Ayase Hikari ran up to me, gasping and panting. “Sorry to stop you! It’s just, you forgot your phone, so...”
“R-Right, sorry about that. Thanks for bringing it, but, well, why you?” I accepted the phone gratefully, but I couldn’t help but question the situation while I was at it. The sun might’ve been setting, but the day’s sweltering heat was still a long ways away from clearing up, and she was dripping with sweat. Surely we didn’t know each other well enough for her to go that far out of her way for me without a good reason?
“I would’ve felt bad about asking a guest to run it out to you,” she replied.
“Okay, but you could’ve just given it to me on Monday.”
“We don’t know that for sure!” She looked a little unhappy, possibly because she felt like her hard work hadn’t been appreciated the way she’d hoped it would be. Her mannerisms really did remind me of hers, and I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. “And besides, I wanted to talk to you anyway. You’re my brother’s best friend, and it looks like Yuu-chan really looks up to you too! It feels like I’m the only one who’s being left out.”
“I really don’t think that’s true.”
“It is!” Her expression changed at the drop of a hat as she broke out in a big, bright smile. Her amiable nature was on full display, just like it had been the last time I got to know her. I guess that just made sense, though. Taking away a part of somebody’s memories wouldn’t change their entire personality. “Would you mind if I walk you back to your home, Kou-san?”
“You really think I wouldn’t mind? I live alone, for your information.”
“Oh! Okay then, yeah, it might still be a little soon for that.” Ayase blushed faintly and let out a little laugh, like she was trying to gloss over the matter. Or maybe it was more of a bashful sort of laugh? Hard to say.
“Anyway,” I said, “I’ll treat you to something to drink, at least.”
“Wait, really?”
“Wouldn’t be very gentlemanly to let a girl run herself into a sweaty mess for me only to send her off with a ‘kthxbye,’ would it?”
“Okay, then, I’ll take you up on that!”
Then she more or less dragged me into a nearby café she was familiar with. I’d actually meant that I’d get her something from a nearby vending machine, but it was really hard to bring that up after she got the café idea in her head.
The place was mostly empty, and the interior was full of classy, antique-looking furniture that gave it a sort of “secret store that only the locals know” feel. The worker at the counter recommended the iced café au lait, so we ordered a pair of those and took a seat at a nearby table.
Hikari immediately struck up a conversation. “So, did your studying go well?”
“Yeah, thanks to everyone’s help.”
“I’m surprised you came, honestly. I’ve heard you’ve been missing a lot of classes lately too.”
“Don’t give me that look. I know what you’re thinking, and no, we’re not in the same boat.” I let out a strained chuckle. “That look” was one that told me she was sympathizing with me. Oh, and the “too” at the end really grabbed my attention. I was seriously curious about how Ayase had rationalized her own truancy and decided to dig a bit deeper. “Hey, Ayase—why’d you take a week off school?”
“Huh? Why’re you asking?”
“Well, I mean...I’m just curious, honestly. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, exactly. It’s more like I don’t know how to explain it, myself.” She stared at her drink and stirred it with her straw as she spoke. The topic seemed to have her at a bit of a loss. “I was too afraid to go to school—to go outside at all, even. The fear got less and less intense as time went by, but...I don’t actually know why it got better or why I was afraid to go outside in the first place.”
“You don’t know, huh?” Everything made sense so far—after all, the cause of her fear had been erased from her memory. It wasn’t strange at all for her to notice its absence. I nodded, satisfied with her explanation, but she just stared at me. “What?”
“Nothing, really... I just noticed that you have long eyelashes.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” It was abrupt, to say the least. Who pays attention to some random dude’s eyelashes?
“Well, anyway,” she continued, ignoring my question, “the point is that I don’t know why I skipped school either. That’s all! Story’s over!”
“Wasn’t much of a story to begin with...”
“Well, I’ve had to explain the whole thing over and over again! I’m sure you can appreciate how sick of it I am by now.”
“Over and over? I only asked... Oh, okay, I get it. You didn’t mean me.” I’d only asked the one time, but I could only imagine how many people had questioned her about it throughout the two days she’d been back. It wouldn’t just be her homeroom teacher and her friends—she’d probably also been mobbed by self-proclaimed “nice guys” who were using it as an excuse to talk to her.
“You’re really considerate, aren’t you, Kou-san?” she mused. “I think that’s wonderful.”
I hesitated for a moment. “You’re really reading me wrong here.” I was starting to get worried. It sort of felt like our pointless little question-and-answer session was earning me points in her eyes every step of the way.
Maybe I was just being oversensitive, though? The whole thing could’ve been totally normal in her eyes—like, maybe she was just trying to tease me. But, I mean, “wonderful”? What’s that supposed to mean? I wasn’t even close to brave enough to ask, of course. Can’t exactly call myself a Hero anymore if I can’t even work up the guts for that, eh?
“All right, I’ve answered one of your questions,” she continued. “Now it’s your turn to answer one of mine.”
“Wait, since when was that a rule? First I’ve heard of it.”
“If you want information from someone, you have to give them your own info in exchange! It’s a given.” What is she, a black market information broker? She might be a high school girl, but stylish cafés like this don’t suit her vibe at all.