The sound of a ringing phone entered my ears from behind the curtain in the quiet infirmary.
When the school nurse answered the phone, I could hear the sound of her hurrying out of the infirmary. Without seeming to notice the noise, I could see Kusunoki-san sleeping quietly through the gap of my hands holding back my bangs. I closed my eyes, on the edge of tears, and thought. To not make Soejima-kun sad, I have to disappear. What if I say I regained my memory and make up a false story? Will he be relieved? Will he realize it’s a lie right away…?
The sound of the infirmary door being opened again rushed into my ears as I closed my eyelids.
I didn’t pay attention, thinking that the school nurse had returned, but when I noticed the hurried footsteps approaching, I heard a voice from behind the curtain.
“Is anyone there? I’m coming in.”
Into my eyes jumped the figure of a panting Soejima-kun, opening the curtain.
Soejima-kun stared at me, standing in front of the bed for a few seconds, and said, “I see…” as if to catch his breath.
“What’s wrong? What about the morning assembly?” I asked Soejima-kun, who looked flustered.
“I was thinking too much.”
“Huh?”
“I thought you might just disappear.” Soejima-kun smiled at me with a relieved expression.
The moment I saw that expression, an impulse to suppress something surged within me.
“I won’t give up. I won’t give up until the end,” Soejima-kun said, looking at me with a serious gaze.
My thoughts were seen through, and I didn’t know what to respond with, so I was confused. Still, I had to say something, so I opened my mouth.
“That’s embarrassing.”
The voice that echoed by the bedside wasn’t my flustered voice. Soejima-kun and I were surprised and turned our faces in the direction of the voice. There, Kusunoki-san raised her upper body from the bed with a grumble.
“It’s just anemia. What are you talking about?” Kusunoki-san said to Soejima-kun in a clear tone, her face looking embarrassed.
How long had she been awake? Soejima-kun and I looked at each other.
Kusunoki-san couldn’t see me. There was no way she thought Soejima-kun was talking to my spiritly self. It was only natural to think he was talking to her.
The girl laughed bitterly in her bed.
“What? Did you think I was lying in bed with an incurable disease?”
As she said that, Kusunoki-san had a look on her face as if she’d realized something.
“I see. Your grandfather’s death was sudden, wasn’t it?”
As she said this with a sense of realization, Kusunoki-san made a peculiar expression, as if she felt sorry for laughing. She might have thought Soejima-kun had overlapped her fallen figure with his grandfather’s.
“But it’s not that…”
While staring at Soejima-kun scratching his head in distress, Kusunoki-san asked, “Did you carry me to the infirmary?”
“No, it wasn’t me. It was Miyoshi.”
“Miyoshi-sensei…”
Saying that, Kusunoki-san cast her gaze down on the bed.
“I couldn’t expect you to carry me,” Kusunoki-san muttered in a small voice, and closed her mouth. Soejima-kun also fell silent. I was watching the two of them in silence with mixed feelings. Being alone together after that confession must have been awkward for both of them.
As I was thinking this, Kusunoki-san, who had been silent, started laughing.
Looking at the laughing girl, Soejima-kun asked with a puzzled look, “Huh? What are you…”
“Sorry, sorry. But that…” Kusunoki-san pointed to the school shoes that Soejima-kun was wearing. “You’re still marking them properly.”
Soejima-kun’s face turned red instantly. A small star mark was drawn in an inconspicuous position on the shoes that Kusunoki-san was pointing at.
“You used to mark all your belongings with that mark in middle school instead of writing your name.”
Come to think of it, I had once seen a small black star mark drawn in the corner of Soejima-kun’s textbook.
“You remember weird things.”
“I didn’t think you would remember the caricature.”
Kusunoki-san, with a mischievous smile, asked in a somewhat lonely tone. “So, if you’re moving, nobody’s going to live in your grandfather’s house?”
“I haven’t asked about what’s going to happen yet, but probably.”
“I see… That’s a shame. It was a popular spot for girls at one point.”
“What do you mean by ‘popular spot’?” Soejima-kun frowned.
“When the rumor spread that if one went to your house, your grandfather would let anyone in, it became a popular spot for girls who liked you in middle school.”
Kusunoki-san laughed softly as she spoke. Soejima-kun seemed to be recalling those times, his expression turning exasperated.
“That was really tough. When I got home, there were people I didn’t know at all having tea and chatting with my grandfather as if it were the most natural thing in the world.”
“I know. I was glared at by you in a really annoyed way too.”
Listening to Kusunoki-san’s words, I remembered as well.
When I first met Soejima-kun, I was at his grandfather’s house. Soejima-kun made a clearly displeased face at me and said, “Great. Did my grandpa let another person into the house without permission?”
“He was a flirtatious old man, so he probably just wanted to chat with young girls…” Soejima-kun sounded exasperated, but there was a hint of tenderness in his voice.
Kusunoki-san shook her head at his words. “He said it was ‘rehabilitation.’”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t really understand what he meant by ‘rehabilitation’ until you explained your condition to me. I think your grandfather was hoping that you would get used to interacting with girls normally. In middle school, you avoided girls more than you do now.”
“That’s normal for that age, isn’t it?” Soejima-kun laughed lightly.
“That brings back memories. Even though you glared at me coldly, I… I didn’t give up and kept going to your grandfather’s house.” Kusunoki-san spoke nostalgically of their common memories, which I was not privy to.
“I had to be persistent, you know? Most people got annoyed with you and stopped coming soon after.”
“It felt like you were part of the family. You were always at the house.”
Kusunoki-san laughed in amusement at Soejima-kun’s words.
“While talking with your grandfather, I used to wait until you finished your club activities, and when you came back, my I kept insistently telling you that I liked you and asking for your number. I would be met with a cold attitude and feel sad.”
Soejima-kun made a surprised face. “You felt sad?”
“Of course. I’m delicate even if I’m pushy,” Kusunoki-san said jokingly, and Soejima-kun’s face clouded slightly.
“I felt sad because no matter how hard I tried, you wouldn’t give me the time of day. I decided to stop chasing after you and stop going to your house… Then…”
Kusunoki-san laughed softly.
“You handed me a piece of paper in the school hallway that read, ‘You forgot something,’ and then quickly left. When I opened it, I saw that your phone number was written in the corner of your portrait I had doodled at your grandfather’s house.”
Breaking Soejima-kun’s silence, Kusunoki-san asked in a teasing tone, “Did the push and pull work well?”
“Don’t make fun of it.”
Saying that, Soejima-kun looked up at Kusunoki-san, who raised her right hand as if asking for a handshake. “Can you hold my hand?”
“Huh…?”
“Is it still impossible for you to touch me?”
Kusunoki-san stared intently at Soejima-kun as if testing him. His eyes swam as he hesitantly extended his right hand.
However, he stopped just a few centimeters before they could touch. The few centimeters felt like a huge rift. Soejima-kun’s gaze briefly caught me, who was watching from the side, then quickly looked away.
“I guess it’s still like that.” Kusunoki-san said this and was about to retract her hand, Soejima-kun suddenly grabbed her right hand.
Surprised by the sudden grabbing of her hand, Kusunoki-san’s face twisted slightly.
“It hurts. My hand…”
Even as Kusunoki-san said this, Soejima-kun did not let go of the hand he was gripping.
“I’ll change. I want us to date again.”
The light shining through the white curtains in the infirmary illuminated the two of them holding hands before my eyes.
I had been wishing strongly for Soejima-kun and Kusunoki-san to get back together. And yet, now that I was seeing the scene I had been wishing for, I couldn’t understand why my heart felt squeezed, making it impossible to look at the two of them directly.