Chapter 35: Each of Them… (Shuu / Eri / Touya)

Each of Them… (Shuu / Eri / Touya)

“Shuu… I… I…”

“What’s wrong!? A-are you okay? Your face is completely pale!”

Eri, her face drained of all color, spoke to me in a trembling voice.

She had suddenly rushed out saying she was going shopping, and had only just come back. Was she feeling unwell?

“Ah… ah… I…”

Then Eri held out a small stick-like object toward me.

For a moment I didn’t understand what it was, but I recognized it immediately.

Back in high school…

…

“W-what should I do! It… it tore!”

“Oh well, if it tore, it can’t be helped, right? It’s fine. Since it’s you, Shuu… hehe.”

“Thank goodness… looks like it was okay after all. See?”

“I… I don’t even know what to say…”

“Being called Papa and Mama in our second year of high school would be tough, wouldn’t it… hehe.”

…

That’s right. It looked just like the pregnancy test we used back then, but this time, the mark that hadn’t appeared before was there.

I had always been careful about contraception with Eri. The last time must have been before her trip. But seeing Eri so shaken told me the answer without words.

My legs suddenly gave out beneath me, and I dropped to my knees on the floor.

“Ugh… what should we do… what should we do…”

Eri collapsed to the floor as well, sitting down as if broken. And in that instant, the daily life we had been struggling to rebuild shattered completely into pieces.

Touya-kun…

I was the one who accepted everything. The one at fault is me.

But I never imagined things would turn out like this.

I had heard at the hospital that if I took the pill within twenty-four hours, it would be about ninety-nine percent effective, so I thought I was safe. Was that arrogance my mistake?

Is this also part of your revenge, Touya-kun?

What should I do? I’ve hurt Shuu again and caused him more pain.

Shuu knelt on the floor, staring blankly at nothing.

I felt unbearably sorry, but I couldn’t even bring myself to apologize.

I don’t know what to do… What should I do… Someone, please help me…

“…Eri, for now, go to the hospital tomorrow. We’ll talk after that.”

Then, staggering, Shuu went into the bedroom, and after that, he didn’t come out again that day.

Eri… is pregnant?

And the child isn’t mine?

No, even with condoms, failures can happen, but statistically…

No, it’s impossible. No matter how hard I try, I can’t raise another man’s child. The trauma burned into me by that video still pierces my heart.

In that video, I thought maybe it couldn’t be real, but if it was, the thought alone made it unbearable.

Why? She said she used protection! No, Eri didn’t seem to be lying back then.

Guh… ugh!!

Ha… ha… it hurts…

I… can’t breathe properly…

S-someone… help me…

Eri… why… why did you do this… Eri…

What am I supposed to do…

Eri…

Eri… I loved her.

At first, it was just lust. She was always alone, surrounded by an air of sadness. She was plain, but her figure was nice, and I thought that if I was gentle, she’d be easy to get. That was all I saw her as.

She was harder to win over than I expected, but after I kept confessing, we finally started dating. As time went on, Eri began to depend on me.

At first, she was a convenient woman who would come whenever I called, but as we spent more time together, I discovered more of her charm, and before I knew it, I had fallen for her.

Unlike other girls, she always smiled, listened quietly, and devoted herself to me. She was soft and warm when I held her.

But after we started dating, I began to feel that her heart was slowly drifting away from me.

So I treated her even more kindly, got excited when we talked about filming, and since we were both thinking about our careers, I tried to hold on to her by creating a shared goal.

Still, I couldn’t close the distance between us any further. I thought her emotional scars were to blame, so I decided I would be the one to heal them, and poured all my love into her, but it was already too late.

I gave up quickly, thinking it couldn’t be helped, and moved on. But no matter who I dated afterward, it never worked out, and I always ended up thinking of her again. About a year after graduation, I went to her hometown, and that’s when I saw her.

She was smiling in a way she never had when she was with me, walking arm in arm with another man, looking truly happy.

I was furious. Why with a guy like that? But I knew it was too late, so I gave up and went back to Tokyo.

Three years passed. My life had fallen apart, and when I went to the hospital because I wasn’t feeling well, I was suddenly told I didn’t have long to live. I was confused, but once I knew I was going to die, the first thing that came to mind was the time I spent with her and that scene I saw that day.

And then, faced with death, I lost control.

I moved out, rented a place in her hometown, investigated everything about her, used back channels to arrange work that would bring me close to her, and made contact.

I decided I would take her back from that man.

I wanted her to be by my side in the end, rather than with a guy like him. I made her pity me, spoke to her in ways that would make her feel guilty, and tried to make her betray that man.

But she never wavered. As we talked, I realized something.

From back then until now, the one who had always lived in her heart was that man.

Once I understood that, jealousy twisted into hatred.

That’s why I…

“I want to spend time with Eri like back then. I want to take a three-night, four-day trip. Won’t you come with me? Just for that time, as lovers… no, as husband and wife. I want to make one last memory with you, Eri. If I can do that, I think I can die without regrets. That trip will be the end of my selfishness.”

I asked her in a way that made it impossible for her to refuse, invited her on that trip, secretly filmed her, edited it to make it look like she was the one who wanted me, and sent that video to that man.

I thought, serves you right.

I also attached my location and provocative words to the final email with the video file, to lure him in.

That was the plan.

But despite everything, Eri loved me with all her heart.

Just like before… no, even more than before.

Even a fool like me could tell that the love she showed wasn’t the kind you give to someone you’re in love with.

Still, maybe to heal me, Eri poured every bit of affection she had into those four days we spent together.

I had been ready to do something foolish because I didn’t have much time left, or maybe she did it to stop me from making that mistake.

“…Sawada Touya.”

“…Huh? Who the hell are—ugh!!”

“How dare you… touch my girlfriend!!”

G-girlfriend? Whose…

Ah… this guy… I remember now… he worked at the same company…

E…

In the heavy silence of the living room, I sat alone, unable to face Eri.

She was preparing to go to the hospital, swaying unsteadily as if she hadn’t slept. I could see her in the corner of my eye.

Eri was pregnant, and the wounds in my heart that had barely begun to close were torn wide open again.

Maybe it’s impossible for us to stay together any longer.

While I was lost in that thought, Eri quietly left the house alone to go to the hospital.