Irreversible Sadism (GL) - Chapter 3

“Hey, hey, Ruri-chan, right?”

After the self-introductions in the first period, the schedule for the upcoming days was discussed.

When the teacher announced that we would finish after deciding on committees, the classroom erupted in excitement. The class groups had already formed, simply put, there was a bright group and a dark group. I found myself somewhere in between, positioned like the Earth, with a clear distinction between day and night.

Ruri-chan belonged to the bright group. In the constant glow of the sun, she was the only one not bubbling with excitement.

With time still before the second period, I moved to Ruri-chan’s side.

When she looked up, Ruri-chan had a face as if she had seen a ghost.

“Wait, do you know her?”

The first to respond was a girl sitting behind Ruri-chan. I believe her name was Amane Kururu. I wasn’t sure which was the surname and which was the first name, but I remembered that “Kururu” was the first name after checking the roster.

Kururu-chan was twirling the ends of her curly hair around her fingers as she asked Ruri-chan. Ruri-chan looked at me with sculpted eyes, and her lips, as if glued together, slowly peeled apart.

“Could it be, Tateha? Wow, it’s been a while! You’ve changed a bit, huh? I didn’t recognize you!”

I discovered a new realization: this is the face people make when they have to walk toward a place from which there is no turning back. Her pupils dilated in a panic, yet her mouth was smiling. Is this what they call normalcy bias?

“I can’t believe you remembered me!”

I laughed, as if I were stepping on cracked ground. I was good at laughing.

Since Kururu-chan was resting her chin on her hand, looking back and forth between us, I added, “We went to the same elementary school.” When I looked at Ruri-chan, she raised the corners of her mouth like a poorly made plaster statue.

“Wow, that’s great, Ruri! A fateful reunion, huh?”

“Y-yeah! I’m so surprised! I didn’t think I would, um, see you again.”

With lips that seemed to lack bl00d, Ruri-chan looked at my right eye again. Her face rippled like a baby about to cry before she lowered her head.

“Ruri-chan, you’ve become so beautiful that I didn’t recognize you at first. Oh, it’s not that you weren’t beautiful before, okay? Right, let’s exchange contact information!”

“Ah, um, sorry. I forgot my smartphone today! Haha, I’m such a klutz.”

Sweat was beading on Ruri-chan’s forehead. Her bangs, which she must have taken a long time to style, were sticking to her skin from the sweat.

“Wait? Ruri, you were just fiddling with your smartphone, weren’t you?”

Kururu-chan reached out from her seat behind and touched Ruri-chan’s pocket. These two might be friends from the same middle school; there was a sense of closeness between them.

“Why are you being so cautious? Since I went out of my way to talk to you, you should just exchange numbers. Oh, you’re Asami, right? Ruri seems a bit nervous in this new environment, so how about I exchange contact information with you instead?”

“Wow, you remembered my name already?”

“People tend to remember it as ‘Tatehane’ from the self-introduction, but it’s just ‘Tateha.’ You said you didn’t need the ‘ne,’ right? That’s how I remembered.”

Among our peers, Kururu-chan seemed calm and composed. Yet, she was friendly to others, and her occasional gentle smile was trustworthy.

“Hehe, now I can dig up all of Ruri’s old stories.”

A small, deflated “eh” from Ruri-chan was swallowed by the noise of the classroom.

“Ruri never talks about her past at all. Like, which elementary school she went to, or what club she was in. I don’t know what she’s afraid of.”

We finished exchanging contact information by placing our smartphones together. Almost immediately, a stamp was sent from Kururu-chan.

“Okay, got it! We’re exchanging numbers. I must have mixed up forgetting my smartphone with yesterday! I guess I was mistaken.”

Ruri-chan hurriedly took her smartphone out of her pocket. Although yesterday was a day off… If I poked at it, it felt like it would pop and disappear, so I placed my smartphone against hers as well.

At that moment, our fingertips brushed lightly.

A moist sensation. The softness that gently envelops something precious struck me repeatedly, stabbing, searing, and tightening. That feeling from back then surged back, and I was hit with a terrible ringing in my ears.

The back of my tongue tingled with heat. I had even forgotten to breathe.

My nonexistent eyeballs throbbed, and a thick liquid seemed ready to drip down with memories.

“Thank you, Ruri-chan.”

I hadn’t maintained my composure. I had merely postponed the explosion of something on the verge of bursting.

When I smiled at her, Ruri-chan gave a vague response and turned her gaze toward the blackboard.

“Is that something you got done at the hair salon, Asami? Your hair is so smooth, I’m envious. I have such curly hair.”

“Yeah, that’s right. My hair is thick, so it tends to puff up, but the person at the salon I go to cuts it really well. I think your hair is cute too, Kururu-chan. It looks easy to style. You could do so many hair arrangements, right?”

“Well, that’s one advantage, I guess. By the way, Ruri said she has a favorite salon too. Where was it again?”

Kururu-chan nudged Ruri-chan’s back, causing her to flinch slightly.

“It’s called ‘Wave’ on Main Street.”

Ruri-chan said this with the expression of someone about to cut a blue wire or a red wire connected to a bomb, taking a gamble.

“Oh, I see. I’ve been to that street, but I didn’t know there was a salon there.”

Feigning ignorance, I noticed Ruri-chan visibly relax and tell me the good things about that salon. The stylists were all young, they had great conversations, and they listened to even the smallest worries. Everyone was caring, it was a great place.

As Ruri-chan spoke with a blossoming smile, she resembled a flower budding in spring, and she was adorable.

“Well, maybe I’ll check it out next time.”

The end of spring always came with a heat that scorched.

As Ruri-chan’s expression crumbled, darkening like a shadow, she managed to say, “Yeah, definitely.”

The chime announcing the start of the second period rang, and I returned to my seat.

Looking out the window, I saw a cherry blossom tree poised to bloom, sitting there yearning for the sun.

A season that captivated everyone, described as beautiful. Yet, while some bloom, others fall. Beneath the cherry blossom tree, which was about to burst into bloom, a baby bird lay dead.

Like it had been waiting for this moment, a flock of black crows gathered around.

For different people and animals, the shape of happiness varies. Since there are creatures that survive on the death of others, it’s hard to argue against wishing for someone else’s decay.

Right now, I quietly awaited the moment when the chick, stepping toward new encounters, would fail to take flight and fall to the ground.