Chapter 8: A two-way journey.
Hagiwara Kenji carefully recalled the time he spent with his friends during this period.
With his rich imagination and keen observation skills, Hagiwara Kenji, who had just watched a horror movie with his older sister the day before, almost immediately felt his thoughts sink into an abyss.
He ignored his mother calling him from behind that it was time to eat, rushed to Matsuda Jinpei's house, and pressed the doorbell on tiptoe.
Matsuda Jinpei opened the door, looking puzzled, and asked, "Hagiwara?"
"Jinpei-chan—I suspect we've seen a ghost!"
Matsuda Jinpei: "...Huh?"
Hagiwara Kenji said, "That's right, didn't you notice that no matter whether we arrive early or late, Sora'aki-chan is always waiting for us in the same spot?"
"And he can only be seen at dusk—"
An abandoned park, appearing only in one place, and during the Twilight hour—isn't this a classic trope from horror movies?!
Matsuda Jinpei: "Are you an idiot? The park is because we originally agreed to meet there. He was waiting there because we arranged to meet the day before. As for the time... that's when we get out of school!!"
Hagiwara Kenji blinked pitifully, but before he could say anything, Hagiwara Chihaya, still wearing her middle school uniform, jogged over and grabbed his collar: "Sorry, did this guy bother you? I'm about to have dinner at home, so I'll be going now."
"Wait—I haven't finished speaking yet!"
"Shut up, you can talk about it at school tomorrow. Don't you know your mother will worry?"
Matsuda Jinpei immediately quieted down after Hagiwara Chihaya appeared, his cheeks flushed slightly, but unfortunately it was too dark for anyone to notice.
The next day, during class break, Hagiwara Kenji continued discussing this issue with Matsuda Jinpei.
Unfortunately, Matsuda Jinpei didn't seem interested in that, and instead asked, "Was that your sister last night?"
"Yes, she's my older sister. What's wrong?" Hagiwara Kenji didn't care about that at all, and continued, "I really think it's too much of a coincidence! I even asked my classmates today, and they said they'd never seen him before!"
"Because we're the only ones who pass through there on our way home." Matsuda Jinpei scoffed. "If you're really scared, why don't you go ask this afternoon?"
"...I'm not scared!" Hagiwara Kenji wasn't feigning composure; children's minds are simpler. He worriedly said, "I'm just thinking, if Sora'aki-chan really is a demon... then he must be very lonely, right? Always alone... and he's so young..."
Matsuda Jinpei was stunned. The elementary school student with curly hair blinked and said, "If you're worried, go ask him this afternoon."
"Besides, there are no monks nearby, perhaps because he lives far away?"
Hagiwara Kenji sighed like a little adult: "I hope so..."
So when Morofushi Sora'aki appeared at the small park again as agreed, after waiting for two minutes, he saw Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei walking over with serious expressions.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "?"
Hagiwara Kenji considered the tropes of horror movies for a moment, stopping Matsuda Jinpei from asking directly. Instead, he looked at Morofushi Sora'aki's shadow—great, there's a shadow!
Then Hagiwara Kenji spoke up, "Speaking of which, Sora'aki-chan, where do you live?"
"Not here." Morofushi Sora'aki, sitting on the swing, swayed for a moment and answered honestly.
"Does that mean living in a very far place?" Hagiwara Kenji asked again.
"No." Morofushi Sora'aki didn't speak often, but when asked a question, he would still answer according to his own thoughts.
So when Hagiwara Kenji pressed him for an answer, he replied once again, "It means not in this world."
This time, even Matsuda Jinpei, who adhered to a scientific worldview, remained silent.
"Wait, did I hear that right?" Matsuda Jinpei asked hesitantly.
"Did you get sand in your ears?" Morofushi Sora'aki tilted his head. "I said, not in this world."
Hagiwara Kenji's smile froze: "Huh?"
Seeing Sora'aki's confusion and realizing that such a question wouldn't elicit an answer they could understand, Hagiwara Kenji changed the subject: "What about Sora'aki-chan's parents? You mentioned before that you have an older brother, right?"
"They are not in this world either." Morofushi Sora'aki was extremely honest.
This time, both Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji remained silent.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." Hagiwara Kenji's eyes instantly filled with panic and apology: "I don't know..."
Morofushi Sora'aki looked at Hagiwara Kenji, who was on the verge of tears, with a puzzled expression: "Why are you apologizing? What's wrong with you?"
"..." Matsuda Jinpei grabbed Hagiwara Kenji by the collar and pulled him back, taking the initiative to take the lead in this strange conversation: "This guy suspects you're a ghost because you're only here at this time every day."
Morofushi Sora'aki replied earnestly, "Because you arranged this time."
"What about other times?"
"at home."
Hagiwara Kenji suddenly paused, "Huh?"
Matsuda Jinpei sighed: "So you didn't die, you're not a ghost, right?"
Morofushi Sora'aki was even more puzzled and replied, "No, no, that's right."
Matsuda Jinpei: "And what about your parents?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "At home."
Matsuda Jinpei: "Where's your brother?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "One goes to work, and the other goes to school."
Matsuda Jinpei: "So you're all alive, right?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "...Who's dead?"
Matsuda Jinpei chuckled, "Hey, Hagiwara, did you hear that?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji silently crouched in the corner, twirling his fingers on the sandpit: This is so embarrassing...!
Finding that Morofushi Sora'aki was always responsive to his questions, Matsuda Jinpei continued, "Is it usually a hassle for you to come here?"
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment; he had come while he was sleeping: "It's alright."
Matsuda Jinpei: "In that case...don't you usually go to school? Which school do you attend?"
"I'm dropping out of school." Morofushi Sora'aki jumped off the swing, walked behind Hagiwara Kenji, and, just like Matsuda Jinpei had done earlier, grabbed Hagiwara Kenji's collar, trying to pull him up: "I don't like school."
"What a coincidence, I don't really like them either." Matsuda Jinpei clicked his tongue, then suddenly remembered an important question and casually asked, "By the way, if that's the case, why did you say earlier that they weren't in this world?"
Morofushi Sora'aki turned his head and tilted it in confusion: "Because... isn't this a game?"
Hagiwara Kenji, who had just stood up, froze: "Huh?"
Matsuda Jinpei, who hadn't expected this answer, said: "Hmm?"
Morofushi Sora'aki blinked innocently.
Matsuda Jinpei seemed to understand something in an instant; he narrowed his eyes: "So that's why you suddenly and inexplicably beat me up before—"
"You're the one who hit me." Morofushi Sora'aki's expression instantly turned unhappy.
Morofushi Sora'aki's impression of a person largely comes down to the first impression, because he remembers a lot of things. Every time he sees Matsuda Jinpei, he remembers the time he was beaten up when they first met.
Even if no one deliberately brings it up, such images and impressions will appear in his mind. He remembers every little detail of that time, even the direction of the wind.
"You were even more ruthless later on... never mind, that's not the point. So, back then, you suddenly did that for no reason—because you thought it was a game?"
Seeing Morofushi Sora'aki obediently nodding, Matsuda Jinpei felt his fist harden, but then a strange thought came to his mind.
Hagiwara treats Morofushi like demons, while Morofushi treats them like a game—goodness, is this what others call a two-way journey?
Morofushi Sora'aki was inwardly marveling at how intelligent the NPCs were, when Hagiwara Kenji suddenly spoke up: "Then why did you fight with Jinpei-chan? Even in a game, Sora'aki-chan wouldn't just randomly hit 'people', would he?"
Morofushi Sora'aki slowly blinked: "Hmm."
Matsuda Jinpei also sensed something was wrong. Although he hadn't known him for long, he could understand Morofushi Sora'aki's personality to some extent. Thinking about it, it was really unreasonable for Morofushi Sora'aki to beat him up.
Just as he was about to ask, Hagiwara Kenji interrupted him. Hagiwara seemed to be naturally sensitive to these things, and he asked, "So, Sora'aki-chan, do you see us as characters in a game?"
Hagiwara Kenji observed the momentary surprise in Morofushi Sora'aki's eyes and smiled slightly: "But have you considered another possibility?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "...Hmm?"
"Besides NPCs, aren't there also player characters in the game?" Hagiwara Kenji said.