Hikigaya and the Witches' Romantic Comedy Chapter 6 6: And So Hikigaya Hachiman Chooses to be Candid

"Sakuraba."

Sakuraba Ema turned her head, those pink eyes looking at him.

"About what you said just now," he began, "the thing about the rooftop.

You said I 'helped a girl who was being bullied.'

That girl—who was she?"

The wind blew between them, bringing a slight chill.

"...It was ." Her voice was very soft.

"The person on the rooftop that day was .

That's why I rember it so clearly—because it happened to ."

She looked up at him.

"I rember those people surrounding , I rember the things they said to , I rember the sign hanging around my neck, I rember the tal bucket on my head, and I rember being drenched in filthy water and having to stand there in the sun as punishnt."

Her voice trembled slightly.

"Then soone walked over and stood between and them. He looked back at once, and it was those eyes.

Exactly like yours."

Hikigaya remained silent for a few seconds. He recalled that inexplicable palpitation he felt in front of the vending machine when he heard the word "rooftop," and the flash of an image—blinding sunlight, a jeering crowd, and a figure surrounded in the center as if being prepared for a sacrifice.

Where did that image co from?

He didn't know, but he did know one thing.

"Sakuraba."

"Mhm?"

"The rooftop of that middle school was always locked."

Sakuraba Ema froze.

"I was there for nearly two years," Hikigaya said. "I went there many tis while looking for a place to eat lunch. I never once saw it open.

Did you ever go back to the rooftop to check later on?"

"But..."

Sakuraba Ema opened her mouth. Although no one bullied her after that, she still hadn't dared to go to that place.

"Have you ever considered," Hikigaya interrupted her, "that if you were truly helped, why would that person have no mory of it at all?

Two years," Hikigaya said. "Sothing you've rembered for two years—if it really happened, it would be impossible for that person to forget it completely.

Unless it never happened at all."

Sakuraba Ema's face turned pale.

"No, that's not it..." Her voice was shaking. "I rember it very clearly. Those people surrounding , the things they did to , I rember it all..."

"Then do you rember what that person looked like?"

She was stunned.

"Do you rember what his na was?"

No answer.

"Do you rember where he went afterward?"

The wind blew past, leaving only silence.

"You don't rember anything," Hikigaya said. "You only rember a single image, a pair of eyes, and then you projected that image onto ."

Sakuraba Ema lowered her head.

"That's not true..." her voice was very faint. "I really do rember..."

"The only thing you rember is the pain," Hikigaya said.

"The bullying—you rember those things very clearly. But the person who helped you? You can't rember his face, you can't rember his na, you can't rember anything that proves he exists."

He sighed, deciding to just say it directly.

"Because that person might not exist at all."

"Are you saying... I'm lying to myself?"

"I'm saying," Hikigaya looked at her, "that when people can't take it anymore, they invent a hero to save them.

That hero could be anyone," he continued. "A passing student, a character on TV, or soone from a book. If you imagine it long enough, you start to believe it's true."

Hikigaya looked away.

He knew how cruel these words were.

But he also knew that letting her continue to cling to a longing for a non-existent person was even crueler.

The wind blew, and cherry blossoms landed on the bench and on her.

Sakuraba Ema kept her head down, her expression hidden.

A long ti passed before she spoke.

"...Then, what do you think I should do?

I've searched for so long, thought about it for so long." She looked up, the rims of her eyes red. "And it turns out it was all wrong? I don't even know if that person truly exists anymore. Was it all just sothing I made up? Did I lie to myself?"

The silence lasted for a long ti.

Sakuraba Ema lowered her head, looking at the bento bag in her hands, her fingers gripping the pink cloth tightly.

"But..." her voice was very soft, "if that person really doesn't exist... then what about the things I rember?

I rember it was a very hot day," Sakuraba Ema said. "The sun made dizzy. That tal bucket they put on —it slled like rust inside. I rember soone pouring water on . It wasn't cold water from a tap; it was dirty water from washing mops. It slled sour.

I even rember that sign. I don't rember what was written on it, but I rember them making wear it and stand at the stairwell. Everyone passing by looked at . So looked once and left, so would stop and laugh for a bit."

Her voice was calm—so calm it didn't sound like she was talking about herself.

"I rember those things so clearly. I rember every detail." She looked up at Hikigaya. "If the person who helped is sothing I made up, then what about these things? Did I make these up too?"

"I didn't say those things were fake," Hikigaya replied. "I only said that the person who helped you might be fake.

The pain you rember is real," he continued. "The feeling of being bullied, the feeling of carrying it all alone, the feeling of crying out to a god who won't answer—those are all real.

So it's only natural that you would want soone to save you.

Anyone would want that," Hikigaya said. "When you're being bullied, when you're being ostracized, when you're carrying everything alone, anyone would think, 'If only soone would co.'"

He looked up at the distant sky.

"If you think about it long enough, you start to feel like that person truly exists."

Silence.

The wind blew through; it had grown a bit cold.

Sakuraba Ema kept her head down. It was a long ti before she spoke again.

"...Have you ever thought about it too?"

"What?"

"Have you ever thought," Sakuraba Ema looked at him, "about soone coming to save you?"

Hikigaya didn't answer. He just looked at the school building across from them, silent for a few seconds.

"...It's not important."

"Why isn't it important?"

"Because no one is coming," he said.

Sakuraba Ema looked at him, lost in thought.

Hikigaya stood up and patted his pants.

"I'm going back."

"Hikigaya-kun."

He stopped.

The sound of light footsteps ca from behind him. Sakuraba Ema stood behind him, still clutching that pink bento bag.

"What you said just now," she said, "about wanting soone to co save you, and thinking it for so long that you believe they really exist—you weren't just talking about , were you?

You were talking about yourself, too."

Hikigaya stood there with his back to her.

After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Did I ever ntion," he said, "that you're annoying?"

Sakuraba Ema was stunned for a mont.

Then she let out a soft laugh. It was a relaxed laugh, with a hint of a sniffle.

"You did," she said. "You've been saying it this whole ti."

Hikigaya said nothing and took a step forward.

"Hikigaya-kun," Sakuraba Ema called out to him again.

"Can we still eat lunch together in the future?"

Silence for a few seconds.

"...Whatever you want."

He continued walking forward, and no sound of footsteps followed him.

When he reached the courtyard corridor, he heard a faint voice behind him.

"Thank you."

He didn't turn around.

He simply raised his hand and gave a wave.