Even so, we are living in the present

Chapter 21 – Black Hiace

After parting with his brother, Tomoya was walking alone on his way to school. The road was narrow, with few pedestrians, and was wide enough for a standard-sized car to pass. Rice paddies surrounded both sides of the road, and dwellings were strewn over the landscape. At the end of the street was a T-junction, where Yuu’s dance school stood on the corner, and from there, many cars passed by. People going to school, heading to work, walking their dogs, and all sorts of people were proceeding to their respective destinations.

Tomoya was one of them, heading to his high school. His heart was ready for the tension to rise.

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“Good morning!”

Upon entering the classroom, he made a refreshing greeting as soon as he opened the door. His classmates responded to his greeting and exchanged greetings in return. In particular, Tomoya, who was good friends with the boys, was in high spirits from the morning, giving high-fives and lightly bumping shoulders with them.

Kyosuke and Yuu, sitting next to each other, watch the scene from their seats in the very back. Yuu was finally allowed to go to school under an agreement with his doctor that he would wear an eye patch over his left eye and not engage in strenuous physical activities such as gymnastics.

“Oh, Sonohara!”

Once he spotted Yuu, Tomoya walked up to him. With a grin and a happy expression on his face, he came in front of Yuu and stared at his beautiful face with his cheekbones on the desk.

“… What?”

Somewhat withdrawn, Yuu asked what he wanted. Seeing this, Kyosuke offered a helping hand.

“Yuu… you have something to say to Saiki, don’t you?”

“Ha? About what?”

“Eh? Things to say to me? What is it?”

A swift exchange of question marks was immediately released, and their gazes shifted to Kyosuke.

“… Eh?”

As far as Kyosuke was aware, the source of Yuu’s rescue could be traced back to an incoming call from Tomoya. Therefore, he thought perhaps Yuu should express his gratitude to Tomoya, but apparently, the message failed to sink in for him. Nevertheless, there was no way he would mention the incident here.

“No, it’s nothing. It’s all in my mind.”

Powerless to do anything about it, Kyosuke raised the white flag. At that conclusion, Yuu sighed, and Tomoya said, “What?” and headed to his own seat, complaining.

Later on, school life began as before. The same classroom scenes; the same lunch in the cafeteria; the same interactions with classmates. For Tomoya, such a pleasant daily life was a blessing.

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As the school bell rang to signify the end of the school day, Tomoya stretched in the bustling classroom where he had finished his homeroom before leaving for the day.

Today I will return home and meet my big brother again.

At the mere thought of such a thing, which could be regarded as a natural occurrence, the corners of Tomoya’s mouth frankly lifted up.

“What are you grinning at, Saiki?”

“Eh? Nothing.”

When Kyosuke, holding a shinai wrapped in cloth, approached him, he shook his head hurriedly.

“Really? Well, okay, but… hmm?”

As they were conversing, Yuu tugged at Kyosuke’s uniform with his fingertips as if to interrupt them. When Kyosuke turned around, Yuu put her lips to Kyosuke’s ear and shyly spoke.

From there, a sneaky private conversation between the two of them began.

“Can I wait for you to finish your club activities, Kyosuke?”

“That’s fine, but you’ll have free time.”

“I’d rather not be alone.”

“Hmm, okay.”

Thus, hand in hand, the two of them headed for the dojo.

“See you later, Saiki.”

“Bye-bye.”

As they bid him farewell, Tomoya replied with a broad wave of his hand. Since the incident at his home where he was victimized, Yuu has gradually started to open up to him. Although he still maintained a tsundere and chilly expression on his face, for Tomoya, it was nonetheless a great joy.

Well, I suppose I’ll return home.

After looking around the classroom, which was beginning to be deserted, Tomoya stood up, picked up his bag, and left the school.

The scenery of returning home was the same as always. The athletic club was running around the perimeter of the school building. In the schoolyard, other club members were engaged in their activities. With this scene by his side, Tomoya set off on his way home in a good mood.

Once he entered the narrow road by the dance school, the number of people and cars decreased at once. To put it in a metaphoric way, it was like traveling to and returning from a different world.

“…”

With the scenery unchanged from before, his steps proceeded without any thought. After a short walk, a black Hiace passed by Tomoya.

“…?”

Even though he tilted his head at the unfamiliar car body, he walked forward as if it were someone else’s business and did not pay attention to it. However, the car passed by and then reversed back.

“…”

Not wishing to get run over, he avoided and halted until he was close to the edge of the rice paddies.

… Eh?

The car quietly came to a stop right next to Tomoya. The windows were tinted black, thus the interior of the car was not visible. Tomoya, struck by instinctive fear, slowly tried to pass by, his body tensing up. At the same time, however, the sliding rear door opened.

“Don’t move.”

“…”

If I disobeyed, I might be murdered. Tomoya stopped in his tracks as such anxiety swept over him.

“Come with me.”

“No! Nngh…”

A large man stepped out of the back seat and grabbed his arm with all his strength. He reflexively flailed to resist, but another large palm blocked his mouth.

“Ugh… Ugh!”

Abruptly, a voice that sounded like a scream rose up. Tomoya’s neck was in pain as if he had been stung by a bee. Before long, his vision spun around, and his body wobbled as if he had lost his sense of balance. When it occurred to him that he had been drugged with a hazardous substance, his consciousness faded and rendered him immobile.

The man caught him, and he was taken into the car with no time to cry out for help. Although Tomoya’s schoolbag fell to the side of the rice paddy, the sliding door silently closed, ignoring this. Before anyone could discover them, the suspicious men kidnapped Tomoya and drove away on a narrow road in a black Hiace.