Chapter 5: Help Seeking People

On the way to the house after leaving the coffee shop, a suspicious sight caught my eyes. 

"There?" 

There is a girl who looks around the area, looking out from the back alley. 
It was a familiar girl. I approached her and called out to her. 

"Mera-chan!" 
"Wa wa wa~tsu?" 

I raised my voice so much that the body jumped big enough to surprise me. 
Mera-chan holds the chest and prepares breathing and looks backward slowly. 

"Oh, that, Ruche onee-san?" 

"What's wrong ? Why are you alone in the place like this?" 
"Do you know each other?" 

Natta asked. 

"Yup. A child that is always been taken care of at the childhood association "Himawari"."

The name of this cute girl who ties her hair together is Mera-chan. 
The club that I belong to is the Children's Education Research Department Himawari, she is a child who belonged to the primary school which I has been taken care of until last year, and since this year she should be a junior to the secondary school that I attended.

I have not seen you for a long time, have you been a little taller? 

"Children's education .... I have been working properly" 

"I am doing it. About twice a month, I'm helping events at children's and nursery school."

"The name of the Education Research Division is a lot, but it is a type of club activity that is acting like a child volunteer."

There are not many people who have impressions like Natta because they are usually easy to talk while drinking tea.
But, I'm doing the activities properly. 

"What are you doing in a place like this?" 

Question asked as gently as possible to Mera-chan who compares our face with the dark circle. Mera-chan was quite an adult, a girl who was more shy than the other children in her age. 

"Do, do not tell me, Mama!" 

Mera-chan who is a short by two heads, grabs my uniform strongly and looks up with an appealing eyes.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

I was surprised at the strong tone that "I did not know what happened?" I thought that this was not a problem, I low down my knees and adjusted my eyes at the same height, so I tried to ask the situation gently so as not to be forced. 

"I will not tell anyone, if you do not mind, please tell sister" 
"You know what," 
"Yeah" 
"I am looking for a man. A boy" 
"A boy?"

 A bit surprising. It is rare that I saw her talking to a boy even at the kids' party. 
Even though I thought that it was clearly stranded with friends. 

"Friend? Child of the same school?" 
"No, I do not know" 

Mera-chan took out a white handkerchief from the skirt's pocket. 
Freshly washed as it smells soft and good. 
The handkerchief is a solid white plain color, and it seems a little simple for a girl to wait. 

"Last time, after school was over" 
"Yeah" 
"When playing with everyone, when going home alone, I fell"

The eyes of Mera-chan face downward. There was a scab after her knees. I was hurt that time. Uu, painful. 

"When I cried alone, a boy I did not know lent me a handkerchief" 

That means she's looking for the boy to return that handkerchief. 

"But why were you hiding?" 
"Mom told me that I should not see him anymore." 
"Well, why?" 

Mera-chan's parents are famous for their harsh people. 
She has been particularly loved since she was little and she is being taught to be an official tutor by a private tutor. 
Because of such tough parents, it may be unforgivable for a strange boy to approach an important daughter. Mera-chan does not dislike her parents, but she told me that there were time when she was tired of tough studies. 
But I think it's good to return a handkerchief ... .... 

"I was told that I should not talk to the outside children" 
　

Outer child

In this case, it is like of that town/village other than Philia City and the Capital of Eteruno. 

The capital of the great power has gained the protection of Daikiko Steelstone since ancient times, it prospered dramatically with the invention of machine that made it into energy.

The town is growing up in a place with a rough terrain such as Philia city, because we made a temple in a place where artificial brilliant steel stone can be placed.

On the other hand, there is a big gap in the living standard from the outside world where you cannot get the power to move the machine. Looking from us that already accustomed to machines, the outside life seems very inconvenient and poor, and from the outside it seems our life seems like a different world. 

There are castle walls around the city, and entry and exit is severely restricted. 
So, some people discriminate against others, and the consciousness seems to persist strongly as the former aristocracy people like Mera-chan's mother. 
Of course I do not have such discrimination consciousness, and I think that is not good. 

"But, I want to see that boy once more." 

Mera-chan shyly shrieked and her cheeks turn red. 
Haah, this is ... ... 

"What do you want to do, Ru-chan?" 
"Yeah, sorry. Hang out for a while."

Natta-san is an understanding girl and I really appreciate it.

"Mera-chan, looking for that boy, we will help you"

"Eh, is it true?"

"Oh yeah, you had a good senior."

When Natta-senpai said, Mera-chan watched her with a smiling face.

"She is my classmate Natta, my best friend"

I introduced Natta to Mera-chan. It was during the secondary school when I began my child's volunteer, and Natta moved to a different city from Philia at that time, so Mera-chan should not know about Natta. 

"...... It is a beautiful person," 
"Even if you do not say flattering, I will help you properly " 

I think Mera-chan is not going to say it as flattery. 

"Well then, shall we look for that boy"

Let me help our cute junior's pale love. 

First of all, I decided to head to the trail coast of the southern part of the city where Mera-chan met the boy. 
No matter how much summer it is, it will be dusk in a few hours. 
If it gets dark, Mera-chan 's parents will come back home, so I'd like to return by that time. 

Anything, Mera-chan seems to come out by pretending to be answering the machine. 
How much of adult Mera-chan is that will take such bold actions because how much it is opposed to parents ... The power of a girl in love is amazing. 

"The day will fall if we walking, let's get on a luminous carriage" 
"No, Papa will find it" 

Mera-chan disagreed with Natta's proposal. 

"Mera-chan dad is a gigantic horse-drawn carriage" 

I will explain the reason to Natta instead of her. 
You can not be afraid of getting into a bad mood. 
There is also the possibility of seeing the figure walking on the main street.
It is dangerous to walk around in this way because there is a station in the street on the cult street because it can not pass through Philia Boulevard. 

"Hey, what are you doing" 
"It's okay, because there is a back path" 

I pulled the hand of Mera-chan and entered the back alley just before the exit of the cult street. 
When we climb up a gentle slope, we comes out to the grass without a building. 
The city of Philia is a big city, but there are still a lot of nature overflowing in the outside walls, but around here in the south there are many places where people's hands are not particularly attached. 

When we break to the left before a small bridge across the river, the fences were lining up and hindering our traffic. 

"It's not a dead end," 
"All right" 

If you look closely, you can break through the broken fence unless if you do not know. Through the plants and go out to an area where old-fashioned wooden houses stand.

I bent over the gaps of the house left and to the right, and walked for about 30 minutes, a blue surface jumped into sight. 

"You see, you can come even if you do not use the main street, is it?" 

Natta was surprised with her eyes rounded. 

"I know a great loophole" 
"I found it when I took a walk" 

In fact I like to walk and see this. 
After all we would like to go out, do not you think? 
In the southern part of Philia City, I remember perfectly a narrow alleys. This may be a little boasting. 

"If I could use that memory ability for study, I did not take 17 points in the history test at the end of the last semester." 
"Did something happen?"

Thank you. 

"No, nothing!"

END OF CHAPTER 5

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