My home is in a seven-story apartment building in a residential neighborhood called "Aster District". It is only a ten-minute walk from the high school you attended. Because the apartment building is located at the very edge of the community, and there are no particularly tall buildings around, the balcony has a very large view.

One Sunday near the end of summer, I woke up shortly when I received a letter from my parents who were away on a business trip in the mailbox at the top of the stairs. Probably because of nostalgia, although they have a phone at home, they seem to prefer the exchange of letters.

In addition to asking for warmth, the letter also specifically mentioned the problem of skipping class a while ago. Because I was an honor student who had never missed school, I was occasionally missed by my teacher.

In fact, I had been missing for three days in the old toilet at my school, and I woke up to find myself in a public toilet a few blocks away from my home, and I had no memory of everything that happened during my disappearance.

I was also told by a senior at the school. However, he disappeared for a longer period of time, causing a storm at the school, and was eventually found by the police.

I didn't report my matter to the police. In fact, even if you declare it, you will be thrown aside. The disappearance has not been long and I have no memory, although there are some objects that can probably be used as evidence, but for personal reasons and fear of trouble, it will not be gone.

Because there was no evidence from the police station, I couldn't tell the teacher the real reason, so I could only find a random reason, and I was reprimanded by the head teacher. However, the aura of the honor student began to take effect, and substantial punishment was exempted.

Naturally, my classmates were also surprised by my absenteeism from breaking the golden body, and when I appeared in the class, they all looked around with great interest. Thanks to the fact that I usually take interpersonal relationships seriously, as soon as the bell rings at the end of class, the guy with an active personality will surround me and interrogate me.

Of course, it's impossible to tell the real reason, but the look in my table mate is a little strange, and he probably thinks of the strange talk about the old school toilet. Not only did he mention it before I disappeared, but he also told me that I often went to the old toilet and warned me about a similar joke. However, he did not get any substantial evidence from me.

In short, the wave of curiosity did not subside until four days later, until it subsided.

In fact, it is not completely clueless about what happened during the disappearance. The strange coat he wore when he woke up in a public toilet may reveal some clues to the battle that might have taken place at the time. The included backpack also contains a lot of items that are relatively ordinary and slightly bizarre in everyday life. Not only is there one of the hottest gaming consoles of the moment, but there is even a revolver that has run out of bullets, and there are still three bullets left in the revolver.

The most important thing is a diary, which records many seemingly absurd and thrilling things, and the first part of it is no problem to read it as a third-rate fantasy adventure novel. And it was undoubtedly his own handwriting that wrote down these things.

And their own bodies. Although I was very tired when I first woke up, and there were wounds of all sizes, I have fully recovered after a week of repair, and I am stronger and stronger than before.

In the week since I returned from disappearance, I put aside all my surprise and doubts, locked all the evidence in my closet, and seriously eulogized my youth in high school.

After finishing the homework, I wrote a serious reply to my parents, attaching the reason for making up the work, so that they did not need to worry. In addition to being considerate of their hard work and not wanting to cause any extraneous problems, I also don't want to end my free life of solitude just like that.

Before I went to send the letter, I fed a pet named "Quark". This guy is a crow, and because of his long training, he is a scavenger, and he has changed his recipe to fresh raw meat.

It also has a legendary origin, when a murder occurred in the park near where it was found, seven years ago.

When I was 10 years old, I went to play alone in a nearby park, and a group of children of the same age cheered under a big tree ten meters away from the bunker. However, we soon discovered that the fluttering crow was holding a round ball in its mouth, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an eyeball.

The blood had clotted, and the atrophied nerve tissue was still attached to the back of the eyeball, giving off a foul smell.

The frightened children scattered in a hurry. I didn't feel sick at all, so I plucked my eyeballs off with a branch, took the unlucky crow home and raised it, and named it "Quark".

That night, the city's television station aired a report of a murder and burial of a corpse in the park, less than 50 meters from where the quark and eyeballs were found.

Because Quark has such a legendary experience, I also have the honor of living an ordinary life, so I take care of it more carefully. Although he has no experience with pets and has not trained him in particular, Quark has been able to stay in this house very peacefully after recovering from his injury.

Although in custom the crow is synonymous with disaster, in fact the crow is an animal with a high IQ.

Quarks are not only empathetic, but also very alert, and can imitate many funny sounds. I didn't keep it in a cage from the beginning, it lived on the sundeck and could come and go freely.

I brought the fresh meat to the table in an aluminum soup bowl, and the quark began to flutter from afar, and I was a little surprised because it was not the same as when I usually eat. Hoarse, without the slightest joy, as if restoring the nature of human cognition, in the message of some ominousness.

I put the fresh meat in front of it, and it immediately quieted down, pecked a few bites, and looked into the distance.

I followed its gaze and leaned over to the left. Although I didn't see anything special, the scenery was shrouded in a gloomy sky as always, and the quark's unusual behavior made people feel even more gloomy.

When I went to send a letter, I carried this feeling of joy that could not be talked about.

Throwing the letter into the mailbox at the entrance of the community, I decided to go in the direction that Quark was looking at. As if he had made my decision, Quark suddenly flew down from the sky and stood on my shoulder.

"Mom." A passing child tugged at an adult's clothes: "Crow, crow." ”

The surprised eyes of the passers-by fell on me. Some were amazed, a few girls hesitated to take a closer look, and others walked away with a look of obscurity. ,

I got used to such stares, ignored them, and walked forward, and soon those eyes gradually faded away. I didn't have a fixed goal, so I didn't decide where I would go. Coming to the overpass across the main road, the quark suddenly flew up, and my eyes followed its figure.

As soon as I turned around, I saw a somewhat familiar figure passing by in the flow of people.

The girl wore glasses, wrapped her body in an old-fashioned sportswear, pulled her chest tightly, and hurried with her head down, as if she would fall at the slightest touch.

In fact, she is very good-looking, and her physical strength and health are at the level of this age, but she feels quite slender and quiet, and she is a marginal person in school because of her introversion.

It's called Sakiya, right?

The reason why I have the impression that one day when I was in the first grade, I was giving a report at the student council and came home late, and when I went down the stairs, I saw her walking up alone with a bucket of water. Out of the cordiality and sense of responsibility of the honor student and member of the student council, I helped her carry the water back to the classroom, only to realize that she was cleaning up after school alone.

"There is no teacher in this grade who would let a girl clean the classroom alone. What about the others? ”

My cold, sudden inquiry seemed to startle her, and her shoulder jumped, and the rag almost fell out of her hand.

"Ben, there was a ...... Other classmates. She said timidly, as if she had done something wrong, and did not dare to look at it: "They said to go to the bathroom...... But I've been waiting for a long time......"

"Didn't come back?"

"Yes, yes."

"Sweeping and playing peeing, and leaving everything to the girls to do, it's really a group of little ghosts who don't grow up." I sneered, "You've assigned tasks before, right?" Isn't it okay to do your part well? ”

Obviously she wasn't blaming her, but she had an expression that was about to cry.

"However, if you only do your part, you can't clean the classroom."

"I said you, that's how you usually look, that's why they gave you all the work, right?"

"Yes, is that so?"

"Of course it is. Although it looks like a very childish bullying and exclusion, if there is no limit to forbearance, it will gradually escalate. It will become disgusted with school, and even disgusted with life, so there are many students who jump off the building. ”

"Good, it's scary."

"So that's all for today."

Listening to my words, she seemed a little overwhelmed. I snatched her rag and supervised her to drain the water and put the cleaning utensils back in their original places. After locking the classroom door, she was still very nervous, as if she didn't care about not wanting to sleep well all night.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Sakiya."

"I'll tell you about it." I pulled out the armband of the student council.

"Ah, the ...... of the student council You are? ”

"Takakawa in the same grade."

"Sue, it's okay to tell the teacher? It's not a child again...... And it's not that serious. She said with some trepidation.

"Those who don't have their own strength should learn to borrow other people's strength." I stared into her eyes, and she couldn't help but lower her face slightly, "Maybe after telling the teacher, you will be more strongly ostracized by these people, but as long as you puff up your chest, it's okay, because it's not your fault." ”

"Classmates' words...... The relationship can't be bad. ”

"Do you have a good relationship with them now?" In the face of my cross-examination, she was silent: "I don't want to compromise on friendship." ”

"Is that so?"

"At least for now, you won't be appreciated for making compromises anyway, so just keep your head up." I said to her seriously: "If you are bullied, it is inconvenient to tell the teacher, so report my name." If you don't have a friend, I'll be your friend. ”

"Yes...... Is that so? She looked up in amazement, stared at me for a moment, and smiled, "Hmm! I know it! ”

Memories of the past revived with Sakuya's back.,In fact, after that time I met her.,I haven't had formal contact with her again.。 Because it wasn't long before I often saw her and the female classmates in the class coming and going in pairs, shyly but cheerfully smiling.

This is the end of my relationship with Sakiya. As time passed, I had almost forgotten that evening, and I didn't know much about its aftermath of the transformation.

Now that they met by chance, her complexion didn't look very good, and her clenching chest was not cold, but more like some kind of unspeakable pain.

I was a little concerned and chased after it.

"Sakiya."

At the sound of my voice, the girl's swift steps stopped, and her face turned with a hint of confusion, and then became stunned.

"Takakawa-san?"