The Liar and The Patient

Forcefully Grown Up

Big thanks to @NewSterlingCrimson for helping with this chapter.

It was another boring day in school. Gray clouds had drained the sky of color. The students of class 2-2 sat in their classroom, grinding their heads in their studies to prepare for the upcoming final exam. There was nothing but the sounds of pages being flipped, the teacher's monotone voice of a lecture, and the white noise from the light.

It was a hard-working classroom, but a dead classroom at that. Nishikata, being among the soon-to-be examinees, was also hard at work, taking detailed notes on everything the teacher said. Not once did he glance at the empty seat beside him. Though depressing to admit, her absence in his school life had become the norm.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. As the room went into chatter, Nishikata quietly got up and packed his things. He glanced outside the window, stared blankly at the heavy clouds through the window, and began making his way to the door.

"Nishikata!"

As he was about to exit the classroom, Kimura called out to him. He ran up to Nishikata, his heavy panting betraying a lack of exercise.

"C-Can I... come with you... to visit Takagi... today?" He asked while catching his breath.

"Eh?" Nishikata was a little caught off guard by this request. "Why so sudden?"

"She's going through rough times and... as her classmate, I haven't even visited her once." Kimura explained as he scratched the back of his buzz-cut head. "Call it guilt or a sense of duty, but I feel like I should at least go see her once..."

Nishikata frowned for a second before returning to his usual posture.

"...Or should I leave you two alone for today?"

"No no no, please come along." Nishikata said immediately, putting his hands in front of his chest and shaking them. "I was just thinking, since I'm planning on taking a detour to the shrine,"

"To do what?" Kimura asked.

"Pray for her." Nishikata replied, "So if you don't mind, you can go ahead to the hospital on your own first by yourself."

"It's ok; I'll come with you." Kimura said, "I don't have anything to do staying with her alone anyway."

"Then let's go." Dropping the words, Nishikata left, as Kimura quickly followed.

-----

The walk to the shrine was silent, with Kimura staying a bit behind Nishikata. Even with the graying clouds, they fortunately made it to the shrine without the rain pouring. The shrine stood still under the heavy sky. Its old, rustic structure gave out a sense of eeriness , as if forecasting something bad.

Nishikata walked straight to the wooden box that stood by the entrance to the shrine. Meanwhile Kimura stayed behind at the bottom of the mossy stone stairs. He tossed a coin he had already prepared into the box, frowning as he silently said his prayer.

'Please make Takagi-san well.'

After a clap and bow to seal the prayer, he went to pick up a wooden plank and wrote down the same words he had been writing for months. He made his way back down the stone stairs, adding it to the fence right next to them, now filled with Takagi's name, all written by the same boy.

"You... did all this?" Kimura asked as he scanned the fence with a slightly opened mouth.

"Is there a problem?" Nishikata retorted, his eyes turning steely as he gave him a glare.

"Nothing!" Kimura shook his head. "It's just... Do you like her?"

"Why is that relevant?" Nishikata frowned, looking visibly annoyed.