She wanted to have the light?
Was she asking for his help?
Seiji slowly put down his hands and looked at Shika once more.
"Didn't I just say it? I'd like to help in any way I can, if I can be of service."
"...So you've agreed?" Shika was still looking at him intently.
Her tone of voice and gaze were both calm, but her beautiful eyes seemed to contain some deep emotions within them.
Seiji looked directly at her.
This sounded like a perfectly ordinary confirmation question, but for some reason, Seiji felt Shika's question... might not be ordinary at all.
This felt like Kyubey cutely asking if he wanted to sign a contract to become a magical girl... er, was this analogy a bad one?
At any rate, Seiji had the premonition that something big would happen if he promised her directly.
But so what?
'I'm the physical actualization of light, and light is fearless!'
...Of course not! Why was his brain thinking such things!?
'Am I actually enjoying this!? Acting like an immature middle schooler with this girl I barely even know... No, stop thinking about this!'
But still, since she remained so calm throughout, he would seem like an idiot if he cared so much about appearances.
Seiji smiled as he came to a conclusion.
"Yep, I promise. It could even be said that I came here especially for this reason." Seiji combed his hand through his hair in an attempt to look cool.
"Oh, lonely girl in the darkness, your summoning of the light has been heard by me. I shall bestow the light upon you!"
Seiji made the most pious expression he could manage as he reached his hand out to her.
He had activated his clown mode.
In this mode, Seiji was able to temporarily forgo all sense of embarrassment and double his mental resistance. It didn't matter if he was acting like an immature middle school student or if he was being pretentious; he could do anything!
Normally, he would only use this mode with close friends such as Chiaki and Mika.
But since he was already so embarrassed, he decided there was no harm in using this mode on the literature-loving girl named Shika Kagura!
Would she be stunned in amazement or comment on it?
Neither.
She continued to silently watch Seiji's pretentious act.
This... was more damaging to Seiji's psyche than either of the above options!
He felt an overwhelming urge to take his hand back.
However, Shika's hand rose in response.
She slowly extended her tiny hand as she moved her gaze towards his much larger hand.
There wasn't much distance between the two swings they were sitting on. It would be easy for the two of them to touch each other.
Seiji was a bit surprised at seeing this, but he cooperated and straightened his arm.
Shika Kagura's tiny hand slowly edged closer.
In the quiet atmosphere, this scene seemed rather... formal, almost ritualistic.
Their hands were almost touching.
Seiji waited for her.
However, just as they were about to come into contact, Shika's hand stopped moving.
"No... This won't work..."
For the first time, her face showed an expression other than calmness.
Even though it wasn't obvious, Seiji realized her expression was filled with a mixture of pain, sadness, and darkness.
He had witnessed a similar expression on Hoshi's face a few days prior. He had no desire to see this type of expression around him again.
"You..." Seiji furrowed his brows and prepared to speak.
"I cannot possess the light," Shika muttered to herself, retracting her hand and averting her gaze.
She then stood up and began walking out of the park.
Seiji was stunned.
"Wait a moment!" he called as he rose from the swing.
She was leaving just like this?
What the heck? Why?
Shika's steps didn't slow down at all for him as she continued walking.
Seiji chased after her.
"Wait up! You..." He reached out his hand, wanting to stop her.
Shika turned around, avoiding his hand.
"Don't touch me," she said expressionlessly.
Her tone of voice was still calm; it contained no coldness, condescension, or any other emotions.
Seiji finally noticed that... no, it should be said that he confirmed it.
This girl named Shika Kagura was abnormal.
Or, she was in some sort of abnormal situation.
She wanted to ask for help.
But she didn't dare to do so... or for some unknown reason, wasn't able to do so.
Seiji furrowed his brows deeply.
"Sorry, Seigo Harano."
She left only those calm words behind as she gradually walked off.
"I know it's your choice whether or not to tell me anything," Seiji called out to her back."But if you don't say anything, nobody will be able to help you."
The girl showed no signs of slowing down.
"Weren't you actually waiting here for me!?" Seiji raised his voice as he asked a question.
This time, her steps finally halted.
"You must have learned from Hoshi that I was working at the Divine Taste confectionery store. You even found out my work schedule and the path I would take home and waited for me here on purpose as you knew I'd pass by here after work!"
Seiji kept looking towards her back.
"Spending so much effort to meet with me and talk to me... you must have had something you wanted to say!"
Shika merely stood there without turning around or continuing to walk.
"If you want to say something, then say it! I don't have mind-reading powers, so I won't know anything if you don't tell me!"
Nobody would be able to help someone who remained silent.
Seiji started walking forward.
"Hoshi Amami... he seemed so similar to you at that time. But you did something better than him; you chose to ask for help of your own volition. But why did you give up at the very end? There was only one more step to go!
"Do you feel that I'm not as reliable as you imagined? You think I won't be of any help? Of course, I'm no superhero, and I can't promise that I can do anything, but you made such an effort to meet me, so at the very least... say something!
"Even if I can't do anything, I can at least... listen to your problem."
He walked closer to her as he spoke; he was now mere inches away from her back.
She slowly turned around.
Seiji widened his eyes in surprise when he saw her expression.
She was smiling.
A faint smile bloomed across Shika Kagura's exquisite, delicate face.
The dim streetlights granted this scene an indescribable beauty!
However, it wasn't only Shika's beauty that left Seiji stunned.
It was her smile, which contained... numerous deep emotions!
Her emotional smile was a huge contrast with her seemingly unshakeable calmness from earlier.
This was what struck awe into Seiji's heart.
Although it was such a short moment, he could detect sadness, helplessness, gentleness, and loneliness in her smile...
"Thank you."
A soft voice weakly faded and dissolved into the night as if it were a bubble.
Her expression subsequently returned to its typical calm state.
She turned around as she continued to leave.
Seiji remained rooted to ground as he watched her leave.
Only when her figure was on the verge of disappearing into the night did he suddenly shout,"I'll come back here tomorrow! At the same time and place!"
'If you want to ask for help, or tell me something, come,' he said in his heart.
This was all that he could do.
...
"Shika Kagura?"
Hoshi was overjoyed at receiving a phone call from his senpai, but he was confused about the name his senpai asked him about.
"How do you know her, Senpai?"
"What? She went to look for you!?"
Hoshi was dumbfounded.
This... this was quite different from the girl that he knew.
His Harano-senpai continued to ask him about her on the phone.
"What type of person is she?"
Hoshi returned to his senses as he contemplated the question.
"Hmm... I don't know how to describe her... At any rate, in our Literature club... as well as in our class, she's secretly called..."
Seiji's eyebrows shot upwards as he heard Shika's nickname from Hoshi.
'What the hell?'