Oomi
Damn, I only called Oze-san.
Rhone-san and Ululu, who had been standing beside him, both looked a little lonely.
“Ululu, Rhone-san, please come over here too!”
This time, both their faces lit up at once. Ululu’s design naturally made it fine for him to have little expression, yet with exaggerated movements of his eyes and mouth, his emotions were strangely easy to read. Rhone-san, on the other hand, was already expressive, waving with a bright smile.The suspicion that Rhone-san had killed three of his passengers hadn’t been cleared, but I still felt a little sorry for him.
The sight of Oze-san, Rhone-san, and Ululu walking toward me through the rain, exchanging glances with one another, looked utterly peaceful.
Come to think of it, when had Oze-san and Rhone-san gotten so close? They seemed to understand each other as if they’d spent far more time together than they had with me. Was that really okay?
“What a sight. Did you hear what that is?”
“Huh?”
From under his long bangs, the single visible eye of Oze-san was so strikingly beautiful in the rain that I found myself staring, dazed. Gross, getting like this over my own senior.
“That’s the lightning of the island. Those chosen ahead of us are gathered into the lightning and wait within the light for morning to come.”
Oze-san’s voice sounded like someone else’s. Not long ago, he’d always been a man wrapped up in his own world. Now, though, within the coldness of his tone was a gentleness like a hot drink in winter, making me want to ask him to keep talking.
“Ah—yeah, I heard from the Harvester of Hearts. Aochi-san and I were just talking about what will happen to us tomorrow.”
Aochi-san, who had been fixed on the island, turned toward me. He was always cool, but the shadows cast by the setting sun made him look even cooler. I liked how, no matter how handsome he was, there was still a sense of reality to him.
Even without touching, I could tell my hand could reach him. Oze-san, though, always felt like he might disappear at any moment, and that worried me.
“Oze-san, let’s make sure the three of us go to the new world together.”
Did he nod? At that moment, a loud noise like the island splitting apart made me turn, so I couldn’t tell.
“Both of you, be careful. That lightning just now is nothing like before. Rhone, protect Ululu. Is Kaori-san with Silent Girl? Hey, Silent-chan, don’t move from there! Oomi, where’s Mamoru-kun?”
“Aochi-san, please calm down. We’re still fine. Mamoru-kun is at your feet. And besides, we have the Harvester of Hearts—so we’re safe.”
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For some reason, I could say that with certainty. I looked at the back of the Harvester of Hearts, standing at the bow. He seemed to have no interest at all in the island or the lightning.
Holding a bow-like gun under one arm, looking up at the sky—he looked dependable.
As long as he kept his attention on the birds, no lightning would strike our ship, and we wouldn’t be mistakenly taken to the new world too soon.
“You’re right about that. Hey, tomorrow morning, let’s make sure the three of us are together in the lightning. Rhone, make sure no more people die on your ship. Take Silent-chan and Ululu to the new world. I don’t care about some rule saying you can only take one person. Break it in the confusion. If that’s a sin, then leave the one who made the rule behind in this world.”
At Aochi-san’s words, Oze-san looked between the two of us.
“About earlier—sorry for saying I wanted to stay in this world. Now I truly want to be with you two forever.”
Good—he’d changed his mind. Did Rhone-san say something to him? The two of them had come out of the ship later than we had.
“I feel the same way about taking Silent-chan and Ululu. No, I probably want it most of all. Look, the ships around the island are starting to rise. Think of it as practice for tomorrow—don’t miss it.”
Rhone-san pointed toward the sky above the island.
“…Huh?”
The lightning had stopped halfway across the sky. It was as if, in the shape of a jagged blade that had almost cleaved the sky, it had been fixed in place. Cloaked in pale blue light, it didn’t move at all. Was it waiting for something—?
What it was waiting for became clear almost immediately. The ships drifting around the island began to rise toward the lightning. Until now, I’d barely been able to make out their shapes in the distance, but one by one, they rose up. Although each ship should have its own look, they all seemed white, and as they neared the light, they were dyed in strange colors that shifted between blue, gold, and silver.
“Lining up in two rows—how good of them,” Mamoru-kun suddenly said.
“Two rows… oh, you’re right.”
Following the line of ships I was watching, I saw another line heading from the sea toward the sky.
“Looks like two friendly snakes.”
Aochi-san, too, was looking up at the long, rail-like path of ships rising skyward with a lively expression. Yes—winding as they climbed, they did look like white snakes, which felt auspicious.
“Wait—”
For a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I blinked, then looked again, but there was no mistake.
“The two snakes are connected…”
“Noticed? That’s the same ladder you hooked to my ship. Two ships connected side-by-side. Thanks to Aochi-kun’s odd sense of justice, we’re already linked, but normally they’d only connect at the very last moment.”
At Rhone-san’s words, Aochi-san shook his head in panic, scattering water droplets. It was true—if Aochi-san hadn’t caused a fuss back then, I wouldn’t have even pretended to look for a ladder…
“So this is the real timing. And yet I went and put a ladder on your ship early… does that cause a problem?”
It wasn’t his fault—Aochi-san was too straightforward for me to think so. Please, Rhone-san, just say It’s nothing.
“Well… yes, and quite a bit, actually. Because you connected the ladder so early, our ships will stay entangled even in the next world. Under normal circumstances—like what we’re seeing now—the connected ships would come apart in the next world, and we’d almost never meet again. But since we’ve been linked for so long, we’re bound to cross paths again.”
Speaking with a quiet, pleased smile, Rhone-san’s voice sounded truly happy. This man had countless variations of smiles, and each one threw me off balance.
“—But, well, if I can meet Ululu and Silent-chan again in the next world, I’d be glad for it, actually.”
I said it to encourage Aochi-san, but also because it was true.
“I’m glad you feel that way. The truth is, I can’t leave him—your Harvester of Hearts—either. We’ve become a pair. Not only in this world, but in the ones to come, our ships will continue to run side by side. Ah, I’m grateful to you for this. This is what I’ve always wanted. Now I can keep supporting him forever. Though… he’ll scold me for it.”
Rhone-san’s sorrowful smile seemed to melt into the dimming twilight. Ah, there it was again—a different kind of smile.
“Why are you—”
My voice was drowned out by thunder rumbling from the depths of the sea.