When the scene outside the window appeared in Sayu's eyes, she took a breath and her eyes became blurred for a moment.
After a few beats, he slowly opened the door and got out of the car.
Kato Yusuke also followed.
It was already nine o'clock in the evening.
Under the bright yellow street lights, several huge buildings are sitting in the darkness not far away, like monsters hiding in the night, waiting to be eaten.
——"Asahikawa Sixth High School"
This string of words is clearly written on the door number on the pillar at the door.
Sayu just stared at the teaching building in the distance quietly, with a particularly obscure expression on his face.
"Okay, then...I'll go there."
"Eh?"
Yisa's eyes widened immediately and he asked hurriedly: "Do you want to go in?"
The girl smiled slightly and replied calmly: "Well, I know where to go in."
Ogiwara Kazusa couldn't help but feel a little silent, with confusion on his face. He hesitated for a while before sighing and saying: "I understand, don't do dangerous things."
Sayu nodded imperceptibly, came to someone's side, pinched his sleeve, "...I'm afraid of being alone, and I want Yusuke to come too."
"I would have gone even if you didn't tell me." After hearing this, Yusuke rubbed her head and said, then turned his eyes to Ogiwara Kazusa.
"Then let's go there."
"Be careful on the road." Yi Sa responded succinctly: "It's up to you, Sayu."
"I know." Yusuke responded and followed the girl walking along the wall outside the school.
Because there were surveillance cameras at the school gate, the two of them could not enter or leave through the main entrance. Instead, they walked towards a shortcut under Sayu's leadership.
We walked around the perimeter and came all the way to the back of the teaching building.
"Okay, here we are."
Sayu breathed a sigh of relief, "Great, this place hasn't been repaired yet."
Following her gaze, what caught her eye was the barbed wire fence that surrounded the teaching building. There was an obvious big hole in the corner, showing signs of vandalism.
"It turns out that there are also people who skip school when they enter high school?" Kato Yusuke sighed casually, and the girl said, "Yeah, it's true."
"The hole was not that big originally, but it was later made bigger and bigger by people who wanted to skip class midway, so you can get through it by squatting down a little."
After explaining, Sayu squatted down and got through the hole first, then waved to him: "Yusuke, come quickly too."
Kato Yusuke followed closely and slipped through underneath and entered the school.
I stood up and looked at the teaching building. Apart from the layout being slightly different from the private Toyosaki building, there was nothing special about it.
However, when I thought that schools across the country should be pretty much the same, I immediately put this thought to the back of my mind.
"We trespassed together."
"This is the second time."
"Eh?"
Looking at the girl who tilted her head slightly, Yusuke smiled and casually mentioned: "And that time in Shinjuku."
"ah……"
Sayu, who recalled the Fangcun brother and sister incident, opened her mouth as if in a daze, and then puffed up her cheeks and said: "Really, I was really - worried at the time..."
After saying that, he shook his head sadly and murmured: "...Although it's only been half a year, I still feel that we have experienced a lot of things together."
Affected by these words, Kato Yusuke's eyes were lost in thought for a moment, and then he followed Sayu's example and shook his head, reached out to hold the girl's hand, and said yes.
Holding hands, the two people stepped forward again and strolled through the deserted campus.
On a clear night, the stars in the sky are shining, like countless silver beads, densely embedded in the deep black night, casting a dreamlike light, slightly illuminating the school building.
The beautiful scene makes anyone looking up casually feel lingering.
"The stars here are much brighter than in Tokyo."
When he said this, Sayu immediately looked back and said in an excited tone: "Yes, the stars here are really beautiful to the point of being annoying."
"It's not a good thing for people who invade illegally." Yusuke looked away and joked with a smile.
"Hehe, but you are still a little excited, right? This kind of thing."
"Where did you come from, a rebellious kid?"
"I'm not a brat! After all, Yusuke should definitely call me sister, right?"
"Don't label yourself as a senior, besides..." Kato Yusuke suddenly smiled a little meaningfully: "I like it very much when you call me daddy."
Sayu's feet suddenly stopped. As the scene from a few hours ago appeared in her mind, her cheeks instantly turned red. Then she unnaturally lowered her gaze, cursed a bad guy, and quietly quickened her pace.
The two of them walked to the back door of the teaching building together.
He raised his hand and grasped the handle of the metal door that was obviously not for students to enter and exit, and then turned it to one side.
boom.
With a sharp metal sound, the door was opened.
Sayu smiled happily again: "The door lock here has been broken for a long time, and it has been contracted by students who have been skipping classes."
"Don't schools even repair it?"
"Because even though there are people going out here during the day, no one comes in at all at night."
Kato Yusuke couldn't help but feel a little speechless, and at the same time he lowered the security evaluation of this place again.
But when I think about it, even if I go to high school, I am still in a stable countryside, so the school's slow response in maintaining these facilities makes sense.
Enter the building through the metal door.
The dim corridor had no other lighting except emergency lights, and the environment was so quiet that it was a bit eerie.
The light green light flickers faintly, illuminating the surrounding walls with a pale green color and forming strange shadows on them, giving people a strange psychological suggestion that can easily be associated with it.
The strong contrast is really unimaginable, how lively and vibrant it is here during the day.
In such an environment, it is not difficult to understand why there are so many "weird stories" and "seven mysteries" on the stage of school.
While thinking about this, I felt a sense of warmth on my arms.
Turning around, he saw Sayu, who had been unresponsive just now, hugging his right arm tightly.
"This is my first time coming to night school, so I'm a little scared."
Feeling the anxiety in her words, Kato Yusuke asked jokingly: "Then do you want me to hold you? My princess."
"...That's good."
The other party shook his head, pointed forward, and whispered softly: "Let's go there and then go upstairs."
The smile on his face faded, Yusuke hesitated and asked again: "Where do you want to go?"
A brief silence.
"Rooftop." Sayu whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
Kato Yusuke immediately calmed down and stayed there for a while before he slowly uttered the word "good".
Then he moved forward step by step, matching the girl's rhythm.
Go up the steps from the corridor at the end and start going up the stairs.
During this period, Sayu held his arm with increasing strength, but said nothing.
After feeling this, Yusuke grabbed her hand with his left hand, then took his arm out of the girl's arms and put his right arm around her shoulders.
The white moonlight shone in from the window on the landing, shaking their shadows and giving them a cold gaze.
The footsteps of the two people echoed in the quiet teaching building, bringing with them a faint echo.
They didn't say a word until they reached the top of the building.
Just in silence, he came to the door leading to the rooftop.
"arrive."
"good……"
Sayu responded quietly and let go of his hand, walking to the door.
Click, click.
Of course, the door here is locked.
Before Yusuke Kato can breathe a sigh of relief...
Click.
The square window located a little distance next to the door was opened.
"really……"
The girl murmured to herself: "The door to the rooftop has been locked since then, but the lock on the window here is broken. Let's get out from here..."
This school... Kato Yusuke sighed secretly in his heart and turned his gaze to the window.
Valley
Just like the dog holes in the iron fence outside the teaching building, although the windows here are not big, they are still big enough for a person to pass through as long as they are not too fat.
"Do you really want to go?"
He couldn't help but ask, and Sayu paused for a moment, then nodded his head slightly to express his affirmation.
"Well... then I'll help you."
"……Um."
Yusuke picked her up from behind, and the girl also cooperated with his actions, putting her hands on the window frame, raising her legs, and slipped through smoothly.
Sayu, who was standing outside, turned to look at him and said with trembling lips: "Come quickly."
The emergency lights outside the door emitted a strange green light, illuminating her face.
Looking at the face that was clearly enduring something, Kato Yusuke's heart suddenly tightened.
Then he put his hands on the window frame and stepped through it immediately.
"Yusuke..."
The girl threw herself into his arms.
"Okay, it's okay."
While holding the trembling Sayu, he looked around.
In the darkness, the emergency light at the entrance was the only lighting, but it could only illuminate a small area next to the door. The rest of the place was completely dark.
It was only after his eyesight had adapted for a while that Kato Yusuke could clearly see the surrounding environment.
The roof is no different from an ordinary building, the only eye-catching thing is the fence that surrounds the entire rooftop.
Not only is it more than two people tall, but the top is also designed to curve inward, like a birdcage, but without a top.
Obviously, these fences are deliberately designed like this to prevent people from climbing out.
But looking at these, Kato Yusuke felt a surge of anger in his heart.
Judging from the previous incidents of dog holes, door locks, and window locks, the management of this school is by no means the kind of person who would take precautions against the slightest mistake.
Then the reason why the fence appears here can only be the remedial product brought about by "that incident", which is full of irony of making up for the situation.
While thinking about these things, the girl's words also rang in her arms.
"...Can you take me... there?"
Sayu said this and buried her head in his chest, as if she didn't have the courage to turn around and face the rooftop.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Kato Yusuke nodded solemnly, picked her up and walked towards the center of the rooftop.
"……Thanks."
The girl murmured, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands, as if grasping a life-saving straw.
"Don't say stupid things."
A few steps away came in an instant, but he couldn't say the word "we're here".
And Sayu seemed to have realized something. His breathing sped up a lot, and his delicate body was tense, as if he was afraid or nervous.
Then he took a deep breath.
"Huh...let me down."
Kato Yusuke responded with silence, but hugged her tighter.
"It's...it's okay."
She said: "I'm ready."
The firmness in his words made Yusuke hesitate, but he finally let her go.
Under his gaze, Sha Qiye took a deep breath, then slowly raised his head and looked outside.
A strong wind suddenly blew between them, blowing the girl's hair and skirt, flying messily in the air, making a rustling sound.
As the scene not far away comes into view...
Sayu's body visibly trembled, but was immediately suppressed by her.
He took a deep breath again and started to move his legs.
She just walked towards the fence step by step, and Kato Yusuke followed closely behind, just in case anything unexpected happened.
The distance between the two people and the fence gradually narrowed, and they came closer.
There was a "clang" sound.
Sayu's hands fiercely grabbed the fence, and then he collapsed to the ground as if he suddenly lost strength.
Before Kato Yusuke could reach out to pick it up, a sentence came into his ears.
"...This fence...it would be nice if it was installed earlier."
Then came the suppressed sobs.
As if a restraining spell had been cast on her, Yusuke's hand paused in mid-air for a moment, then he squatted down next to her and gently stroked her back with his palms.
"It's all my fault...for not being able to understand Yuko's feelings."
Intermittent words kept ringing in his ears, mixed with a thick nasal sound.
"I mistakenly thought that fighting was right, so I drove her to a dead end..."
"Yuko's death was all...because of me."
"Oh...if I could be more kind to Yuko..."
Tears accumulated in his eyes and dripped on the ground.
Looking at Sayu with a painful look on his face, Kato Yusuke gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "This is not your fault, you are all victims."
"That's not the case...it's me...I didn't take good care of the child, it's me who failed to protect her...!"
"It's not you who's wrong, it's those who bully others..."
"This bullying is also because of me——!!"
The girl made a loud sound like a roar and interrupted his words.
"Obviously this is my first friend in life, but yet...!"
Sayu shook her head vigorously and screamed.
"Why can't you survive with me...!"
Sobbing, she bent down deeply, covering her chest with her hands as if she was having colic, and then began to cry loudly.
Even when Kato Yusuke wanted to reach out and touch her, she shook her head violently and refused, leaving her alone, immersed in a river of sadness.
"Yuezi...wuwu..."
Sayu whimpered and lowered her head, as if atonement, and kept calling to the edge of the empty rooftop.
The emotions called self-blame and guilt were like invisible shackles, wrapped around her body, binding her to the past...
Unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to escape.
Kato Yusuke's lips kept pouting, and he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to say it.
Facing Sayu who was crying hoarsely, his brain seemed to be covered in a heavy fog and he was still unable to formulate appropriate words.
I just feel that words such as "the dead cannot be resurrected" and "sorry and resignation" are very feeble, and may also be an insult to the person involved.
Don't encourage others to do good unless they have suffered.
Then, there is only one thing that can be done.
Be her harbor, protect her, shelter her, block everything for her...
If there is something that Sayu Ogiwara can't do, let Yusuke Kato do it...
Although I don’t know if this will be effective, this is what Yusuke really thinks at this moment.
Following his instinct, he stretched out his hand and hugged the girl tightly into his arms.
Ignoring the other person's attempts to throw his arm away.
He hugged her hard as if he was trying to rub her into his body.
"It doesn't matter."
He said with a trembling voice: "If you can't forgive yourself, just let me come and forgive you..."
"woo woo woo woo……"
Sayu, who struggled feebly, moaned and cried on his chest, and the tears mixed with snot soon wetted his clothes.
Little by little, the crying began to get louder.
Under the sky full of stars, the girl howled like a child.
Faced with all this, Kato Yusuke just hugged her tightly again until she stopped crying, and the two hugged each other tightly.