After much thought, I chose the playground where they had first played together in the past as the eting place.
It was symbolic in many ways, and the park with the playground had beco neglected and deserted.
Right after arriving at school, I approached him, dozing off in a window seat.
“Ryuji.”
“…Huh? Why?”
“Do you have so ti after school?”
Ryuji, seemingly tired, yawned and replied,
“Yawn, well, I have plenty of ti. I’m not doing any club activities or anything.”
“Good. That works out. Let’s go sowhere together.”
“Where to?”
“There’s soone who wants to et you.”
Technically, it was a ghost.
I glanced at Saya, anxiously waiting next to , and then looked seriously at Ryuji’s face.
Ryuji, realizing I was serious, nodded agreeably.
“Okay, sure. If you’re asking, it can’t be sothing strange.”
“I really appreciate it.”
I thanked him, nodded, and then returned to my original seat.
‘With this, all preparations are complete.’
The operation would start after school.
Now everything depended on the conversation between the concerned parties.
“What should I do? I’m so nervous.”
Despite feeling strange anxiety seeing Saya’s excited state, I decided to trust in the process.
I would rely on the eloquence of Sakamoto Ryuji, the protagonist of this love cody world.
After school.
Today’s journey ho was a little different.
Normally, it would have been just Rika and taking the subway, but today Ryuji was with us.
Including the ghosts Saya and Mahes, it was a large group of five.
“Then, we’ll be going now.”
“Okay, take care. See you at school tomorrow!”
After waving goodbye to Rika, who always parted with an energetic smile, we got off at Chitose-Funabashi Station.
While walking to the park, Ryuji, who was next to , asked first,
“So Yu-seong-ah, isn’t it about ti you tell ? Who’s this person who wants to et ?”
“Ah, about that.”
I scratched my cheek and turned my gaze away.
“It’s probably soone you know. Soone who’d be really happy to see you.”
“???”
Ryuji looked even more puzzled.
I understood that it wouldn’t be easy for him to grasp.
It wouldn’t make sense to him, as we hadn’t known each other for even half a year.
“Well, seeing is believing. It’ll be faster to understand by seeing it firsthand.”
I said that to gloss over the conversation and quickened my pace.
We arrived at a public park near my house.
“This is…”
Ryuji quickly recognized the place, showing a familiar expression.
“Wow, it’s been a long ti since I’ve been here. It’s still here.”
He approached the old slide, stroking it with a nostalgic expression, as if he missed it.
“This playground is where I used to co often as an elentary student. Is the person you ntioned one of the friends I played with back then?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and checked my phone screen.
[I’ve arrived nearby.]
It was a ssage from Sasha.
Looking around, I saw Sasha walking towards us from a distance.
Following my gaze, Ryuji turned his head with a puzzled expression.
“That’s Sasha.”
“Yes.”
“Sasha knew when we were young? Did I forget about her?”
I shook my head.
“Don’t worry, it’s not what you’re thinking. Sasha just ca here to help.”
“To help?”
anwhile, Sasha arrived at the playground, waving her hand and approaching us.
“Hey, Kim Yu-seong.”
“Sasha, thanks for coming today.”
“I have to help out for a friend’s request.”
She said this and greeted Saya, who was floating next to , with a nod.
Anyway, with this, all the people were gathered.
I asked Ryuji, who still had a puzzled expression on his face,
“Ryuji, do you believe in ghosts?”
Ryuji, seemingly taken aback by the sudden question, tilted his head and replied,
“I didn’t before, but now that Mahes is here, I do.”
“Then that’s good. The person who wants to et you today is also a ghost.”
As I said this and looked at Saya, she nodded and entered Sasha’s body.
Thunk!
At that mont, I felt as if sothing invisible connecting her and was severed.
Simultaneously, Sasha’s hair, originally blue, began to slowly turn white.
Ryuji was speechless at the supernatural phenonon unfolding before him.
Though it might be a high hurdle for an ordinary person, it was unavoidable this ti.
Because without possession, it was impossible to converse with Saya.
Eventually…
Sasha, transford into a white snow maiden, opened her mouth.
“It’s been a long ti, Ryuji.”
The voice that ca from her throat was not Sasha’s.
It seed that Saya was now in control of her body.
Hearing Saya’s voice, Ryuji’s eyes began to tremble as if shaken by an earthquake.
After a long silence, he finally asked,
“Is it you, Chiaki?”
It was a na I hadn’t heard before.
But I could tell it was Saya’s real na.
It was evident when Sasha’s body, possessed by Saya, flinched upon hearing the na Chiaki.
And confirming this speculation, she muttered to herself,
“Yes, I rember now. My na is Shirogane Chiaki…”
And with newfound confidence, she took a step forward.
“It’s been a long ti, Ryu-chan. Almost 6 years, right?”
At that mont, Ryuji’s eyes filled with emotion.
“…Yeah, it’s been a long ti, Chiaki.”
Honestly, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling.
How do you react when soone you loved and promised to marry in childhood suddenly returns as a ghost?
After hesitating, Ryuji asked,
“How did it happen?”
Saya—no, Chiaki, with a bittersweet smile, answered,
“You know, Ryu-chan. The incurable disease I had since I was young eventually took my life.”
“…Is it because of ? For taking you out of the house?”
“No, not really. The doctors had said that if it continued, I wouldn’t live to see twenty. My condition worsened while in care, so I just died a bit earlier than expected.”
She spoke of her own death, but Chiaki did so with detachnt, as if it were soone else’s story.
Perhaps it was possible because she was already dead.
Chiaki, perhaps feeling pity for Ryuji and still confused by her death, gently stroked his cheek.
“It’s still a relief. To be able to et you like this again.”
“Chiaki…”
“I still rember. The promise we made when I left this town.”
“…About getting married when we grow up?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Chiaki nodded with a faint smile.
“Forget that promise now.”
“……”
Ryuji couldn’t imdiately respond to her request.
Probably because he too understood.
How important that promise had been to Chiaki.
The reason she remained on earth, unable to find peace.
One of her biggest regrets that was keeping her in this world must have been that promise.
Finally, Ryuji spoke up.
“Chiaki, can I be stubborn about just one thing?”
“…What is it?”
“I can’t grant that request.”
Ryuji, holding Chiaki’s cold hand, said this while smiling bravely.
“Honestly, I’ve never forgotten the promise I made when we parted. I think it will be the sa even when I beco an adult.”
Then he paused for a beat and said,
“After all is said and done, you are my first love.”
Hearing this, Chiaki’s face turned bright red.
“Wh-What are you suddenly saying?”
But Ryuji, having opened up, didn’t stop confessing.
“Even though you’ve beco a ghost, and the promise we made can no longer be fulfilled, at least I want to rember you. I want to be the one to rember that you existed in this world.”
“So…”
“Will you allow to rember you forever?”
Startled by Ryuji’s straightforwardness, Chiaki stuttered and then, with her head hung low, whispered softly,
“…I’ll allow it.”
Their conversation ended there.
A girl hoping to be forgotten and a boy wishing to rember.
It was truly a tragic tale.
Had she been alive, she probably would have been treated as the true heroine of “Scramble Love” by the readers.
Watching the two at the sunset-lit playground, I felt a strange sense of regret about this fact.
Mahes, who had been quietly beside , then spoke.
“Then, shouldn’t this girl join us as well?”
“Huh?”
I turned my head, not having thought of this idea before.
Wasn’t it standard in such situations for the ghost heroine, having resolved her regrets, to pass on peacefully?
However, Ryuji’s eyes widened at Mahes’s suggestion, which pointed in a completely different direction.
“Is that really okay?”
“That depends on the girl’s will. Whether she passes on now or stays by your side.”
Chiaki, possessing Sasha’s body, also wore a stunned expression, not having thought of this option either.
“Is it really alright?”
“It’s just a matter of reincarnating sooner or later. You’re not an evil spirit, so I can overlook such a deviation within my authority.”
Encouraged by Mahes’s confident statent, the two looked at each other.
Then, Chiaki spoke first.
“Then… I’ll be in your care from now on, Ryu-chan.”
“I’m the one who should say that. Please be with , Chiaki.”
The two exchanged these words and then looked at each other, smiling radiantly.
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