Why didn't I take him up on his offer? I failed, didn't I? Even though Saori asked me out anyway.

　Kazuya was lying in bed at home, lounging around. On the screen of the cell phone in his hand, a picture of the three girls in their yukata was displayed.
　'Aren't they cute in their yukata? Too bad I couldn't see it!' And with a message.
　In the center of the picture is my high school classmate and childhood friend since elementary school, Saori Manabe. She turned down an invitation to a fireworks display with three girls and a guy because she was somehow embarrassed by it.
　Kazuya Shiina (a sophomore in high school, age 16) was lying in bed, listening to the sound of fireworks in his room from a distance.

　Kazuya is the only person in the house. His parents were killed in an accident when he was young and he was raised by his grandfather. And that grandfather passed away last year too. He has no siblings, and his parents and grandfather left him an inheritance that allowed him to live on his own until he graduated from college without having to work, so he spent his days going back and forth between school and home instead of working part-time. He was in the upper-middle class at his high school, and was of average appearance.

　From the window of the screen, we could hear a series of loud sounds that signaled the end of the fireworks display.

This is the end of this year's fireworks display, isn't it? I don't want to think about it now.

　Kazuya left the room and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

'Which ice cream do I want to eat today? It's the shaved ice type for my mood, right?

　I opened the freezer and looked inside to see that there was not a single piece of ice cream in it.

"Seriously? There isn't any ice cream in there. Well, let's go for a walk on the way to buy some ice cream.

　I ran up the stairs in a single bound and returned to my room, grabbed my wallet and cell phone, and headed to the convenience store.
　When I looked up at the sky, it was a beautiful (beautiful) night sky with not a cloud in sight. The only thing blocking the stars was the smoke coming from the fireworks show side.
　Since the fireworks show was over, families and groups of people in yukata had come back.
　We all walked around with smiles on our faces, discussing the fireworks we had just seen.

　

'Do you think they have any new ice cream on sale?'

　Kazuya didn't look at the yukata-clad people he passed and was walking through the convenience store wondering which ice cream to buy.
　When the convenience store is already within sight, a person suddenly comes out of the entrance of the convenience store, shouting.


'Kyaaaah!

Run!

　There were couples in yukatas and families on the run.
　Then a man with a kitchen knife came out of the convenience store, waving his hand around.


'Hey guys, hey ！！！！'

　He held the knife in his right hand, his eyes were bleary, and he followed the fleeing people with his eyes, shaking his head.
　The screaming, knife-wielding man came towards Kazuya.

''Whoa. Seriously. We have to get away.''

　When I turned around and tried to run away, two junior high school-aged girls in yukatas were sitting on their hips and falling on their hips.


''You two over there, run away quickly!

　Kazuya shouted to the girls who were sitting down, but the girls, who were cowed by such an emergency, were in no condition to escape immediately.

''--Should we decide on the guts?''

　Whew, Kazuya took a breath and turned to the man holding the knife.
　He sat down on the middle step and put all his strength into his body, trying to find the right moment.


''C'mon!


　I decided to tackle the man holding the knife as hard as I could to his waist.
　They both tangle and roll down the sidewalk.
　Kazuya gets on top of the man and holds him down.

'Someone take away this guy's blade!

　As soon as I said it, a hot sensation went through my stomach and all over my body.


''Me...''

　Kazuya punched the man.
　The man who was holding the knife let go of it with the force of the beating.
　The kitchen knife, which no one else will ever hold, rolls away with great force.
　A few people nearby had let go of the knife, and they gathered around and held the man down.

　I didn't mind the heat in my abdomen thanks to the adrenaline, but I looked up and saw that red blood continued to flow on my t-shirt from the knife's stab wound.


　It's not possible to stand up with no strength, so Kazuya rolled over on his back.
　He continued to look at the night sky.
　When I tilted my head back, I saw people calling for an ambulance from nearby.
　A passerby brought out a large number of towels from the convenience store and held down the blood that was constantly coming out of Kazuya's abdomen.

　Then a couple of junior high school girls in yukatas, who had been falling on their asses earlier, came up to them nearby.

''Ka, it's Kazuya brother, isn't it!

　The girl with a hint of make-up on is a familiar face.

"Oh, you're Saori's sister, Aimi (Manami), right? ...... It's been a long time since we've had .......

Yes!　That's right. I'm Aimi. Thank you for helping me. I wish brother Kazuya hadn't covered for me. ......

　Aimi thanks me with tears in her eyes.
　The blood from the abdomen she was holding down hadn't stopped at all.
　Gradually, I became more and more distant from consciousness, and I felt a chill as if my whole body was frozen.

I'm glad we're both safe. I'm starting to feel a bit dazed. ......

'Kazuya-san!　You can't meditate on that!

　Aimi shakes Kazuya's shoulder. But he was already unable to get his whole body to relax.

''...... seems a little impossible.''

'Kazuya niisaa!




　With that last word, Kazuya lost consciousness as it was.