Himegi-san a Bride from the Future Begs Me to Confess My Love to Her Again - Volume 2 Chapter 5.1

The Terrifying Cave I and the Princess Must Traverse 1

I had a dream. I understood immediately that it was a dream.

Because I don’t know this place, I have never been here before.

So, I convinced myself that these fully bloomed red flowers of death around me were fake.

Even though I knew it was a dream, I was frightened and shivered at the red spider lilies and the red sky.

(TN:Red spider lily refers to a type of flower known as “彼岸花” (higanbana))

The flowers blooming in intense red, like sparks, were incredibly scary.

So, I ran.

I’m running at full speed while screaming.

I moved my heavy feet desperately, not knowing left from right.

Surely, no one will come to help. Because this is my dream…

So, I thought I absolutely wouldn’t meet anyone in this world of death. But I was wrong. It was a mistake.

——A woman was standing on the hill. A beautiful black-haired woman.

I run desperately to the bottom of the hill.

Relieved and overjoyed that I was not alone in this cruel world, I reached below the woman.

I know this person, and this person knows me.

But this person is a little different from the one I know.

The girl I know had white hair, not black; she also couldn’t stand and wore glasses.

She smiled at me with an expression that I didn’t recognize.

I couldn’t understand why she could smile in such a place. Anyway, I thought we had to escape from this place together.

So, I tried to grab her hand, but I couldn’t.

It was like she was a ghost. Perhaps she was an illusion.

I tried to grab it again, but her hand slipped through mine.

I was very sad and scared.

I felt that if I could grab this hand, I could change the miserable outcome.

Yet, this world did not permit it. The world did not indulge us.

Seeing me so desperate, she gently shook her head and smiled again.

And, she left the words ‘goodbye’——and disappeared.

I was in despair, disappointed in my powerless self.

The red spider lily petals scatter in the red sky. The world is stained even redder.

I was lost, and all I could do was crumble on the spot.

——Then I woke up with a jump.

Sweat is pouring down my face, and it is incredibly hard to breathe.

I wiped the sweat with the sleeve of my jersey and grabbed my smartphone to check the time.

It was a scary dream and at the same time, a very sad dream.

Anyway, I had a bad premonition. I felt something unpleasant was about to start.

Then I found out there were two missed call notifications on my smartphone.

Both were calls from Takashi Harukawa.

When I was about to call him back, my smartphone rang.

Again, it was a call from Takashi Harukawa.

I answered the phone from him. And shortly asked him ‘What happened?’ and I played dumb.

I knew what’s going on. What business he had, why he called me… Still, cowardly, I was trying to make him say it.

So, we both kept our mouths shut.

Then, he broke the long silence,

“…Natsumi Onē-chan has…passed away…”

The words that broke the silence were so cruel.

***

A person with a good smile has died.

The beloved Himegi Natsumi has left this world.

Right now I was at school, because I decided to attend the classes.

However, I made a mess in my room this morning morning.

I overturned and destroyed everything in the room.

I didn’t know where to direct my aimless anger.

I didn’t know who to appeal this absurdity to.

Despite knowing it was disgraceful, I could only lash out at objects.

My parents didn’t reprimand my behavior. They just hugged me in silence.

Looking at the messy room made my heart feel even more emptier.

So, I ran away to school.

For the first time, I sought salvation in this place.

Kanako wasn’t at school. Takashi Harukawa was also absent.

Naturally, Touka Himegi was not present either.

The homeroom teacher, while looking down, spoke of the tragedy of the Himegi family.

Everyone here was silently listening to the teacher’s words. Then, classes started as usual.

Yes, as if nothing had happened…

Naturally, I couldn’t absorb the content of the lessons at all.

…I guess there was no salvation in this place.

***

That night, it rained.

The raindrops fell as if even the sky was crying.

My parents and I visited the funeral hall to attend Himegi Natsumi’s wake.

Many people attended. Many people shed tears for her death.

Even the staff sorrowfully looked at the picture on the altar, saying, “It was just the beginning of her life…”

Everyone lamented her premature death.

We could only grieve over the harsh reality.

Himegi’s mother was continuously breaking down in tears.

Himegi’s father was bowing his head to the mourners coming one after another, greeting them as the chief mourner.

Touka Himegi was in a state of shock, continuously looking at her sister’s portrait.

Himegi Harune was also trying to act bravely, but her hands were constantly trembling.

It was painful. It wasn’t a sight one could easily look at.

If what Touka-san said is true…the future Hakuba Ouji overcame this hardship….

Do I really have the strength to alleviate this family’s pain?

I don’t know. I don’t know anything.

I realized that I’m not a special human being.

Today, I found out. How painful powerlessness is.

Her portrait had beautiful black hair. Black hair I didn’t know… Why did she wear a white wig?

I don’t know the answer.

The one to ask is no longer in this world. This is death——This is an eternal farewell——

…I understood, but it seemed I couldn’t accept it.

Looking back about my memories with Natsumi-san.

She was an impactful person from the beginning to the end.

She was interesting.

She had a good smile.

She was weird and kind.

Messaging on smartphones was fun. The stories of the Himegi family she told were truly enjoyable.

If possible, I wanted to meet her when she was healthy.

If possible, I wanted to share more time with her——

I bid farewell to her sleeping in the coffin.

Thinking about it, Natsumi-san was always thinking about others.

Until the very end, she prioritized her family over herself.

I think she was a person with wonderful character.

Everyone would praise her existence. …But, I wished she prioritized what she wanted to do in the end.

I wanted Natsumi-san to see a sunflower field in full bloom with her eyes.

That alone was regrettable beyond measure.

In the end, ‘Thank you’ was the only word that came out of me.

By the time the wake ended, the rain had stopped.

And, we, the family, left the funeral hall.

With our backs turned to the Himegi family, whose smiles had vanished… My body wasn’t tired, but my heart was exhausted.

It was a strange feeling for me.

As I slept in my messy room, I fell into a deep sleep like a log.