This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame-Chapter 604 - 378: Star in the Distance (4000 words)
Yes.
Beichuan Si already knew why Shindai Kanari had been bound to the long house and the intense obsession that lingered around her.
The cause of it.
The method of dispersal...
Beichuan Si had understood it all.
As Shindai Kanari shrank her neck, Beichuan Si moved beside her and said, "You actually knew all along about Inagaki Jing’s death, didn’t you?"
This rhetorical question left Shindai Kanari unable to respond.
She opened her mouth to look at Beichuan Si and then lowered her head, clutching the song cards even tighter.
"Even if Inagaki Jing hadn’t died, how would she have known that you became a Spiritual Body, continuously guarding around the long house?"
Beichuan Si asked again.
By common logic, as Beichuan Si stated, even if Inagaki Jing hadn’t died and was about to enter high school, she wouldn’t have been able to see or touch Shindai Kanari, let alone fulfill Shindai Kanari’s obsession.
Their friendship, at the moment Shindai Kanari died, shattered like glass.
And this glass-like friendship transformed into invisible thorns, binding Shindai Kanari to this place, preventing her release.
It was a curse from the living, binding the Spiritual Body, making the deceased unable to truly rest.
Moreover, Inagaki Jing soon died as well.
This made the chains binding Shindai Kanari even heavier.
This time, Shindai Kanari finally responded.
She took a deep breath, her childish voice sounding,
"As long as Jing is alive, that’s enough for me, her survival... shows that she kept our promise..."
As she spoke these words, Shindai Kanari’s fingers trembled lightly.
But now Inagaki Jing had already died.
This meant—
"She indeed upheld her promise with you properly. That’s why she could depart this world without any regrets," Beichuan Si spoke.
Indeed, this was also why Inagaki Jing didn’t become a Spiritual Body like Shindai Kanari.
She truly upheld her promise with Shindai Kanari before her death, she had tried very hard, which allowed her to die without any remorse.
"This, this is just to comfort me," Shindai Kanari stammered.
She said this while avoiding looking at Beichuan Si.
"What I’m saying is the truth," Beichuan Si responded expressionlessly.
Shindai Kanari shook her head and hugged her tattered red and white cotton-padded jacket tighter.
She was already thinking about leaving.
Beichuan Si was truly a good person.
She didn’t want to trouble him anymore, nor did she want him to waste more time on her, who had completely lost hope.
As Shindai Kanari was calculating this, Beichuan Si looked at her profoundly and said as if seeing through her thoughts, "You can’t escape."
Hmm—
Shindai Kanari’s small frame tensed, and she timidly raised her eyes to Beichuan Si.
Under the street lamp light, her slightly transparent body quivered slightly.
"You might think I’m lying to you now... but it’s not the case. I indeed know about your promise with Inagaki Jing..."
Beichuan Si’s eyes were filled with a stern righteousness.
His voice paused, then firmly continued, "It’s not a superficial promise like the ’hundred poets’ game, but rather one deeper, lasting longer."
Under Shindai Kanari’s gaze, Beichuan Si took out a stack of letters from his own shoulder bag.
Those letters, slightly yellowed, adorned with cute designs, caught Shindai Kanari’s attention.
He handed the letters to Shindai Kanari.
Beichuan Si gestured her to open and have a look.
Shindai Kanari hesitated for a while, placed the song cards neatly on the ground, and then picked up the letters with both hands.
Under the streetlamp light, she shifted her gaze to the contents of the letters.
Just at one glance, her expression grew more touched.
These were Inagaki Jing’s handwriting.
She could never forget it.
The rounded... somewhat clumsy, seen as crooked by current high school students... the big characters... were indeed Inagaki Jing’s handwriting.
She held her breath and continued reading.
The content of these letters... was left for Shindai Kanari.
Telling her about the new family situation... asking her how she was doing in heaven...
The crooked characters were written very seriously.
"Inagaki Kaori had apparently told her. If you write down what you want to say on the letter, even those who have passed away can see it... And this was the result."
Beichuan Si watched as Shindai Kanari hugged the several dozen letters, shaking his head slightly.
Shindai Kanari and Inagaki Jing gently treated the world, but the world didn’t treat them gently in return.
Shindai Kanari suffered from domestic abuse and encountered a terrible accident just as she was about to find happiness, while Inagaki Jing had congenital heart disease, unable to make friends with regular kids and even unable to run.
Both children felt each other’s ’fragility,’ which brought them into such deep friendship.
Beichuan Si had also seen the content of the letters.
Most of it was greeting Shindai Kanari and telling her about the sequel of a hero cartoon they had once watched together.
Only a few fragments mentioned her own health condition, and those were quickly glossed over.
Some fragments Beichuan Si still remembered—
