Chapter 76-2
While Ryosaku and Rika were talking, large heavy machinery started moving... and the demolition work had finally begun.
Then, the group of people there, including Ryosaku and his friends, who had been chatting noisily until now, suddenly shut their mouths and watched in horror as the heavy machinery destroyed the tiled roof on the east side of the school building.
The roof is collapsing with a crunching sound.
To prevent dust from building up there, water from a water cannon relentlessly wets the damaged areas.
Then, heavy machinery began destroying the library below.
This was once a place with precious memories where Ryosaku and Mieko read picture books side by side.
...And in this room, Ryosaku developed a passionate friendship with the boy Oyama.
For them, it was a comfortable and unforgettable "shelter" that protected them from the brink of loneliness for many years.
Now, that space of memories is about to be completely destroyed by the hands of a cold machine...
When Ryosaku suddenly looked to the side, he saw that girl...the girl who had a new boyfriend...the cutest girl who stayed with Ryosaku until the end, long ago, with tears filling her eyes.
"No more... no more!"
She yelled, shaking off her boyfriend's arm around her shoulders and running toward the school gate, crying.
"Ah! Yumi-chan!!"
Her boyfriend hurriedly follows her.
Ryosaku and Rika watch in amazement... Meanwhile, the heavy machinery is ruthlessly destroying the school of memories.
...When he sees it, she's not the only one.
Adults and children alike were covering their eyes with handkerchiefs and sobbing as they watched the school building being destroyed.
(I'm sure...we're all alumni who studied here. It's not just me and Rika-chan who feel sad.That's right. That's right...)
Ryosaku suddenly noticed that Rika was crouched down crying.
She too... Just like Ryosaku, like everyone else here, she feels the "pain" in her heart, and as the school building is destroyed, and the space of blue sky that can be seen on the other side increases...
She felt that an important "treasure" within her was being lost.
And Rika... silently ran over to the swing equipment, sat down with her head down, and started rocking her body back and forth.
"Rika-chan..."
Ryosaku cares about Rika...and he himself swings on the swing with her.
This place used to be a happy space where Mieko and Ryosaku spent some time after school before going home.
While the school building is being destroyed in the distance...the person next to Ryosaku is now not Mieko or Lisa Tanaka, but Rika Toyama.
He speaks to Rika, who is sitting next to him, even as he keenly feels the irony of fate and its capriciousness.
"...Rika-chan. Why don't you go home now? That's enough, already."
"That's right....Yeah, that's right. But...I don't want to go home. I'll be all alone again."
"Rika-chan, would you like to come to my house...?"
"···eh?"
"I haven't been able to talk much with Rika-chan until now...Let's talk slowly in my room."
"Is it okay for me...?"
"Yeah."
And so, Rika felt the still-destroyed school building in the corner of her vision... She got on the back of Ryosaku's bicycle, held onto his waist with both hands, and slowly left K Elementary School.
