Ever had that feeling of being completely out of place?
Yeah. That was exactly what I was feeling right now.
"What do you mean, now?! You—"
"But you—"
The couple in front of me had been arguing for a while. I had no idea what set off the fight this time. With them, anything could turn into a reason. A few days later, they would be laughing like nothing had happened.
I was there, holding a crooked umbrella, listening to everything. No one seemed to notice I was there — zero surprise there. Maybe I was just a decorative piece of furniture that still breathes.
Still… what was their problem, fighting every month?
"Whatever, just leave me alone!"
I sighed. If they would just lower their voices a little, that would already be great.
"Calm down, Nanahoshi," I tried.
"I am calm!"
"Seiji, she's at that time of the month, there's no point trying to reason with—"
"Shut up, Akito!"
"Hey, both of you, calm down!" I said, raising the umbrella. "How about we get out of this rain?"
Nanahoshi turned to me with a look that said she wanted to kill me.
"Well, are we going or not? or do you want to get even wetter than your pad—"
"Argh, I'm sick of this!" she shouted.
Well… women with PMS were like that, always wearing everyone out — and I was no exception. But what really drained me was not the argument itself, and rather standing there, listening to something that had nothing to do with me. Maybe I had even helped push her to yell like that, but honestly, that was just a detail.
Besides, I should have been home. I ended up staying because Nanahoshi, my once-so-dear friend, called me — and Akito too, of course — for a "study session." Deep down, I think she only called me out of embarrassment, so she wouldn't have to deal with her little crush alone.
I sighed and looked at them again.
"Calm down!" I repeated, raising my voice over the rain. "And… Nanahoshi, sorry to say this, but you really are going to get soaked."
"Ugh, I hate that disgusting kind of comment from you!"
"Look… do you really want to keep this going? It's raining like crazy. Let's go to your house, or would you rather keep screaming here?"
"Haa? Now it's my fault?"
"Urgh… fine, sorry. Let me rephrase that: do you want to stay here in the middle of the street, screaming like a child, or do you want us to go to your house before we sink into the rain?"
Nanahoshi narrowed her eyes.
"Look who's talking… You always butt into places you're not wanted, Seiji."
"Nanahoshi, stop. He's just trying to help," Akito said, letting out a long sigh.
She opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. For a moment, her hard expression softened. Her tone changed completely — it turned almost pouty as she looked at Akito.
"...Okay. Sorry. I know I went a little too far."
Then she turned to me, still carrying traces of irritation, but without the force from before.
"And… sorry about that, Seiji. But… you really didn't need to get involved."
It wasn't like she was really mad at me. I had already seen her when she was truly angry. That? That was just noise.
The rain kept falling hard. My crooked umbrella was barely covering my head now. I looked down, worried about the books my mother had given me earlier. Good thing she had warned me that morning that it was going to rain.
Before I left home, she handed me the books — too early to be a gift, but I didn't complain. Then she wrapped everything using the plastic bags she found in the kitchen. It wasn't pretty, but it protected the pages.
At least she thought of that much.
"That should be enough, right?" Nanahoshi huffed, running a hand through her wet hair. "Let's go. We still have things to prepare."
"Things?" Akito frowned.
She looked away for a second, a small smile slipping out.
"Just… let's go. I don't want to get there late."
Things to do? Since when did a study session need that much hurry?
But in the middle of that instant, a shout tore through the street:
"Watch out!"
I turned my head toward the warning. A fat man, completely soaked and with a bruised face, was desperately pointing at something behind us, as if—
"Huh?"
Then it hit me.
A truck was coming straight toward us.
Akito noticed it at the same instant. He threw himself to the side, jumping on Nanahoshi to protect her — without thinking, on pure instinct.
I tried to do the same, but my foot slipped on the wet asphalt.
For a moment, I hesitated.
Too late.
Maybe I should have left when I had the chance. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed there in the middle of that useless argument at all. But "maybe" never went beyond that — just a comforting thought for when it was already too late.
Then I felt a violent yank at my collar.
The man who had shouted before grabbed me, trying to pull me out of the street. But as he pulled, he lost his balance and started falling.
My body reacted before I could think. I shoved him away, using more strength than I knew I had. For a split second, our eyes met. Surprise. Relief.
Ah… at least once in my life, I was useful for something.
Then came the impact.
The deafening sound of metal crushing bones was the last thing I heard.