I bolted forward in a panic and grabbed Hiiragi's arm, who had frozen dead center in the crosswalk.
"What are you doing?!"
I yanked her forcefully, snapping her back to her senses, and she broke into a sprint alongside Rooney-kun.
A piercing horn blared against the screech of tires.
Scrambling onto the sidewalk just in the nick of time, I pulled Hiiragi tightly against me.
Fortunately, the traffic light had only just turned red, so the truck wasn't moving very fast and managed to grind to a halt just before the crosswalk.
After the close call that nearly ended in disaster, the truck let out two short honks as if venting its irritation before driving off.
A cold sweat broke across my back.
What on earth was she thinking, coming to a dead stop in a place like that?
"Are you okay?"
"Th-That scared the life out of me!"
"Are you hurt?"
"Yeah... Ah."
Hiiragi's cheeks flushed crimson.
Because I had pulled her close on reflex, our bodies were pressed flush against each other.
Her heart was thumping so hard I could feel it against my own chest.
She must have been thoroughly terrified.
Checking to make sure she wasn't injured, I started to step back...
"Ah, ah, ah."
Letting out strange, broken murmurs like a malfunctioning robot, Hiiragi showed no sign of letting go.
In fact, she kept a tight hold on my hand.
I tried to pull my arm away, but she gripped it right back with surprising strength.
"...Hey."
"Huh?"
"Your hand."
"Oh, r-right, of course."
Yet despite her words, her grip only tightened.
Well, I suppose that was fair enough.
She was probably so overwhelmed that her body had seized up and refused to listen to her.
Using my other hand, I gently pried Hiiragi's fingers loose one by one.
As I did, a quiet wail escaped her lips. "Aaaah..."
"Are you really alright?"
"I-I'm fine, totally fine! Peachy!"
She offered a forced chuckle where only her mouth curved up while her eyes remained completely blank, then tugged at Rooney-kun's leash.
"S-Subaru."
"Subaru?"
Why was she suddenly calling me by my first name?
Just how rattled was she?
"Ah, no! Hatsukade! Th-Thanks for hearing me out today. I really have to get home now."
"...That's pretty sudden."
"It's about time for dinner, after all."
"Your parents didn't look like they were getting dinner ready anytime soon, though."
"Huh?! W-Well, we mostly order takeout anyway!"
Must be nice being rich.
Still, if she wanted to head back, I had no reason to hold her up, but...
"I'll walk you home, then. You're clearly not in your right mind right now, Hiiragi."
"No, seriously, I'm good!"
"No, you're not. It'll be too late if something happens."
"B-But come on!"
Grabbing the shoulders of the girl who was putting up an unusually stubborn fuss, I stared straight into her eyes.
"Just do as I say. I'm worried about you."
"Urk...!"
Between stopping dead in the middle of a crosswalk without warning and everything else, she was acting completely unhinged.
She could easily stumble into another accident on her way back, so letting her go alone simply wasn't an option.
"...Okay. Thank you."
And so, I walked Hiiragi all the way to her front door.
Usually a nonstop chatterbox, she didn't utter a single word the entire way, which was rare for her.
"...Bye-bye."
"See ya."
Before leaving, I gave Rooney-kun a parting pat.
"...Hatsukade."
"What is it?"
"...No, never mind. It's... nothing."
Seriously, what was her deal?
◇
The next morning, Hiiragi's bizarre behavior showed no signs of stopping.
She made an effort to act bubbly as usual, but there was a distinct lack of genuine emotion in her voice.
It felt as though she was merely spitting out greetings on pure spinal reflex whenever anyone addressed her.
"Ah, morning, Nakina."
"Morning, Sakura... Wait, huh?!"
The moment Amanatsu walked through the door, Hiiragi's demeanor shifted drastically.
Jumping out of her chair with sudden vigor, she firmly clasped Amanatsu's hands in hers.
"W-What's wrong?"
"I've made up my mind."
"About what?"
"That I will never betray my friends! I'm going to support you with everything I've got, Nakina!"
"Uh, thanks...?"
Then, letting out an entirely hollow, superficial laugh, Hiiragi shot a glance over at me.
Her face was so pale she looked ready to pass out from sheer shock.
Being the most prominent girl in class, everyone immediately noticed something was wrong.
Yet no matter how many classmates asked out of concern, she repeated that she was fine.
No matter how you sliced it, that was the reaction of someone who was undeniably not fine.
Hiiragi kept up this act through Thursday, and with a tone that made it impossible to tell if she was joking or dead serious, she began making increasingly bizarre remarks like, "Going on a soul-searching journey sounds kind of nice, doesn't it?" and "Maybe I'll travel the world after I graduate."
When it reached that point, it was obvious that something had definitely happened.
More specifically, she had started acting like this immediately after the crosswalk incident.
The answer was definitely hidden there.
After school, I sat on my sofa at home sipping coffee, calmly retracing the conversation we had had that day.
The only real link between Hiiragi and me revolved around Amanatsu and Shinonome.
Almost everything we talked about was how those two could make up and how they should interact going forward.
Simply put, the conversation hadn't been about Hiiragi herself.
There was no reason for her to be unraveling like this over her own circumstances.
Then what other possibility could there be?
As I turned it over in my head, a sinking dread hit me. Ah.
No, there was no way.
The conversation between Hiiragi's house and the crosswalk.
What I had told her while we were crossing the street.
Hiiragi's past comments, and the stance she had always maintained.
—I'll never betray my friends.
—I'm devotedly in love with the person who saved me long ago, whose name I don't even know.
The dots were connecting into a straight line along an utterly impossible path.
Suddenly, Hiiragi's words on the ice cream shop's patio came flooding back to me.
I only started using social media hoping that he might notice me.
I didn't have a single social media account.
So, I pulled out my phone and started by creating one.
I registered my name and phone number, then set up a password.
If I remembered correctly, her handle was Sakura Cherry.
Just as I was about to hit search... I paused and took a sip of my coffee.
Even though it was a prized Kilimanjaro from Tanzania that I had gone out of my way to order, I couldn't taste a thing. It was just bitter.
I tapped search.
Her account popped up immediately.
She had sixty thousand followers.
Her feed was a vibrant gallery of colorful photos with Hiiragi front and center.
Yet her profile picture was of her as a young child.
Why?
Reading her bio made it painfully obvious.
I made this account to find the boy who saved me when I was little! To the boy who rescued me from a wild Chihuahua at the intersection in Monagami-cho five years ago: that was the moment I fell in love with you. I've been dreaming of seeing you again and longing for you ever since. If you ever see this, please send me a DM! And to everyone reading this, please follow and share this around!!! Please lend me your strength so my feelings can reach him!
Ugh... my head hurts.
Just what on earth did I do to deserve this?
After getting betrayed by my childhood friend, I had firmly resolved to stay away from romance for a good long while.
Just because Amanatsu reminded me of her, I ended up forgiving that fake confession and lent her my handkerchief.
Everything had started from that single mistake.
Just picturing what the rest of my high school life was going to look like made me sick to my stomach.
A notification chimed on my phone.
I opened the message from Amanatsu.
Hatsukade-kun, help! Sakura has totally lost it! She says she's skipping school starting tomorrow to go on a journey!!
My childhood friend, Amanatsu, Shinonome, and now Hiiragi.
Every last one of them, without exception...
There were just too many gloomy clouds hanging over my youth.