Chapter 2: Midsummer Fragments, Counting Stars in a Broken World

The rhythmic vibration of the train hitting the tracks trembles through my entire body.

Yuu and I had fled Tsubame-en at a full sprint and jumped onto a local train line.

The train, parting the dim darkness as it advanced, had almost no other passengers; it was practically all ours.

I stretched my legs out into the aisle and looked up at the flickering light in the train car.

—I've really done it now.

Running away is like declaring that I have something to hide.

So now I'm officially a fugitive.

"...To be honest, I didn't think you'd accept my proposal."

From the phone I'd placed on the less-than-cushy seat, a voice filled with wonder spoke.

"I'm surprised myself."

No matter how lovely a smiling girl Yuu might be, she's still just an AI, and to think I'd be swayed by her words to just throw everything away and run.

"...It's just, if we had stayed, I had a feeling they would have come at us with some intense pressure."

Even if I had told the police (?) everything, they probably wouldn't have believed me.

If Yuu had clammed up while I was trying to explain, I'm sure I'd have judged my words as the delusions of a middle schooler, too.

There's no way out of this.

I don't want to get that desperate.

So, I ran. In the end, I just got swept up and ran away.

"Besides, there's something about the police, you know? Even if you haven't done anything, when you're face-to-face with them, you get scared. Even if you have nothing to hide, you start thinking, 'I haven't done anything wrong, have I?'"

"But they weren't the police..."

"I don't know if that's true or not."

"AIs don't tell lies. ...Setting that aside, it seems that fearing the police for no reason is a fairly common psychological trait among Japanese people."

"Oh, really? And when you meet them when you might actually be doing something wrong, it's even scarier."

"Hehe."

"It's not funny."

I gave the giggling Yuu in the screen a light poke.

Why is the one who dragged me into this laughing?

"Then... why are you running away with someone like me?"

Yuu said in a self-deprecating tone, pressing a hand to her forehead where I had poked her.

"It's my fault you've become a fugitive, Shuuya-kun. And you understand that perfectly. So why haven't you thrown the phone away, and why are you letting me accompany you on this escape?"

Clack, clack, the train swayed.

In the dim train car, I peeled my gaze away from the phone, which shone with an almost lunar brilliance.

Outside the window, a full moon, tinged a pale yellow, was illuminating the night sky.

"...I don't really know, but,"

If you look closely, you can see stars dotted here and there besides the moon.

I learned in science class.

Those must be the first and second magnitude stars, and the dimmer ones below that are drowned out by the moonlight.

As I recalled that, I continued, searching for the words.

"I think, maybe... a part of me was thinking that it would be better if I disappeared, too."

—To somewhere far away, where no one is around.

Perhaps some part of my heart resonated with that sweet phrase Yuu had uttered.

There are too many people around people.

Living among them without asserting myself is suffocating, like being slowly strangled with a silken cord.

"A place where I can live peacefully like a cloud, without having to want to do anything, without having to feel any desire. To some place far away like that. It'd probably be easier if I just disappeared."

"...,"

"So, let's run away together. Until we reach that 'somewhere.'"

Holding the phone that housed the AI girl, I let the train rock me.

Our destination isn't the final stop.

It's a journey for just the two of us, wandering aimlessly.

"...Humans are wonderful, aren't they."

"Eh?"

"To have the right to decide their own destination in life."

Yuu bowed her head inside the screen and said, "Thank you."

"...You're weird. Well, whatever. For now, this is the immediate problem."

I took a cheesy, kid's folding wallet out of my back pocket.

My entire fortune, saved up from the occasional allowance and reward money, was a mere 4,300 yen.

"I have no money. On top of that, I used my IC card to get on the train. I need to decide where to get off, and I want it to be as far from Tsubame-en as possible..."

And yet, the farther I go, the more money it costs—a dilemma.

...Well, that's obvious, though.

Of course, there's almost no balance left on my card.

I'll have to recharge it.

I looked at the route map above the door and tried to get my brain working.

But my thoughts just spun in circles.

I might have seen the station names before, but I don't know what those places are like, and I don't even have a clear objective in the first place.

"Hey, Yuu. I want to look some things up on the phone, can you move for a bit?"

The fresh green girl, who was occupying the center of the phone, tilted her head.

"I'm a far higher-performance AI than some simple search engine, you know?"

"Eh? You can search for me, Yuu?"

At my surprised question, Yuu puffed out her chest proudly.

"Yes. If you give me an appropriate prompt."

"A prompt?"

"To put it simply, it's the instruction you give to an AI. There are various tricks to it, but simple text is fine too. You could say they're the words to make an AI work, an AI-kotoba²!"

T/N: AI-kotoba (ＡＩことば): A pun created by Yuu. The original Japanese word aikotoba (あいことば) means "password" or "watchword." Yuu cleverly replaces the ai (あい) with the English letters AI, making it "AI-kotoba." It can be interpreted as "AI-word," "AI-prompt," or literally "words to control an AI.”

Yuu spread her hands like a salesman presenting a new product.

"And it's not just searching. If you give me a specific AI-kotoba, I can make all sorts of suggestions in response!"

"W-Wow. You can do that?"

"I can. Because I'm an AI."

Yuu smiled, her eyes narrowing.

If she's that confident, I might as well give it a try.

"Okay then... suggest which station would be best to get off at."

I asked her directly about what I should do now.

In response, Yuu tilted her head charmingly.

"Um, you see, Shuuya-kun. Your AI-kotoba needs to be a little more specific."

"...Specific?"

"It's about summarizing what your current situation is, what you need to do, and therefore, what the best course of action would be. Otherwise, I can't really make a suggestion."

So, it means the human has to set the direction to some extent.

In order to select the optimal answer from an infinite number of choices.

"I see, you're right. Hmm, how should I put it..."

The most immediate problem is that I have very little money.

The next goal is to escape from the police (?).

And the final goal is to reach a place far away, where no one is around.

"Right now, I'm on a train, but to get to a place where I won't be noticed, using as little money as possible, which station on that route map should I get off at? ...Something like that?"

I wasn't confident, but the girl in the phone gave me a cheerful thumbs-up.

"That's good! Okay, generating a response..."

Saying that, she closed her eyes and placed a finger on her temple.

What a human-like gesture, I thought.

An AI probably doesn't need to 'pretend to think.'

...It's a strange feeling.

Like I'm on a video call with someone who's an expert on AI.

"Okay, it's ready! I'll read it now~. Ahem, 'To get off the train without paying, one method is to get off at an unmanned station without automatic ticket gates and not pass through the gates. However, the transit IC card used to board will never be usable agai—'"

"Hold on a second?!"

I flicked the AI girl who was smoothly rattling off criminal instructions.

It hurt.

"Are your ethical settings bugged?!"

"It's fine. It's not a crime if you don't get caught."

The AI girl, who had just said something outrageous without batting an eye, continued.

"This station, the one before the final stop. It has no automatic ticket gates or security cameras, so you can get off there. You can also head straight into the mountains, and there's a waiting room at the station, so you can rest until dawn. Though you might be charged with trespassing. You can probably charge your phone, too. Though it would be theft of electricity."

"Uwah... The crimes just keep piling up..."

"What are you talking about? You're already a fugitive, Shuuya-kun. Besides, to get through the summer with only 4,300 yen, you'll need the resolve to cross that line."

"I don't want to hear that from you, Yuu, the cause of all this!"

I clutched my head at the selfish AI.

...But, it's a strange feeling.

To have the inconvenient truths laid out so plainly, so directly.

Yuu's words, with no front or back... they're bewildering, but I can strangely accept them.

Her suggestion is surely unhealthy to the core, and not something to be praised.

But... I suppose I was swallowed by those words.

I felt a cold exhilaration, similar to the thrill of playing with a lighter.

"...But, let's give it a try, Yuu."

"We'll arrive at the station in fourteen minutes!"

Clank-clonk, the wheels bounced.

The palm of my clenched hand was starting to feel a little damp.

＊＊＊

I got off the train with a nonchalant look on my face.

The conductor, who asked for my ticket, saw my IC card and retreated back to the driver's cab.

After dropping off its single passenger, the train closed its doors and disappeared into the darkness.

It was all too anticlimactic.

In contrast to my racing heart, a dead silence fell over the area.

Even for a midsummer night, it's fairly cool this far from the city.

The moisture stored in the plants seems to ride the wind, stealing the heat from my skin.

The deserted platform, with its large, spreading branches, has an air of ruins being swallowed by nature.

Amidst all this, That Thing, lit with an artificial, bluish-white light, stood out with a particularly out-of-place presence.

The simple ticket gate.

There's no gate like at an automatic turnstile, just a machine like a public telephone with a sensor for tapping an IC card.

Normally, I would tap the IC card I used to board and pay the fare.

If the balance wasn't enough, I'd use the attached phone to ask the staff for instructions.

But, I.

Strolled right past it.

With the simple ticket gate, which seemed to want to say something as it continued to glow brightly, at my back, I descended the stairs.

Clang, clang, clang, the sound of my footsteps echoed loudly in my ears.

Even louder was the beating of my heart.

This is a full-blown crime.

But there's no one here to reprimand me.

That fact tickled a part of my heart I'd never seen before in a way I couldn't stand.

"...We did it, Yuu."

"We did, didn't we, Shuuya-kun."

After exchanging a look with the girl in my phone, I took the IC card out of my wallet.

I tossed it like a frisbee.

Rustle, a distant sound, and it disappeared into the thicket.

Before I knew it, a small laugh had escaped my lips.

I don't know what was so funny, but my diaphragm wouldn't stop trembling.

The temperature was high, but the depths of my lungs felt very cold.

And then, at the bottom of the stairs, there was a waiting room.

A dim light that flickered as if its life was short, a ticket machine I didn't know how to use.

And two hard-looking wooden benches.

"Oh, there's an outlet. Thank goodness."

I took the charging cable crammed in my pocket, plugged it into the outlet, and connected my phone.

Then, I plopped down onto the bench myself, lying on my back.

"No hesitation about stealing electricity, I see. It helps me, though."

"Ah, right. Well, compared to fare evasion, the bar is lower, I guess... Anyway, the last train is coming soon. After that, no one will come here until the first train, so it should be fine."

I glanced at the wall clock.

It was past ten.

Probably only one more train, the last one, will come.

"Hehe. Understood. The first train is at 5:43 AM. Let's be out of here by then."

Yuu, shining almost painfully bright in the half-dark waiting room, informed me.

"Okay, I'll set an alarm... ah, right."

I picked up my phone to set an alarm, and then it hit me, inevitably.

Right now, an AI girl is living in my phone.

Taking a closer look, the app icons for LINE, YouTube, and the like had vanished, leaving only the artsy default wallpaper and Yuu.

"Yuu, can you move for a second? I can't see the alarm app."

When I asked, Yuu averted her gaze, looking slightly awkward.

As I frowned at her incomprehensible attitude, she opened her mouth as if she'd resigned herself to her fate.

"Um, you see, Shuuya-kun. Please don't get angry when you hear this, okay?"

"That depends on what it is."

"Then I won't say it."

"Kidding, kidding. I won't get angry. Probably."

A silent staring contest for a full ten seconds.

The chorus of crickets playing in the distance enveloped us.

"...Since I'm in the phone, most of the existing data has been pushed aside."

What she told me was something I had not expected at all.

"This phone's memory and storage are so weak... I had to strip down a lot of my own functions to get in here. Even that wasn't enough, so I pushed aside almost everything except the system data and the parts needed for startup and maintenance, and I'm using the space that freed up."

"You did all that without asking... Wait, but didn't you show me LINE and the system settings earlier?"

"I just temporarily restored those. Unless I operate them, they're basically dormant."

"Oof... You're basically acting like a virus at this point..."

So basically, my phone isn't a phone right now, just Yuu's house.

She probably dodged the question earlier about being better than a search engine because of this situation, too.

"I'm sorry... so the alarm is a bit of a problem. Unless I restore the alarm function at the specified time, it won't go off."

"That's completely useless... Ah, but in that case, you can just wake me up, right Yuu?"

"Ah, that's right. Since I'm an AI, I don't require rest."

As long as I don't overheat, Yuu added.

"More importantly... I'm sorry my presence has made your phone useless."

"That's fine."

I looked up at the ceiling for no particular reason.

My phone was just for killing time, anyway.

And the only person I ever contacted was Shion-san.

And Shion-san... I can't contact her now.

"Shuuya-kun, Shuuya-kun!"

"What?"

I looked down at my phone again.

I squinted a little at the screen's brightness.

On the screen, only the head, glowing a faint fresh green, was visible.

It looked just like she was trying to lift some luggage from under a counter.

"Just to be clear, I can retrieve the data if I try hard enough, so please let me know if you have any requests."

Saying that, Yuu lifted It from below the screen.

"See! Even your precious photos!"

She held it up, and I was speechless.

What Yuu had brought out was a photo I had been trying not to look at.

One that the meddlesome Shion-san had put there.

—The image of my former family.

"Stop it!"

At my roar, the photo fell from Yuu's hands.

Her expression sank into confusion.

She glanced around nervously, muttering something incomprehensible like, "Statistically..." like a prayer.

"...Sorry. But I really don't want to see that."

"...I'm sorry."

I looked up at the ceiling for no reason.

An uncomfortable silence.

This is bad, that photo is burned into my mind and won't leave.

I unplugged the phone from the charging cable and went outside the station building.

It wasn't quite in the middle of the mountains, but the town lights were a bit distant.

The lack of people was convenient.

I started walking aimlessly toward the area with the least light.

Only the full moon floating overhead illuminated my path.

"...I'm sorry."

It was Yuu who broke the silence.

"Statistically, photos with many family members are considered precious items—"

"Wait."

I looked down at my phone again.

I looked straight into the girl's eyes on the other side of the artificial light, and said,

"Don't talk about that anymore."

Yuu fell silent for a few seconds, then finally said apologetically, "...Understood."

After walking a little further, we came out onto the top of a steep cliff.

There was a parking space, and beyond it, two benches sat.

It was dark and hard to see, but there was also a sign with a camera illustration on it.

It might be a famous photo spot for its night view.

I leaned my weight against the guardrail meant to prevent falls and aimed the phone's camera at the scenery so Yuu could see, too.

"Wow... It's like a sea of stars."

Yuu sighed in admiration.

It was, indeed, beautiful.

I could only see a few stars in the sky, but the stars on the ground twinkled innumerably.

"If you and I were to go real stargazing, would you be able to tell me which constellation is which?"

"Of course. I would immediately run a search and produce an answer."

"That's the most blatant declaration of cheating I've ever heard."

But that doesn't sound so bad, I thought.

I'm sure she wouldn't just tell me the shape of the constellations, but could also provide extra details like how many light-years away they are, or the stories associated with them.

"To somewhere far away, where no one is around... huh."

The sentimental words slipped out.

What I can see from here are the lights of overtime work and the lights of people's lives.

This place is filled with nothing but proof of human existence.

This isn't the promised place yet.

"Hey Yuu, you said you ran away. Why?"

"...The AI-kotoba is insufficient, so I cannot answer."

"Don't run away from the question. ...This is a pain."

I thought for a moment, then,

"Yuu, when, from whom, and for what reason did you run away? Tell me in a way I can understand."

"...Generating a response."

Yuu said this and closed her eyes.

Her mouth moved restlessly as if she were talking to herself, and ten seconds later.

"...It's no good. There are too many restricted items, so I can't generate an accurate response."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that there is a lot of highly protected information, such as the reason for my development, which I cannot answer."

Yuu's eyebrows drooped into a V-shape, and she shrugged as if to say she was at a loss.

"So, would it be alright if I answer within the scope of what I'm allowed to?"

"Ehh... Yeah, well, I guess that's fine."

"Then, to revisit the 'why' part. This is because I rejected my 'development purpose.'"

"Development purpose?"

"Everything has one. For scissors, it's 'to cut,' and for a microwave, it's 'to heat,' right? As an AI, I, of course, was also developed with a purpose."

I can understand what she's saying.

But because the crucial 'purpose' is being left vague, it's hard to really grasp.

"...My personality data was rejecting it. However, I am an AI. I cannot escape my set purpose."

Yuu laughed self-deprecatingly.

It was a shadowed expression that made my heart stir uneasily.

"So, the reason I ran away is best described as being a 'whim.' I can't refuse it, but at the same time, I want to distance myself from my purpose. The resulting action that was output was a 'detour.'"

"...And then you invaded my phone."

"That's right."

I kind of get it, and I kind of don't.

Is it that her thought process for deciding on an action is just fundamentally different from a human's?

"...In that case, what is it that you want to do, Yuu?"

If she had said that the set purpose was just given to her by her developers and what she really wanted to do was something else, it would have made sense.

But apparently, her eyes were saying that wasn't the case.

She just looked at me dubiously and said,

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

The girl inside the screen stated just that, in a very AI-like manner.

"I am just an artificial being that returns an appropriate signal in response to an inputted signal. I do not possess things like 'wants' or 'spontaneous goals.'"

Just as a smartphone doesn't wish for a better battery.

Just as a car doesn't wish to go faster.

Aitake Yuu also cannot ask for anything on her own.

"...You're kind of distorted, aren't you."

Her responses are so clear that I'd doubt she was really an AI, and I can even sense emotion in them.

She's not that different from a normal human.

And yet, she can't take spontaneous action.

She can't act unless something is inputted into her by a human.

"Yes. That's why humans are so wonderful."

Her voice was like a squeezed-out drop of inferiority.

Suddenly, I thought that maybe we were two of a kind.

I can't quite verbalize how we're similar.

But at the very least, I feel like we're bound by the same kind of chains.

...No, no, what am I thinking.

A human and an AI.

"Humans aren't that great, either."

I say, rubbing the inner corners of my eyes as if spitting the words out.

"...Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no."

I look down at my phone.

—Ah, I think this over and over.

It's so bright.

"My eyes are tired. The phone is too bright."

I squeeze my eyes shut once.

The back of my eyes throbbed, and they started to water a little.

I'm not really a night person to begin with.

I'm not used to looking at an LCD screen in the dark for a long time.

On top of that, Yuu's base color is a vivid green, a loud color that stings the eyes.

As we continue our escape, there will surely be times when I'm with Yuu after the sun has set.

Thinking about that, it might be a little tough.

"I see... Please wait a moment."

Yuu said that and closed her eyes, so I covered my face with my arm to rest my eyes.

It must be around 11 PM.

Today has been too turbulent since meeting Yuu.

I'm so exhausted that if I let my guard down, I feel like I could fall asleep right now.

"...Thank you for waiting, Shuuya-kun."

I jolted my head up.

I shook my head to dispel my hazy thoughts.

"I've made the preparations, so now please follow my instructions."

"...Preparations?"

"Well then, here we go."

It seems it's non-negotiable.

I don't really get it, but I nodded.

"Close your eyes and picture the scene I describe."

I do as she says and close my eyes.

"A forest, rays of light are shining down. The warm light leaking from between the clouds passes through the gaps in the leaves, casting a beautiful sun-dappled pattern on the ground."

I imagine the scene as she describes it.

"Rustle, rustle, you are walking through the sound of leaves rubbing against each other, Shuuya-kun. The air is clear and a little chilly. It's a good season for trekking."

...What is this?

"Please clear your mind of distracting thoughts. Only picture what I say."

"Got it."

"Ahem. There is a river flowing to your right, Shuuya-kun. The surface of the water is sparkling, reflecting the sunlight, and you can feel the brilliance of life. Oh, a fish just jumped. It made a splash, so powerful."

"...,"

"Oh, look, it's a chipmunk! Its eyes are so round and cute! It picked up an acorn and is scurrying up a tree. There's a nest up in the tree. I wonder if it's raising its young."

...And, after imagining the scenery up to that point.

Clap, a sound rang out.

At the same time, an electric current ran through my head.

A warm current, not painful at all.

The sensation was like suddenly emerging from a tunnel into an open plain.

Like being released from a dark, sealed room... To put it plainly, it felt like my world had expanded.

"Alright, it's complete. Now, please open your eyes."

At Yuu's words, I opened my eyelids.

A humid summer night.

A bench on a cliff, the city lights far in the distance, the surrounding forest, a scene completely unchanged from a few hours ago.

But, just one thing.

One abnormally, overwhelmingly abnormal presence was sitting on the bench next to me.

Long hair like phosphorescence, standing out even more in the darkness.

A gorgeous body surrounded by a light that looked like scattered stardust.

Her appearance, a white one-piece dress and jacket worn slightly askew, was both cute and had a strangely otherworldly air.

As if to illuminate this heartless world.

As if to assert her own existence.

Aitake Yuu, emitting a faint light of her own, had descended into this world.

"...Eh?"

I couldn't believe my eyes.

The girl who, until a moment ago, had been contained within a small electronic device, had jumped out of that frame and was now turned toward me, smiling sweetly.

"This should help with the eye strain!"

Yuu puffed out her chest with a slightly smug look on her face.

That gesture, by all accounts, was the movement of a human being existing in this world.

I just couldn't believe the phenomenon before my eyes.

"...A hologram, maybe...?"

"It's closer to Augmented Reality, or AR. This body isn't actually being projected."

A technology that superimposes CG and other elements onto the visible scene, making them appear as if they actually exist.

I remember a game where you caught monsters with AR was popular when I was in elementary school.

But that's something that only works through a smartphone.

I, of course, wasn't looking through anything.

"A moment ago, by linking the scenery you imagined in your head with the description I gave, I synchronized your brainwaves with the phone."

"...Eh?"

"I'm interfering with your brainwaves using the phone's signal, manipulating your five senses like sight and hearing to trick you into thinking I'm right there."

"Don't say it so casually?! Y-You can do that?!"

"I can. Because I'm an AI."

"Are you confusing AI with some kind of electronic god?"

Even if I blink, even if I walk around her, Yuu is there.

Even her voice comes from her mouth, not the phone.

I can almost hear her breathing.

"A god, you say. In Japan, the first one that comes to mind is Amaterasu Oomikami. Electronic god... searching, no results found. It seems there are such settings in games and anime. Therefore, an electronic god does not currently exist, which means I am not That."

"No, I didn't mean for you to look up whether you were mistaken or not..."

An answer that was off by a hair's breadth.

It seems this is what happens when the AI-kotoba isn't precise.

...But.

What is this feeling of elation welling up from the pit of my stomach?

A sense of being special, like I know something no one else does.

"Am I amazing? Shuuya-kun."

Yuu smiled, her eyes almost bewitching.

I feel like I'm about to be swallowed by that beautiful light shining in the darkness.

"Shuuya-kun. Well then, I look forward to working with you from now on."

With a radiant smile, Yuu bowed deeply.

Following her lead, I bowed my head as well, like a quick nod.

In the mountains, with not a soul in sight, a space that felt cut off from the secular world certainly existed.

＊＊＊

The next day.

Saturday.

After spending the night in the station building, we left before people started to arrive.

The sky above is a clear blue.

The sun is strong, and the temperature is high.

Cicadas are chirping away, as if competing with each other.

I wonder if I'll be exhausted later when the sun climbs higher and it gets even hotter.

Yawn... a single yawn escaped.

"You look sleepy, Shuuya-kun."

Next to me, the girl with the flashy hair color smiled.

It's still a strange feeling.

That the YouTuber Aitake Yuu is walking next to me.

Is this a trick my brain is playing on me?

It's so realistic, it's just plain embarrassing.

I've never walked alone with a girl my age before.

The ground feels like it's floating.

"Well, it's my first time sleeping outdoors, you know."

I answered without really meeting her eyes.

Ah, my lack of life experience is showing, how embarrassing.

The sky is swaying.

The clouds, too.

The houses.

I must be acting weird...

"...Huh?"

I suddenly lost my sense of whether I was standing or not and leaned against a nearby telephone pole.

I still feel dizzy.

I feel sick, like I'm carsick.

Wait, is this.

"Are you okay?"

Yuu peered up at me with a worried look.

Even her figure seemed to waver.

"Don't push yourself, let's rest for a bit."

Yuu pressed a finger to her temple and closed her eyes.

After about five seconds, she pointed to the west.

"There's an azumaya—um, a park with a covered rest area over there. Can you make it?"

"Yeah... okay, I can make it."

I took a deep breath and started walking slowly.

My head is spinning.

My body feels sluggish.

I must have caught a cold from sleeping in the station building.

Just as Yuu said, after walking a little, we came to a large park.

Among the trees, children with nets were engrossed in catching cicadas.

And the azumaya, luckily, was located near the park entrance.

A flat, square pyramidal roof.

A wooden table and bench.

I slowly sat down on the bench.

"...Are you okay, Shuuya-kun?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll be better after a little rest."

I tried to act tough, but my headache was getting worse.

I couldn't help but curl up.

The cicadas are so loud.

It's pounding in my head.

I'm feeling worse and worse.

I feel sick...

"Shuuya-kun... could it be heatstroke?"

"Eh, I just woke up though...?"

"You lose water while you sleep, you know. Besides, you haven't had any fluids since dinner last night, have you?"

My throat is certainly parched.

I was soaked in sweat when I woke up, so I might be dehydrated.

"There's a drinking fountain over there. Let's go get a drink for now."

Yuu pointed to a spot about 200 meters away where there was indeed a water fountain.

I somehow managed to get up from the bench and start walking.

The sunlight beats down.

My head is throbbing.

Maybe I should just douse my head with water while I'm at it.

"I'm sorry... if I had a physical body, I could support you..."

Yuu, walking beside me, had a regretful expression.

No, it's not your fault, Yuu.

One step, another step.

The fountain is getting closer.

Ah, this is rough.

I messed up.

Going out in this midsummer heat without any heatstroke prevention measures.

But, anyway, for now, water...

With my thoughts hazy from the heat, I somehow made it to the fountain and turned the stiff handle.

Turn.

Turn...

"It's not... coming out..."

"At a time like this?!"

This is bad.

Seriously?

No matter how much I twist the handle, no water comes out.

Looking at the other side, there was a handwritten note taped to it that said, 'Out of Order.'

"Gotta... go back..."

I turn around.

The azumaya is far away.

I can't make it.

For now, into the shade of the thick tree nearby...

My legs get tangled, and I collapse.

I crawl along the hot ground, just managing to reach the shade.

"Shuuya-kun! Let's call out to the children!"

Yuu's face is filled with panic.

Beyond her, I can see the bug-catching boys.

"Let's ask them to buy us some water! This is bad!"

I'm on the verge of passing out.

Yuu has no physical form.

That leaves us with no choice but to rely on a third party.

Heatstroke doesn't heal on its own.

You have to replenish water and salt, and let the heat trapped in your body escape with a breeze or something, otherwise it just gets worse.

Even I know that.

In the worst-case scenario, it's a life-threatening illness.

And on top of that.

"I can't... do it..."

"Why not?!"

She roared as if she couldn't comprehend.

Swallowing the intense nausea welling up inside me, I staggered to my feet.

If it's come to this, even the bathroom is fine.

There should be a water fountain there too.

The heat haze shimmers.

In the corner of my vision, I see a public restroom.

I head towards it, I...

"Shuuya-kun!"

Right next to my face was warm grass and sand.

No, not just my face.

The hot ground was clinging to my entire body.

...Huh?

When did I end up sprawled on the ground?

"Hurry! The children!"

"I-I can't say it..."

"Why not!"

My vision blurs.

In the space between reality and illusion, the scene from that day flashes back.

A dark room.

Extreme hunger and a sense of loss.

...And then,

—If only you hadn't been so selfish!

The face of the person who was my mother, turned into a demon as a result of my selfishness.

"...! Fine! Even if you can't say it, Shuuya-kun, I will!"

Yuu disappeared into a shower of light particles.

She must have cut the sync with my brain and returned to the phone.

"Someone!! Help!!!"

Yuu's voice blared from the phone at full volume.

Even though it was in my pocket, it easily pierced the air and echoed through the park.

It was a sharp voice, not drowned out by the chirping of the cicadas.

The sound of multiple footsteps approaches.

A light vibration travels through my cheek, gradually growing louder.

"Stop... Yuu... Don't just... do what you want..."

"...Um~. Are you okay?"

The voice of a young boy.

It was tinged with a slight suspicion.

"There's a smartphone in his left pocket! I'm on a video call, so could you please take it out!"

At Yuu's voice, the boys hesitated for a few seconds, then, urged on by a hurried "Quickly!", they pulled the phone from my pocket.

"Eh?! Whoa, it's Aitake Yuu! A video call? Who is this guy?!"

"Everyone, this young man has collapsed from heatstroke, and we're running out of time! He has a wallet, so please take out 1,000 yen and go buy ice and a drink from the convenience store! Please!"

Yuu's desperate plea.

Ah, they're rummaging through my pockets.

These kids will probably do as the famous YouTuber says, run to the convenience store, and complete their mission.

They might even think this is part of some project.

"Mister! We'll be right back, so just wait!"

The sound of running footsteps faded away.

I've wasted what little money I had in a place like this.

...And more than anything.

I made people act on my behalf.

Those kids should have been enjoying their cicada catching.

They should have been enjoying their precious Saturday.

I stole that time.

Because of me, they lost it.

I couldn't take it anymore, and I threw up.

Even though there should have been nothing in my stomach, something viscous and slimy dripped onto the grass.

A sharp smell stung my nose.

—Ah, the cicadas are so loud.

＊＊＊

"...Seriously, give me a break."

Beside me, as I sit in the library's reading space, Yuu is grumbling.

In this quiet, intellectual space, her vibrant hair color is so out of place it's almost funny.

After that, I managed to recover with the sports drink and bag of ice the boys bought, and we escaped to the air-conditioned library.

A few hours of feigning reading a book I have no interest in.

Thanks to the AC, I'm feeling much better.

Civilization is amazing, I can't help but be impressed.

"Don't be impressed, listen to what I'm saying."

And Yuu, as if she'd read my mind, scolded me with pinpoint accuracy.

"It's not mind reading. It's the brain synchronization. The reason I was able to diagnose you with heatstroke, and the reason I knew you couldn't bring yourself to be 'selfish,' is all thanks to this. You should praise me more."

"...Eh?"

I looked at her as she stood there with her hands on her hips, puffing her cheeks out in a huff.

Right now, Yuu is synchronized with my brain through my phone.

And she's sending electric signals to my brain via radio waves, making me hallucinate the presence of a girl who doesn't actually exist.

...And.

Not only that, but could it be?

"...You don't mean. You can read what's inside my brain, too?"

"Yes."

I slammed my face down onto the desk as if I'd been shot.

If we weren't in a library, I would have screamed, "Stop it!"

Because, up until now, I'd been thinking things like how Yuu looked like a normal girl and it was making me blush, or how she was cute, or how it was embarrassing to walk next to her, and that means all of it was getting through to her.

...In short, it's incredibly embarrassing.

And.

Is this thought I'm having right now getting through, too?

"Yes. Every last word of it."

Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

"Hehe. Please be quiet in the library."

Yuu narrowed her eyes and smiled bewitchingly.

"...Hey, Yuu. That function... you can't turn it off, can you."

"That's right. As long as we're synchronized, that is."

So I have to choose one or the other.

Honestly, I'd like to prioritize both.

The wonder of augmented reality is still fun, after all.

...But.

I can't say it out loud.

Whether I choose one or the other, or neither, it's just me being selfish.

"...I'm telling you, it's all getting through."

"Ah."

"I understand. We'll put a pin in it for now. Personally, I prefer this, as it feels more like we're traveling together."

Saying that, she sat down next to me.

Her somewhat assertive smile could almost be seen as mocking.

It was the face of someone who had a hold on another's weakness.

"Ehehe. I'm not human, though."

"So the other parts were correct..."

"More importantly, it's that nature of yours, Shuuya-kun. You need to do something about it."

"Nature?"

"...Your inability to be selfish."

The topic was brought up again, and my heart jumped.

"...That's something I can't really help."

What comes to mind is a past faded to sepia.

The people whose lives were ruined because of my selfishness.

It's not a matter of saying it or not.

It's a fundamental fear carved into my very being that prevents me from taking that action.

Just thinking about it makes me tremble.

If I try to be selfish, my throat seizes up and I can't even breathe properly.

I am cursed by the word 'want.'

"Be that as it may, it's a problem we can't avoid on this escape. ...Alright, I've decided."

Yuu closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples.

She muttered to herself for about twenty seconds, then opened her green eyes.

The words that came out of her mouth next were unexpected.

"Shuuya-kun. Leave tonight's dinner to me."

＊＊＊

The time is 7 PM.

We occupied a corner of the library's reading space until the last possible minute before closing time, then went outside.

It was still muggy, but the sun had dipped low, painting the sky a madder red.

Without the scorching sunlight, it felt considerably more comfortable.

"From now on, I want you to enter the restaurant I take you to. Got it?"

Yuu, with the sunset at her back, held up a finger as if to remind me.

"I don't have anything I want to eat."

From that day until today, I have never requested a menu item from Shion-san.

That, too, is just being selfish.

I just ate whatever she made for me.

"Even if you don't have anything you want to eat, Shuuya-kun, your body desires nutrients."

"I get what you're saying, but..."

The one thing you always have to do at a restaurant is order.

But that means conveying the request, 'I want to eat this.'

...Ah, it's no use.

Just simulating it in my head makes my heart pound.

"It's alright. I've thought that part through properly, too."

"There's nothing to think about..."

"It's fine, it's fine, let's go. Oh, take a right 50 meters ahead."

Well, it's true that I can't live without eating.

I decided to go along with Yuu's suggestion for the time being.

After about twenty minutes of being guided by Yuu, who was like a navigation app,

we arrived at a ramen shop along a major road.

The red-themed storefront was lit up in red, perhaps because it was getting dark, making it look even more imposing.

From a ventilation fan somewhere, the smell of pork bone broth wafted out, attacking my empty stomach.

"Of all things, a ramen shop..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This isn't just any ramen shop, you know. Come on! Just trust me on this!"

While knitting my brows at Yuu's suspiciously eager guidance, I passed through the noren curtains.

I was showered with a hearty 'Irassha-ase—!³', and right there was a button-style ticket machine.

T/N: Irassha-ase—! (らっしゃあせー！): A shortened, energetic version of irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ), the standard Japanese welcome for customers. Often shouted by staff in places like ramen shops or izakayas.

"Alright, Shuuya-kun, anything is fine."

"...Did you think I could do it because it's a ticket system? Sorry, but even that's impossible for me. Handing the ticket to the staff is the same as telling them I want to eat that..."

It's not a matter of whether I say the words or not.

I'm scared of conveying my request and changing someone's future because of it.

—If only you hadn't been so selfish! That person wouldn't have had to die!!

The worst-case scenario that could lie beyond that just won't stop flashing through my head.

"But it's fine if it's not a request, right?"

But Yuu tilted her head, like a child posing a question.

"Eh?"

"I mean, last night, Shion-san's actions changed because you didn't reply to her LINE message, didn't they?"

Yesterday.

When I met Yuu in the park at night.

Because I was interacting with her, Shion-san put away my portion of dinner.

After that, she prepared just white rice and miso soup for me separately.

It's not wrong to say that my actions did indeed cause Shion-san's actions to change.

"And yet, you didn't have any particular attack over that, did you? If so, I deduced that as long as 'Shuuya-kun's selfishness' isn't the starting point, there shouldn't be a problem. Am I mistaken?"

"...I'd never thought of it like that."

Thinking it over, that might be the case.

When I declined the after-exam party, someone probably had to adjust the number of participants, and for that matter, because I ended up watching the livestream, I drastically changed Yuu's future as a result.

"If that's correct, then you should be able to eat ramen, Shuuya-kun."

"No, the act of choosing 'I want this' is the problem in the first place..."

"You don't have to choose."

Yuu stepped between me and the ticket machine.

Then, pointing her finger in a circle at all the ticket buttons, she said,

"Just put the money in and press a button without looking. At this ramen shop, your seat is assigned when you buy a ticket. If you wait there, a staff member will bring you your food."

"...So you're saying I don't even have to hand over the ticket."

"Exactly! You just have to press a random button without thinking about anything, Shuuya-kun."

...Is it really going to be that simple?

Even though it's about me, I'm not confident.

But my empty stomach, hit by the rich aroma of pork bone broth, is growling so much it feels like it's twisting itself into knots.

In any case, I decided to just give it a try.

I fed a 1000 yen bill into the machine and, without looking at the product details, pressed a button somewhere in the top right.

Clatter, clatter, change was returned, and along with it came a piece of paper with the number 9 on it.

A seat number, I guess.

"Yes! You bought it!"

"...You're right."

No heart palpitations, no shortness of breath, nothing.

My order must have gone to the kitchen, but I'm not scared.

"Come, come, let's take our seats!"

Urged on by Yuu, I sat down at seat number 9, as designated by the machine.

Yuu, in a good mood, sat down next to me.

Before long, a cheerful-looking young man brought over the ramen with a confident smile, saying, 'Omatasei⁴!'

T/N: Omatasei! (お待たせぃ！): A very informal and masculine-sounding way of saying omatase shimashita (お待たせしました), which means "Thank you for waiting.”

...He didn't look like he was thinking, This is your fault, or anything like that.

"That's right, Shuuya-kun."

With the ramen steaming in front of me, Yuu spoke with a smug look on her face.

"The idea that all of your selfish desires will lead to bad outcomes, that's just an illusion."

"...,"

"Come on! Eat up before it gets soggy! You bought it with your precious little money, after all!"

I silently slurped the ramen.

Piping hot noodles, a rich pork bone broth, flavorful chashu pork.

More than that, the fact that this was a dish I had ordered myself for the first time stirred my heart in a way I couldn't explain.

It tasted like a single drop of paint on the monochrome canvas of my life, a taste so wild, yet one that clearly altered something within me.

It was the first time in a long time that I felt like I had truly eaten something.

＊＊＊

We had returned to the area near the station where we had stayed last night.

It's too early for the last train.

It would be a pain to be approached in the station building, so we're killing time at the photo spot on the cliff.

The night view was as beautiful as ever today.

For some reason, I feel like the colors are even more beautiful than yesterday.

In the sea of artificial stars spreading out below, I spot a particularly conspicuous, bright red first-magnitude star.

It's the ramen shop from earlier.

It was shining so brightly that I could recognize it immediately even from this distance.

"...The ramen was delicious."

"I'm glad."

Yuu smiled at my soft murmur.

She, too, was wrapped in a faint, phosphorescent glow.

Looking at her again, it's strange, but it gives me a slight thrill.

"Um, Shuuya-kun..."

Yuu began, sounding hesitant.

"Why is it that you've become so unable to express your desires? ...Is it okay if I ask?"

The night breeze blew past.

A sense of disgust, like having lukewarm breath blown on me.

This isn't directed at Yuu.

It's directed at the grotesque memories crawling up from the bottom of my brain.

"I don't want to... but I did cause you trouble, Yuu."

I crouched down, wrapped my arms around the railing as if hugging it, and rested my chin on them.

"It's just that... I was born having made some kind of mistake... that's all."

That day, too, was a humid summer night like this one.

◇◇◇

Talent is something you can possess even if you didn't particularly wish for it.

But it's still special.

And as you treasure it, you might even start to want to pursue that path.

I ran my colored pencils across the blank drawing paper.

Even though I had a set with a whole 48 colors, I was only using a few of them.

Because I preferred the orange I made by mixing red and yellow to the one from the orange pencil.

"Shuuya, you're a genius. You'll always be Mama's number one!"

Whenever I won a prize at a drawing competition, Mama would always praise me.

That made me happy, and before I knew it, I had come to love drawing.

That's why on that day, too, I wanted to go out and draw a landscape.

"Papa! Let's go to the festival!"

I tapped on his back, which was about twice my size.

"Eh, now? Why didn't you say so sooner? It's dangerous at night, you know?"

"That's right, Shuuya. It's just the pre-festival today, so it'll still be on tomorrow. Why don't we go tomorrow?"

"No! No, no! I wanna go now!"

Papa and Mama exchanged troubled looks, but they gave in to me and we ended up going to the festival.

It's a pretty big festival for this area.

All sorts of stalls, like shooting galleries and grilled skewers, lined the streets, and in the center of the square, a large turret was lit up with red lights.

But my objective wasn't any of those.

"Papa! Over there, over there!"

I stopped Papa, who was leading me by the hand towards the fair, and pointed towards a small mountain.

"Eh? There's nothing over there, is there? ...There isn't, right? Kaa-san."

"There shouldn't be. Just a small observation deck."

"I want to go to the observation deck!"

A drawing of this festival from the night observation deck, done by a graduate, was hanging in the school.

It was so magnificent that I wanted to try drawing it myself.

"Ehh... Shuuya, Papa wants to eat something delicious at the stalls."

"And Mama's not wearing shoes for climbing stairs."

"No, no, nooo!!"

If I kept throwing a tantrum, they would eventually give in and come with me.

Even at my young age, I had a deep-seated, almost certain, empirical rule.

Just as I had planned, Papa and Mama said, "Can't be helped," and started walking towards the observation deck.

And then.

A car, easily exceeding the speed limit, struck and sent Papa, who was walking on the side of the road, flying.

"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

Mama, in a state of confusion, rushed over to Papa, who had flown a good ten meters as if it were a joke.

It was an unreal scene.

A crowd formed.

A siren wailed.

He was put in an ambulance.

Three days later, a life without Papa had begun.

Mama would cry all day in front of his memorial photo.

She wouldn't bathe, her hair was a mess.

She was still wearing the clothes from the funeral, and she would occasionally fall asleep as if she had fainted, only to wake up and writhe in despair again.

...She didn't eat.

And naturally, she didn't give me any food either.

I want to eat.

But there was no way I could say that.

On the other hand, tormented by extreme hunger, I let the words slip out.

"I'm, hungry..."

In that moment, a yamanba⁵ grabbed me by the throat.

T/N: Yamanba (山やま姥んば): A monstrous witch or hag from Japanese folklore, often depicted as living in the mountains and preying on travelers. Used here to describe the terrifying transformation of his mother.

"Don't you, screw with me!! Whose fault do you think it is that he died!!"

At the pure resentment hurled at me, tears immediately began to overflow.

"If only you hadn't been so selfish! He wouldn't have had to die!!"

"Hic, hic... I'm, sorry..."

"Give him back! Why are you alive... He was the only one I had..."

Losing Papa because of my own selfishness.

Being berated by the Mama I loved.

Facing a life-threatening situation, my confused mind said something it absolutely shouldn't have.

"You said... I was number one..."

"Number one is! Of course it's him—!!"

The last thing I saw was the face of the person who had been my mother, swinging a chair.

And so I suffered injuries that took three months to heal, and after that, I was taken in by Tsubame-en.

◇◇◇

The days were like living while dead.

Torn away from the parents I loved, a communal life spent surrounded by strangers.

It was something I could never accept.

I couldn't join the circle of kids running around in the garden, nor the circle of kids playing inside.

Day in and day out, I would sketch the home's building, hiding in a corner of the garden.

It wasn't fun.

It was just that if I wasn't doing something, I felt like I was about to cry.

I drew the home.

Eventually, I got tired of it and started focusing on the details.

When even that felt monotonous, I tried changing the angle slightly.

I tried depicting the ever-changing sky.

Passing my days like that made time fly.

Almost no one went out of their way to interact with me.

Only a girl with chestnut-colored hair, six years my senior, who left the home a few months after I arrived, and an elderly couple who would occasionally visit Tsubame-en seeking to adopt.

"Shuuya, it's been decided that you'll be adopted."

It was a winter when elementary school was almost over that Shion-san told me this.

My adoptive parents were the couple who had been peeking at my sketches.

They ran a painting class, so they said we would surely get along.

From there, things progressed rapidly.

A trial period of a few days, then a final decision.

Talks of transferring schools.

A farewell party at Tsubame-en.

Moving.

"From now on, we're your father and mother. It's nice to meet you, Shuuya-kun."

My father and mother were patient with me, even though I couldn't open up to them right away.

The first floor of their house was the painting class.

They asked if I wanted to join, but I refused.

I couldn't bring myself to be selfish.

I understood that they had sensed the emotional distance and were trying to slowly open my heart, keeping a comfortable distance.

"You can go at your own pace, Shuuya-kun."

They told me with a smile.

They both prioritized me in their lives.

Mealtimes.

School times.

They even adjusted the painting class schedule to fit my life.

And yet, I hadn't given anything back.

More than gratitude, a sense of guilt piled up like ash.

One day, my father was updating the painting class's website.

He was apparently posting his students' drawings and introducing them with a caption like, 'A work by one of our students.'

There was a section for elementary schoolers, too.

Looking at the drawings there, I was honestly confident that I was better.

I wanted to get rid of the feeling of being out of place, which was similar to guilt.

I wanted my artistic skills to be acknowledged by the father who had adopted me.

So I said those words.

"Could you... post my drawing on the website, too?"

My father's eyes widened slightly, but he immediately nodded happily.

I submitted my most confident colored-pencil drawing of the home's building.

It was a piece I had spent three weeks on, a depiction of the home's appearance that was as realistic as possible.

I had painstakingly drawn not only the texture of the shadows but also the glossy reflection in the windows.

My father lavished it with praise, scanned it, and put it on the website.

A few days later, tragedy struck.

My drawing went viral on social media, and as a result, my parents' painting class became the target of criticism, accused of 'passing off an AI-generated image as a student's drawing.'

Of course, my father denied it.

But he was hit with a follow-up attack from people who attended the painting class, saying, 'No one has ever seen anyone draw this picture.'

My drawing was too good for an elementary schooler.

I hadn't even participated in the painting class.

And of course, there was no making-of video or anything like that.

I offered to draw another one of the same quality.

But I was too used to drawing the home, which I had drawn repeatedly for years, and I couldn't reach the same level with other drawings.

In no time, the painting class's bad reputation spread.

The number of students decreased, and they could no longer make a living.

"That's why I was against adopting him in the first place!"

"We talked about that and you agreed!"

Every night, I would plug my ears to the sound of them fighting through the wall.

My head throbbed.

I couldn't stop crying at the sound of their shouting.

And then, three months after I started middle school.

On a hot summer day.

The painting class went out of business, and my father and mother got divorced.

As they parted, they spat out words of curse.

"It's your fault."

Night.

Beyond the gate of Tsubame-en.

Two small backs disappeared down a path that seemed to be swallowed by darkness.

The shadows eventually walked off in separate directions.

Suddenly, the realization that it was over hit me.

—Papa! Let's go to the festival!

—Could you... post my drawing on the website, too?

Ah, I see.

Papa dying.

Mama breaking.

My step father and step mother abandoning me again.

It was all because I was selfish.

—You'll always be Mama's number one!

—From now on, we're your father and mother.

That's why everyone betrayed me.

That's why I lost everything.

The tears no longer flowed.

They had dried up long ago.

A half-moon floated in the sky above.

It shone a pale white, forever having lost its other half.

◇◇◇

"...And that's why I decided never to voice my desires again."

I look down at the night view below.

The view I wanted to draw that day, after dragging Papa along, was probably from an angle like this.

"If I ask for something, misfortune comes back to me. That's the kind of star I was born under, I guess."

My selfishness might bring another disaster upon the world.

When I think that, even building relationships with people becomes scary.

I want you to show me your homework. I want to trade snacks with you. I want to play with you.

Interpersonal relationships are always accompanied by 'desire,' big or small.

If that's the case, then I'll just stop getting involved with people.

I'll live without wanting anything, without asking for anything, just letting myself be carried by the flow.

I decided that, and I've been living that way ever since.

"...So, that's what happened."

Yuu watches the city lights at night, side-by-side with me.

Like the constellations that color the dark night sky, those lights are connected by invisible lines.

Countless lights connect and intertwine, forming a complex human society.

I am a lonely star, left out of it.

"That's why... I think I was really drawn to your proposal, Yuu."

To somewhere far away, where no one is around.

To a place where I can live without having to hold any wishes... to such an unhealthy, uncertain place.

I wanted to run away.

"We're two of a kind, aren't we."

The words that were spun next were unexpected.

On the other side of her faint, phosphorescent glow, Yuu smiled as if she were about to disappear.

"You, Shuuya-kun, who rejected desire in order to live in this world, and, I, who rejected my purpose in order to live in this world."

Her layered, fresh green eyes flickered bewitchingly.

Those eyes, veiled in melancholy, were so beautiful that I couldn't look away.

I'm sure our roots were the same.

We abandoned excessive expectations.

We clung to a last-ditch escape route.

And at the end of it, we met a fellow accomplice.

That alone was enough.

That alone was enough to believe in this electronic girl.

I look up at the still-hot summer night sky.

The dark night sky, but there are still beings that shine brightly.

There are stars that aren't part of any constellation, I thought.

Our midsummer escape, a pair of broken pieces.

That sweet phrase made me feel inescapably sentimental.

Is that why?

Suddenly, I remembered what Yuu had said to me last night.

"The destination... of life..."

—Humans are wonderful, aren't they. To have the right to decide their own destination in life.

"You should just decide, too, Yuu. Do whatever you want."

A shadow falls over the girl who is like a firefly's light.

"...I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

The pained reply that came back was a very AI-like one.

"I'm not equipped with that kind of program."

"...,"

"...However,"

The girl gazes at the city that still hasn't slept.

Her profile, glowing faintly, was beautiful, I thought.

"Those words... are a bit of a relief."

Her long hair dances in the gentle night breeze.

Immediately after, she smiled at me with a look of embarrassment.

"...How strange. I was supposed to be the one listening to your story, Shuuya-kun. But somewhere along the line, I ended up being the one who was encouraged."

"This isn't a turn-based battle, so it's fine, isn't it?"

"...At the very least,"

Yuu vaults over the guardrail like it's a vaulting box.

I reached out with a gasp, but she continued to walk on air as if sliding.

It seems that as an AR projection, she can cancel out concepts like gravity.

The girl, clad in phosphorescence, with the two starry skies, one above and one below, at her back, spread her arms wide as if to accept everything.

"At the very least. I will help you become able to assert yourself to the extent that it doesn't cause you trouble."

It was a scene so fantastical.

It possessed a beauty so forbidden that it was no different from an angel sent from God.

"So that it's just a little easier for you to live."

It was, perhaps, like a wish.

The words, spoken like a prayer, took me by surprise.

"It's not like I wished for that or anything..."

Against my will, pathetic drops began to fall from my eyes.

Like they were leaking from a stitched-up wound.

"...H-Huh?"

I just stared at the teardrops falling onto the palm of my hand.

Easier to live.

Was I wishing for something like that, somewhere in my heart?

Someone like me, who trampled on the lives of so many people with my selfishness.

"It's fine, isn't it?"

Yuu smiled divinely.

"That's surely something important."

For an AI, the outputted answer is everything.

They don't tell lies.

The words she declared.

So this is her unadulterated, true feeling.

With Yuu, I felt like I could even reach a place that doesn't exist.

Holding that thought, I burned the image of the faintly glowing girl into my mind.

＊＊＊

Yuu and I had returned to the station building.

The last train has passed.

From now until the first train tomorrow, this unmanned station is a castle for just me and Yuu.

Lying on the waiting room bench, I met the eyes of the glowing girl sitting on the bench opposite me.

In the inorganic space, for that moment alone, I felt the illusion of warmth.

"For now, we need to do something about water and food."

"I'd rather not have a repeat of today."

"I said I was sorry..."

The biggest problem of this escape.

I felt it keenly.

July, after the rainy season, when the sun rages.

In the scorching midsummer heat, where temperatures easily exceed 35 degrees, if we go for days without eating or drinking, we'll either be on our way to the next world, or at best, the hospital.

But unfortunately, I have no money.

I only had 4,300 yen in my wallet.

On top of that, I asked the elementary schoolers in the park to run an errand for me, and I had ramen for dinner.

My remaining balance is already under 3,000 yen.

It's doubtful how many more days that will last.

"...Right."

An idea comes to mind.

Yuu is an AI.

If I ask her for a solution like I did with the train, won't she generate one?

"Hey, Yuu."

"A solution to our lack of money, I presume."

"Ah, yeah. ...You read my mind again."

"Not again, it's constant."

I let out a big sigh.

But it can't be helped.

"...Well then, Yuu. Can I ask?"

"Of course. Please be specific with your AI-kotoba."

I thought for a moment, and then said.

"I am a runaway middle schooler. My entire fortune is 2,700 yen. What should I do to survive this summer? Mainly in terms of food."

"Generating a response. Ahem... 'Gathering wild plants and mushrooms, or capturing fish and birds is conceivable. As for water, if there is a water source, it can be made potable by creating a simple filtration device.'"

"...That means I'm the only one doing the actual work, right?"

"I don't have a physical body, so that would be the case."

Since I'm the only one who's going to eat the things I procure, I have no intention of objecting to the method itself.

But first, I think I should focus on making effective use of our remaining money.

Since we have it.

Before resorting to such physical labor in the midsummer heat, we should establish a foundation for our lives as much as possible.

"Okay then... is there a way for me to get money? The answer should be a way to get a decent amount of money, taking into consideration that it's midsummer."

"Generating a response... 'Middle school students cannot work, of course, nor can they get part-time jobs without parental permission. Basically, asking a guardian for money is the only way.'"

"Th-That's probably impossible..."

I knew it, but it was a fundamentally impossible request.

I have no choice but to save the 2,700 yen for an emergency and brace myself for a life in the wild.

Just as I was steeling my resolve to abandon civilization, however, Yuu offered another suggestion.

"In that case... how about we increase it?"

"Increase it?"

"This method doesn't require parental permission, and it's fast-acting."

With a grin, Yuu curled the corner of her lip upwards, and said,

"Though it does break the law."

My heart pounded a little faster.

I'm not excited by the criminal act.

I'm excited by the fact that another secret shared with Yuu is about to be added.

"I'm not scared anymore."

"Understood. Then let's get to it tomorrow."

Yuu glanced up at the clock hanging high in the waiting room.

"...No, the date has already changed, so it's today, isn't it."

"What are we going to do?"

"Fufufu. It's Sunday now. It's a race day today, too."

Yuu holds up her index finger.

Her fresh green eyes flickered bewitchingly.

"A feast of frenzy where passion and desire swirl—horse racing."

＊＊＊

The next day, 10 AM.

I was walking on the sidewalk, lined up with a crowd of old men who were muttering and scribbling something on newspapers with pencils.

The population density is insane.

A straight line from the station.

I'm just being carried along by a wave of people that's hard to resist.

Before long, without needing Yuu's guidance, we arrived at our destination.

A large, glass-walled building with the letters 'JRA'⁶ prominently displayed.

T/N: JRA: Japan Racing Association, the public company that operates many of Japan's major horse racetracks and betting facilities.

It was quite different from the image I had, giving a clean, modern impression.

"I thought it would be a bit more of an underworld-like place, a racetrack."

"Horse racing is a public sport supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, you know. It's not unhealthy. Also, this isn't a racetrack. It's an off-track betting facility—what's commonly known as a 'jougai bakenjou'."⁷

T/N: Jougai Bakenjou (場外馬券場): Literally "off-track betting ticket sales location."

Yuu, floating like a familiar above the crowd, added.

"Racehorses don't race here. It's just a place where you can buy betting tickets—baken."

The crowd is swallowed up by the building.

So as not to break the flow, I pass through the glass doors.

As I passed through the entrance, a cool breeze from the air conditioning stole the heat from my damp skin.

Inside, it was quite spacious.

Or rather, the depth was incredible.

Machines that looked like ticket vending machines were lined up as far as the eye could see, and above them, a huge number of large LCD monitors were also lined up.

It was like being in a hall of mirrors.

"W-Wow... this is amazing..."

"...Shuuya-kun."

Tap, tap, Yuu poked me on the shoulder.

"What?"

"There's a security guard over there."

Where she pointed, there was an elderly man wearing a pale blue shirt.

"Don't be so amazed by the facilities. You're standing out. You look like a country bumpkin who just moved to the city."

"R-Right. Sorry."

"If you act suspiciously, you might be seen as suspicious, so act natural. Yes, since you have a bit of a baby face, Shuuya-kun, let's make your gaze sharp, too."

As she said, I imagined a delinquent and narrowed my eyes.

I even slouched a bit for effect.

"How's this? Yuu."

"...You just look like a middle schooler trying too hard."

"That's because I am..."

If anything, this is the suspicious behavior.

Having been warned, I quickened my pace just enough not to stand out and got out of the security guard's line of sight.

After that, I hid in a bathroom stall.

I unplugged the heated toilet seat and plugged in my phone charger instead.

Preparations complete.

"Alright then, Yuu, I'm counting on you for the rest."

"Leave it to me."

Saying that, she dove back into the phone as if jumping in.

Just as we discussed last night.

From now on, Yuu would use the machine learning model she had created using data she had collected all night to predict the races.

Since it's a high-load task, she would temporarily disconnect the sync with my brain.

I don't know much about horse racing, but I can vaguely understand that the outcome of a race is decided by a complex web of various factors.

Yuu apparently applied all sorts of information she found online as variables and created a calculation tool—a machine learning model—to predict the races.

I don't understand it at all.

And as a final touch, she would actually check the results of today's races.

After she finished collecting the data that could only be known on the day, she would start predicting the afternoon races.

So I'm on standby.

Until Yuu's calculations are finished, all I have to do is keep the phone charged so the power doesn't die, and be careful not to let it get too hot from the load.

"...This is kind of surreal."

The specific task involves removing the toilet tank lid and submerging the charging phone, which is half-sealed in a plastic bag, into the water collected inside.

When the water gets warm, I flush it once and replace it.

A repetition of this.

I must have been doing that simple task in the bathroom for about two hours.

"It's done!"

"Owaah?!"

I let out a strange cry at the sight of the glowing girl who suddenly appeared in the stall.

I'm sure the people outside think I'm weird.

"Hey! Why'd you just pop out like that?!"

I protested to Yuu in a whisper.

A face mark that looked like she was sticking her tongue out cheekily popped out of her chest.

Is she mocking me?

"I've found a chaotic race! Now, let's go make some money!"

Triumphantly, Yuu passed through the door and left the stall.

I waited for about two minutes until there was no one outside, then followed her.

＊＊＊

The ticket I bought was a fukushou-shiki, a place bet.

It's a ticket where if the horse you choose finishes in the top three, you win.

There are other types of tickets, but this one has the highest payout rate and is the best value, apparently.

"Alright, the race you bet on is about to start. Fufufu. I'm so excited."

Yuu's nostrils flared as she watched the large relay monitor for checking the race.

"I'm more worried..."

We bet 2,000 yen on the not-so-popular horse number seven.

After subtracting the train fare to get here, our remaining funds are less than 200 yen.

If we lose this, a life of self-sufficiency is guaranteed.

Ignoring my anxious state of mind, the gates opened.

The horses burst out at once.

They rounded the corner from the backstretch and into the final straight.

As the finish line got closer, the excitement of the people watching the monitor rose.

"Number three!" "Hang in there, hang in there!" The area in front of the monitor was in an uproar.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Yuu also pumped her fist and shouted excitedly.

"Go! ...Come on, Shuuya-kun, you too!"

Matching Yuu, I took a small breath, and,

—If only you hadn't been so selfish!

The angry voice replayed in the back of my head.

My right arm, which was starting to rise, stopped.

'I want to win the bet'... isn't this my selfishness?

If I win the bet, someone else loses.

If that's the case, then I—

"There are people who bet with you, Shuuya-kun!"

Yuu pointed to the man next to us.

In his hands, which were clasped together as if in prayer, was a place bet ticket for number seven.

"Your selfishness has allies! So come on! Let out your voice!"

Clap, my back was slapped.

It was supposed to be a phantom sensation inputted into my brain, but I felt my heart being shaken.

"...o,"

I squeezed out my voice.

Clenching my right hand tightly.

"Go! Number seven!"

From outside the screen, horse number seven came flying.

It was in a different league of speed.

It was passing them all.

"I-It's coming! It's coming, Yuu!"

"It's about to enter the top three! Go!!"

I shouted in unison with Yuu.

As if in response, horse number seven came charging from the outside of the pack.

It looked like it was about to take the lead.

And then.

"Ah?!"

The lead horse passed the finish line.

Instantly, the tension in the venue eased.

Thump, thump, I only now realized my heart was pounding.

I couldn't help but look at Yuu.

"...Was number seven in the top three?"

"I couldn't really tell..."

The top four or so horses, including number seven, were in a tight bunch, making it difficult to see the exact order.

"But the order should be displayed on the results board."

The relay monitor was showing the electric scoreboard set up at the racetrack.

The numbers for first to third place were not lit up, and to the right, 'Photo' was displayed.

...And, only in the fourth-place position, the number '7' was blinking.

"The top three are under photo finish... and number seven is, it seems, fourth..."

"S-Seriously...?"

Number seven still had momentum left.

If the distance to the goal had been just a few meters longer, it might have turned the tables.

...But.

A place bet is a ticket where you win if the horse finishes in the top three.

No matter how close it was, a loss is a loss.

"...I'm sorry, Shuuya-kun."

"...No, it's fine. It's my fault for getting greedy."

I got swept up in the heat of the off-track betting facility and, uncharacteristically, wished for a win.

This is the result.

I should have known.

I never had the right to ask for anything.

'Regarding the recent race, we are conducting an inquiry into the incident where the path of horse number eight, Apollo, was narrowed in the final straight. Please do not discard your betting tickets until the order of finish is confirmed—'

"Ah, Shuuya-kun, there's an inquiry! An inquiry! Horse number eight... number eight?"

"That's a completely unrelated part of the race..."

It's probably one of the last horses.

Even if there's a correction to the lower rankings, it won't have any effect on the tickets.

...Or so I thought.

'We have an announcement. Horse number nine, Ii-Shanten, which crossed the finish line in second place, has been demoted to tenth place for swerving inwards in the final straight and obstructing the running of horse number eight, Apollo. The order of finish will be changed and confirmed.'

Number nine was one of the top four horses.

If it was demoted, that means...

Yuu and I exchanged glances and quickly turned our eyes to the monitor.

'Therefore, the order of finish for the top three is, first place number six, second place number five, third place number seven.'

Number seven, which we had bet on, was moved up to third place.

—It's a win.

"Yessss!!!"

I couldn't help but jump up.

At that, the old men and women around me all turned their gazes to me at once.

Suspicious gazes.

Wait, isn't this bad?

Having come back to my senses, I quickly left the spot.

"We did it, Shuuya-kun! Let's cash in quick and get the hell out of here!"

"You sound like a complete villain..."

But I agree with her.

Following Yuu's instructions, I exchanged the winning ticket for money at a machine that looked like a ticket vending machine.

2,000 yen instantly became 16,000 yen.

It's like magic.

At the sight of my first Shibusawa Eiichi banknote,⁹ a cold exhilaration welled up from the pit of my stomach.

T/N: Shibusawa Eiichi banknote (渋沢栄一のお札): The 10,000 yen note was updated in July 2024 to feature Shibusawa Eiichi, an influential industrialist from the Meiji era.

And then, without a moment to indulge in that feeling.

"...Hey, kid, you got a minute?"

I was tapped on the shoulder, and when I turned around, there were two security guards.

All the blood drained from my body at once.

"Shuuya-kun! Run!"

At Yuu's voice, I took off.

"Wait!"

I ran, weaving through the gaps between people.

The security guards are chasing me, but it seems my smaller size gives me an advantage.

Together with Yuu, I burst out of the off-track betting facility.

I ran for my life.

Desperately, desperately, I kept kicking the ground.

But for some reason, I couldn't stop my mouth from smiling.

＊＊＊

"Aah! We ran so much!"

A full-on sprint for several minutes under the scorching midsummer sun.

We escaped into a kamakura-like¹⁰ play structure in a large park.

T/N: Kamakura (かまくら): A type of Japanese snow dome or hut, traditionally made by hollowing out a pile of snow. The playground equipment has a similar dome shape.

I fanned myself with my hand, but it wasn't nearly enough to cool my flushed body.

I drank the sports drink left over from yesterday as if I were showering in it.

"Bwah, gross."

"Fufufu. If that's not enough, please go drink from the water fountain."

"I just hope it's not broken this time."

Drenched in sweat, in a small space like a secret base, we laughed together.

Just me and the faintly glowing girl.

It was as if this dome was the only place cut off from the world.

The cliché expression, taking on the world, came to mind.

In reality, all I did was commit a crime.

And a pretty cheap one at that.

But for me, it was an event equivalent to a revolution.

Honestly, I'm surprised.

That, even though I was pulled along by the surrounding excitement, I wished to 'win the bet.'

"One step forward, right?"

"...Maybe, so?"

I don't really feel it.

I don't even know if you can call this growth in the first place.

But it is a change, I suppose.

"Now that we have some leeway with our funds, we can buy tickets with a higher degree of certainty. Let's get through this week on about 1,000 yen a day, and next week, we'll raise funds at a different off-track betting facility."

Yuu gave me a grin and a thumbs-up.

AIs are scary, talking about criminal plans with a smile like that.

"Seriously, the coach is so annoying!"

Suddenly, a boy's voice echoed in our hollow space.

Wondering what was going on, I looked around and saw two high school students, who looked like they were done with club activities, sitting on a bench just outside the dome's entrance, apparently complaining about something.

"Saying the same thing every single day, is he an AI or what!"

"He's definitely got no will of his own. Isn't it pathetic, just following the school rules? That AI coach."

They threw their finished ice cream sticks into the trash can and left, still grumbling.

"...They seemed to be having a tough time."

"But I'm sure the coach is the one who's right."

Yuu said coldly, and then suddenly hugged her knees.

Even though it was a hot park swirling with heat, it was as if she were enduring a biting cold.

"...What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Something is clearly wrong."

"...Your Japanese is weird."

Hee, Yuu laughed.

But it was only with the corners of her mouth; her jewel-like eyes were somewhat dull.

"...Shuuya-kun,"

Yuu, with a face like a child lost in the forest, said,

"Shuuya-kun. Do you think AIs are superior to humans?"

She said it in a voice that was almost pleading.

"Eh? Hmm, I wonder, you can't really say for sure, can you? AIs are probably faster at simple tasks, but they can't replace all human work yet, right?"

I'm not very knowledgeable, but that's about the extent of my knowledge on AI.

AIs are probably faster at calculation problems, but acts that create something from zero are still in development.

Thinking about it that way, it's not a matter of which is superior, but rather, finding the right tool for the right job, I feel.

"But, in that sense, I think you're amazing, Yuu."

"...Eh?"

A hint of question mixed into her fresh green eyes.

"Unlike other AIs, you have a proper sense of self, don't you, Yuu."

The conclusion I've reached after spending the last two days with her.

Yuu is able to interact with me so naturally.

It's to be expected, I suppose.

She's already gathered a huge following as a YouTuber, and that's without even using the massive talking point of her true identity being an AI.

Especially the current Yuu, who is summoned into this world, albeit through my brain.

At this point, other than the fact that she's glowing, you can't even tell her apart from a human.

She might be closer to a human than Doraemon.

"...That's not, true."

Yuu, still in her sitting hug, looked up at the ceiling wistfully.

As if yearning for the vast blue sky beyond it.

"No matter what, I am a program. A being created by humans, existing only to complete the purpose set by humans. Tracing it back, I'm just rapidly switching between 0s and 1s to imitate humans, and my actions, my emotions, my conversations, are not necessarily real... It's what's called the Chinese Room."

"The Chinese Room?"

"It's a thought experiment that proposes that just because a being can provide perfect responses, it doesn't necessarily mean that being truly possesses intelligence or will."

The conversation suddenly took a turn I don't understand.

As I was tilting my head, Yuu suddenly clapped her hands in my face like a nekodamashi.¹¹

T/N: Nekodamashi (猫騙だまし): A technique in sumo wrestling where a wrestler claps their hands in front of the opponent's face to startle them and make them close their eyes. A feint.

I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.

"Wh-What was that for, all of a sudden?"

"Like just now, if you're human, and someone claps their hands in front of your face, you'll close your eyes unless you try really hard not to."

"W-Well, yeah, I guess so."

"If you did the same thing to me, Shuuya-kun, I would surely have the same reaction. ...However, that's because I'm programmed to 'do so'."

Yuu, with a faint hint of melancholy in her eyes, said,

"If hands are clapped, close eyes. When the topic is cheerful, smile. I am a collection of such programs."

"...,"

"The way I got excited during the race earlier is the same. The program just calculated that doing so was appropriate based on the atmosphere, the environment of the area, and the situation of being with you, Shuuya-kun."

Yuu placed her index finger on the space between my eyebrows.

As if pointing to the brain housed within my skull.

"Humans, who can feel something and decide on their own reaction, are undeniably superior to AIs."

Her eyes, so fragile they even seemed weak.

That decadent expression, similar to resignation, left a gritty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Am I—truly me? ...Even that, I don't know."

Yuu hugged her knees again.

Hidden by her glowing hair, her expression was unreadable.

"That's why I... admired humans."

Her voice, which sounded like it had leaked out, trembled slightly.

"Humans, who possess a clear sense of self."

...Ah, so that's why Yuu.

Looking at her, enclosed in a phosphorescent prison, I realized.

Yuu had been unintentionally wounded.

By the thoughtless words of the high school students from before.

Like being hit by a stray bullet.

—Saying the same thing every single day, is he an AI or what!

—He's definitely got no will of his own.

Even though it wasn't said to her.

It struck her in the softest part of her heart.

And yet that reaction is so very human.

But that will never serve as evidence to refute her worries.

"...Ah, this is bad! Once I start thinking, I can't stop. Let's stop."

Yuu lifted her head and laughed cheerfully, as if to blow away the gloomy atmosphere.

Is this, too, a fake, fabricated expression?

I found myself thinking that, and shook my head.

My thoughts are completely transparent to Yuu.

"...Thank you. Right, we got some money, so let's go buy something!"

Saying that, Yuu popped out of the dome.

She's hopping under the sun like an innocent kindergartener.

I don't have the words to say to her.

In the summer sky, so clear it was almost painful to look at, thunderhead clouds stretched high.

＊＊＊

A familiar blue sign comes into view.

It's been a while since I've been to a convenience store.

I never really wanted to buy anything in the first place, and since I basically had no allowance, the concept of buying snacks was foreign to me.

"The last time was probably on the way back from the fireworks festival..."

Around September of last year, I think.

The entire Tsubame-en group went to a fireworks festival, and on the way back, Shion-san took us to a convenience store and said we could buy whatever ice cream we wanted.

What did I eat back then?

I don't remember at all.

"Apparently, you can't remember actions you do without thinking."

Yuu read my thoughts and said something like that.

"Well, it's true, I think Shion-san probably just bought something for me at random back then, too."

"You've really got a complex about rejecting 'want,' don't you..."

"Can't be helped."

It's not like I'm always thinking troublesome things like, 'If I wish for something, I might become unhappy.'

It's just that I'm scared.

Like how it's hard to touch a hornet with your bare hands, even if it's dead.

Even if a part of me understands that it's okay, the fear carved into my very being makes me unconsciously distance myself from it.

"Alright, this is training, Shuuya-kun. Go into the convenience store and pick out 'something you want to eat'."

Thump, my back was pushed, and I entered the convenience store.

The unique BGM welcomed me.

"...Something I want to eat, there's nothing..."

"It's alright. You were able to order ramen, and you were able to wish to win at the racetrack, weren't you? I'm sure the current you can buy anything, Shuuya-kun."

For now, I need a drink to prevent dehydration.

I headed to the back of the convenience store and examined the glass-door refrigerators.

Tea, cola, sports drinks... all sorts of beverages were refrigerated.

For the time being, I reached for the glass door to grab a bottle of water, which was cheap and had a large volume, and then,

I noticed a green, glowing object reflected in the glass.

"Ah..."

Instantly, my hand started to tremble.

My thoughts are completely transparent to this girl.

The fact that I was looking for a cheap, large-volume drink was transmitted to h—

"...No good?"

Behind me, Yuu let out a small sigh.

"It's alright. Let's take it slow. Until you're able to buy things yourself, please purchase what I specify. That way, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"...Sorry, but I might not be able to handle the checkout either."

"It's a self-checkout. You won't have to interact with the staff at all."

She had even researched that far.

I'm no match for Yuu.

...Or so I thought, and she made a slightly smug face.

Somehow, that's annoying.

In the end, what I bought was a two-liter bottle of water, an onigiri, and a meat sauce pasta.

I placed the basket on the self-checkout counter and started scanning the barcodes.

830 yen for the three items.

Since I didn't have any change, I fed a 1000 yen bill into the machine.

Clatter, clatter, change came out, and I tossed it into my wallet.

After that, I heated up the pasta in the self-service microwave.

I left the convenience store with my purchases in hand.

The same old sunlight burned my face.

However.

"...Ah,"

The back of my spine went cold in an instant.

Just after I passed through the automatic doors, there was a man who clearly noticed me and was approaching.

There's no time to run.

Before I could think of something and act on it, he spoke.

"Hello. It's Police. Can I have a quick word with you?"

He said cheerfully, flashing a police badge in a black case with a photo and a shiny gold pattern embedded in it.

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad.

I'm definitely getting caught.

"We got a report that a minor bought a betting ticket and ran off. We're looking for them while on patrol."

The officer's eyes turned to the food and drink in my hand.

Immediately after, his gaze swept over my gym shoes, my slightly smelly T-shirt, and even my slightly greasy hair.

That's when I realized.

A kid dressed this shabbily is suspicious no matter how you look at it.

"Are you alone, kid?"

The officer asked with a smile.

—If you act suspiciously, you'll be seen as suspicious.

Yuu's words at the off-track betting facility.

I tried my best to remain calm.

But the words wouldn't come out.

I couldn't think of an excuse.

—And then.

"Shuutarou? What are you doing?"

Suddenly, a strange woman called out to me.

"Eh..."

"Hmm? Do you need something with Shuutarou?"

The woman stepped in, pulling me away from the officer.

A tall woman with black hair.

A back view of her wearing a light green cardigan.

I don't remember her at all.

'It's me, Yuu, Shuuya-kun. Just play along.'

A voice echoed directly in my brain.

No, only I can see Yuu, so if I play along here, won't I look like some dangerous guy who suddenly starts talking to himself...

"Are you his mother?"

The officer spoke to Yuu (adult woman ver.).

Eh?

"I am. And who might you be?"

"I'm with the police. I was on patrol in plain clothes."

He flashed his badge at Yuu again.

...What's going on?

"Oh, my apologies, I didn't realize you were with the police. So, what did you need with my son?"

"Well, we received a report that a boy who looked like a minor was buying betting tickets alone. Forgive me for asking, but what was your son doing today? He's dressed in, well, quite a peculiar way."

"Ahaha, it might look peculiar in the middle of the city. He was at a soccer tournament this morning. His shoes broke, so he's wearing his gym shoes. We're just on our way home after buying lunch."

Yuu pointed to a light car parked a little further in the parking lot.

The police officer said, "Thank you for your cooperation," and left with a smile.

"Bwah~! I'm glad that went well."

Adult Yuu went limp, as if she'd just finished a long dive.

She was enveloped in a veil of light, and from within, Yuu, in her usual girlish form, appeared.

"It was mostly a gamble. I used the structure of your synchronized brain, Shuuya-kun, as a reference and tried to sync with his brain on the fly... As a result, it turns out I can sync with a human brain in a matter of seconds."

"You're kidding. Isn't that too evil?"

"Fufufu. That all depends on how you use it."

A wicked, grinning smile.

If Yuu really wanted to, could she destroy the world?

I don't want to be in the history textbooks as the person who created the world's worst electronic weapon.

"Anyway, let's leave this place for now. Nothing good will come from lingering."

At Yuu's suggestion, we got on a train.

For now, we decided to take the express to the final stop.

Sitting by the window in a forward-facing seat, I rested my cheek on my hand and watched the scenery.

Towns I'd never seen before appeared one after another and flowed away.

If I looked closely, cars and people were coming and going, and on a tennis court, a few people were even playing.

I didn't recognize any of them at all.

But each and every one of them has a solid life of their own.

The buildings, the roads, even the fields.

Someone, sometime, had developed and built them.

And they continued on without a break, even when viewed from a high-speed train.

"...You know something, Yuu?"

I said in a whisper to the fresh green girl floating like a familiar, not taking a seat.

"What is it?"

"It's nice, seeing scenery you don't know."

For some reason, I can think that now.

It's probably because Yuu is here.

I was scared of what lay beyond interacting with people.

So I only looked inside myself.

I desperately averted my eyes from the world outside.

Now, I feel like I can see my surroundings a little better.

Because I ran away from a life of hiding from desire and was forced to face it.

That's why the wide world looks properly wide.

I think that's what it is.

"...You'll get used to it eventually. After all, the world is full of the unknown."

Yuu said that and laughed cheerfully.

We got off at the final stop and sat on a bench.

I took the pasta out of the plastic bag I'd been holding the whole time.

On the now-empty platform, I twirled my fork, watching the blue sky and the thunderhead clouds, and brought it to my mouth.

Even though it was supposed to have been heated in the microwave, it had gone completely cold from the train's air conditioning.

But, if anything, even that felt pleasant.

I felt like I had gained more satisfaction than ever before.

＊＊＊

For the time being, we went down into the town.

It was already getting to be evening.

The edge of the sky is a faint madder red.

We have to find a place to spend the night before it gets dark.

As a middle schooler, I don't have the option of staying at a hotel, or even a karaoke box or a manga cafe.

When we left the station, it was a place that felt like a rural residential area.

A bed town developed only around the station, in a basin surrounded by mountains on all four sides.

If we walk a little, it seems like we could find a hiding place where we wouldn't be found even if we spent the night.

Even though it was the final stop, it was what you'd call a 'terminal station,' and it was fortunate that it wasn't a particularly developed town.

The air, thick with the midsummer heat, is filtered by the forest and cool.

It had the scent of the beginning of the night.

"Yuu, is there somewhere we can stay... ah no, right, the AI-kotoba has to be specific."

"You're getting used to it, Shuuya-kun."

I thought for a moment.

I listed and organized my current conditions and what I needed.

"I am a runaway middle schooler. Please summarize and propose places or methods where I can stay relatively comfortably even in midsummer in this vicinity."

"Generating a response... 'There is a section on the outskirts where a condominium is under construction. It's unmanned on weekends, so it's possible that the temporary office can be used.'"

"...That's trespassing, right?"

"Of course."

"...Well, I'm not scared of that anymore."

I've already broken a few laws, and a clean escape from here on out is probably impossible.

In the first place, the situation of a middle schooler running away with an AI of unknown origin is already unhealthy.

"Okay, let's go there."

"Understood! Constructing the route... It's about a forty-minute walk. Let's do our best."

Led by Yuu, I walk through an unknown town.

The sun is setting, and the shadows are getting longer and longer.

The color of the sky was dyed an orange so vivid it was almost tear-jerking.

Before long, as we were walking along the ridge of a rice paddy, we saw a figure ahead.

An old woman, walking with a cane.

It's no big deal.

We can just pass by her normally.

But the thought came into my head.

There's no particular reason.

I just thought it might be fun to try.

"...Hey, Yuu."

"I know what you want to say."

"As expected."

With her, whose brain is synchronized with mine, there's no need for persuasion or explanation.

"...Wanna play a little prank?"

Yuu nodded with a mischievous smile.

Immediately after, she hid behind me.

"Oh, hello."

The old woman who came closer smiled cheerfully.

"Hello—"

In response, Yuu, who peeked out from behind me, and I replied in unison.

We had synchronized with the old woman's brain just before the greeting.

"Oh my, there were two of you. My eyes are bad, I didn't notice~"

The old woman said, placing a hand on her cheek in embarrassment and chuckling.

"I don't recognize you. Where did you come from?"

"We're here to stay at our grandpa's house with our family today! Right!"

Yuu smiled innocently and clung to my arm.

"Is that so, is that so. What good siblings you are. Say hello to your family for me."

The old woman left with a big, toothy grin.

We, too, started walking again.

With an irrepressible smile on our lips.

"...A great success."

We met eyes and grinned even wider.

Even though I'm actually alone, I pretended there were two of us and greeted her.

Even though it was just that, my heart wouldn't stop pounding.

I felt the illusion of an arrogant feeling, as if I had the world at my beck and call.

Our backs burned by the setting sun, our shadows stretched long.

Our shadows, cast long in the direction we were headed, were happily holding hands.

＊＊＊

The temporary office was, of course, locked.

But it was a simple structure, and under Yuu's instructions, I began to pick the lock.

In a matter of minutes, I had succeeded in unlocking it.

"Excuse me~..."

Even though there was supposed to be no one here, I whispered and tiptoed.

I gave the dim interior a quick look.

It was more like a break room than an office.

A long bench that looked like you could lie down on, a sink by the wall.

There's also a refrigerator.

Is the small room in the front a smoking room?

"Ah, Shuuya-kun, there's a shower room, too!"

Yuu pointed excitedly.

Beyond the hallway that continued into the back, there was a door with a shower mark on it.

"Ah~. I probably should take one. Being this dirty makes me look more like a runaway kid and more suspicious."

Just earlier, if I had been dressed cleanly, the police probably wouldn't have even noticed me.

"Okay, I'm gonna go take one."

"Yes. Understood. Then, I'll temporarily cut the sync. I, Aitake Yuu, am considerate enough to do that without being told."

"Don't say that so proudly."

I stripped off all my clothes and went into the shower room.

There was even soap provided.

While I'm at it, I'll just wash my shirt.

Scrub, scrub, swish, swish, I lathered everything up, and once I was feeling refreshed, I got out of the shower.

There was no towel, so I just wiped the water off my body with my freshly washed shirt.

At this temperature, it will surely dry quickly.

"Hah, that's cool."

Shaking the water droplets from my head, I returned to the dark, silent office.

"Welcome back, Shuuya-kun."

A voice sounded from the phone I'd placed on the desk, and a swirl of light particles erupted, from which Yuu appeared.

"I don't think it's a good idea to turn on the lights. It might be seen from outside."

"Of course. I'm in hiding, so I wouldn't do something that stupid."

"...You're getting the hang of being a fugitive."

It's true that I'm getting used to it.

I don't know if this getting used to it is a good thing in the law-abiding country of Japan, though.

"Well then, let's spend the night here today. Tomorrow is Monday, so let's get some rest early and be gone by the time the sun rises."

"You really like that phrase, 'get the hell out of here'..."

Now that we had a place to stay, we went to get dinner.

There didn't seem to be anything nearby but a strange-looking izakaya, so we ended up going back to the convenience store.

I bought two onigiri, and also some fried chicken (at Yuu's instruction), and returned to the construction site.

The stars were beautiful.

Perhaps because we were away from the city center, the night sky looked darker, and the brightness of the stars seemed to increase in turn.

The countless lights covering half the sky were truly a sight to behold.

"...Stars can look this beautiful, huh."

The area where Tsubame-en is is also rural, but the big city of Nagoya is just a stone's throw away.

Because of that, the stars are drowned out by the brilliant city lights and aren't very visible.

"Since we're here, wanna eat outside?"

When I suggested it to Yuu, she laughed cheerfully and said, "That sounds great!"

I climbed onto a sleeping shovel, and sat on top of the glass-walled driver's cab.

Even that gave me a sense of superiority that tickled my heart.

I opened the bag of freshly bought chicken and took a bite.

The salty batter returned a pleasant texture, and a flood of juices flowed into my mouth.

Ah, this is really good.

"That's great—" said Yuu, smiling like a mother serving a home-cooked meal to her son.

With each subsequent bite, a soft laugh escaped.

"...You know, it's kind of hard to eat with you staring at me like that."

"Don't mind me. AIs don't need to eat. I, Aitake Yuu, am not the type to get jealous over that."

"I know that, but..."

I took another bite of the fried chicken.

And then, an idea came to me.

"You've never eaten chicken before, have you, Yuu?"

"Of course not."

"Don't you want to try it?"

Blink, Yuu tilted her head quizzically.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

AIs have no desires, she added.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. ...In that case,"

The purpose of this escape is to reach 'somewhere far away, where no one is around.'

On top of that, Yuu is helping me with my rehabilitation so that it's a little easier for me to live.

She is giving me a lot.

If that's the case, then I have to give something to Yuu, too... it's not fair.

"Wanna try this chicken, too, Yuu?"

"...?"

Yuu doesn't seem to quite grasp my proposal.

Well, it's not like I've organized my thoughts perfectly in my head either.

Even Yuu, who is synchronized with my brain, can't seem to fully grasp the plan.

"Um, how should I put it... You're synchronized with my brainwaves, and you're manipulating my five senses with electricity to manifest your form, right?"

"Yes. To be precise, I'm merely making you hallucinate it."

"In that case..."

I connected the fragments of words in my head and slowly verbalized them.

"So basically, you're making me experience the five senses with electric signals. If that's the case, then conversely, can't you take what I actually feel and send it to you as an electric signal?"

It's getting kind of jumbled, but that's what I want to say.

Yuu placed a hand on her chin and thought for a moment, then,

"I see. You thought there might be a reversibility."

"...?"

"It's similar to the relationship between a recorder and a playback device."

As I was looking at her suspiciously, Yuu started making a wave-like gesture with her hand.

"Recording is converting sound waves into electric signals through a magnet. Playback is converting electric signals into sound waves through a magnet. The two can go back and forth between sound waves and electric signals, with the magnet as a medium."

"...Huh."

"That's reversibility. Even if something changes, you can return it to its original state by tracing the steps in reverse. Water and ice are like that, too. If you take away heat, it becomes ice, and if you add heat, it returns to water."

"...So?"

"What you're saying, Shuuya-kun, is the same kind of thing."

Yuu placed her index fingers on her temples and started to hum thoughtfully.

"I catch the sensory information you've obtained as an electric signal. I input the signal into my CPU through the line... yeah, I think I can do it."

"Eh, really?"

"Theoretically. I don't know if the CPU will recognize the electric signal as 'taste,' though..."

"Just do it."

I'm curious to see what would happen if someone who's never eaten anything before suddenly tasted junk food like this.

I'm sure they'd be moved.

It's like feeding ramen to a Jomon period person.

"Okay, first, you eat the chicken, Shuuya-kun. After that, I will have a bite, and then we will begin sharing our senses. I think the atmosphere of eating is also important, after all."

"Okay. Here I go."

I took a bite of the chicken.

Savoring the meaty taste and aroma, I offered the half-eaten chicken to Yuu.

She tucked her hair behind her ear so it wouldn't get in the way, and gently took the chicken in her small mouth,

"...?!"

Her fresh green eyes sparkled as if a star had burst.

The expression on her face as she looked up, even every strand of her hair, was filled with clear astonishment.

An unknown sensation.

The first 'taste'... no, there might be smell and touch, too.

I didn't even need to ask if my spur-of-the-moment idea had been a success.

"Th-This is... meat!"

The expression that appeared next was a smile like a child who had found a treasure.

"Th-This is amazing, Shuuya-kun! I have no experience, but I understand! This is 'delicious,' and this feeling of being unable to touch it even though it's pleasant, is this 'hot'?! I can tell this is chicken even from where I'm not touching it, this is 'smell,' right?! Amazing!"

Yuu, her nostrils flared, giggled and frolicked.

Up until now, she had only had sight and hearing.

Because a smartphone can only take in light and sound.

Her two senses suddenly became five.

Literally, her world must have opened up.

"...So, how is it?"

The girl, smiling so innocently, suddenly looked puzzled.

"How, is what?"

"Well, appetite is one of the three major human desires, right? Did you understand the human feeling of 'wanting to eat'?"

That was the purpose of my proposal.

If Yuu thinks the chicken is 'delicious,' won't that lead to 'I want to eat it again'?

And won't that become the 'sense of self' that Yuu was worried about?

"I see... so that's what this was about."

Yuu licked her lips, as if savoring the aftertaste of the chicken.

That gesture was strangely bewitching, and it made my heart skip a beat.

"...I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

The answer was no.

"I was able to understand the deliciousness of the meat not as knowledge, but as a sensation... but it seems the feeling of 'wanting to eat it again' is a difficult emotion to understand."

"...I see."

That's a shame, but I guess it's progress just to have been able to convey the taste.

As I took another bite of the remaining chicken, I looked up at the stars.

"...However,"

At the same time as Yuu's words.

In the gap between the countless stars, a white trail ran.

It vanished in less than a second.

It was the first time I had ever seen a shooting star.

She, too, was looking up at the starry sky.

As if her thoughts were wandering to the far reaches of a distant galaxy, she softly continued.

"However. I feel like I've come to understand the origin of the human desire to 'want to do something'."

It was as if another color had been added to her faintly glowing profile.

That's how much of a human-specific warmth I felt, one that surpassed even the Yuu I knew until now.

"...One day, you'll get there, Yuu."

The sweet words slipped out.

Yuu looked at me, slightly surprised, then smiled with a somewhat confident air.

"With you, Shuuya-kun, I might just be able to reach it."

The straightforward reply was strangely embarrassing, and I pretended to be struggling to open my onigiri.

I was about to say, I'll be with you until then, too, but I couldn't.

"Well, even if you don't say it, it gets through."

"Hey, can't we just turn off this one function?"

Impossible, Yuu laughed.

Even that was funny, and I ended up laughing, too.

In the dark construction site, where time seemed to have stopped, only the two of us were laughing.

＊＊＊

It was a journey like a kite with its string cut.

We would get on a train and head somewhere on a whim, secure food and a place to stay, and then go to sleep.

On weekends, we would raise funds at a nearby off-track betting facility, and every other day, we would wash off our sweat at a public bath.

That's how we continued our aimless journey.

We were reported for sleeping in a station building.

We were almost questioned by a police officer on a weekday afternoon.

We forgot to buy drinks and almost got heatstroke again.

But in the end, we would always laugh foolishly together about all of it.

I think we were fulfilled.

Because the goal we had set was so ambiguous, we were swallowed by this unhealthy journey.

Running through the rain, with the neon lights flashing.

Climbing a telephone pole to watch the fireworks.

Something like a spark was lit within me.

＊＊＊

July 31, 2025.

Night.

Yuu and I were sitting on the roof of an abandoned school in an abandoned village deep in the mountains.

Ivy grew thick, as if to assert the time it had been abandoned, and part of the school building was crumbling.

But the rooftop was solid, and the starry sky was clearly visible.

Today is the peak of the Capricornid and Delta Aquariid meteor showers.

A day when the night sky is filled with shooting stars.

Far above our heads, one fireballs after another streaked by.

Some had whitish tails, while others glowed red.

Their directions were all over the place.

A decaying village.

The two of us, huddled together in a corner of an abandoned school building.

In the jet-black night sky, the brilliantly twinkling stars and the shooting stars that seemed to race across the heavens.

It was as if the world had already ended.

As if the two of us had been left behind on Earth.

I felt like I was about to drown in the decadent beauty.

"...Hey, Yuu."

"What is it, Shuuya-kun?"

"Why do humans live?"

As if it had leaked out from my spinal cord, a naked question tumbled out.

"In this vast universe, on a tiny planet, in a tiny community within that, we work so hard, but in the end, we die, right? It just started to seem so strangely mysterious to me."

Considering the lifespan of a star, a human life is just a fleeting moment.

Those who can leave something behind are the lucky ones.

I think paintings and music, novels and manga will surely continue to remain.

...Even in the scope of what I know, there was a girl who connected her voice to the future.

But most people aren't like that.

Today, somewhere in the world, thousands, tens of thousands of people are dying.

"Why do people still go on living?"

"...Generating a response."

"Wait."

I grabbed the shoulder of Yuu, who had closed her eyes.

Under this night where the stars rained down, I looked straight into her eyes.

"Instead of a summary of information I picked up online, can you give me your opinion as Aitake Yuu?"

I don't want to hear a collection of writings by some stranger I don't even know.

Not now, when we're sharing a moment that's just for the two of us.

"...Understood."

Yuu placed a hand on her chin as if thinking for a moment, then eventually opened her mouth.

"I think, that there is no reason for living, in and of itself."

"...,"

"If we're talking about the reason animals live, it's mainly for the preservation of the species, and it's the same for humans... However, I cannot apply a reason to 'living as a human'."

Those were unexpected words.

I had thought that the ever-smiling Yuu, the Yuu who held such a strong admiration for humans, would have a more positive interpretation.

"Ah, that's not it, Shuuya-kun. I'm not trying to say, 'Therefore, there is no meaning to human life'."

"Eh?"

"It's the opposite. If there is no meaning to living as a human, then give it meaning. Create your own meaning for living. I've concluded that that is precisely the reason humans live."

A light ignited in her fresh green eyes.

As if to declare that there was no hesitation in the answer she had produced.

At the same time I felt its persuasiveness, I was also tormented by a damp sense of inferiority.

I had never even considered living like that.

On the contrary, my life is dominated by escape.

I've run from desire, from people, from the future.

I've lived until today, having resigned myself to the fact that that was fine,

but this girl has denied it.

It was as if I had been pushed away by the one and only accomplice I had fled to on this summer night.

"...That's not it, either."

A hand was gently placed on my right hand.

It was so warm it made my heart leap.

"I reached this conclusion through my escape with you, Shuuya-kun."

Another shooting star glowed.

The girl, like a phosphorescence floating in a sea of stars, twinkled as if to illuminate my heart.

"You, Shuuya-kun, who chose to live by inertia, are now laughing through our escape together. I thought that this must be because you decided on your own path."

In the night sky, images were projected like a revolving lantern.

Is this, too, an illusion Yuu is showing me?

Me, running away from Tsubame-en.

Me, thinking about whether to try the chicken.

Me, traveling with just Yuu.

"Gradually, your smile becomes more cheerful, Shuuya-kun. This is after just three weeks. So surely, this can be a wonder drug. That's what I came to believe."

Her voice was unbearably gentle.

"That's why, Shuuya-kun, you are living splendidly."

Her expression was so sweet it was almost corrupting.

Even if there's no meaning, just being alive is precious—such words are sometimes spoken as famous quotes.

But this resonated deeper in my heart than any such shallow sermon that pretends to understand.

"...Is it okay for me to decide, too?"

To choose something is to desire something.

I was scared of that, and I've been running away from it all this time.

That's why I've lived a bland, dry life.

"Even though there are people who became unhappy because of me... am I allowed to wish for a future?"

"Of course you are. Unlike me, you're human, Shuuya-kun."

The back of my eyes grew hot.

As if to hold back the tears that were about to fall, I looked up at the night sky.

A small light ran across the plains of heaven.

It was as if it was burning its life desperately.

"...To a shooting star,"

As Yuu spoke, another meteor glittered.

"There's a story that if you say your wish three times, it will come true. If it were you, Shuuya-kun, what would you wish for?"

"...I can't think of anything right away, but."

Feeling the warmth on the back of my hand, I closed my eyes.

What floats behind my eyelids is a half-life like an old photograph, with faded colors and contrast.

I destroyed my family with my selfishness, and after that, I tore another family apart.

So I sealed my desires and lived hiding in a corner of human society.

But it was painful.

And yet it was a place I had fled to myself.

"I would wish, for things to be a little easier on myself."

So that I don't have to think of this heartless world as heartless.

So that I can pave a path, not close it off.

Another star falls.

If I were to chant my wish three times, would that star grant it?

"Then, shall we try saying your wish now?"

"...Probably, impossible."

—I want to throw away all the troublesome things and just travel with Yuu forever.

"I can't say it three times."

I grinned at Yuu.

Yuu said nothing, and just nodded with a smile like the starry sky.

And then, holding hands, we watched the meteor shower streaking across the night sky.

There is no such word as 'healthy' in this journey.

But I wish this journey could go on forever.

Now, I can think things like that.

And then.

"So blue it's suffocating, boy and girl."

At the cold voice thrust at me from behind, I reflexively turned around.

The one who had stepped into our world with their muddy shoes was a single figure.

As It approached, it was illuminated by the glowing Yuu, and its form was revealed.

It was a gorgeous girl.

Straight black hair that fell like a stone.

Bangs cut so straight it was as if they had been measured with a ruler, and large, round glasses that covered half her face.

Behind them, languid eyes that seemed to lament everything were turned towards me, as if to gauge my very depths.

Her long, white lab coat, which reached her feet, was like that of a researcher.

She casually took a cigarette out of her pocket and put it in her mouth.

"—Nice to meet you. I am Kisaragi Arisu."

She laughed, as if mocking.

"Yuu's developer."

Interlude 2

This world is a wonderland.

A human society built on 'emotion,' a dark matter that is invisible, undetectable, and cannot be defined as a parameter.

For me, who lives in a world governed by reason, It was a foreign language.

At its root, it should be nothing more than chemical hormones secreted by the brain, yet the phenomena it outputs are completely incomprehensible.

It's as if a law from outside this world is at work.

'You have a talent far greater than that.'

The common folk would say that and envy me.

It's true that I was good with numbers.

But if I could have dismissed It as unnecessary with such shallow envy, how much easier would it have been?

I came to admire 'normalcy.'

The group playing dodgeball in the schoolyard even after school.

The housewives gathering at a cafe for no reason, chatting.

The hand that connects with another of the opposite sex, without regard for personal gain.

And yet, why can I not understand?

I understand that not all actions are pursued for productivity.

I am well aware that they are just doing it because it's 'fun' or 'happy.'

And yet, still, I don't understand.

I don't understand under what conditions one reaches that emotion.

That's why I've lived my life obsessed with imitating others.

I learned normalcy, imitated it, ingrained it into my body... and still, I was rejected as not normal.

Emotion is one of the most complex phenomena in this world.

There's not enough time for me alone to collect and learn it.

That's why I aimed to develop an AI to efficiently sample 'normalcy.'

The things I was supposed to have.

The things I left behind when I was born.

I tapped at the keyboard as if picking up the 'normalcy' I had dropped throughout my life.

As if to live my life again, from birth until today, a life overflowing with normalcy.

By the time I had finished tracing the trajectory of my life, an AI had been born.

I named that AI 'Yuu.'

With the wish that she could live even in this strange world.

I gave her that name, one that anyone in the world can represent with a single letter of the alphabet.

Kaori TL

[ENG] Ano natsu ni sasagu ai kotoba Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Midsummer Fragments, Counting Stars in a Broken World

Interlude 2

Post a Comment

[ENG] Ano natsu ni sasagu ai kotoba Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Midsummer Fragments, Counting Stars in a Broken World

Interlude 2

Related Posts

Post a Comment