"Maybe I should just forget it."
Reading someone else's diary—wasn't that the same as peering into the deepest, most private part of her heart?
Even if their lips had touched, even if they had held each other face to face and shared each other's breath, each seeing the other as the missing half of her own broken soul…
That still didn't mean Taki Shiina had the right to read Chiose Noshiro's private thoughts.
Taki Shiina believed that loving someone—your best friend, your sister, your closest confidante—demanded the greatest possible respect.
She stood to leave, and her gaze drifted over the diary out of pure reflex. One glance was all it took. She couldn't look away.
She saw an…
enormous "death".
"!!!"
What the hell? Huh?
"Huh? Why would she write that word?!"
The string of reason in her mind snapped in an instant. Taki was forced to take this thing on Chiose's desk seriously—this… diary.
"My name is Chiose Noshiro. I'm fifteen years old, a second-year in the middle school division of Haneoka, but compared to other kids, I'm a little bit special."
"Unfortunately, I've lost my hearing. I'm a person with a hearing impairment."
It was written on the paper cover. Short as it was, it hit hard enough.
Just seeing it, Taki couldn't forget her own sin. Chiose's deafness was her fault. Even now, with the two of them this close, Taki Shiina still couldn't bring herself to speak that tragic truth aloud.
She feared she would never tell her, not in this lifetime. Because… what Taki feared most had already come to pass.
The closer they grew, the more tightly Taki guarded the secret, and the harder it became to tell.
"Haah."
The diary went on.
"January 15th, sunny. The doctor says my condition has stabilized for now. The hearing loss that has tormented me for years seems to have slowed."
That's great, Little Chiose, she…
Taki barely had a few seconds to feel relieved before the next words, with their terrible pull, came flooding into her vision.
"But I really want to… die."
As if afraid no one would see it, the character for death was deliberately written darker and bolder, several sizes larger than the rest, and ringed with countless circles of red marker.
That one huge character was a death summons for Taki Shiina. It forced her to keep reading.
"February 1st. Depressed all day. My therapist says my mental state is close to recovery and that I should find a hobby to hold onto…"
Taki glanced at the date. This had been written several years ago.
"Without a second thought, I chose the piano. The piano is all I love, and all I want is to play it for the rest of my life… After my parents died, the piano was all I had left. If my eyes go blind one day from the inflammation that keeps getting worse, I'll have nothing left to live for… Haah."
The Chiose who surfaced from these words was so sorrowful. She seemed like a completely different person from the shy little girl who had ambushed Taki with those soft lips.
How much pain had Chiose Noshiro been through over the years to forge a heart as resilient as the one she had now?
Taki Shiina had no way of knowing.
She flipped through the diary quickly, like a starving traveler in the desert gnawing on a thorny cactus for sustenance.
"My depression is better today. The scars on my hands have scabbed over…"
"My hearing aid broke today. My emotions got out of control, and I couldn't stop myself from cutting…"
"My parents didn't leave much. How much longer can I support myself?"
Page after page. For the first time, Taki wished the diary weren't so long, even though it was helping her understand Chiose.
It read like a record of the suffering of a prisoner named Chiose Noshiro. Taki didn't dare think about what feelings lay hidden in every page.
The later half of the diary slowly grew more normal.
The dark passages thinned out, but the melancholy between the lines could not be hidden or covered up.
Then, at a certain point, the story took a turn.
It was the day Taki Shiina and Chiose Noshiro met.
"After school today, all the crows from the streets around here flew into the big tree at the school to shelter from the rain. How strange."
Taki kept reading silently.
"They were so beautiful, but something even happier happened to me today… A girl was hiding behind a corner, peeking at me. She… is really pretty."
"!!!"
So Little Chiose had noticed her that day?
Hugging her knees, Taki wriggled her toes. She desperately wanted to know what came next.
"I got to know that girl… She didn't look down on my physical defect at all."
"I became friends with that girl. I'm so happy."
"Went to the instrument shop with Taki. It's been a long time since I felt this warm."
"Had dinner with Taki… Honestly, why does that idiot keep paying for everything? We agreed I'd pay too."
"Played Monopoly with Taki-chan in my room. Sometimes she's so dumb, she didn't even know the rules, what a loser… but I like it. It's the first time anyone besides my parents has played this with me. I like it so much."
"Played with Little Taki… I like it. It's the best part of the band. Taki Shiina is the cutest sourpuss I've ever met. I like it. Whenever I just chat with Nagasaki, my Taki gets all gloomy."
"…"
"Ah… This is also the best part of my life…"
Taki stared blankly at the empty page at the end of the entries. Her thoughts drifted, and every tiny detail she'd overlooked in the past was reassembling itself into her happiness.
"So Little Chiose feels the same way about me that I feel about her?"
She didn't dare read it again. She burrowed under the covers, and without realizing it, tears were already streaking across both her cheeks once more.
"Why… are you so good to me, Little Chiose…"
It was the first time anyone had respected her like this. The first time anyone hadn't hung the label "Maki Shiina's little sister" around her neck. The first time anyone had been good to her with her whole heart.
Both what Chiose Noshiro had shown her and what she had hidden moved Taki Shiina deeply.
It was the first time Taki Shiina had ever laid her heart bare.
And it had worked on the first try… Just once, and it was a total success!
The feelings in Chiose's words could never have been faked.
"I'm afraid I'll never forget you as long as I live… So I can be your salvation, too? But…"
But do you know, Chiose Noshiro? Do you know?
"You're my salvation too, you know…"
A faint guitar sound rang out suddenly. It was distant, but it couldn't be ignored.
Taki poked her head out from under the covers, her heart rising and falling with the rhythm of the guitar.
"That sound… it's coming from upstairs. The terrace? Is Little Chiose on the terrace… playing guitar?"
She slipped her feet into her slippers. After a moment's hesitation, Taki Shiina took a step forward.
That was how it all happened.
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 10 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉