ANIMT - Episode 56

ANIMT - Chapter 56. That place, at that time

I Got An Extra Six Months of Life Expectancy, And Now It’s My Time

“I should go check out the rooftop. I bet it’s super cold up there… but why is there no one else here in the training building?”

I walked down the corridor, mumbling to myself.

Outside the window, it was snowing incessantly. The snowflakes were falling with such density that it looked like someone was drawing lines between the sky and the ground. It had been quite cold since I woke up, and there was no sign of this changing. The weather forecast called for non-stop snow for tomorrow as well.

Coming to an abrupt stop, I pursed my lips and exhaled a white cloud, making my best impression of a dragon. Taking a moment to stop and think, I recalled the rollercoaster of emotions that I had experienced over the last few days.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the back of my hand.

“One day left, huh… ”

In the blink of an eye, I had reached the last day of my temporarily extended life. One week ago, when I became aware of my feelings for Kitora, it was a big deal, right? Since then, I quickly returned to living a normal, uneventful life.

I talked with my classmates, enjoyed tea time with Umetaro, had a girl talk with Kokomi, and made fun of Kitora for no reason.

The test results came in, and I received a compliment from Kusaka-sensei for my good marks. I had done significantly better than I usually did.

I had taken the time to sneak off to the chemistry prep room again to deliver my updated final letter to Kokomi and Kitora. Pochitaro was there this time. The old set of letters looked so shabby that their seals had almost peeled off. After tickling Pochitaro and telling him to “treat the new set better,” I left the room to minimize the chance of Kusaka-sensei spotting me.

Plastering a smile on my face, I did my best to mimic my usual persona and returned to a life as close to normal as possible. Going to sleep and waking up at the usual time, I slipped back into my routine.

When I checked the time I had remaining on the back of my hand this morning, I couldn’t tell whether I was afraid or lonely. Many thoughts coursed through my heart, which naturally brought tears to my eyes. I clawed at the back of my head in an attempt to keep myself together before wrapping myself in my blankets for a long time.

And then I closed my eyes and went back to sleep… twice.

When I couldn’t sleep any longer, I looked at my clock and saw it was almost 11:00 a.m.

“What am I doing with my precious last day?”

Rolling out of bed in a panic, I changed into my school uniform on a Sunday and went on my planned search for nostalgic places alone.

After having a quick lunch in my room, I looked around the dormitory and found more students staying at school through the break than I had expected. It seems many of them were planning to stay until just before the year ended.

However, the school buildings were almost empty. There are probably a few security guards and teachers around, but so far, I hadn’t seen anyone.

It was very convenient for me to walk around alone, basking in the sentimentality.

The empty classroom where I used to spend lunch with Kokomi on cold days.

The rooftop where I had lunch with Kokomi on days with good weather.

The drama club room Uminari-san invited me to stop by.

The infirmary that I found myself in several times.

Even though I went to school almost every day for many months, it was now a place that felt subtly different. Everything felt strangely fresh, but I also felt a conflicting sense of nostalgia.

Arriving at my classroom, I sat in my usual seat with nothing to keep me company but my own thoughts. The time went by slowly but steadily.

My next stop was the training building, where I had spent time with Kitora and Kokomi preparing for the magic mock battles and practicing for the cultural festival.

As the sun was starting to set, I made my way back to the school building.

“… The most important place is here, I guess.”

----As if lured, my feet naturally led me to the staircase where I was pushed down and lost my life six months ago.

I climbed up the steps and crouched down on the fatal step.

Up until now, I had made a conscious effort to avoid coming here. That is, until now. For some reason, ever since I decided to go search for places of memories, I knew that I had to come to this place at the end of the day.

The snow turned into hail. The sound of it hitting the windowpanes behind me was almost deafening. It was raining that day, but the sound of the strong rain in my ears and the sound of the hail pounding on the window today seemed similar.

Six months ago…

As I recall, I was forced by the three dumpling sisters to go to Kusaka-sensei to deliver a printout and the daily log. I was then sent to look for Kitora because he was supposed to sign the book as my partner.

I still called him Futaki-kun at that time, and we didn’t get along very well. Whenever I spoke to him, it was in a near whimper, and I kept my distance from him at all times because I was afraid of him. My demeanor would irritate him, and on that day, he lost his temper and shouted some rude things at me before leaving me alone on this step.

“He’s terrible, isn’t he?”

I feel like I’ve been looking at Kitora for a long time. Thinking about it, even though it was a bad memory, it somehow made me feel a little funny in hindsight, and I buried my face in my skirt and laughed a little.

At the time, I was in no mood to laugh, and I had to grit my teeth to keep the tears from flowing.

I really miss that time. I was so afraid all the time that the smallest thing would set me off.

Before I had my life expectancy extended, the only people who liked me at school were Shiratama and Umetaro.

Kusaka-sensei pissed me off. I didn’t know any of my classmates and considered them to be strangers that I happened to share classes with. I didn’t even have a nice friend I could do girl talk with like Kokomi, and I lived my high school life as an empty, lonely, and solitary person.

In the six months an angel gave me, I tried to live my life as freely as possible so that I wouldn’t leave behind any regrets. I’m now surrounded with many people who I love dearly.

My magic became stronger, and I even made the rankings twice, which was something I never even dreamed about achieving as a dropout. I also played a big role in the cultural festival with my puppetry magic. Isn’t that amazing?

And what’s more. I was even offered a sakura badge by Yamadori-kun, the popular boy in my class. I turned it down, but I was still glad to receive his favor. I wish I could have told Kaede about all of this. Something like, “I’ve improved my girl power and become more popular!” I made many happy memories.

Oh, I can’t forget about Umetaro either! It was nice to hear about Umetaro-san and the Headmaster’s past. I could tell that Umetaro-san used to be really handsome. I still remember how similar their smiles were when I heard them say, “I love this school,” on separate occasions.

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. I had a hard time looking for the culprit of my death. I couldn’t handle the black, ugly feelings of hatred and resentment, and I cried and cried miserably when I finally reached the truth. I was so thankful that Kitora was there for me at that time. Maybe that was the moment I fell in love with him? I should have teased him more…

Well, whatever.

“I’ve truly been alive for the last six months.”

The murmur, which could be described as a tearful voice or a mixture of laughter, fizzled out and vanished in the dimness of space.

The next thing that came to mind was the final letters had left with Pochitaro. I wondered if they would reach everyone. It’s not that I don’t believe in Pochitaro, but I can’t help but be a little worried.

Even if he successfully delivers them to the people important to me, will they be able to read my poor writing? To tell the truth, even though I used the letter set I bought, I am still unsatisfied with the final product. I couldn’t find the right words to confess to Kitora, so I just wrote a tsundere-like remark in the corner of my letter to him.

Even after all this time, the same thoughts that I wrote down initially when I started working on these letters are the best I could manage.

“Even though I know it would be impossible, it would have been better if I could have said everything in person.”

I have no regrets about what I have accomplished in the past six months, but… Not being able to end everything properly is a bit disappointing. I can’t help it, though!

As my thoughts pulled me in many directions, and as I thought again about everything I had done in the past six months, including my parting words, I heard a thump, more violent than the hail, on the window behind me. The note of violence echoed through the surroundings.

Startled by the sound, I lept to my feet. The moment that I did, my trademark clover pin left my hair and fell to the bottom of the stairs with a bang.

In a panic, I lunged forward to catch it as it fell and was struck by a strong sense of déjà vu.

This is exactly the same as that time, isn’t it?

“Oh… ”

Then, without any particular warning, my body tilted forward as if being pulled and sucked in by something unseen. I didn’t feel a push on my back like I did on that day, but the fact remained that I lost my balance.

As time seemed to slow, I finally recalled what Angel Shiratama said and suddenly understood what he meant. When I died, he extended my life.

“I can only ‘postpone’ your death a little bit.”

That’s right, that’s what Shiratama said.

He said that my death was only postponed for six months. So six months from then, today, it is finally time.

It was inevitable that I would come here.

My cause of death was destined to be the exact same as it was on that day.

“… Oh, I see.”

This was the answer to how it would end for me. I had spent a lot of time thinking of the various ways it would happen, but this somehow makes the most sense. Oddly enough, as I described in my final words, I slipped down some stairs, and there is no doubt that I died as a result.

I let myself go, not resisting the floating sensation, and gently closed my eyes.

Before my eyelids had fully closed, I caught a glimpse of the number zero appearing on the back of my hand at the edge of my vision. But strangely enough, it didn’t hurt as much as it did on that day.

My sense of time slowed to a crawl as my heart turned calm and tranquil.

The faces of important people I had met flashed before my eyes.

Friends from junior high school.

My classmates during high school, especially Yamadori-kun and Uminari-chan.

Kusaka-sensei, Pochitaro-san, and the Headmaster whom I only met once.

My loving family: my father, mother, brother Tsukushi and sister Tanpopo.

My best friend, Kae-chan.

Umetaro-san and Shiratama, who were my spiritual rocks.

My cute and reliable friend, Kokomi.

My favorite person, my one true love, my partner Kitora.

Everyone, everyone was smiling.

“I love you all, thank you… And goodbye.”

I don’t know if I could have chosen better parting words. I wish I could have said them in person, but my thoughts had slowly begun sinking into the darkness.

I thought I heard a familiar voice whispering something… I gently let go of my consciousness.

----

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TL Note: Mald Frogs Club tries to capture the intent of the author when translating these chapters. This is not a literal translation and we can not guarantee the accuracy of it. We re-structure sentences to improve the flow and if we spot what appears to be an obvious error, we fix it as we go.