Stalking around and around the room, he raised his fists, howling. He was screaming about anything that came to mind.

Eventually, Yamazaki ended up clinging pathetically to the life-sized doll. “I can’t keep living like this”, he whispered. His eyes were open wide.

I made him some hot coffee. Yamazaki drank his coffee, tears in his eyes.

I, too, felt like crying.

“By the way, Yamazaki, what are you going to do with this doll?”

“I’m giving it to you, Satou. Do whatever you want with it.”

Chapter 09.
Days of the End

Part One

To a hikikomori, winter is painful because everything feels cold, frozen over, and lonely. To a hikikomori, spring is also painful because everyone is in a good mood and therefore enviable.

Summer, of course, is especially painful.

It was a summer loud with the sound of cicadas. From morning to night, they kept whining and whining. The summer was also cripplingly hot. Even if the air conditioner ran constantly, it remained hot. I didn’t know if my air conditioner was wearing out or if this summer was just especially hot. Either way, I was thoroughly boiled.

Sometimes, I wanted to yell, “Whoever is responsible, show yourself!” I didn’t even have the energy to do it, though. The summer heat had worn me down completely. My appetite was depressed, and my nerves were exhausted. No matter how much Lipovitan D[27] I swigged, my weariness was impossible to dispel.

Only my next door neighbor was energetic. He unabashedly made noise. From early morning until the middle of the night, anime songs rang out at loud volumes. He said that recently, he needed only four hours of sleep a day. He was working hard on his creative projects, with the help of anime songs. Bloodshot eyes flashing, he vigorously applied himself to these meaningless activities.

One day, Yamazaki said, “I’ve finally gotten through a big part of my game.”

“Oh, really?”

“Tomorrow, I’m going to start making a bomb.”

“What?”

Without answering, Yamazaki silently gnawed on some white bread. It was a pretty half-assed breakfast. As I wasn’t as lazy as he was, I properly toasted my bread and quickly fried an egg.

“Like I told you before, don’t take food out of other people’s fridges without permission.”

I pretended not to know what he was talking about.

Misaki was wearing long sleeves even though it was summer. She was in a good mood, though.

“This is so fun, so fun, so fun”, she said. She really did seem to be having fun. She was swinging happily on the swing set.

Of course, tonight felt tropical. It was so hot that I sweated even without so much as speaking.

Misaki, however, seemed cool enough. Hair streaming behind her as she energetically swung back and forth, she said, “By the way, Satou, do you want to eat the leftover cat food?”