Chapter 19: Shura field
"Who's mentally ill like you?"
Hikigaya's expression relaxed despite himself. He didn't smile he never smiles but the stiffness in his shoulders loosened just enough to show Narumi had achieved what he wanted: breaking the tension.
"Speaking of which… '21st Century Mental Patient.' Isn't that the name of some rock song?"
Hikigaya muttered under his breath.
"…Ah."
The thought triggered something. Hikigaya's eyes widened slightly as a memory surfaced.
"I remember now… I've seen you before."
He squinted at Narumi, trying to match the boy's face to the blurry recollection.
It was during club recruitment week. He had passed by the guitar club just long enough to hear a shocking, catastrophic sound something that scarred his ears deeply enough that he still remembered it today.
"That bassist… the one who brought a bass guitar to the guitar club audition. The one whose playing was so awful I still have PTSD from it!"
"Pff—"
Yukino Yukinoshita let out a small snort. A real one. Her very first genuine, uncalculated laugh today—harsh, but undeniably amused.
Narumi scratched his curly hair, completely unfazed.
"Hey, going to the guitar club with a bass is peak rock and roll."
Unfortunately Narumi Toru really was tone-deaf.
He never wanted to admit it, and he had fought against it since he was small. He tried piano, drums, violin, clarinet, guitar, bass yet no matter how hard he practiced, the result was always the same.
Club members would listen to him play, then politely– but clearly suggest:
"We would absolutely love to have you… helping backstage."
Narumi's reaction every time was basically:
Who do you think you're rejecting? Fine—if you won't take me, someone else will.
"So Hikigaya-kun," Yukino said, calmly lifting her teacup. "You were impressed by Narumi-kun's… impressive performance when you passed by the guitar club? Is that right?"
Her tone was polite, but the implication beneath it was her second subtle probe of the day.
"I thought you two might've known each other beforehand."
"Hm… if you put it that way…"
Hikigaya frowned, fingers tapping his knee as he tried to dig through the fog of his memory.
There was a strange familiarity about Narumi Toru. A warmth. A sense of déjà vu. Something he couldn't explain.
No, wait—had they spoken somewhere before?
He couldn't be sure.
"Could it be destiny from a previous life?" Narumi suddenly commented with an unreadable expression.
Hikigaya froze.
The dead-fish eyes became even more dead.
No. No puns. No destiny. Never say that again.
But Narumi wasn't joking without reason.
He remembered.
He remembered everything from the simulation, even if no one else did.
As he threw around jokes and nonsense, Narumi carefully observed Yukino and Hikigaya especially Yukino, who sat quietly with her tea, pretending to read.
Is she the same Yukinoshita from the simulation? The one who was fragile, stubborn, pitiful, and somehow… brave?
In the real world, Yukino Yukinoshita and Narumi Toru were people whose paths should never cross.
If the simulation hadn't forced them into the same collapsing world if she hadn't been terminally ill, if he hadn't been trapped with herbthey likely never would have spoken once.
Real Yukino Yukinoshita was a distant beauty. Cold. Sharp. Untouchable. Someone far above him. Nothing like the Yukino who grasped his shirt with shivering fingers as waves swallowed their legs… The Yukino who stayed awake with him on the beach until sunrise… The Yukino who still clung to life despite the agony tearing her apart.
The Yukino he protected.
"…If I had to say which I like better," Narumi murmured, voice low enough no one else noticed, "I'd still prefer Yukinoshita in the simulation."
He exhaled softly. A faint, invisible regret.
And on the other side of the table Yukino was having her own internal war.
His habits, his rhythm of speech, the occasional nonsense, the way he zoned out at the worst moments… all of it matched.
Even his eyes.
The only difference was his age.
She watched him with growing certainty. Her peaceful façade hid the storm beneath her calm, composed features.
Even if he appeared younger than the young man in her memories…
Even if he didn't seem to remember their past…
His essence was the same.
A person may forget, but their nature does not change.
And Yukino knew she knew this was him.
Maybe the world had granted her wish.
Maybe this was fate giving her another chance.
A life where she wasn't sick.
A life where she wasn't overshadowed by her sister.
A life where she could meet Narumi Toru first.
Where she could stand beside him as an equal.
If fate offered her this miracle, then she wouldn't waste it.
She would not let him slip away again.
Across from her, Narumi leaned on his arm, yawning lazily.
And Yukino Yukinoshita, for once in her life, felt something close to hope.
Meanwhile, Hachiman Hikigaya sat at the edge of the clubroom, stiff as a statue.
"Why did they suddenly stop talking…? Did I do something? Am I supposed to leave? Am I already leaving?"
The silence stretched on and on.
Time passed almost unnoticed until school ended.
Everything still followed the trajectory of the simulation. Next would be that troublesome yet kind girl Yui Yuigahama.
Narumi mentally prepared himself.
Yukino was already planning three steps ahead.
Hachiman just wanted to go home.
When club time ended, the three left the room together. At the split in the road, where Hikigaya's path diverged.
Yukino and Narumi were left alone.
The black sedan of the Yukinoshita family rolled to a stop exactly on schedule. The passenger window lowered, and Yukinoshita Haruno leaned out with her familiar practiced smile.
"Yukino~ Big sister is here to pick you up… Hm?"
Her smile froze completely when her eyes landed on the curly-haired boy standing beside Yukino.
"…And who is this?"
Ah.
Yukino Yukinoshita and Narumi Toru ex-lovers in the simulation now faced each other again in the real world.
Yukino, who had planned to move slowly and carefully, felt her heartbeat spike when she saw the slight shift in Haruno's expression. She recognized that look. Haruno rarely showed genuine surprise—but Narumi's presence had pierced her façade.
Narumi Toru's situation was nothing short of absurd.
On one hand was Yukinoshita Haruno, his girlfriend in the simulation's future route someone with whom he'd accumulated countless memories.
On the other hand was Yukino Yukinoshita, her younger sister… the girl who had been willing to trade her life for more time in that collapsing world.
Even if this real world had no connection with the simulation, emotions didn't vanish just because he willed them to. Seeing them both again stirred something complicated inside him.
"Ex-girlfriend and her sister? What a brutal love triangle."
The low, almost monotone voice came from a short-haired girl standing beside the counter a girl with blue hair covering one eye. Her fingers danced lightly as if playing an invisible piano, emotionless face not matching the dramatic words.
"This song is called 'Shura Field,' same title as Tokyo Incidents' track. Dedicated to you, Narumi"
"I'll decline," Narumi cut in immediately.
He leaned against the front desk with his chin in his hand, exhaustion drifting across his expression. The only reason he could be chatting at all was because the shop was practically empty today.
This girl Yamada Ryo was someone Narumi had met at a livehouse during an indie band performance. They weren't childhood friends, nor destined lovers. In fact, their first impression of each other was borderline hostile.
A chance encounter would have been one thing, but after the show ended, Ryo was pushed by the crowd and accidentally stepped on Narumi's shoe. Deep, unmistakable footprint on pristine white.
"Oh. I'm sorry," she had said in the flattest tone, her face unreadable.
"It's fine, it's fine," Narumi replied with an easy smile.
Then, with zero hesitation:
"But these are brand new shoes. Buy me a new pair or lick them clean. Whichever."
Blunt. Rude. Unfiltered.
And that was the exact moment Yamada Ryo's "eccentric radar" went off.
As someone considered a "strange creature" by everyone around her, Ryo had long developed a talent for detecting other weirdos. "Strange" was simply a compliment in her head.
An ordinary high school boy at a livehouse so she thought.
Polite smile, toxic tongue, strange rhythm: weirdness level 5.
Their musical tastes aligned perfectly: weirdness level 10.
During a meal, Ryo insisted on paying only for her food because she ate too fast for him to keep up. Narumi's inability to pick up any subtext earned him weirdness level 5.
Despite being tone-deaf, he joined the guitar club with a bass and played "Water Smoke" so poorly that the entire upstairs office suffered. He even walked right into a trap someone set for him. Taste 5. Eccentricity 50.
Ah. Truly interesting.
"Can I call you Narumi?" she had asked.
"Sure. 500 yen per call." (Oddity: 10)
"Then I'll call you Chirp. It has a nice ring."
"A bad nickname only needs financial compensation—500 yen twice." (Oddity: 10)
"Then call me Ryo."
"Three payments of 500 yen. Cash on delivery." (Oddity: 20)
"Okay then, Ryo. But Ryo-chan, I'm a little short on cash right now. Can you lend me the 500 yen?"
Of course, she never paid him a single yen.
Two monsters met. Two strange wavelengths aligned. Soon enough, they became close enough to chat idly on slow days—and thanks to Ryo, Narumi even picked up his part-time job at Ijichi's performance venue.
"And it's funny, isn't it?" Narumi mused now. "Ryo-chan standing behind the counter, only able to watch guests while she wishes she could be rehearsing and performing on stage."
Yes—Yamada Ryo lived prioritizing fun above all else. That was her worldview.
And that was the story of how the two became friends.
——
But today, Narumi had something heavier on his mind.
"A love triangle between an ex-girlfriend and her sister… A sinful man trapped between two women… Hmm. Sounds like a good song lyric."
Ryo said it like she was analyzing a crime scene. She plucked her bass strings dramatically until Narumi pressed down on her hand.
"I only said it's a possible scenario. I didn't say it was happening to me."
Because in real life, Narumi had zero actual connection with the Yukinoshita sisters.
What happened in the simulation belonged to the Narumi in that world, not him.
(At least, that's what he insisted to himself while leaning back like a man dodging responsibility.)
"I understand," Ryo said flatly, snapping her fingers in an oddly supportive gesture. "You have a 'friend.'"
Her tone made it sound like she knew exactly what he was trying to avoid.
End Of Chapter