do you really think that you can be near Nozomu after all this time?"

Her words completely took away Lisa’s energy to resist.

Light quickly faded from Lisa’s eyes, which were wide open.

"Oh, you’re behaving now. His name is really effective."

"Even so, you’re so nasty."

"Hmm, I told you didn’t I? I don’t like her. I’ve been putting up with it all this time, but I can’t take it anymore! This whore and that bottom feeder. We have to get rid of the trash as fast as we can."

The words that came out of her mouth were unbecoming for a noble family. They were as ugly as filth.

The girl was like, "Hmph!". She took one look at Lisa like she was looking at filth.

"You guys, do it quickly. If they see us, we’ll be in trouble..."

"Yeah, I know. Then, I’ll go first ..."

One of the boys suddenly tried to get on top of Lisa’s body. The female student was looking at the situation with satisfaction.

"Hoo, why would you be in trouble?..."

"~!?"

The air that was shrouded in lust was torn apart.

The female student, whose mouth was distorted and her arms crossed, turned into shock. The male students who had been holding Lisa down also stiffened as if being struck by lightning.

The female student turned around and saw a female student walking towards her with the setting sun on her back.

Her jet-black hair fluttered in the wind, and an illuminated shadow of the same color covered the assailants.

"I-Irisdina Francilt ..."

“You are the daughter of the Tarde family, right?...... what are you doing in a place like this...?"

Irisdina’s sharp gaze shot through the female student.

She then turned her gaze to the boys around her, and finally to Lisa, who was being pushed down.

Her unbuttoned uniform clearly showed what was about to take place here.

Irisdina’s eyes were filled with contempt and anger.

Her whole body was exuding wrath that was unimaginable from her usual self-controlled nature.

"N-no, this is ..."

The female student managed to suppress her impatience and began to desperately think of excuses.

However, her gaze couldn’t stay still, and the way her gaze swam in the air did not seem to hide her agitation.

"T-this is, that thing ... Yes! The so-called impromptu training ... Gya!"

"Let her go."

Before the female student could say anything, a magic bullet was launched and struck the ground at her feet.

The girl involuntarily screamed as the dirt scattered in the air.

To Irisdina, who had experienced the world of the aristocracy, the excuses of the female student in front of her were too ridiculous.

In the first place, couldn’t they understand that committing such an act in a school even if it was secluded places could increase the risk of being witnessed?

The barrier of concealment was also bad. The fact that she voluntarily came in contact with the target of the attack was, to put it bluntly, a fool’s thing to do.

If she was going to show herself, she had to think about how to thoroughly silence the other party, but this female student hadn’t thought that far ahead.

If she were the one to do it, she would thoroughly exploit their weaknesses, break their hearts, take hostages, and eventually .......

"~!"

Irisdina was taken aback by the thoughts that she had just come up with.

What in the world was she thinking? She had thought of an act that would be despised as a human being.

Biting her lip bitterly, she shook her head to shake off the hideous darkness that had flashed through her mind.

"I-Irisdina-san, this is ... Guha~!"

"Don’t make me say it again. Let her go."

The female student was still trying to say something, but Irisdina was no longer interested in listening.

She shot a dark-colored magic bullet into her stomach, forcing her to shut up. Oddly enough, the scene was like a rehash of her and Lisa.

While holding her aching abdomen, the female student glared back at Irisdina.

"W-what’s wrong with that! Even you can’t stand this woman, aren’t you?!"

Irisdina gritted her teeth, wondering if she had made a mistake when she was still able to talk without losing her temper.

The female student continued to get on her nerves by shouting abusive words to her.

"D-don’t you also think this woman is getting in your way?! Can you forgive her for what she did? A whore who dumped her boyfriend without telling him first, and she could easily turn around when the situation changed as if she was flipping a coin ......"

"......Shut up"

Multiple magic bullets formed around Irisdina and flooded the female student at once.

The magic bullets landed one after another, sending up a cloud of dust and smoke.

"Kyaaa!"

Irisdina re-casted the magic bullet and continued to fire follow-up shots.

The continuous fire, which left no time to catch a breath, quickly covered the fallen student.

"Hi, hih~..."

Eventually, a storm of magic bullets passed by, and there was a female student trembling on the ground, uninjured.

The ground around her had been gouged out, creating countless holes.

Irisdina did not hit the female student directly with the magic bullet she shot. However, the magic power she put into her magic was definitely used for real combat.

Although Irisdina’s magic was less powerful than Tima’s, each of the magic bullets she had just fired was still powerful enough to break bones if it hit directly.

Witnessing the storm of magic bullets, the female student was completely silenced by the sheer terror.

Unable to even scream, she was as frightened as if she was just a child.

"U-uwaa!"

After witnessing a storm of violence that was too relentless, a male student who had reached the limit of his tension screamed and tried to turn his back and run away.

However, an arrow pierced the student’s foot.

"What are you trying to get away from?"

When the male student looked at the source of the arrow, he saw an elf girl with blue hair fluttering in the wind while holding a bow.

"Shīna Yuliel ..."

"Oh, if you want to run away, go ahead. I’d have to grow a couple of things you don’t want on that body, though..."

Shīna was smiling while aiming between the male students’ eyebrows in an intimidating manner.

Shīna’s tone was gentle, but the bowstrings that she had drawn exuded a clear intention not to let even one of them escape.

She was going to release at least one or two arrows for sure. There was no way the male students could escape.

"Kuu ..."

"Well then, in this situation, I don’t think it’s necessary for me to hear your story."

"Inda-sensei ..."

As the boys groan in disbelief, this time, Inda appeared in front of them while holding a textbook.

"I rushed here to hear the story, but... what you’re about to do isn’t something I can just sit back and let it happen."

"Uu......"

After glancing at the male students, Inda quickly used a restraining spell.

All the male students were wrapped in iron chains, including those who were waiting for a chance to escape behind the others.

"Lisa! Are you okay!?"

"Ai, and also, Inda-sensei!"

Camilla and Tima, who were on the roof watching everything begin, finally arrived at the scene.

"No worries here. The "eye" seemed to be functioning properly..."

Inda took one glance at the two who jumped in and glanced at the shadows of the school building in the distance.

The figure reflected in the shadow of the setting sun disappeared unnoticed. It was a member of Starlight, who remained at the school for supervision.

Inda grabbed the hand of the female student, who was sitting down and trembling, and made her stand up.

"Some of them have done bad things, so... I’m going to take these students and report them to Jihad. Sorry, I’ll be gone for a bit, but I want you guys to look after Lisa for me."

Shīna, Camilla, and Tima nodded at Inda’s words. Inda left the place while pulling the dejected girl by the hand and dragging the restrained boys with her.

What the students had done was definitely a crime, and no matter how they tried to explain it, they would be forced to be expelled from school. Perhaps they will have to eat stinky food in jail for a while.

Although she used strengthening magic, the sight of several students being dragged by Inda was quite surreal. However, no one had the courage to comment on it here and now.

As Tima and Camilla looked at Inda with a complicated atmosphere, Irisdina, Shīna, and Lisa’s gazes collided.

"T-thank-you ..."

It must have been quite a shock to be almost assaulted. Lisa’s voice was shaky as she fixed her disheveled uniform.

Irisdina frowned. Her clenched hands were trembling as if she was enduring something.

Irisdina’s mouth tightened and she turned on her heel without saying a word.

"... You are not going to say anything?"

Lisa couldn’t help but say a few words to Irisdina’s back.

Lisa herself did not know why she had uttered those words.

"What do you want me to say?"

Irisdina’s shoulders trembled. She found herself staring back at Lisa with eyes full of rage.

She turned around, approached Lisa, grabbed her by the chest. Her shoulders showed that she was clearly angry.

Both their faces were so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

Irisdina glared at Lisa while exuding fierce anger. Lisa’s eyes widen.

"Don’t be ridiculous! Of course, I have a million things I want to say!"

"Ugh ...!"

She was in a rage, which was unusual from her gentle nature.

Even Tima, who had known Irisdina for a long time, had never seen her so angry.

Her grip on Lisa’s chest tightened even more, and Lisa couldn’t help but groan.

"But what’s the use of saying that!? Even if I were to say those things to you, it wouldn’t make Nozomu wake up! And also..."

(It would be against his will.)

Just as she was about to say it, Irisdina fell silent with a stunned expression.

(What in the world was I going to say? There was only one person in the world who qualified to say that to her.)

Abusive words had leaked out. She bit her lip due to the words she had uttered.

"Uu~ hic~ hic~!"

Sobbing sounds that could not be stopped seeped out of her tightly closed lips. Lisa, Shīna, and everyone else present were speechless.

How long had she been holding her tears back? Irisdina abruptly pushed Lisa away and turned on her heel to run.

"Ai!"

Tima raised her voice involuntarily, but Irisdina showed no sign of stopping.

"... Tima-san. Leave this place to me and go after Irisdina-san."

"Shīna-san ..."

"Hurry up. Or you’ll lose her."

"Y-yeah!"

Shīna glanced at Tima and urged her to follow after Irisdina.

Tima, who had been looking around, unsure of what to do, nodded clearly at Shīna’s words and started running after Irisdina.

Shīna looked over at Tima as she ran after Irisdina and then walked towards Lisa, who was still stunned with her butt on the ground.

"Good grief, I know you’re not an idiot. What were you trying to do by saying that?"

“............”

Lisa remained silent as she looked down at Shina’s annoyed voice.

Shīna sighed at Lisa’s appearance and began to tend to her wounds.

Camilla immediately began to assist Shīna, and for a while, the only sounds were healing magic and the sound of bandages being applied.

When she was finished, Shīna opened her mouth to speak.

"Nozomu didn’t punish you, so you at least wanted us to blame you?"

“............”

Lisa bit her lips.

It was exactly because Shīna’s words had been right on target.

Lisa’s reputation within the school had clearly fallen to the ground. When she walked around the school, she could feel the contempt from all over the place, and she was even subjected to assaults like the one that happened just now.

Her situation was a reflection of Nozomu’s situation in the past.

But what was still fresh in Lisa’s mind was what the female student had said earlier, "Do you really think that you can be near Nozomu after all this time?" She was so surprised to hear the words.

These words, which confronted her with the sins he had committed, led her to engage in self-harm behavior.

"Well, to be frank, I wanted to say, "Screw you". We have our opinions about you, but neither we nor the other students who have nothing to do with you are qualified to say them. Only Nozomu-kun. And moreover, your actions are nothing but an act of disrespect towards his feelings."

In the face of Shīna’s words, Lisa simply remained silent.

But Lisa knew, even without words. She knew that there was no point in doing so and that Nozomu wanted her to get back on her feet.

She was happy that Nozomu thought about her, envious of Irisdina and the others who could be by his side, and felt miserable that she couldn’t trust him enough.

Her previous action was just an escape taken on the spur of the moment, who was about to be crushed by her own guilt.

At the same time, Lisa felt a little envious of the elf girl who could think of Nozomu in such a way.

"... I see, so you are also in love with Nozomu."

"......Ue!?"

Lisa’s sudden words caused Shīna to let out a strange cry.

Perhaps she didn’t expect such a reaction, Lisa shook her head in surprise.

"......Am I wrong?"

"It’s n-... I don’t know .... You can tell?"

"Yeah, because I also ..."

Loved him

The words never left Lisa’s mouth, and she swallowed her feelings along with the guilt still swirling in her chest.

Shīna said nothing to Lisa, a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"Perhaps the only reason we’re able to talk properly like this is because I have the least feelings for him. It’s only recently that I found myself attracted to him..."

As she looked at Shīna’s appearance, Lisa inwardly wondered, "What is she talking about?"

Even though she realized her feelings late, she was still trying to understand and support Nozomu’s intentions.

(This girl did more for him than me.)

Lisa was well aware that Shīna would never be able to do this without strong feelings.

"A-anyway! If you still have any feelings for Nozomu-kun, you must strictly refrain from doing any self-harm. If you’re still committing acts of self-harm, that would be nothing less than a betrayal of him, who has desperately held back his own hatred. You don’t want to betray him any more, do you?"

Shīna proceeded with her conversation, her snow-white cheeks dyed in vermilion.

Lisa nodded her head, small but clear.

She had betrayed Nozomu so many times. As that female student said, she might no longer be qualified to be by his side.

But she didn’t want to betray him anymore. She didn’t want to look down on his feelings. This intention lit a small flame in Lisa’s heart.

"That’s good then. Camilla-san, will you take care of the rest?"

Quickly getting up, Shīna turned on her heel and walked away.

"U-umm .... Thank you."

Lisa bowed her head towards Shīna’s back who walked briskly away.

Shīna responded by raising her right hand without turning around and disappearing directly toward the main gate.

After passing through the main gate and coming to the central park, Shīna looked around to make sure no one was there and suddenly held her face down and crouched there.

"Uu, I feel so embarrassed now..."

Upon closer look, not only were her cheeks peeking out from between her fingers but even the tips of her ears were dyed bright red.

"She said I l-l-love him?.... She knew I like Nozomu-kun. Auu, I’m so embarrassed..."

She had just recently become aware of her love for Nozomu and suddenly it was found out by others.

Shīna, who experienced the awareness of love and shame, felt so embarrassed. She shook her head vigorously and her head almost shattered into a thousand pieces.

Each time she did, her long blue hair bounced cutely like a dog’s tail.

But no matter how much she shook her head, the heat in her face never went away.

In the end, she languished alone in the park for nearly half an hour, while receiving the occasional glances from people passing by.

==================================

Meanwhile, Irisdina, who had run away from Lisa and the others, was running through the city, breathing heavily.

The people around her were astonished to see a beautiful girl running at such a high speed.

However, Irisdina was running toward a certain place, oblivious to all the gazes around her.

Ignoring the guards who tried to stop her and not hearing the female doctor she bumped into in the corridor, she ran toward Nozomu’s hospital room.

Irisdina slammed the door open, and beyond her gaze, Nozomu was still sleeping peacefully.

"Haa, haa, haa, haa..."

Without even trying to calm her ragged breathing, Irisdina walked over to the bed where Nozomu was sleeping.

"Nozomu ..."

His name, muttered by Irisdina, melted away into the hospital room.

She put her hand on her throbbing chest.

She clenched her hands so tight that they turned white, she gritted her teeth to suppress the pain, but it seeped out like a leak in the rain.

"H-hey, wake up. You’ve been sleeping a little too much. If you don’t wake up soon, you won’t be able to keep up with your classes, right?"

Her words were just her effort to keep herself calm. However, the tone of her voice was shaky.

The smile she tried to put on her face was stiff, and she found herself biting her lip.

"Somia, Shīna, and the others are worried about you. And... also ......."

Her mind was blank and no words came to mind at all. Just the same words echoing round and round like a snake biting its own tail.

"Wake up, please wake up! ... Let me hear your voice..."

Trying to escape the pain that was clawing at her chest, Irisdina shook the sleeping nozomu. It was like a scene from her past, when she clung to her lifeless mother.

The scene in her mind further accelerated her frustration.

However, Nozomu didn’t respond to her grief.

Irisdina’s eyes became moist.

A single tear trickled down her cheek, and she could no longer stop it.

As if the dam had broken, Irisdina’s tears overflowed and she clung to Nozomu’s chest.

"Uu~. Uuu ... ~...!"

She clutched Nozomu’s bed cover as if to tear it off, buried her face in it, and sobbed uncontrollably.

Tear after tear drenched Nozomu’s chest, but he continued to breathe peacefully in his sleep.

When she looked up, his sleeping face was right beside her.

He had no particular features. But his smile warmed her from the bottom of her heart. But now he was .......

"Hic~, Hic~ ... Nozomu ..."

She brought her face closer and gently touched Nozomu’s cheek.

Irisdina pressed her own lips against Nozomu’s.

It was her first kiss.

Shīna kissed Nozomu, who had gone out of control in the forest, in order to establish a contract with him.

Like Shīna at that time, Irisdina just wanted Nozomu to wake up, so she continued to press her lips against his.

However, her wish was not answered, and Nozomu’s eyelids did not open.

“............”

Irisdina gently raised herself up and left the hospital room in a daze.

She no longer felt any pain in her chest. All she could feel was a gaping hole and an intense chill.

It was already dark outside.

As she wandered the streets with unsteady steps, she was suddenly embraced from behind.

"Ai!"

"Tima ...?"

The familiar voice of her best friend was shouting her name.

It sounded somewhat distant, even though the name should have been shouted near her ear.

"Yeah......"

"What are you doing? In a place like this ..."

What in the world was she doing here?

In her thoughts, which did not revolve well, only her mouth was speaking words reflexively.

Tima did not answer Irisdina’s question but continued to hug her from behind.

"I’m alright. I’m ...... alright."

She said the same words, but the exhausted atmosphere emanating from her entire body made her words completely unconvincing.

As if to comfort her, Tima’s arms around Irisdina tightened.

"I’m alright. I’m ... Uuu"

The warmth rekindled Irisdina’s frozen emotions.

At the same time, tears that should have dried up began to well up again.

To hide Irisdina’s face as she began to sob, Tima shifted Irisdina’s body and wrapped her face in her own chest.

"Uuu, aaa ..."

Wrapped in the warmth of her best friend, Irisdina began to cry again.

The people around her looked at her to see what was going on, but she didn’t care.

"Guu, Uu! Hic~ ... aaaa!"

"Ai ..."

One cannot directly feel the hearts of others.

How anxious were they? How much resentment did they have to endure? How many times did they feel as if their hearts were about to burst?

Her heart was breaking due to the thought of someone who would not wake up, she was jealous of his former lover, and she tried desperately and unsuccessfully to suppress her resentment.

While hiding Irisdina’s face, Tima continued to take in Irisdina’s overflowing feelings.

Then, at the corner of her eye, she caught the shadow of a figure rushing toward the school in a panic.

"That is......"

It was the female doctor in a white coat. She was running as fast as she could to the school with a look of impatience all over her face.

Something happened to Nozomu.

A feeling of foreboding welled up in Tima’s chest.