Chapter 34: The Wolf Has Fallen for the Sheep
Outside the convenience store.
Nakano Nino heard some noise.
Probably that guy who just bought a drink earlier?
But that had nothing to do with her anymore.
From the time school ended until now, in just a few short hours, she had been through a lot.
She had already jumped off a building several times, and even tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train.
Couldn't die—the train would just pass right through her.
But she couldn't touch objects, nor be seen by others—she was no different from being dead.
She was starving. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch because she was sulking, and that was hours ago. But since she couldn't touch anything, naturally she couldn't eat either.
Her contact lenses were gone too. After wandering all over the place, she was too exhausted to even move anymore.
If nothing unexpected happened, then she'd probably die...
Thinking that, Nakano Nino laughed. Was she any different from dead already right now?
'So tired, I just want to sleep.'
"Hey! Eat something. You're a student from Shuchiin, right?"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but Nakano Nino was too dizzy with hunger to tell.
Surely, they weren't talking to her.
No point in lifting her head and wasting energy.
"Not dead yet, are you!?" The voice was clearly annoyed.
Of course she wasn't dead.
Clinging to the little bit of hope left in her heart, Nakano Nino slowly lifted her head.
She couldn't see clearly.
But... they were probably a good person.
...
Sakurai Saki noticed her uniform was a bit messy, and her hair was tangled like wild grass—he had no idea what to do.
This was the first time he had ever seen a girl wandering the streets.
He had seen it in the news before. It said some schoolgirls ran away from home, relying on selling their bodies in exchange for food and shelter.
"There's some bread here. Eat something first." Sakurai Saki said gently.
"You... you can see me?" Nakano Nino took the piece of bread he handed her.
She could actually touch it...
For a moment, she couldn't believe it.
"I don't think any guy would ignore a girl like you on the street." Sakurai Saki walked over to the vending machine, inserted coins, and bought a can of sweet red tea.
Turning around with the drink in hand, Sakurai Saki saw her wolfing down the food.
She looked miserable.
Just like a stray cat.
/ᐠ ╥ ˕ ╥マ
He opened the drink and handed it to her.
Nakano Nino hesitated a little. She couldn't see clearly.
"Drink."
Hearing that, she took it and drank a big gulp.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Sakurai Saki said, then picked up the can of coffee he had bought earlier and got ready to ride home.
"You... you're leaving?" Nakano Nino heard his footsteps and vaguely saw his figure growing distant.
"It's getting late. You should go home too—running away from home will just make your parents worry." Sakurai Saki said.
Since she was wearing a Shuchiin uniform, her house probably wasn't far from here.
But did she even have money?
The trains were probably still running.
But it wasn't safe for a girl to walk alone at night—taking a taxi would be better.
Thinking that, Sakurai Saki turned back around, pulled out a ten-thousand-yen bill, and placed it next to her. "Take a taxi home—this should be enough."
"I..." Nakano Nino fell silent.
Do I... even have something called a home?
Mom had passed away. Dad wasn't even home.
And even if she went back, what was the point? Her sisters wouldn't be able to see her.
(Note: I'm confused. Didn't they see her in the last chapter?)
She was quiet for a moment, then continued: "I don't have a home."
"And... why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you afraid of being scammed?"
Sakurai Saki took the money back.
"I knew someone foolish who would do something like that. He was a kind person, always concerned about others. Once I asked him, 'these things have nothing to do with you, helping out won't benefit you at all, so why do you still do it?'"
Sakurai Saki recalled: "He said, 'because I want to.'"
Nakano Nino didn't say anything.
"Right now I want to help you, and that's simply the only reason. Is that reason... enough?" Sakurai Saki said seriously.
"But I don't have a home to go back to." Nino touched the bread bag Sakurai Saki had just handed her, and found that her fingertips once again passed right through it.
It seemed like he was the only one who could see her.
The reason why was unclear.
To be honest, even Nakano Nino herself didn't fully understand her current condition.
Sakurai Saki stood still.
He was thinking about how to persuade her to go home.
Most people who ran away from home would say they had no home to return to.
She was probably just sulking—or at least, in Sakurai Saki's eyes, she was sulking.
Once she had time to think things through, she would surely go home.
After coming to that conclusion, Sakurai Saki handed the bill back to her, then turned and walked away.
Nakano Nino looked at his departing back again. Her heart suddenly ached, as if she was about to lose something very important.
...
Not far away.
Sakurai Saki walked to the spot where he parked earlier and kicked up the bicycle stand.
Suddenly—
"Clack clack~"
Footsteps came from behind.
Sakurai Saki turned around and saw the hem of his shirt being held by the girl from before.
"Why are you following me?"
There was no reply.
"I don't think... we know each other?"
Still no response.
She was like a mute who didn't know how to speak.
Her vision didn't seem very good either—otherwise, when he handed her the drink earlier, she wouldn't have had that dazed expression.
'Shirogane, I suddenly felt like imitating your "hero way" once, and now I've gotten myself tangled up in this mess.' Sakurai Saki sighed inwardly.
'Why am I so unlucky?'
...
And so, Sakurai Saki walked the whole way home with a little "tail" in tow.
When he got home, it was already past nine in the evening.
After parking his bike, he went up to the second floor of the apartment complex, stood in front of his door, then turned around to look at the girl.
He asked: "What's your name?"
He'd been followed the entire way and didn't even know her name. But thinking about it, it made sense—if this girl was good at communication, she probably wouldn't have gotten upset and run away from home in the first place.
"..." Nakano Nino only tightly gripped the hem of Sakurai Saki's shirt.
Seeing that, Sakurai Saki didn't say anything more. Autistic kids were often like that.
He used to be the same—completely disinterested in interacting with strangers.
If he hadn't seen his former self in this girl, Sakurai Saki wouldn't have gotten involved either.
'But to follow a stranger home like this, this girl seriously has way too little caution.'
Just a bit of food and drink, and she was willing to follow someone home. Was she planning to offer her body in return?
Sakurai Saki didn't object to purely physical relationships, but he didn't like those that were overly wanton.
Although he wouldn't catch any infectious diseases due to his physical condition, mentally, it was still hard for him to accept.
"You wouldn't go home, wouldn't tell me your name, and followed me to the door. Fine." Sakurai Saki opened the door.
"You're about to enter the room of a man who lives alone. If you're not afraid of what I might do to you, then come in."
Sakurai Saki made that clear in advance.
Hearing that, Nakano Nino's grip loosened slightly, but a few seconds later she held on even tighter.
There was no other choice now, right?
"It's okay. Because, besides you... there's no one else who cares about me anymore."
That line came from behind.
A few seconds later, silence.
Sakurai Saki led her through the door into his home.
--------------------------------------------
If you like this story, please leave me a comment, review, collection and power stones if you can, that really help me a lot
If you're looking for good fanfics, try reading my other books, you won't be disappointed, promise.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and support me to have more motivation to continue as a translator, here is my p.a.t.r.e.o.n pa treon.com/curse_heian_chef
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧Thanks you, Have a nice day