Chapter 7: One Summer Day
Looking out the window, the summer sun was starting to beat down harshly, and from the trees across the parking lot outside the window, the chorus of cicadas, a symbol of summer, could be heard. While observing this scene, I sat in a seat inside the well-air-conditioned shop, drinking a juice with plenty of ice.
“Rei-chan, the mountain of fries has arrived, let’s share them,” my best friend A-chan called out from the seat in front of me.
“Huh? Oh, sure,”
“It’s okay, the fries are on me.”
Lost in thought as I gazed outside, I responded absentmindedly to A-chan’s sudden invitation, prompting her to think I was worried about money and reassuring me. With just a few more days until summer vacation starts in high school, I could pick up more shifts at work, so I wasn’t overly concerned about money, but still, her consideration about it was appreciated.
“Thank you, A-chan. Well then, I’ll dig in.”
I replied, taking one of the freshly served fries. They were indeed delicious, crispy and hot. However, feeling thirsty in the heat, I reached for my drink, only to find the glass empty except for the melting ice with droplets of water on its surface.
“I’m going to the drink bar, A-chan, do you want a refill?”
“Thanks, Rei-chan, but I’m still good for now~”
A-chan replied, picking at her fries while playing with her mobile game, probably her usual one. Although the volume was lowered in the shop, the BGM that I’ve heard many times before was still audible.
Heading alone to the drink bar, I poured myself a soda and returned to our table. Next to us, there was a couple, probably around our age or a little older, occupying the adjacent table.
“I’m back, A-chan.”
“Welcome back, Rei-chan.”
Even when I returned with a new drink, A-chan continued playing her game. From the occasional voices I heard, she seemed to be on the verge of entering the fixed route for her chosen character.
“Whose route are you going for this time?”
I asked A-chan as I sat back down.
“Hmm~ I’ve maxed out everyone’s affection this time, so maybe I’ll go for the reverse harem route.”
With a smile, I picked up a fry and washed it down with some soda, just like always. Freshly fried fries always went well with carbonated drinks. But A-chan, smiling as she played her usual otome game, ‘Acerola Empire: Romance Fantasy’, meant that the usual scenario was unfolding.
Whenever A-chan got rejected in real life, she’d call me out to a family restaurant, smiling as she played her game. Instead of starting with a gloomy conversation, she’d boost her spirits with the game before finally confessing that she got turned down. The worst time she got rejected, we didn’t have enough time at the family restaurant, so it turned into a sleepover at A-chan’s house. All night long, I listened to her talk about otome games until dawn when she finally opened up. Thanks to that, I unintentionally learned how to navigate through otome games; just hearing the name of a character was enough for me to understand how to pursue them.
However, this time, aiming for the reverse harem route meant optimizing all actions and hoping for favorable random outcomes.
As I pondered this, I overheard the conversation of the couple sitting at the next table.
“Do you get it? Big brother’s role as my boyfriend is to show how lovey-dovey we are and make the guy who confessed to me give up.”
“Huh? So, I was brought here for that role… Can’t you just refuse him normally?”
“I can’t, even if I turn him down while I’m still single, he’ll just say “If you have no one then how about trying it with me?'”
From their conversation, it seemed that the two weren’t actually a couple but rather siblings. It appeared that the guy was brought along as a pretend boyfriend to help the girl deter a guy who had confessed to her.
As I listened to their conversation, realizing the complication they were in, I turned back to see A-chan looking downcast, indicating that we were getting into a similar situation.
“Must be nice… to have someone confess to you enough to reject them…”
A-chan, who had been smiling until just now, furrowed her brows into a figure-eight(八) shape as she closed her game console with a snap. Then, she leaned forward, resting her upper body on the table with her face hidden.
“A-chan…”
Seeing A-chan feeling down before I even heard what happened this time, I struggled to find the right words to say to her.
“Rei-chan…”
A-chan called my name, still facing down.
“What’s wrong? A-chan,”
I replied gently.
“Do you know why I always play otome games after getting rejected?”
A-chan asked, still facing down.
A-chan didn’t bring up the recent heartbreak this time, but rather her tendency to immerse herself in otome games whenever she faced rejection.
Indeed, upon reflection, while it might offer temporary relief to immerse oneself in a world where ideal romance can come true, the disparity between that and reality could deepen one’s despair. I used to think of her bringing up her heartbreak as some sort of ritual, but now I realized how strange that was.
“Why do you do it?”
I asked, wanting a direct answer rather than pondering over it.
In response, A-chan lifted her tear-filled face and straightened up, holding up the game console she had previously set aside.
“In the world of games, if you work hard and make the right choices, you’ll always reach a happy ending… That’s why, after a heartbreak, I play games to figure out what effort was lacking and which choices I got wrong…” she explained.
The game and reality are different. At first glance, it might sound absurd, but upon closer examination, it felt like she was stating the truth. In reality, we don’t encounter choices like in games at every turn, but we do realize that we’re constantly making various decisions as we live.
Even today, there were choices—like what drink to bring earlier, or whether to listen to A-chan’s concerns. Not just humans, but any living being with consciousness continues to make some form of choice as they live.
The outcome of a choice made in the moment may seem insignificant, but through accumulation, it can significantly shape the future.
Reflecting on my own past while listening to A-chan’s story, I remember the events from three years ago. What efforts could my mother and I have made to avoid that tragedy? Perhaps even before the tragedy three years ago, the events leading up to it were determined by choices made much earlier, akin to the fixed routes in games…
Lost in thought, I was suddenly disturbed by a commotion outside the shop. Turning my gaze towards the source, I saw a scene unfolding on the road outside—the sports car that had been tailing closely behind a small car at the traffic signal was honking incessantly, trying to cut in aggressively. However, just as it attempted to swerve into the opposite lane ahead of the small car, a large truck turned right from the intersection ahead and came barreling towards it.
“Ah!”
I exclaimed as the events unfolded. The large truck slammed on its brakes, trying to swerve to avoid the modified car, but the vehicle behind it couldn’t react in time and collided with it, propelling towards our shop with force.
“Oh no!”
As I let out a gasp at the unfolding situation, I was suddenly engulfed in confusion by the impact. When I came to, I found myself in a dire situation, covered in glass shards, lying on the floor of what seemed like an unimaginable scene inside the family restaurant.
I couldn’t tell how long I had lost consciousness, but my entire body ached from the impact, and blood trickled from various wounds caused by the glass shards.
Struggling to rise with my heavy body, I surveyed the surroundings through blurred vision. And then, I noticed the wreckage of the large truck right in front of me, in the place where A-chan had been sitting just moments ago.
“A-chan! A-chan!!!”
I immediately sprang to my feet, desperately searching for A-chan. I called out to her with all my might, but I couldn’t see her anywhere, and her voice didn’t reach my ears.
I heard the dripping sound, and I saw liquid spreading on the ground around me. With dreadful imaginations flooding my mind, I hesitantly peered under the underside of the large truck.
With trembling limbs and strained eyes, I looked underneath, but there was no sign of A-chan. It seemed like fuel was leaking from what appeared to be the fuel tank. I let out a sigh of relief, realizing that there was a strong smell of gasoline in the air.
Clatter!
Suddenly, there was a noise from behind me, and I turned around to see the modified car that had attempted the reckless maneuver also crashing into the shop. Presumably, in an attempt to avoid the collision, the modified car had swerved as well and ended up crashing into the shop, dragged along by the large truck.
The left side of the car was mangled from the impact with the truck, and parts of bodies were visible both in the front and back seats. The driver’s seat was empty, with no movement whatsoever from the driver who had been thrown out.
From the remaining rear driver’s side, a young, disheveled man emerged, his face drained of color.
“Thi, this is bad… it’s terrible… E, everyone’s dead… I, I need to stay calm in this situation…”
The man muttered, his hands trembling as he fumbled to retrieve a cigarette from his breast pocket. In that moment, I realized the horrifying intention of the man in the gasoline-filled shop.
“Hey! Wait!!”
“Huh?”
In an instant, the man flicked the lighter, and everything in front of me turned completely white.
