Narumi Tōru, of course, hadn't upgraded their two-person escape plan into a four-person affair — those two waiting by the car were helpers he'd contacted.
"These—these are all my clothes. Give them to Yukinoshita-sama for now! You can return them whenever!"
Yuigahama Yui, cheeks flushed, thrust the suitcase handle into Narumi's hand. Beside her the pale-faced Yukinoshita Yukino barely managed a grateful smile.
"Thank you… Yuigahama-san. If only we'd met earlier… no, never mind."
If she'd had more time, she thought, maybe she could actually get along with a girl who came through for her like this. Too bad there wasn't much time left.
"I still think this isn't a long-term plan. Eloping feels childish for high-schoolers… but maybe it suits a college student."
Hikigaya Hachiman sighed, looking at Narumi and Yukino with those dead-fish eyes that silently said, "good luck, you two."
"Of course, if anyone asks about the club, I'll cover for you and stall for time."
"No problem — I totally trust Hikigaya-kun's talent for fabricating things!"
"Don't put weird blind trust in me and drop that nickname already!"
Hikigaya glared at Narumi and snapped back without mercy.
"And… have you decided where you're headed?"
Hikigaya was being considerate — he didn't say the obvious, "you'll get caught sooner or later."
"Of course, of course. Thanks for your help."
Narumi smiled and nodded, helped the listless Yukino into the passenger seat, and thanked the two helpers.
"We might not see you for a long time. Take care."
"…Take care."
Though Yuigahama and Hikigaya were puzzled by Narumi's behavior, they responded politely. Maybe because Narumi seemed to be saying farewell.
—
"If this story progress bar could be shown now, it would probably be the climax of the simulation," Narumi thought as he drove the well-kept used car through the city and idly turned up the radio volume.
Yukino's condition was bad — if left alone, it would almost certainly worsen, and whether she died in the hospital or was sent abroad for treatment, it would become something Narumi couldn't take part in. That would tank his simulation score.
Driven by a compulsive need to clear the game's dungeon with high marks — and perhaps a streak of messianic heroism — Narumi hatched the escape plan: to run away with Yukinoshita Yukino. Steal her away from hospital control and family restraint; it wouldn't cure her, but maybe it could change the gloomy fatalism in her heart. And if it altered the story's original path, the next simulation would be a lot more interesting.
[Yes: through your extremely unreasonable and illogical interference, Yukinoshita Yukino's fate has been altered.]
As expected, the system's voice answered in his head.
[But this is only a temporary fix — her ending merely changes from dying in a hospital bed to dying next to you from illness, or being found by family in time and sent abroad for treatment. That's all.]
No fundamental change, then.
No — if he could catch the simulation's root…
"Miyazaki is pretty far, right?"
Yukino glanced at the navigation on the passenger side. Exhausted as she was, she brightened slightly and took on the air of someone who could be Narumi's navigator.
"I'll keep an eye on the nav for you. Don't worry."
"Oh, come on. Aren't you one of those people who can't rest unless they're doing something?"
Narumi ignored her and tossed his jacket into the passenger seat — Yukino gave a small surprised sound but caught it steady.
"Thanks, but you should rest properly so you won't hold us back."
Driving from Tokyo to Miyazaki is no small trip; as the patient, Yukino's energy was limited.
"…Blunt and pointed, as ever."
Though she kept up her tough talk, Yukino awkwardly accepted the jacket and clumsily pulled the thick coat over herself. The jacket smelled of the young man — unfamiliar but oddly comforting. It was the scent of the one person she could rely on now.
She buried her nose in the collar and silently let it fill her.
"We're going to Miyazaki to see the comet, right?" she asked at last.
"Are you the type to believe making a wish on a passing comet will make dreams come true, senpai…?"
"Let's leave that aside. Isn't it romantic to elope just to watch a comet together?"
"Hm — it sounds like a cliché from a cheesy romance movie, and usually those end with authorities symbolizing power catching up to the lovers in a tragic finale."
"You just calmly predicted the most probable ending of this elopement, Yukino-san."
Twilight fell and Narumi turned on the low beams as he merged onto the highway.
"But sometimes you don't need to be so obsessed with the destination. Otherwise, eighty percent of road movies would be boring, right?"
The car radio played Streetlights; its gentle melody didn't drown out their conversation.
"Life's like that too. I don't think death has to be the end. All those myths about heavens and hells are unproven, but they're interesting."
Narumi gripped the wheel and stared straight down the flat road, as if trying to see to its very end.
"Personally, I like the idea that after you die you go to a movie theater."
"...?"
"You die and find yourself in a cinema with popcorn and a cold soda — maybe no ice would be better? — and you sit in the best seat and watch one fascinating film after another forever. If death's like that, I'd be okay with it."
"A bit fanciful."
But Yukino, who was inside the simulation, couldn't deny she liked the idea. Imagining it, she thought, wasn't so bad.
"…By the way, what kind of movies do you like, senpai?"
"Hm? Lots. If I had to pick, I'm fond of films from the '80s and '90s and the golden age of Hollywood: Citizen Kane, 8½, Pierrot le Fou… that's all I can think of off the top of my head. For animation, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, definitely."
"Very old-school tastes. It's almost like—"
Yukino smiled slightly, but her gaze drifted out the window.
Outside, the world looked vivid and alive, as if the people passing by were truly real.