Potato Party Exchange Diary
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“Inside, we’ll write the date, then divide the page into five parts. Next…” Having used one before, Moena quickly laid out the formatting of the exchange diary. All Sousei and the others had to do was follow along.
I wonder if Hitsujimoto will write in it…
However, that wasn’t Sousei’s only cause for concern.
I’ll be writing in it, too. I wonder what I should write…
Kuchina Hitsujimoto had gotten herself wrapped up in something troublesome. Until just recently, she’d never expected to find herself in a situation like this.
Nothing should have happened…
Within the school, there were very few places in which Kuchina had never set foot—likely just the boys’ toilets and changing rooms, and the rooms for all the clubs that didn’t have female members.
My goal…
When she started high school, Kuchina had decided to set foot in all the areas that weren’t prohibited to girls by the time she graduated.
It was my only one.
There were also rooms in the school that were locked and usually off-limits to students. That made it somewhat more difficult for Kuchina to complete her goal, but it was possible for her to break in using work-related skills. Of course, she couldn’t let anyone catch wind of the fact that someone was up to something unusual. The most important thing was to proceed discreetly to avoid raising suspicion.
She was going to know things that nobody else did about that school, which she’d never be returning to after she graduated. Of course, she’d keep contact with both her teachers and her classmates to an absolute minimum during her three years there. She couldn’t afford to make any connections. Kuchina wouldn’t be leaving anything behind at the school. She couldn’t. However, the memories of it would be left inside her.
With just memories, I’ll…
Kuchina put her bag on her shoulder and walked down the empty hallway. Classes had finished, but the school wasn’t completely empty. There were still a lot of club activities going on at that time, and most of the teachers were still working. The janitors were busy with the inspection, maintenance, and cleaning of the school’s facilities and equipment. If Kuchina sensed anyone, she’d either leave the area or hide to avoid encountering them. And if that wasn’t possible, she’d just casually pass by unnoticed. That was her specialty. It didn’t make any difference if she was there or not. Her footsteps made no sound. She was a ghost. That was fine with her.
It’s all Sousei Takarai’s fault.
Nothing would have happened if she hadn’t been in the same class as him.
Against all odds, a classmate was in the same line of work as her.
It wasn’t the kind of profession where workers were a dime a dozen. If they lived near each other, there was a chance they’d be competing over the same jobs. And if they went to the same school, it wasn’t out of the question that, one day, they might end up with the same target.
If I hadn’t met Takarai…
Kuchina returned to Class 2-2’s classroom. She checked that nobody was inside before she went in, thinking she might be ambushed. It was a necessary precaution while she was working, but she didn’t want to have to do it at school.
I didn’t want anything to happen.
Kuchina sat down in her seat at the back by the window. She placed her bag on the desk and rested her chin on top of it.
She closed her eyes.
Kuchina could instantly recall all of her classmates’ names and faces. She knew where everyone’s seat was. She could even roughly remember their voices, how they sat, how they stood, and how they walked—the results of the memory and observation skills she’d developed through her job. They also came in handy outside of work. The ghostly Kuchina Hitsujimoto stealthily spied on her classmates and etched them into her mind. Occasionally, she told her adoptive parents about them in the basement room…“Today, Wakuya from my class started saying one-liners during break time. At first, no one laughed at all, but then when he repeated them, someone laughed, then someone else did, and pretty soon, everyone was laughing… They didn’t stop laughing even when class started, so of course the teacher told them off and everyone went quiet for a bit, but then Hada suddenly burst out laughing, and she’s usually really quiet and doesn’t talk much, but when she started laughing, everyone else joined in, and Class President Tadeshina got angry, and Wakuya got down to kneel on the floor, and in the end, even the teacher seemed to find it funny, so it turned into such a big thing. Even I felt like I was going to laugh. Wakuya’s one-liners weren’t even funny…”
Although she didn’t know anything about the boys and girls in her class, Kuchina had been trying to understand them. It had been a huge miscalculation. There was a big difference between observing someone and interacting with them directly.
I didn’t want to know about them.
Kuchina opened her eyes. Outside the window, the sky was slowly turning dark.
It would have been better if I hadn’t known.
She reached inside her desk. In elementary school, her teacher had repeatedly instructed them to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything before going home. Each time, her classmates had all put their hands in their desks and felt around to make sure they had everything. Kuchina had imitated them. She’d done the same thing as everybody else. That had made her happy. There were so few things she had in common with her classmates.
Inside her desk, she found something that felt like a notebook. There wasn’t anything else. There was no way it could be something she’d forgotten. She’d put all of her study materials away in her bag.
Kuchina pulled it out of her desk. The notebook itself was an ordinary college-ruled one.
POTATO PARTY EXCHANGE DIARY was written on the front in permanent marker.
“…Huh?”
With the notebook on top of her bag in front of her, Kuchina’s thoughts came to a stop for about ten seconds.
Her brain finally started working again. She realized that must be the title. Kuchina traced the words POTATO PARTY EXCHANGE DIARY with the index finger of her gloved right hand. It looked like a girl’s handwriting.
Shiramori or Shigee…?
Those two names came to mind right away. She whispered the words on the notebook.
“Exchange…diary…”
Exchange diaries had been popular among the girls when she was in fourth grade. She’d been jealous of them. Kuchina wasn’t able to have something like an exchange diary with anyone. Everyone had been told that Kuchina had a unique illness. She always wore gloves and a mask and showed almost no skin, which seemed creepy to the other elementary school students. Some of them had even whispered things like, “You shouldn’t go near her. You’ll catch her disease.” Occasionally, one of the other kids would talk to her, but Kuchina rejected them and kept her distance. She was scared, worried that something might happen.
An exchange diary. This is like a dream within a dream…
Ukako. That was the imaginary friend Kuchina had thought up when she was a child. She’d given her a name that sounded unrealistic. She had started an exchange diary with Ukako. Of course, Ukako didn’t exist, so Kuchina could only write it by herself. She would complain, and Ukako would compliment her.
Kuchina was so grateful to have Ukako. Thank you.
You’re welcome. We’ll always be friends, Ukako would write.
Friends. Thank you. I only have you, Ukako. You’re my one friend. Thank you for being my friend.
She wondered what Ukako would write, but no matter how hard she thought about it, she didn’t know and couldn’t write anymore. Using a pair of scissors, Kuchina cut up the diary she’d asked her adoptive mother to buy for her to use as an exchange diary. She cut it up into tiny pieces and threw it away. When she did, she also threw away her imaginary friend. For a long time, she’d forgotten about her.
“No…”
Kuchina had tried to forget about her, but Ukako never really disappeared. They’d never met. There was no way even for them to meet, but Kuchina could still remember her face and re-create her voice. Ukako had criticized Kuchina. Are you forgetting about me? How could you forget me? Aren’t we friends? Didn’t you say I was all you had? Liar. I thought we’d always be friends. I believed you. Traitor. You’re the worst. You should die.
At some point, Kuchina had forgotten about Ukako. And she’d just remembered her now.
She started to open the notebook. Her breathing became shallow. She was nervous.
I don’t want to look inside.
“Liar,” Ukako was saying. Kuchina couldn’t remember her face nor recall her voice. Ukako had never existed in the first place. She had no right to criticize Kuchina. She wasn’t Kuchina’s friend. Kuchina didn’t have any friends. Not now, not in the past, and not in the future.
Why?
Kuchina opened the cover.
Even though I don’t want to look…
In the top left of the first page was the date, written in pencil. The notebook was college ruled, with thirty horizontal lines 9/32 of an inch apart. Every sixth line had been traced over in ballpoint pen, dividing the page into five sections.
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This is a bit sudden…but we decided to start an exchange diary!
I guess we can just feel free to write about whatever we want?
It’s the first day, so for now I’ll keep it…not complicated. I wasn’t sure which prefix to use before “complicated”…
Anyway!
This was Asumin!
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I’m bad at sticking to writing a diary for more than a couple of days, but since this is an exchange diary, maybe I’ll be able to keep it up longer.
When it comes to Swiss roll, you can’t go wrong with chocolate, don’t you think?
It’s simple and light, so it feels like it has zero calories, but that’s a trap. It’s scary!
Once you’ve written in the diary, you can pass it on to another member, put it in their desk, or leave it in their shoe box.
It’s up to you!
Hina Shigee
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Hello.
This is Yukisada Hayashi.
What kind of rice ball fillings does everyone like?
I like everything.
Maybe I just like rice balls.
I really like rice balls.
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My name is Sousei Takarai.
This is my first exchange diary, so please forgive me, however I am unsure as to what to write.
For rice balls, I enjoy fillings such as red salmon.
At the school store today, I purchased the grilled chicken bento box recommended to me by Wakkuu.
It was extremely delicious, in case you wished to know.
Sousei Takarai
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“—Pffft…!” Kuchina almost burst out laughing.
Takarai said his name at the start, but then signed it again at the end…
She read through the four diary entries three more times. The page was divided into five, meaning one of the sets of six rows was blank.
Kuchina pressed the tip of her finger to the empty section.
This spot…is for me? They want me to write something? What should I write…?