◊◊◊
And it turned out that he was. His exhaustion had caught up with him a few days later, in the library.
“Zzz...” He had dozed off at the circulation desk. The sudden influx of so many different people interacting with him lately must have done a number on him. Lunch was almost over.
“Hey, wake up. Wake up...” I gently shook him and he jerked awake.
“Huh?!” He lifted his head and looked around.
Phew, he’s awake. Relieved, I went back to my book. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and saw that he was staring at me.
“I don’t mind dozing off if it means I get to have you wake me up like th— Oof!” Then he said that embarrassing thing to me. I grabbed a heavy dictionary and thumped him on the head with it to hide how embarrassed I was. He must’ve sensed I did it out of shyness, because he smirked at me and kept the dictionary on his head. It was a strange sight.
Honestly...
“You’ve...” I started to say.
“Hm? What?!” He seemed startled for some reason.
“What?”
“Oh, um. Nothing. Yeah.”
What a weirdo. I continued, “You’ve been working really hard lately.”
“H-Have I?”
“Too hard. It looks like you’re pushing yourself.”
He didn’t answer.
“Everyone has their own strengths, but there are still limits; things you can do, and things you just can’t. Confuse the two, and you’ll only end up miserable.” I wondered if I sounded too harsh. His expression grew sharp.
“Are you telling me to know my place?”
“No. I’m saying that if you understand what kind of person you are, you should only do things you’re capable of. Everyone has something that’s just impossible for them. So...” I stared him straight in the eyes. “I don’t want you to force yourself so much.”
He kept staring at me silently. When things were rough, I wanted to be the one he depended on. I didn’t know what I could do to help, but I would do anything for him. After all, I was right here.
◊◊◊
Some time after that, we got a new transfer student in our class.
“M-My name is Yuzuki Sato. It’s nice to meet you...”
Yuzuki Sato-san. She seemed to be a quiet girl. Once it was revealed that she was a transfer student, she was subjected to curious stares from my classmates. I felt a sort of kinship with her after her timid introduction. I had a feeling she was a loner.
I watched as she said something to Hachijo-kun. I braced myself, thinking that yet another person seeking advice from him had appeared, but luckily he didn’t seem interested in indulging her in whatever it was.
That was an unusual reaction from him, since he was usually so caring. I thought it was weird, but at the same time, I was relieved that he wouldn’t get roped into another troublesome saga. He was easily exhausted, after all.
After school, we went to the library to have a committee meeting. The topic at hand was whether or not we should have a booth at the upcoming school festival.
“All right, then. We’ll go ahead and have a book café at the school festival,” the president of the committee declared after a vote. The other members applauded, showing their approval.
“Ah ha ha...” Hachijo-kun scratched his cheek, giving a vague laugh. He was the one who had suggested we do a book café in the first place. We were all supposed to offer up suggestions, and I had suggested we just open up the library for use during the festival, and he suggested the book café. Apparently he had been inspired by the café we went to on our date to the Used Book Festival, and the other members chose his idea.
“We can decide on who will go buy the supplies at a later date. And feel free to bring anything from home that might fit the aesthetic of the café.”
“Oh, I have some dolls and stuffed animals I could bring.”
“We don’t want anything too fancy. Although now that I think about it, porcelain dolls or nutcrackers could fit the theme.”
“I think I have a Japanese doll in a case...”
“Hey, don’t bring anything too expensive!”
Since it was the third-years’ last school festival, they were excitedly leading the conversation. Just then, the president whacked Hachijo-kun on the shoulder. “Yashiro-kun. Since you were the one who had this idea, we’re counting on you too. Got it?”
“Y-Yeah...” Hachijo-kun had an awkward smile on his face.
He just had a bad habit of agreeing to things that placed a burden on him, didn’t he?
Once the meeting was over, I went to the shoe lockers by the school entrance and leaned up against them to wait for him. He was still in the meeting room. I had a feeling he was going to have all sorts of responsibilities since he was the one who suggested the theme.
I’d been waiting for a while when he finally showed up. His face broke out into a smile when he saw me. “You waited for me. So then...?”
I stared at his face, silently asking him to tell me about Sato-san. He chuckled, grinning. “I’ll tell you all about it while we walk. Promise,” he said as he changed his shoes and started to leave. I followed after, thinking it was kind of sweet how he walked slowly so I wouldn’t have a hard time keeping up with him.
Suddenly I realized he was staring at me, smirking. It felt like he was reading my mind or something. I got embarrassed, so I kicked him in the shins.
◊◊◊
“Apparently our class is going to be serving fried rice at the school festival,” Hachijo-kun suddenly informed me a few days later in the library during lunch.
“Oh, really?”
“You didn’t know either? I had a feeling.”
I was prioritizing the library committee’s book café, so I’d been ignoring all the talk about our class project for the festival. It sounded like Hachijo-kun had been doing the same.
“Yeah, I guess the girls are dressing in cheongsam.”
I stared at him. I would be so embarrassed if I ended up having to wear one. He propped his cheek up on his hand and chuckled. “I wish I could see you in one, Nue. We’re going to be wearing aprons for the book café, but at the very least maybe I could get you a maid unifo— Ouch!”
I silently dropped a heavy dictionary on his head. It was proving to be quite handy lately. “Anyway...”
“Hm?”
“Who told you about our class booth?”
“Hanamizawa-san and Ido-san.”
“Oh...”
I felt that uneasy feeling inside of me again. But being his girlfriend didn’t give me the right to dictate who he hung out with.
“Oh, that reminds me. I have to go buy coffee beans and snacks for the book café today at the big-box store nearby.” He clapped his hands as if to try to shake the heavy mood in the air. “We’re just going to serve ochazuke, but everyone said they want to test out different snacks to go with it too. Honestly, I think the older kids just want an excuse to eat snacks.”
“Oh...”
“I’m gonna have a lot to carry, so I wish you were coming with me... Ha ha...” he said, glancing over at me.
I smiled and said, “Good luck with that.”
◊◊◊
I changed into my outside shoes by the front entrance and let out a sigh. Maybe I was too hard on him? That uncomfortable feeling inside of me just wouldn’t go away, and I ended up pushing him away. I don’t think I could call it a fight, per se. I guess I was just being stubborn. And I didn’t mean to come off sounding so harsh about it either...