…“I want to go.”
After stressing about it for a while, Sousei chose to copy that phrase from Yukisada.
Ah, but isn’t that kind of…forward? I mean… Hmm, I’m not sure. There seems to be a bit of a difference between Yukisada writing “I want to go” and me writing the same thing… But what is it exactly? Do you think it seems a bit, I dunno…unpleasant? Or something? Unpleasant…? Even though all I said was that I want to go with everyone— Ah, that’s it, I should write “with everyone.” Yeah. I want to go with everyone. It’ll be a good memory…
Sousei erased the “I want to go” part and rewrote it as “I definitely want to go with everyone.”
“Definitely”…?
He’d naturally expressed such a strong desire.
He wondered if he should tone it down a bit. Maybe the “definitely” was unnecessary.
But…I definitely feel that way…
Sousei kept going back and forth until the end of class, but he decided not to erase “definitely” and left it as it was.
Just before Mr. Oohira came to start end-of-school homeroom, Asumi sent a message to the Potato Party group chat. It was a short message asking if Sousei had finished writing in the diary. Instead of replying, he nodded at Asumi, who was looking at him.
After giving the daily announcements, Mr. Oohira said, “All right, so—”
But that was all he managed to say before Iori cut him off.
“Staaand! Bow!”
“Ohhh… Jumping the gun there a bit, Miss Class President…” Mr. Oohira hurriedly bowed his head. “Okay, everyone. See you tomorrow!”
“Sayonara!” “Nara!” “What’s ‘naraaa’?” “It’s naraaa!” “Sayonara!”
Each student said whatever greeting they felt like, put their chairs upside down on their desks, and started moving them to the back of the classroom. Sousei also put his bag on his shoulder and picked his desk up. The exchange diary was in his bag. After the students on duty had finished cleaning, he’d return to the classroom and put the exchange diary in Kuchina’s desk. Until then, he’d kill time with Asumi, Moena, and Yukisada in the corridor between the school buildings. They hadn’t arranged to do that, but that was what they usually ended up doing.
I’m really a high school student, huh?
Thinking about that stirred up some deep emotions. Sousei Takarai wanted to become a normal, everyday high school student. He’d been trying to play the part, but his social interactions had been limited to school and almost nonexistent outside of it. He had honestly never dreamed he’d be able to lead a typical high school life.
Yet here I am…
Sousei intentionally left the classroom without checking what his friends were doing. If he went to the corridor, someone would probably show up. If they didn’t, he could always call or text.
I hope I don’t get a call from Sis…
That was the one thing he was worried about.
Today’s Friday, after all…
He couldn’t think there’d be nothing. He shouldn’t think that way. It was better for him to be prepared.
I’ll worry about that when it happens—
“Takarai.”
“Eek!”
Sousei jumped up and spun almost 180 degrees in midair. He was in the hallway. Of course—the school hallway. And on top of that, he wasn’t even that far away from Class 2-2’s classroom. Some students were heading for the entrance to go home while others were off to their club activities. Sousei had been about to go to the corridor between the school buildings. He may have been thinking about going to the restroom on the way there—or he might not have been—but regardless, he’d been caught completely off guard. He hadn’t imagined in the slightest that she might call out to stop him.
“Oh, ah, hee…vuh…hoh…”
“…Heave-ho,” muttered Kuchina Hitsujimoto with a frown.
Sousei was baffled by the strange phrase. “Huh? Heave-ho…? Like when you pick up something heavy?”
“You said it.”
“I did?!”
“You said, ‘Heave-ho.’”
“Y-you’re kidding…”
“It’s true.”
“…I…see. Uh… I didn’t mean anything in particular by it. Probably. Or I guess I must’ve unconsciously made noises that just happened to turn into ‘heave-ho’…”
“Into ‘heave-ho,’ of all things.”
“Y-yeah. For some reason, they turned into ‘heave-ho,’ of all things…”
“Heave-ho…” Kuchina lowered her gaze. It looked like she was trying to hold something in. But she soon looked up at Sousei through her lashes and reached out her right hand. She was wearing gloves, of course.
“That.”
“…That?” Sousei pressed a hand to the back of his neck.
“That”…?
What could Kuchina be referring to when she said “that”? That. That? What did that mean? Sousei desperately racked his brain, but he had no idea what she meant.
“Like I said.” Kuchina lowered her eyes. “…That.”
It seemed to be extremely difficult for her to say. She didn’t want to name whatever she was talking about. Sousei wondered why. She was holding out her hand. What was going on? Did she want something from Sousei?
“Give it to me.” Is that what she’s saying…? Miss Hitsujimoto is asking me for—
Sousei’s eyes went wide.
“Ohh!”
He hurriedly took the exchange diary out of his bag. As soon as he did, it was snatched away. Without waiting a second, Kuchina turned on her heel, the exchange diary hugged to her chest in both arms, and walked away without a word.
Sousei’s mind went blank for at least ten seconds. Kuchina had called out to stop him. Even just that was a big deal in itself. But the true groundbreaking event had happened after that.
Miss Hitsujimoto wanted the exchange diary from me…
Had that really just happened? He couldn’t believe it. Sousei searched inside his bag. He couldn’t find the exchange diary. Sure enough, he’d given it to her.
“Wow, I’m kinda…”
Sousei looked up at the ceiling.
I have no words…
His phone vibrated in his pocket, but Sousei was still basking in a kind of afterglow over what had just happened. It was on silent, so he didn’t realize it was a phone call at first, and he thought it must be a group chat notification.
After a few seconds, Sousei realized someone was calling him, and he turned pale.
“Ugh…” He let out a short groan and took out his phone.
It’s Sis…
This wouldn’t be the kind of conversation he should have standing in the middle of the hallway. Sousei started walking, then put the phone to his ear.
“…Yeah?”
“Sousei. Are you still at school?”
“Uh… Mm.”
“You’re mumbling.”
“Because I’m at school…”
“I was able to get a dentist appointment for you. Endou Dental Clinic in Yakatamachi, four thirty this afternoon.”
“…Will I make it?”
“You will if you leave now, right? Don’t make Dr. Magamo wait.”
“…Roger.”
“I’ll follow up later with the plan for after that.”
“Ah, after that…? So we do have something. I should’ve guessed…”
“Is there something you want to say?”
“No. Nothing. Anyway, I’ll leave now.”
“That would be best.”
“Okay…”
Sousei ended the call and quickened his pace. For some reason, he felt a desperate urge to run, but he restrained himself and opened the group chat as he walked quickly toward the front entrance. He had to send an important message to everyone.
Mmmm… No, I’ll do that after…