Negative -Girls: To Live And Die - Chapter 18

“Why do you like me so much, Sohee?”

Sohee’s cheek glows with radiance. Her tongue stuck in her throat. The pinkish eyes look at me as if I am a fortune teller that has guessed something exact.

Maybe I should rephrase that, “I’m sorry, it’s a misleading question. What I want to know is why you are helping me go through this. Why do you ‘like’ me to stay here?”

She laughs as if choking out her embarrassment, “of course that what you meant.” Her eyes are fixed on me as if she were owing me something. “Though it may look obvious…I just want to return the favor of what you did ‘that’ time.”

Which time? Aah, sure, sure. Sure.

The pink catches my silence. “You remembered ‘that’ right, Sunbae?”

‘That’ is really general, and also I prefer the word ‘this’ because the ‘I’ sounds nice there. ‘That’ however, rhymes with sad.

“Our first meeting?” I still don’t answer. Her eyes squint, locking my tight lips. “Don’t tell me…” her voice of doubt.

“I have amnesia.” I attack first.

She tilts her head, dropping her bang to her left ear. “Sunbae, you’re serious?”

“I may or may not be.”

“Then, what is your name?”

Oh, shoot. I have to guess. After working at the speed of light with my million neurons, I come up with a name.

“Sunbae…” That fucked up, I should sound more confident.

Sohee face turns sour. I miss her affection already.

“You don’t look happy.”

“I’m not, I don’t know if you’re ‘playing’ or not…” Sohee sighs, “Look, Mr. -1

No one would be happy to realize their…friend,” she gulps that, “forgot how they first meeting went.”

I shrug, “I can’t even recall my first meeting with my mother.”

“That…” She thinks but then decides not to. Relax, Sohee. A sigh escapes her, “you even took my first time…”

Woah, holy shit. I don’t know we’re coming in hot here. Is the old user so more of an asshole than me? To take someone like Sohee first time at their first meeting. Am I living in a hentai protagonist body? I checked it, he did have a big D, but come on. Not fair.

“Do I have a chance to do it again?”

The suggestion hits her ear and colors it red. She presses her ears in as if afraid more vulgar ideas will get inisde her, “Id–idiot. Don’t just suggest something like that so suddenly.”

“Oops, sorry.” Just gotta ask. Who knows if it works, right?

Shutting her eyes af try to remember something. “And we,” she says in chocking way, “we just did that again.”

That, huh.

…Did she mean the message or the kiss? Wait, so it’s never sex? Fortunately and unfortunately, Sohee is still a virgin but that means no hentai live provided living in this body.

“This time…It wasn’t like our first meeting at all,” she slowly opens her ear. Her eyes are darting around once again. “I–I mean, I was unconscious that time, and you were only trying to save me. Absolutely there is no…no…that, between us.” Again, the kiss or massage?

Don’t worry, I got you, assistance. This ‘that’ I can tell. I say, “no passion.”

She jumps a little hearing the truth. Her head bobs. Our kiss earlier was of passion, she thinks. Maybe out of lust for me. I wouldn’t call it ‘love’ though. Absolutely not.

I don’t do love.

But again, there’s a possibility that the old user ‘massaged’ unconscious Sohee without any ‘passion’. How? I don’t know. Who knows? Expect the unexpected they say. I just couldn’t stop imagining the absurd scene.

“I was upset that a stranger just took my first kiss like that. But if not because of you I will not be here right now.”

So vague. What did I save her from, that needed a kiss from me? Did a witch curse her apple juice or something, made Sohee sleep forever and only a true love kiss can wake her up?

+1 ask then be given.

Something passes my mind.

Something wriggles inside me. Inside.

*–*–*

What’s going on? Where am I?

It looks like I’m inside a room. So dim, so warm, so comfortable. Too comfortable. In front of me is a familiar girl with pink hair. Sohee. She looks at me weirdly.

She looks concerned.

I can’t move my body. I can’t wave so Sohee can see me.

I can’t say anything. I want to shout, I want to tell Sohee.

Help. Me.

I know she would. She would help me. I saved her once from drowning. I pulled her out of the river. I saved her from death. We have known each other since then. She likes me, too. So she would.

Help. Me.

Pull. Me.

I’m. Dying.

My skin tears and my mouth moves. My tongue is stretching. I can shout, I can shout! I’m outside!

“Sohee!”

*–*–*

“Sunbae?” Sohee replies to the sudden call of her name.

Something shakes my head and something makes me say, “I’m sorry, don’t mind me shouting like that.”

“O–Oh, really? You look pale.”

I don’t know what’s going on. I blanked out for a moment there. But who the hell cares, this blanking out from a moment to another is becoming more and more normal for me.

Anyway, it could be Life and Death works, I remembered how I first met Sohee now. It was at a student’s camp inside a forest, which the old user volunteered in. On a duty to collect firewood, he met Sohee. For god knows why she wandered around and got herself trip in a raging river. So unfortunate. But fortunately, he was there to dive in, save and perform expert CPR on her. The first kiss, you can think the way Sohee does, too.

Which shoujo manga did I get into?

“Anyway,” Sohee says with a smile, “I’m glad that it was you. You were kind to me. And cool, too.”

An idea.

I flick my hand. “I got it.”

“Huh?”

“Being cool, that’s what I should do to them?”

“The girls?”

With a smile, “I have to be that one friend to them like I did to you. The one who helps when they are in need.” Such a brilliant idea from a simpleton guy like me.

Sohee just watches me, waiting for my explanation. But I wouldn’t do that. She’s smart already.

“Do you know where Mei lives?” I ask her.

Sohee catches my question as if it’s a plate. “Um, ah. I–I know.” But she continued in a negative tone, “I don’t think Mei would like you to come over.”

Ah, she’s right. That green-eyed girl is androphobic anyway.

“And Mei,” Sohee says, “I don’t think she has a problem with studying.”

“Then does she have any other reason not to attend the lesson?”

Sohee eyes lower, “I–I don’t know. Something is not right. I haven’t seen her anywhere after classes.”

That’s another thing to find out then.

“How about the others? Do you know where they live?”

She shakes her head, “unfortunately, I don’t. We don’t have the power to look at their file.” Even if she’s a student council? Goddamn, I must have thought student council in this school was like those slice-of-life anime. The reality is so disappointing. Reality…

“But why, Sunbae?”

I answer her, “life is too broad to just think the girls only have life in this school. They are out there,” I point out the window, the evening sun, the world. “Doing something, being someone.

“I have to know them.

“So I can save them.”

Sohee spots something in my words, “save from what, Sunbae?”

Oops, must have slipped there. “To help them is a better word.”

“Is that so. Hm…”

She’s now nodding, swirling her finger as if mixing thoughts. “sounds like a plan. You being a friend outside and helping them mentally.” As if the loud monologue helps, her finger stops, and her eyes jump, “a good plan, Sunbae! They had never considered this perspective when looking for a tutor!”

“An article from Facebook is not as convincing as one from a friend.”

“You will convince them to take studies seriously.” Sohee eyes turn into a concern, “but wouldn’t that prying into their life? I–I mean, in my case and yours, our first meeting sounds more because of… fate.”

I smile, “believe me, Sohee. Sometimes you have to rely on yourself more than fate..” If ‘fate’ even exists, to begin with.