6 06

◎Your Online Boyfriend◎

06

Kawakami Wakai: Hiss——

She couldn't help but gasp, and almost dropped her brand-new phone, which she had just bought not long ago, to the ground.

It took her a long while to calm herself down. Her eyes returned to the "ghost picture".

Are you...are you alright?

[It looks like it hurts a lot! Does it still hurt?]

The other party did not reply quickly.

However, considering that he had just been forced to be hospitalized because of that incident, Ruoyi understood that now might not be the time to chat with netizens, so she didn't dare to urge him to reply.

However, she seemed unable to concentrate on anything all day. She kept glancing at her phone.

However, no new information has emerged.

For some reason, Ruoyi felt a strange sensation in her heart.

This online friend, whom I've never met, is like a cicada in autumn, chirping in broken pieces, as if making a final struggle.

During this time, Kawakami Wakana hesitated several times before clicking the chat box, wondering whether she should take the initiative to say something. But she gave up in the end.

Not replying to her probably meant she didn't want to be disturbed.

It wasn't until after 10 p.m., after finishing her summer homework for the day, that she glanced at her phone and finally realized she had received a new message.

The image that was sent was still a picture; upon closer inspection, it showed a cello with its strings cut off.

The broken strings dragged wildly on the ground, stinging her eyes.

"[This... was done by your parents?]" Kawakami Wakana guessed what had happened and asked cautiously, as if she was trying to protect the other person's last bit of self-esteem.

【Hmm.】 This time the reply was quick. 【My mother said it's all because I got into music that I started acting strangely.】

"...?"

At this moment, Kawakami Wakana could only ask a few questions.

She acknowledged that in the field of artistic creation, some mental health issues can indeed make it easier to generate inspiration, which is why there is the half-joking saying that "nine out of ten artists are crazy." However, parents who don't care about their children and instead blame everything on the innocent cello are unlikely to raise mentally healthy children.

She typed furiously until the text input box almost filled the entire screen, then paused, deleted her entire long post, leaving only one sentence.

They may not believe in your cello, but I do!

If this can be fixed, may I hear you play?

The Luciaman simply replied with a "hmm".

He then added: "Do you want to listen to 'Katyusha' or 'Troika'?"

Kawakami Wakai: emmmmm...

What an old song...

"It's up to you." After typing that, she went to take a shower.

Unexpectedly, when she came out of the bathroom, drying her still-damp hair and glancing at her phone, she found a video sent by the Russian.

The video didn't show the face. The person in the video had thin fingers gripping the bow tightly, moving it back and forth across the four strings. The bow hair caused the strings to vibrate, and the notes flowed out eagerly.

The gauze on her right wrist was still faintly visible.

Previously, Ruoyi didn't have the patience to listen to an entire song without lyrics, but for some reason, only the Lucia people's performance made her not want to quit until the very last moment of the song.

Can……

Whether it was due to the style of the piece or the performer's mental state, she actually managed to hear the feeling that the bandage spirit was describing.

—"It's like it's about to disappear in the next second."

Ruoyi was momentarily stunned.

Could it be that she is also in this state of mind?

Finally, after hesitating for a long time, she typed a message.

You did a great job.

Hey, if you ever feel like you're about to disappear again, feel free to tell me!

Perhaps she was stunned, because she didn't receive a reply immediately. A few minutes later, the other end sent a message:

【good. 】

【the same as you. 】

…………

I doubt any creature would easily expose its wounds to others.

After that night, Kawakami Wakana did not talk about her recent affairs, nor did she inquire about the specific situation of the Lucia.

Their relationship seemed to have returned to that of ordinary language learning partners. When she couldn't figure out her homework, she would take a picture of the question and send it to him, or if they had something to talk about, they would exchange their thoughts in the language she wanted to learn.

Everything seems to have remained unchanged.

However, Ruoyi discovered that when she didn't know what to do, she would search for cello performance videos on websites like Douyin.

The musicians in the video weren't actually bad at all, at least that's how it sounded to Ruoyi, an amateur. But thinking back to the Lucia man's violin playing that day, she always felt something was missing.

Perhaps it's because it lacks that sense of brokenness...

After the Obon festival on August 15th, Kawakami Wakai went to Sendai's largest chain bookstore.

In fact, she didn't know what she wanted to buy, but she still felt that some things had to be reconsidered.

If becoming a true athlete like Shoyo and making it internationally through volleyball is no longer an option, then perhaps it's time for her to start thinking about the future.

But ever since elementary school, her future plans had been all about volleyball, and now that she had to change her dream, she didn't know what to do. So she could only stand hesitantly in front of the shelf selling past exam questions from various universities.

"Kawakami?" A voice suddenly appeared in my ear.

When Kawakami Wakana turned around, she realized that the middle-aged woman standing behind her was actually the volleyball club's advisor.

He could only hurriedly greet her, then randomly picked up a red book from the shelf, pretending to go to the checkout. Even though Ruoyi herself didn't know why she was so nervous.

Unexpectedly, when the consultant pushed up his glasses and saw what she was holding, his brows furrowed instantly, as if he could trap a fly between them.

“Go to the Department of Sports Medicine at Green River University,” she read slowly.

"Kawakami, I remember when you first enrolled, you told me that you wanted to go to a sports school or a university with a strong volleyball team and become a volleyball player. How come you gave up so quickly?"

"The volleyball team at Green River University is almost disbanded."

"..." Ruoyi couldn't help but swallow.

"Teacher, I was in a car accident before summer vacation," she said, as if trying to explain. "The doctor said I might not be able to continue playing ball."

She then added, "I submitted my resignation application before the holiday."

She thought that after all this, the consultant would surely understand. But to her surprise, the middle-aged woman with her hair in a bun simply shook her head and sighed.

"He really has no perseverance."

"...?"

At that moment, Kawakami Wakana froze, and even the red book in her hand almost fell to the ground.

All I heard the consultant say was...

"How many athletes haven't been injured? They still recover and go back to the court. Besides, even if they really can't play volleyball anymore, there are many other sports that don't use their legs as much."

Kawakami Wakana didn't hear what the teacher said next. In her mind's eye, she seemed to see herself standing on tiptoe, slapping that woman hard, and yelling at her, "What do you know?" But when she came to her senses and looked at the familiar room in front of her, she realized that this was just her imagination.

She... couldn't even bring herself to slap him.

She grabbed the pillow and threw it heavily to the ground before her gaze fell on her phone.

She remembered what the Lucia had said that day.

"If you feel like you're about to disappear any second, you can come find me."

"..."

Now, would you consider that a feeling?

After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then typed:

Can I still listen to you play the cello?

The message was marked as "read," but there was no prompt reply. Kawakami Wakana initially thought the other person was recording a video, but unexpectedly, an emoticon appeared on the screen.

A cello? Sure!

Want to guess what piece I want to play?

Kawakami Ruoyi: "...?"

this……

Is he still the same gloomy, immature, and mentally unstable male high school student he's been following online?

It seems like she suddenly changed her persona!

"Who are you?" she asked, unable to stop herself from asking.

"Who am I? Guess!" The other person's tone became even more unrestrained.

【Huh? Huh? Huh? How did you know my name is Gogol!】

"...?"

For a moment, Kawakami Wakana felt as if her brain had crashed. After a long while, she scrolled to the chat history from the first day they added each other as friends, looked at it, and then replied:

Uh… so you’re Raskolnikov’s friend? Were you high school classmates?

On the other end of the phone, Gogol paused for a moment.

He couldn't help but look at his friend who was playing the cello beside him.

Actually, he only suddenly discovered that his best friend was chatting online; so he couldn't help but secretly look at his phone while he was practicing the piano, and he didn't expect to see such an explosive thing right away.

Rascol... is still a high school student...

So, is Dostoevsky lying to high school girls?

Moreover, wasn't the final chat a rather unusual confession?

Gogol couldn't help but find it a little funny. He secretly glanced at his phone, then at his friend who was intently practicing the piano beside him, completely unaware that he was secretly playing with his phone.

He...is going to expose Dostoevsky's online scams!!

So Gogol took a picture without hesitation and sent it to the little girl.

Look, this is your online boyfriend.

Kawakami Wakana, lying in bed and checking her phone for messages: "...??"

She jolted awake, and the phone fell violently onto her forehead.

[Author's Note]

Speaking of

Have you ever encountered such a bizarre teacher?