After Kaede had reprimanded the girls, the brown-haired girl spent most of the rest of the day running around to find Kazumi. Besides, Kaede also tried to reach her on her cell phone, but it was never answered.
"Kazumi...where are you...?" Kaede asked herself quietly and finally ran to the old playground where they had first met. Arriving at the place, the Tokoyami looked around. Her eyes searched everything that was possible.
She even had the idea of showing some passers-by a picture of Kazumi and asking if they had seen her anywhere. However, not a single person had seen Kazumi. The gray-haired girl had fallen off the face of the earth, which Kaede could understand.
However, she was also very worried about her best friend. Autumn had just begun, which was why it had become cooler. With her soaked clothes, Kazumi could get sick quite quickly. Before she froze somewhere, Kaede wanted to find her.
"Kazumi?" Kaede asked when she was under a bridge, which would have been a good place to hide. But there was no sign of her here either, which is why Kaede had called her parents. It took a while for her mother to pick up the phone.
"Is Kazumi at home?" was the middle school student's first question. "No, isn't she with you?" the woman on the phone wanted to know. "No, I've been looking for her for ages." Kaede explained, biting her lips for a moment. Her mother knew what had often happened at school. However, Kaede didn't want her to worry any more than she already did.
"Do you know where Kazumi might be?" Kaede asked hopefully. "Hm, maybe she's in her favorite tea store, which is near the library." her mother said, which Kaede hadn't even thought about. "Thank you very much." , came out of her before she had put down her earpiece and started running.
Kazumi often got herself a cup of tea and sat down in the library. It was also one of the last places where the two of them had talked about the bullying. Kaede really should have thought about it.
Almost out of breath, Kaede exhaled, leaning on her knees. The sun had already set, making it even cooler, even for her.
Kaede didn't want to know how Kazumi must feel in her wet clothes. Her gaze fell on the town library, which was closed today for a change. "Nah great..." the brown-haired girl muttered. How unlucky did she have to be right now?
A vibration in her pocket in the skirt of her school uniform gave Kaede renewed hope. She immediately took the phone out of her pocket and recognized the name of her best friend on the screen. Quickly clicking on the chat, Kaede raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What's she doing there?" Kaede asked herself quietly. As far as she knew, Kazumi had been a fan of a museum.
Nevertheless, Kaede walked there, as she had checked the internet to see which exhibition had taken place. Strangely enough, it was about many different artists, including authors. Why was she there?
Kaede breathed even harder as she walked up all those stairs, since the move-out had been inactive at this time of night. Kaede thought that she could barely breathe here and really wished that Kazumi had picked another place to retreat to.
"Kazumi...I'm telling you...next time...you take...the playground..." , Kaede gasped between her breaths and heard an amused but sad snort. "I thought you'd say something like that." Kazumi said, looking at her best friend. "But...I chose this place on purpose."
"You could have just asked me to see this exhibition with you." Kaede grumbled, slowly getting her breathing under control. "I wasn't interested in this exhibition. Although...a little, because I connected it with you and I was a little more...well, reassured."
The brown-green eyes now turned to Kazumi, who was standing a few meters in front of her. "Kazumi, you're freezing. Here, take my jacket." Kaede now spoke, having taken it off. "It's okay, I don't need it." Kazumi, who had lowered her head, smiled gently.
"Keade...I can't take any more..." breathed the girl, who was on the verge of tears and had given them free rein again. "I...can't...stand these comments any longer..."
It hurt Kaede to hear these words. Her heart ached because she didn't want to see her best friend cry. "We'll find a way. Even if it's a different and new school."
"And if it doesn't get better there? What if it ends the same way there?" asked Kazumi, biting her lips tearfully. "Then I'll come and beat her for you." Kaede replied, causing Kazumi to shake her head.
"No..." the gray-haired girl breathed. "You've done enough for me. I'm only hurting you..." she continued. "That's not true. You're my best friend. I don't care what people think of me. As long as they leave you in peace."
Kazumi smiled gently. Kaede couldn't be helped. "You know...I've always admired you for that. Even though your mother died and your grandma got Alzheimer's, you were always so strong and brave. I...was just cowardly and scared. I always had to get help."
"There's nothing wrong with that. I love you just the way you are." Tears dripped down, which Kazumi could no longer hold back. These words hurt, but they also did her good. She simply didn't deserve Kaede.
"Come on. Let's go home and have some warm tea." Kaede spoke calmly and held out a hand to her best friend, but she didn't take it.
Instead, some blood dripped down her hand, which Kaede had only just seen. "You...started that again...?" she breathed softly. Kazumi had started hurting herself at the beginning of the bullying. An act which, according to her, had done her good to end the pain in her heart.
"I yelled at the girls after you left. I'll do it again tomorrow..." Kaede began, not at all liking the way Kazumi jumped back.
"It's okay, Kaede..." smiled Kazumi gently, who had slowly raised her head to look at her. "I don't even feel it anymore..."
"Kazumi, I'm really just more worried about you now." Kaede now said. "You don't have to. Really, you don't. You've already done too much and you don't have to worry about me anymore."
Kaede laughed softly. Not because it was supposed to be a joke, but rather because she couldn't believe those words. "I'm always worried about you. That's what best friends are all about."
"You...Kaede, listen..." Kazumi changed the subject so that it wouldn't be even harder for her to accept Kaede's words. "I want you to write your novel. No matter how long it takes you."
"What does that have to do with your situation now?" the brown-haired girl, who had somehow gotten a bad feeling, wanted to know. "I'm just saying. I would just love it if you turned your hobby into your job. You love writing and I think you should really use your talent."
"Okay, I'll write this book when you feel better." Kaede said, which made Kazumi shake her head, laughing slightly. "It should come from the heart. Not so I can stop talking about my pain and suffering."
Slightly caught off guard, Kaede looked away from Kazumi. Her intelligence was really annoying sometimes. "Mhm..."
"Kaede..." Kazumi breathed her name, causing the brown-haired girl to look up again.
"I...really can't take any more..." she spoke again and looked with her yellow eyes into her best friend's brown-green ones.
"Please...forgive me..." she breathed, which Kaede didn't really understand at that moment. "Kazumi? What are you talking about? What did you do?" were the first questions, because Kaede didn't want to believe that Kazumi had taken revenge on someone.
A soft and peaceful smile came to Kaede's face, the yellow eyes clearly showing sorrow. A cool breeze came up, which had swirled the girls hair around.
Not knowing what Kazumi would mean, Kaede looked at her best friend, who had approached the edge without looking away from her.
"I...thank you...for your friendship..." came quietly from Kazumi, who had made the decision to fall from this roof without hesitating any further.
"K..Kazumi..?" asked Kaede, who couldn't break free from her stupor before she could no longer see her best friend and ran towards the edge, her very hand drenched in the blood that had dripped from Kazumi's arm, now stuck to her palm.
Shivering and looking down from the roof of the museum, Kaede now realized what Kazumi had wanted to say to her in parting. "Kazumi..." came over her lips again as she realized through Kazumi's body on the street that her best friend had taken her own life because of all the bullying.