Yukinoshita Haruno's nasty streak could be maddeningly hard to read—how much of what she said was serious, and how much was just banter?
For example, her offhand declaration about getting back together just now sounded like a joke, and Narumi Tōru instinctively knew better than to take it at face value.
"Haruno, are you just teasing me? If you are, I'll get mad."
The curly-haired young man answered calmly.
"I'll retaliate if I get angry, you know."
"Eh—yeah right. Achē, you're just talking tough. What are you going to do, puff yourself up? —"
Narumi well understood he and Haruno were not from the same social class; even revenge would be difficult, and that had been one of the reasons they'd broken up.
"Anyway, I'll remember this grudge."
"Save the hot air~ though I know you're that kind of guy."
Haruno glanced back at her sister, who was staring blankly at the magazine, then took Narumi's wrist and led him out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Now came the talk they didn't want others to overhear.
"That girl's condition… we all see it. So I wasn't entirely joking just now. If you were around to boost her morale about treatment, maybe—"
Haruno hesitated, then lowered her eyes and spoke the truth.
"Maybe Mother will change her mind about sending Yukino away for closed-door treatment overseas. That's the best solution we can think of to keep her alive."
——
This had to be the worst future simulation ever.
Yukinoshita Yukino, half-propped on the hospital bed, had never tried other simulated experiences, but she could assert that with confidence.
Proud, composed, always dependable in front of her peers—she couldn't deny the unprecedented defeat settling over her. So she decided to blame the slump in her spirits on the worsening of her physical condition. She couldn't stand seeing her health go downhill; this weak, exhausted body made her feel drained, and it was turning into a time bomb that would detonate the already awkward, strained ties with her family.
Her domineering mother hadn't softened because of the illness—if anything, she got more overbearing, laying out one recovery plan after another as if she were a mother who could do anything for her child's life. Her father, always distant in the household, retreated further into silence and late-night smoking, quietly backing every decision his wife made.
Yukino's emotions had shifted from the initial, bitter "why me?" to an uncontainable exhaustion—watching the life drain slowly from her fingers—and she had to admit it was real. It was laughable in a way: dragged into this future simulation for no good reason, expecting some dramatic twist, only to find herself stuck on a sickbed.
Fatigue and pain crept over her; she blinked against the haze.
[This station reports: a once-in-five-thousand-years comet will pass by Earth and might be visible from regions such as Miyazaki and Kagoshima this weekend.]
She listened to the TV news while keeping her head bowed over her book, half closing her eyes to rest.
If this is a nightmare, please let me wake up soon.
" Oh? Already asleep, are we? Li—ttle—Yu—kino—?"
A loud voice cut in as someone pushed the door open, waking her immediately.
"…Has anyone told you, senpai, that you can't be so noisy in a hospital?"
Yukino frowned and gave the smiling Narumi a sharp stare.
This young man always had a strange power—he could yank her out of nightmares with ease. If she could only see him inside a simulation, she might be willing to stay in such a nightmare for a while longer.
"It's fine. The commotion should be bothering only you."
"Please don't state as a fact something that concerns only me in such a self-righteous tone. Where's your sister? Why didn't she come back with you?"
"Sent her off, sent her off—this is private time for the two of us. Are you sure you want her involved?"
Narumi sat down in Yukino's room as if the space belonged to him.
"…What do you want to say?"
Even if she was weak, the black-haired girl forced herself to raise her guard and scooted back an inch for distance.
"That question should be mine to ask you, Yukinoshita Yukino. What do you want to do?"
Narumi's face lost its usual teasing indolence; he was focused and blunt. Even as an NPC in a simulation, he could show that expression?
Yukino blinked, unsure whether she was speaking from pain or from numbness induced by the system. Without fully thinking it through, she said the next thing.
"If I say I've had enough and can't stay here, can you take me away?"
Narumi froze for a heartbeat—this was the first time she'd caught a trace of real surprise on his usual playful face.
She hadn't truly expected the simulated NPC to help her break free; the question was less a plea than an expression of helplessness. Cramped by suffocating family dynamics and tortured by unpredictable pain, maybe this was the end the "future" had in store.
"…It's okay if you don't answer."
On the verge of convincing herself to accept that outcome, she forced a small smile and closed her eyes to doze.
Until the young man's voice echoed in the room.
"Alright, sounds interesting."
"…?"
Yukino jerked her eyes open and met Narumi's smile. For the first time she thought his smile was refreshingly clear—his eyes and the dimples at his cheeks, even the tiny creases at the corners when he squinted, all looked oddly appealing. She knew he wasn't joking.
"…?"
"I've wanted to say this for a long time: you've been kept like a caged canary by your parents, with no healthy social life and no source of positive emotion. Even without illness, they probably forced you into this."
While Yukino sat dumbfounded, Narumi sat up and straightened his clothes, gathering the magazine from the bed.
"You have school tomorrow, right? I'll skip your sister and come to the school to pick you up."
"Wait…are you actually going to—"
"I promised, didn't I? I'll appear when you need me. A distress signal's been sent—of course out-of-court assistance takes the call."
He scratched his curls and spoke as if planning an escape route while sounding casual.
"Besides, 'ex-boyfriend of a prominent girl's family appears and abducts the sick younger sister'—that'll make great headlines, won't it?"
This man was definitely unmoored from normalcy, Yukino thought. She could say that with certainty. But only this person would ignore external pressures entirely and agree without hesitation to a plan she'd blurted out.
So, without further hesitation, she bit the bullet and made the most reckless decision she'd ever made—placing her hand into the palm of the curly-haired young man.
"…Then let's try. See how far you can get me away."
And so, absurd and impulsive, the elopement plan began.