The Rainbow Candy I Chose, Though I Couldn't Buy It 🔥4

Fifth grade of elementary school.

As soon as school ended, I would go to my close friends Mami-chan and Yumi-chan's desks.
“Can you hang out today?”

“Of course!”
Mami-chan, Yumi-chan, and me.

The three of us walked down our usual path side by side.
On that street, there was a stationery store.

We opened the door and went inside.


That, too, was our usual routine.
There was one lady in the shop.

The front was a display case,
filled with various stationery items.
And, on the right side of the display case,

that was where our target was.
Dagashi (cheap snacks).

────

“Today I'm getting this, cola gum!”
Mami-chan showed it to me.

“Nice, that's delicious, isn't it?”
“I'm getting this!”

Yumi-chan smiled as she hugged a bag of sauce katsu.
“Wow! Amazing. That's a feast for today.”

I jumped up and down.
“What about you, Minori-chan?”

When asked, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
I said with a smile,

“There isn't really anything I want.”
The three of us left the shop.

────

A bench next to the stationery store.

The three of us sat there.

I watched as the two of them enjoyed their "spoils" for the day.

My face was smiling.
“The science class today was interesting, wasn't it?”

Yumi-chan's face lit up.

“Oh, you mean during that experiment!”

“And the spring when the three of us did the experiment afterward! I thought my stomach would split from laughing!!”

As we said that, the three of us burst into laughter.
“Do you want some?”

Mami-chan tore off a small piece of the cola gum

and offered it to me and Yumi-chan.

“That's right! A mix of sweet and savory is just perfect.”
Yumi-chan said, tearing off two small pieces of the sauce katsu.

In my hand, there was the small piece of
gum and the sauce katsu.

Beside me, the two of them were laughing, saying, “It's delicious.”
I put the piece of sauce katsu into my mouth.

Crunch.

The taste of sweet and savory sauce.
The crunchiness of the batter when I bit into it.

As I chewed, the flavor intensified.
It was only a tiny piece, but

I chewed it carefully.

“Wow, this sauce katsu is delicious.”
After I made a big fuss, I put the gum in my mouth.

Sweet.

With every chew, the cola flavor melted out.

“Thank you.”
I said to the two of them.


“You should buy some too, Minori-chan.”
Yumi-chan said.

“No, I'm fine with just a bite.
I don't really eat that many snacks.”

I felt a cold sweat-like sensation seep onto my back.
The gum, now flavorless, remained in my mouth.

I gathered it up in my mouth,


pressed it against my teeth, and kept chewing.
I curled my toes tightly.
────

That night.

I spoke to my mother's back as she returned from work.

“Mom.”

“I want to buy some dagashi.”
“Please give me 20 yen.”

My mother turned around and said with an exasperated look.

“Huh? What are you talking about? You don't even study properly.”

“But, Yumi-chan and...”
Just as I started to say that, she cut me off.

“Eating snacks on the street is like a delinquent. I'm disappointed in you.”
I couldn't say anything more.

────

The next time, and the time after that.
It was the same.

I couldn't buy snacks, and I couldn't get money.

I was always on the outside.

────

I want to give back to everyone.

I want to give them something too.
Something that makes them happy.


Abacus class day.
The road I walk alone.

I pass by the usual stationery store.

I glance at the shop casually.

At that moment, my gaze stopped.

Rainbow colors.

Beautiful, colorful candy balls were sparkling in the sunlight.

Wow, they're beautiful.

I instinctively ran up to the glass case.

――If I could give these to everyone.

I imagined it.

Mami-chan and Yumi-chan.
Me.
Everyone's smiles.

That would be nice.

But, how could I buy them?
I stood in front of the shop for a while.

At that moment.

The abacus bag I was holding in my hand.
The tuition envelope.

My eyes landed on it.

I didn't intend to eat them myself.
I would hand them all out to everyone, every last one.

In my head at that moment,
the same words were spinning around.

I have to return what I've been given.
I have to repay the kindness.

From being the one who receives treats,
to being the one who gives them.
Not just someone who receives, but someone who gives back.

────

The brown bag looked bright in the sunset.

I opened the door to the stationery shop.


Clink, clink, clink...


The candies were inside a small bag.

I picked it up.
They really are beautiful.

I looked at the price tag.

200 yen.
Expensive.
But.

I took 1000 yen out of my tuition envelope right there,
and tucked the bag into my bag.

I didn't want the shopkeeper to notice, either.

A child who came to buy something normally.
I put on that kind of face.

"Please give me this."
I placed the 1000 yen bill and the candy on the counter.

The lady had her usual smile.
"Welcome, that'll be 200 yen."

────

The next day.

The three of us walked together as usual.

"Today,"

"I have a present for Mami-chan and Yumi-chan."
"Oh? What is it?"

The two of them turned to me happily.
"At our usual spot."

We passed the stationery shop and went to our usual bench.

There, I took the bag of rainbow candies out of my school bag
and opened it.

Lit by the sunset, the little rainbow colors sparkled, and in the bag, they were lined up just like jewels.

"Wow!"

Mami-chan's eyes lit up.

Yumi-chan and Mami-chan reached out their hands and took the candies.

"There are plenty, so let's all eat them."

I shared them with the classmates who were there, too.

Until the bag was empty.

I gave plenty to Yumi-chan, Mami-chan,
and the kids who had given me treats before.
Everyone was happy.

Before I knew it, many classmates

had gathered around me.
"Minori-chan, thank you!"

Yumi-chan and Mami-chan looked happy too.

"I got orange flavor."

"Mine is strawberry!"
"Beautiful."

Mami-chan held the candy up to the sun.

It looked sparkling and bright to my eyes too.

────

"Minori-chan, aren't you going to eat one?"
Mami-chan tilted her head, her cheek puffed out with the candy.
"I'm fine, I'd rather have everyone else eat them!"

I replied with a smile.
In the end, I gave all the candies away to others.

I stared at the empty bag.

I clutched the bag tightly and looked up at the sky with a smile.

And after I parted ways with everyone,
I quietly threw the empty bag into a trash can at the station.

────

One week later, at night.

The house phone rang.

My mother picked it up.

"Yes, thank you for your help. Yes, yes.
...Eh?
I did send the tuition money with her."

My heart skipped a beat at those words.

I knew what it was about without even asking.

"Yes, yes, I understand.
Thank you."

My mother quietly hung up the receiver.

"Minori."

I turned around slowly.
There was my mother's face, filled with anger.

My father was on the other side of the kotatsu.


Don't say it, please stop.

"Have you not been going to abacus class?"

"And they're saying the tuition hasn't been paid, what does that mean?"
I stood up sluggishly.


"What does this mean?"

My father glared at me. I cowered.

"Tell us!!!"

I jump at my father's roar.

I resigned myself.

"I bought... some candy."

Tears overflow.

My father ranted on.

"That's stealing, isn't it?"
"Stealing is a crime."

"Someone who does it once will do it again."
"That's why you are—"

"A criminal."


"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

While crying,
my eyes catch the swaying of the accordion curtain in front of me.

It's yellow.
It has stains on it.
I'm not even thinking about it, but my eyes just land on it.

Beyond that, I saw my mother's look of exasperation.

"I knew it."
"Mom, I thought that would happen."
My tear-filled vision warps into black.


A criminal.

Just as I thought.

The impact felt like a lump of iron had fallen onto my eyes.
The sensation of the back of my eyes hollowing out into darkness.

My thoughts stopped,
and I fell straight into the darkness.

────

The next day.

I head to school with eyes swollen from crying.

While walking, I think about that bench.

Everyone's faces when I handed them the candy.
The sound of their "Thank yous."


Even though those candies are gone,
there was a faint, sweet scent.

That day.

The candies were disappearing from my hands.

Every time I handed one to someone, I felt like the place I was standing
changed just a little bit.

In the end, only an empty bag remained in my hands.

Seeing that, I felt relieved.

I still remember it now.

──────────
🫧Me in this form

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Read this event from a different perspective

▷ Why did I act wrongly? (Analysis)

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▶ To the next event (Looking back at my first hell)

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