VOLUME 5

Chapter 4: Part 6

We soon reached our front door, and I spoke up to Haruna.

“Hey, it’s time to say goodbye to the owl.”

“Huh? Why?! She’s gonna live here with us, of course!”

“Hoo hoo.”

Haruna squeezed the owl close to her and shook her head frantically. Anderson-kun didn’t seem to know what to do as he watched this scene. Anderson-kun was a good guy, so I doubt he would be aggressive here…

“Haruna.”

“No! This owl… she wants to be with me too! Right?”

The owl looked back and forth between Haruna and Anderson-kun.

“Soohwy.”

And then, she flew out of Haruna’s thin arms.

“Ah!” The owl stopped in Anderson-kun’s arms and spread her wings out wide.

“Hoo.” Haruna looked down at the ground, as if trying to avoid eye contact with the owl.

“W-Why… why won’t you stay with me?! I thought we were friends… I thought we were friends!”

Haruna looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment, and Anderson-kun really didn’t seem like he knew what to do.

“Haruna-sensei, this one also has her own duties. As a Megalo, you know… so, she can’t live with you right now.”

“I won’t accept that! She can just do her duties while living with me!”

Anderson-kun scratched his head upon hearing Haruna’s selfish words.

But the one who did what had to be done… was none other than the owl herself.

“Hoo, hoo.” The owl hooted sadly, seeming to want to say something.

Yuu tapped Haruna on the shoulder.

Does Haruna-chan want to come to where I live?

It seemed that Yuu could understand what the owl wanted to say.

Haruna stared me right in the eyes, and didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Hoo.” = Just like Haruna-chan, I also have a family and a place to go back to.

“Shut up! Idiot! I don’t care anymore! J-Just go away!”

Haruna turned her back on Anderson-kun and the owl. It seemed like she was sulking.

“Bye, Aikawa. I’ll see ya again at school.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

“Hoo, hoo.”

The owl also said goodbye, but Haruna just continued to sulk.

Geez. I turned back to look at Haruna, and I saw…

A girl there crying waterfalls of tears.

“Huh? A-Ah, c.r.a.p! There’s something in my eye! That owl flapped her wings way too much!”

Haruna couldn’t stop the huge tears from flowing. Even if she could, her voice just gave her away.

“Haruna…” Sera spoke up, sounding a bit worried.

“Again…” Haruna looked down at the floor and covered her face with her hand to cover her tears, and then shouted with sobs mixing in with her voice.

“I… I finally made a friend! But it always ends up like this! I get… I get left behind!”

Haruna… I had heard that she was always alone back in the magical world Virie. But… it seemed like it wasn’t the case that she couldn’t make friends.

Haruna always acted so selfish, domineering, and arrogant… but she definitely wasn’t a bad person. Actually, she always tried her very best so that everyone could have fun together.

“Haruna…”

“Ayumu, are you going to stay with me forever? Is the gloomy necromancer going to stay with me forever? Of course not! Nothing in this world lasts forever! But I don’t wanna be alone anymore! I… I don’t wanna!”

Yuu pulled Haruna into a hug.

Just parting does not mean the end.

Yeah, she was right. No matter when, and no matter where everyone was, friends.h.i.+p never changed. And as long as that friends.h.i.+p remained a constant, everyone was sure to meet again.

“Gloomy… necromancer…”

Haruna lifted her head up. Her cute face was just a mess.

This is not farewell. It’s a ‘see you later.’

I felt like I could see something akin to motherly affection in Yuu’s youthful face.

Haruna took Yuu’s memo and wiped away her tears.

“Okay… yeah, you’re right! Even if we have to part, then we’ll just say ‘see ya later’! But… she… she already…”

Haruna seemed to have gotten a bit of her energy back and wanted to chase after the owl, but her ahoge was still drooping.

I took Haruna by her hand and began to run.

“Let’s go tell them.”

“Ayumu?”

“Let’s go tell Haruna’s friend ‘see you later.’”

“Okay!”

Haruna nodded, a smile on her face, and showed me the confident expression I was used to seeing from her.

“Well, h.e.l.lscythe-dono. It’s getting quite cold outside. Perhaps we should go back.”

Maybe she was trying to be tactful, but Sera took Yuu and they both went back inside the house.

Still holding onto Haruna’s hand, I ran along the night roads for a bit before speaking up.

“Haruna…”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ayumu?!”

Her voice was overflowing with her usual energy. Her ahoge jumped happily from side to side.

“You don’t have to worry… I’ll be with you forever. Even after death, I’ll be with you.”

“Hueh? … T-That’s… you mean…”

Haruna blushed, and her ahoge stood straight on end. In response, I gave her my best zombie smile.

“Yeah. We’re family, after all.”

That was a cool thing to say. Seriously, I said something insanely cool just no-

“Ugh!” O wow ow! What the h.e.l.l?! Why are you pulling on my ear?!

“Haruna, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?!”

“Stop getting my hopes up in weird ways!”

Hey! S-Stop that…!

“Anderson-kun help meeeeee~~.”

For some reason, Haruna was now angry at me, and I called out at that tall back I saw in the distance to protect me from her relentless attacks.

The owl on Anderson-kun’s shoulder turned around.

Haruna let go of my ear and ran towards Anderson-kun.

Ugh, what the h.e.l.l had Haruna been angry about? I really hadn’t the faintest idea, but I ran after her.

“I… came to goodbye.”

“I see.” Anderson-kun seemed to understand what Haruna wanted to say, so he let the owl down off his shoulder.

Haruna squatted on the ground and hugged her knees, so that she could get herself to the same height as the owl.

“Don’t get the wrong idea though. This doesn’t mean we won’t see each other again.”

“Hoo hoo. Yeah.” The owl gave a small nod.

“So, this isn’t farewell. Got it?”

“Hoo hoo.” The owl nodded again and again.

“So… see ya later.”

While saying that, Haruna lifted up a hand. The owl also lifted up one of her wings.

I don’t know if Haruna realized it or not, but she was now exactly making the owl’s “let’s be friends” pose.

END CHAPTER 4

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES