039. Warmth (2)
039. Warmth (2)
'Ugh...... I feel like dying from guilt.'
My heart hurt like crazy.
Because Aria Witri was looking at me with wide, startled rabbit eyes.
She had a face that looked completely shocked.
'......She must be flustered. Definitely.'
It must have hurt a lot, too.
Because she got slapped out of nowhere.
If it were the usual Alisa, she would have immediately hugged Aria, stroked her, apologized, and rubbed her cheeks against hers.
But she couldn't do that now.
Even though she couldn't bear to look Aria in the eye because of the guilt.
Just this once, really.
Because Alisa had made up her mind to be vicious.
For Aria's sake.
"Uuuu."
Even though her heart trembled a little at the groan Aria let out.
Alisa was firm.
"You need to stop being stubborn. We're going back to the academy. All of us."
"...No."
"Why? Why not? Rather than staying here......."
Ah.
Aria kept letting out 'uu' groans while fiddling with something.
It was a pendant.
Alisa knows.
Who the person inside the pendant is.
Where Aria's heart is leaning.
'...Is it guilt?'
The things Aria had done to Yuna Castilla were, in her opinion, not even worth calling bullying.
Nevertheless, Aria.
Had been keeping those actions full in her heart.
'Why are you so damn kind.......'
Aria is worried about Yuna Castilla.
Yuna Castilla had definitely entered the Great Forest, stumbling, looking like a half-ruined wreck.
Perhaps she had witnessed that sight with her own eyes.
Still, Yuna Castilla had committed wrongs against Aria.
And Aria was also afraid of Yuna Castilla.
'Is worry coming before all that?'
Perhaps Aria.
Had forgiven everything.
Because she's too kind.
'......She even stopped Clara from stepping on her.'
While doing so, she said harsh words so Yuna wouldn't misunderstand.
At least that's how it looked to Alisa.
So she could definitely conclude.
Aria Witri is.......
A kind person who hopes that no one around her gets hurt.
"Ha......."
Alisa held back the tears that were about to spill.
Actually, she wanted to hug Aria and cry her eyes out right now, but she couldn't.
'......Happiness.'
It doesn't mean Alisa is happy.
It means she wants to find a future where Aria can be happy.
Just, by the side of the person she likes, laughing and chatting healthily.
A world where she can just let herself go with the flow and live a leisurely, carefree life.
A life that even Alisa had never enjoyed once.
A world she had desperately wished for.
She wanted to show Aria.
Even though.
Even knowing that all of this would return to nothing in a year.
Alisa wanted to live in the moment.
Together with Aria.
'There has never been a world like this before.'
Aria Witri, who always exited halfway through, turning over a new leaf and having a heart that knows how to care for others.
There has never been such a world line before.
So it was special.
Because it was incredibly special, she didn't want to give up or let go.
Aria Witri is.......
Because she was the first friend she had ever made as an equal.
That's why she can't let her go.
If by any chance Aria ends up going into the Great Forest.
She would stick right by her side.
'......Because there would be many things to take care of.'
She would follow Aria like that.
To the ends of the earth.
Because if she doesn't take care of her from the side.
Her mind would definitely break.
If Nurse Lena's words are correct.
The densely spread Great Forest.
It was a quite harsh environment for Aria, who limps, to pass through.
And even if they were mid-to-low level...... monsters did appear.
'Aria didn't seem to have any talent for fighting or anything.'
She's too brave for her own good, even while limping.
Alisa didn't want her to get hurt and end up losing her own heart.
Alisa didn't want that.
Because there was no reason or need for Aria to suffer such things.
It was too cruel.
Even in the endlessly repeating world, the fate Aria faced felt especially cruel.
Perhaps even more than her own.
"I'm going! I have to go...!"
Alisa put on a firm expression.
And Aria, who was whining like a child.
She faced her head-on.
Desperately hiding the fact that her hands were trembling.
Looking down at Aria with a very, very angry expression.
After forcing her face to frown.
Once again.
She acted like she was going to hit her most precious...... friend, Aria.
'......I want Aria to look at me and think of the face of the person she fears most.'
While harboring that thought in her heart.
"Wait! That's too harsh, Alisa!"
"....I, I don't care."
"But!"
Acting skills that even made Clara's complexion turn pale.
Actually...... even if someone hit Aria with a feather, Clara would be shocked and cough up blood.
'You can resent me all you want. I just... hate seeing you get hurt anymore.'
Getting slapped must have been... a really painful experience.
It must be a terrible experience she never wants to have again.
It doesn't matter even if Aria resents her.
Even if she's condemned by everyone, even if she's accused of bullying Aria, it's all fine.
'Because this is for Aria's sake.......'
Alisa couldn't help but gag.
Hitting someone.
And that too, her most precious person.......
Because that was something she couldn't understand or accept.
But.
Even if it's like this.
If she could protect her precious friend...... someone who might become more than that, even by laying a hand on her.
So Alisa made a very scary expression.
And whispered to Aria in a low voice.
"S-stop...... it."
It feels like her heart is shattering into pieces.
She felt sorry for Aria, and extremely guilty.
Clara felt a similar way.
'......Is it okay to do this?'
Is it even reasonable to threaten her sister, who isn't in her right mind, with violence?
It was painful.
Because she thought that if they did this, they would be no different from that bitch.
As much as she likes Aria.
As much as she terribly cherishes her.
She wanted her to be safe.
So there's no other way.
She hopes she stops being stubborn with this.
She has already carried enough burdens.
Because there's no need for her to carry any more heavy burdens.
So.
'Yuna Castilla....'
Alisa recalled Yuna's face at this very moment.
What on earth is so special about that girl that Aria is being this stubborn?
Aria was much better in both looks and personality.
'......If it were the opposite situation.'
Would Yuna Castilla have gone this far to save Aria?
'No.'
Yuna had spewed such verbal abuse at Aria.
Even while shaking off the restraint to stop.......
She poured out unspeakable words, everything she had built up, onto Aria Witri.
How much it must have hurt her.
She didn't even seem to consider the emotional pain Aria would feel.
'The same... orphan....'
Those words of Yuna are still stuck in her mind.
Aria Witri didn't just lose her parents.
She just had everything she lived for denied.
Aria Witri, whom she had seen in countless worlds until now.
Was a human overflowing with pride for her family.
That pride was completely trampled and denied by none other than her own father's hands, shattering into pieces.
The pain she must have felt from that... would have been beyond words.
Calling her the same orphan.
That's too harsh....
"Uuu......"
Aria showed a sad expression.
Seeing that, Alisa's heart felt like it was tearing even more.
'This is all... for Aria's sake.'
Because she had to use force to stop her from going to a strange place.
So she felt sorry for Aria, but.
"You absolutely cannot go."
"......That's right. You have to get past us. A weak person like you... can't do that."
It felt like her heart was tearing.
Both of them felt like they were committing an unforgivable sin against Aria.
But.
"Uuu?"
Aria, for her part, didn't care about their feelings at all.
Because she was fine.
She was, really, perfectly fine.
It's okay now.
She felt like she had lost something, but her heart felt that much lighter.
'Uuuu...... just, just, something, words to persuade those two... I really just thought of them.'
She forgot them already.
But it's okay.
Her body was energetic, her mind was sound, and her stamina was sufficient.
It hadn't been that long since she just... collapsed.
The sun was still just... blazing.
If she hurried, she might be able to follow in Yuna's footsteps.
'Ha, it's a trap.......'
She just... has to tell her.
Otherwise, Yuna will... really.
Tears welled up in Aria's eyes.
Seeing that, Alisa.
Couldn't hold back anymore and rushed at Aria.
And while hugging her, she stroked her hair and desperately repeated that she was sorry.
Clara was the same.
Because she didn't want to... make her sister cry.
'And she's so pitiful.......'
Just as Clara was trying to approach Aria somehow.
Nurse Lena entered the medical camp, finished with her preparations to return to the academy.
And the two of them, with tears in their eyes, struggling to hug Aria.
She faced a slightly embarrassing scene.
Clara's face turned beet red.
Because she was embarrassed.......