Chapter 5

“So does that mean she created the mystery for you to begin with?” “That could be considered both correct and incorrect. She was a serious person, so while she was able to create it, she probably thought no one would seriously try to solve it.” Except for me, that was. After using a phrase I’d heard somewhere before, Ms. Koyomi smiled and added one more thing. “I caught her making these mysteries all the time. She loved books from the bottom of her heart, and I loved the look on her face when she was surrounded by them in the library.” “I’m sure…Yomiko loved you, too, Ms. Koyomi.” She’d said she only had one friend. I remembered the exchange we’d had. Her face had hardly ever changed, but when she had mentioned her friend, she’d had such a cute smile. “Yes. The delinquent girl and the bookworm. Neither of us was the type to have any friends. Now, then…” Ms. Koyomi rose from her chair, stretched, and smiled at us. “The atmosphere’s gotten a little heavy in here. No more mystery solving! As promised, I’ll treat you to some tasty meat!” First ramen, now yakiniku. Well, that was pretty charming in itself. “No, we can eat another time,” I said. “Right, Fuyuko, Haruru?” They seemed to understand what I was trying to say without me needing to say it. “Everyone knows delicious food and sweets satisfy a girl’s appetite, but we’d rather have something else… A good, rewarding drink.” “That’s right! We want to hear more about Koyo’s high school days! Specifically, the romantic parts! Heh-heh!” In response, Ms. Koyomi smiled a bit awkwardly. “Oh my, old stories are embarrassing. I’d rather treat you to expensive yakiniku…but I guess I can’t say no. Just for today, okay?” After that, the four of us talked until the sun went down—about school, studying, romance, and old stories about precious friends. What exactly was the Yomiko Naoki I’d encountered? Maybe she was a lingering vestige of feelings that had remained in the library since that day. Maybe she was a classmate who came from far away to visit an old friend. Maybe she was a completely different person using her name. A look-alike. A prank by Ms. Koyomi. Her true identity didn’t matter now; it was a trivial thing. But there had definitely been a girl there. So there was no need to uncover the big mystery of her identity. To Ms. Koyomi, and to us, Yomiko had become an important page of our youth.