Prologue - I like you

"I like you, Haruto..."

These words kept resounding in his head. Together with them came images of that girl's flustered face as she confessed to him behind the school.

Even now he remembered every detail. He remembered her shining eye, reflecting the setting sun as she looked at him, hopeful that her feelings had reached his heart.

He remembered that shine turning to gloom as the last ray of sunshine hid past the school building and her confession went unanswered. He remembered that moment clearly, for his mind had gone blank and left room only for memories. Not even the idea that he should give her an answer popped up.

He remembered a tear welling up at the corner of this shy girl's eye when she felt that the words she had worked up her courage to speak would be met with rejection.

"But that wasn't it. I didn't mean it like that..."

What's more, he remembered the light leaving those eyes completely after the accident. He remembered how Yuurei's face turned red, how tears started dropping, how she'd turned around, and how she tried to run across the street—to get as far away from that embarrassment as possible.

Most importantly, he remembered how she didn't make it to the other side. He remembered the truck that didn't stop. He remembered rushing towards that gruesome scene. He remembered grabbing her head and looking at her face, but he didn't remember any sign of life, for there was none anymore.

"So then, why? Why should I be here now? What right do I have..."

In front of her altar, Haruto looked at the nicely framed photo of the girl he barely knew.

"What right do I have to stay before you? Am I here to apologize? Am I here to be scolded? Who was I to you?"

As he whispered these words at Yuurei's funeral, the boy made sure nobody could hear him. He wished someone would clear those doubts for him—no, even better, he wished Yuurei would jump out of her coffin and yell, "Got you!" so this charade could have its happy ending and all of them could go home.

Of course, that didn't happen, and the boy who had for the first time noticed Yuurei through her timid confession, would have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life. After all, he'd killed this girl. There was no excuse for it. It was his fault, yet he was a free man. What's more, he was at her funeral, knowing barely anyone around.

Why did she wait until graduation? If only she'd told him earlier. Haruto had been single all throughout high school, never getting the chance to experience what romance felt like at that age.

As his hand found its way to the casket, Haruto couldn't help but relive his high school days in his mind, this time together with her.

He dreamt about how they would confess to one another with their faces beet-red, how they would hug one another after her confession, how they would go out on dates, and how they would run together from the rain that came in to ruin their summer festival.

He dreamt about how they would sneak away at the cultural festival on their last year, how they would find themselves locked in a room nobody was using anymore, how both of them would feel their hearts racing as they looked at one another with naïve shyness, and how—

"Hehehe—"

Haruto's blooming lecherous smile was erased in an instant when he felt something hit him over the head. Thinking he was being called out for having overstayed his welcome, he turned around with a shocked face.

Nobody. Everyone was waiting patiently for Haruto to return to his seat. So he did just that. With his gaze to the ground, the boy's heavy footsteps resounded in the empty hall.

Thus, the next person took his place, and the funeral continued.

"Hmm... Wouldn't it have been better if you made a fuss and jumped in the casket too? Hugging the cute girl while crying that you'd never let go..."

"I don't know where the head and the feet are. What if I jumped in the wrong way?" the boy answered nonchalantly to the one riding on his head, trying to poke fun at his uneventful goodbye.

"What... But that's the fun part—"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

That was the first time Haruto saw the see-through girl who flew around the room with a smug grin on her face—a face that had already been haunting his thoughts for a while. He knew her well enough to even associate that pretty face with a name.

"Yuurei?"

Sitting herself right before him, the girl who should have been resting in that coffin put her finger on her lips and winked at him playfully.