"H-Honoka?! Why are you here?"
"Are you okay Su-kun? Why are you tied up?!"
As soon as we jumped up, Honoka and I started asking each other questions at the same time. But "Why are you here?" was a stupid question. If she had gone to the trouble of breaking in through the window, she must have come to save me. Come to think of it, Honoka is my childhood friend, so it's not surprising that she knows the secret place where we're staying with Hitora. I had assumed that Shomei had come to save me, but that was a complete blind spot.
"Well, you see, there are circumstances deeper than the ocean. But you know, you're really aware that I'm being held captive in this place, right?"
"Oh yeah. Shiori-chan didn't come to school today, right? And then I heard that Su-kun had snuck out of class, so I thought maybe the two of you were meeting up. And then I remembered that this was the only place where we could meet, alone."
Honoka explained the situation in a tense manner. Although she looked extremely unreliable, I was glad that she had mustered up the courage to come and help.
"But why are Su-kun's hands and feet tied with rope? Could it be that Shiori-chan did this to him?"
Honoka's caring words startled me.
"That's right. I'll explain the details later, but for now, could you please untie this rope? The target will come back. Please untie my feet first."
"Uh, yeah."
As I said this, Honoka bent down at my feet, flustered, and tried to untie the rope, but it seemed to be tied very tightly, and it didn't look like it would come undone so easily.
"Hey, tell me? Why is Su-kun locked up in a place like this? Did Shiori-chan really do it?"
When he asked that, I lowered my gaze and my eyes met with Honoka's, who was looking up at me. Her eyes were filled with anger I had never seen before. When I thought about it, Honoka had come to help me, and she was my precious childhood friend after all. I had every right to know how things would turn out.
I gave up and explained everything that had happened up until then.
"I...Is that true?"
"That's true."
When I gave her a short answer, Honoka looked down and began to tremble. I started to worry, thinking she should stop what she was doing, but she quickly went back to her work.
"I can't forgive Shiori-chan."
Suddenly, Honoka muttered.
"...picture?"
"I can't forgive Shiori-chan."
When Honoka said this, her eyes were no longer the usual cute ones, but instead were filled with anger. For me, who only knew the airheaded and carefree Honoka, the look in her eyes was terrifying.
"Su-kun, do you remember your promise to me?"
However, that feeling was short-lived, as Honoka returned to her usual timid self. But what about a promise? I'm sure you said something like that the other day, but to be honest, I don't remember. Perhaps guessing from my state, Honoka spoke in a disappointed tone.
"Oh, so you don't remember after all. But, what you said at that time saved me."
"S-saved?"
"Yes. I'm really grateful."
I don't know why, but Honoka seems to feel a great sense of gratitude towards me. Honoka doesn't want to say anything more, and instead concentrates on untying the rope.
"Unclear...just a little longer..."
Eventually, the knots in the rope that had been binding me so tightly came loose. I immediately tried to stand up, but perhaps because I had been tied up for so long and my blood flow had been cut off, I ended up falling on my bottom. Honoka reached out her hand to me and said,
"Su-kun, let's run away quickly. Together with me!"
"No, I'm still here."
Honoka had question marks all over her face, as if she hadn't expected to be turned down.
"Why!? If this keeps up, who knows what Shiori might do to you!"
"Yeah, that's right."
I confirmed what Honoka said.
"If they find out I'm trying to run away from here, I might get killed. To be honest, Shiori is acting strange right now. But, she's still my sister. Even if I run away without resolving the problem, nothing will fundamentally change. If I stay at home, I'll have to face her whether I like it or not. So, when I leave here, she's with me."
Honoka listened to what I said with a blank look on her face, as if she'd never heard a language before. Of course she would. I didn't even understand the logic behind it, and what Honoka was saying was far more reasonable. But even so, I didn't want to run away. If I was stupid, I wanted to keep going as far as I could.
"B-but, Su-kun--"
Honoka started to say something, but then stopped. With her eyes fixed on my back, fear was clearly visible in her eyes. What on earth did she see? There was only one possibility, but I turned back to the door in fear, praying that it was a cockroach or something.
"I sensed something strange and came back... and sure enough, a cockroach had gotten in."
"Signature...be――――!?"
As I had expected, it was Shiori who was standing behind me. That didn't surprise me.
What shocked me was the silver knife she was holding in her hand.