Today is finally the release day for the book version!

There are many additions and wonderful WEB illustrations, so I take pride in the fact that it is content that can be enjoyed by those who read it online as well.

If you pick up the book version, it will give me the opportunity to write more, so if you feel like supporting me, I would greatly appreciate it...!

https://kakuyomu.jp/publication/entry/9784047383203/

Below is a Release Commemoration SS.

This is the story of Yuito-kun before meeting Rui-san and after meeting Rui-san.

It is chronologically set before the main story begins and after the end of the first volume.

◇◇◇

There are nights when the depths of loneliness seem to break through, occasionally.

Such nights always come after meeting someone.

They might think that I feel lonely because I don't meet people.

But that's wrong. It's the opposite.

Because I meet people, I feel even more lonely.

I can't fit into everyone's circle. I can't blend in. It's precisely because I'm in the group that my loneliness stands out. I'm strongly made to realize that I'm an inferior being.

Night. After finishing my part-time job, I returned to my apartment. When I close the door, I lock it and take a hot shower to try to forget.

I tried to erase the unpleasant memories from school and the part-time job.

I changed into my pajamas, lay down on the bed, and just as I took a breath, it suddenly came back. The scab opened, and the festering loneliness overflowed.

I hate people in this world. So, I think it's fine to be alone forever.

But I sometimes think.

I have always wondered if I would never be able to connect with anyone.

Will I spend my whole life like this, getting hurt and feeling alienated every time I try to connect with someone, and will those days continue endlessly?

When I think about it that way, I become utterly terrified. I can't sleep because of the anxiety. Even though I pretend to hate people in this world, I end up laughing at my own weakness.

At such times, I suddenly remember.

About the girl who comes to the convenience store to buy cigarettes.

About the woman I always see coming to buy the same brand, with a bright, fluorescent-colored package, whom I internally call Twenty-five-san.

I don't even know her name. It's just a relationship where we exchange greetings.

But the brief time spent with her was a healing moment for me. It was the only moment I could forget my loneliness.

☆

That night, for the first time in a long while, it felt like the depths of my loneliness were about to break.

At times like that, I used to listen to music.

In the loneliness that seemed about to burst with festering, music kept me company.

Lying on the bed, I opened my phone to play some music, but my finger, which was about to tap the play button, suddenly stopped.

From the thin walls of the rundown apartment, I could hear noise coming from the other side.

In the next room, Rui-san is probably watching a movie. I could hear the sound of actors speaking in English, as well as explosions and gunfire.

I can't hear what they are talking about. I can't make out the content.

However, the incomprehensible noise and the light spilling from her room through the balcony strangely calmed my heart.

On the other side of the wall, Rui-san is there. Living her life.

Even without exchanging words or meeting, just that made me feel like I wasn't alone in this vast and dark night.

I stopped my finger that was reaching for the play button on my smartphone.

Listening to the noise coming from beyond the thin wall, I close my eyes.

By the time I realized it, I had already fallen into a dream.

I no longer felt anxious.

Side Story 2: Release Commemoration [A Night When the Depths of Loneliness Are Exposed]