I have plans on the weekend.
I can go after school on Thursday.
I’m sorry if something urgent comes up.
He hoped nothing urgent would come up.
Sousei wished that from the bottom of his heart. Even though he didn’t have a shred of faith, he still prayed.
She had plans on the weekend—probably work. Sousei often also found himself tied up with work from Friday night through to the weekend.
He was almost certain that the “something urgent” Kuchina referred to was work. He didn’t want to have to cancel plans because of a sudden work call of all things.
Just in case, Sousei asked his sister not to schedule any jobs for Thursday evening. He pleaded, in fact, from the bottom of his heart. He didn’t hide anything. After school on Thursday, he wanted to go to Shizukamachi with his friends to see the Aurora Light Show in the Greenbelt. He was honest about it. He even told her the names of the friends he was going with. Would his sister agree to his request? Negotiations would probably be difficult, but Sousei was fine having to promise something in exchange if it came to that. He was prepared to pay any price. But it had ended anticlimactically, with his sister easily granting him permission.
He hoped nothing would happen until after school on Thursday. However, since that seemed impossible, he mentally prepared himself. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t be disappointed. He’d deal with it when the time came.
He wasn’t scared.
No matter how afraid he might be, there was nothing Sousei could do about it. Not a single thing.
So he prayed, even though he didn’t have any deities to offer his prayers to.
He chose to focus his energy on that, rather than being afraid.
“Uhhhh… Sooo, I gueeess…there’s nothing else for todayyy…”
In his somewhat distinctive muffled voice, Mr. Oohira finished giving that day’s announcements to the students of Class 2-2.
It was almost time. After this, he’d say, “All right, so…,” and the class president, Iori Tadeshina, would give the command. It was the way it always went—but this Thursday was a little different.
“All—”
Mr. Oohira only got out the “All” from “All right” before Iori cut him off. She had enthusiastically stood up as if she’d been waiting for that moment.
“Stand! Bow!”
Her voice was much stronger and sharper than usual. Iori’s timing wasn’t what the students, Sousei included, had been expecting, so no one reacted right away. Even Mr. Oohira seemed taken aback.
“…Whoa. A-aren’t you jumping the gun there a bit, Miss Class President…?”
“That’s—”
Iori looked flustered for a second, but she quickly adjusted her glasses and recovered.
“—not the case, by any means!”
“Ohh. I—I see…” Mr. Oohira bobbed his head. “Okay, everyone. See you tomorrow.”
“Sayonara!” “Nara!” “Deer!” “Dear?!” “Nara deer!” “Sayonara!”
The students said bye to each other, making silly comments and comebacks as they put their chairs upside down on top of their desks. Sousei put his bag over his shoulder, picked up his desk, and carried it to the back of the room along with all the others.
He glanced at the windowed side of the classroom, but Kuchina wasn’t there, which made him worry a little.
…It’s all right, Sousei told himself and left the classroom.
Kuchina was standing with her back against the wall. Half of her face was buried under her tightly wound scarf, and she was holding her bag with both of her gloved hands.
“Hey…,” he called out ambiguously, and Kuchina gave him a slight nod. It was such a subtle movement that it could easily have been mistaken for a trick of the light.
Sousei gently rested the back of his head against the wall next to Kuchina.
“T-today…”
“What?”
“Uh… Yeah… Well…”
I’ve been looking forward to it.
Why couldn’t he just say that?
Asumi and Moena dashed out of the classroom.
“Yaaay!” Asumi was already bursting with excitement, and her cheeks were flushed.
“What’s with the ‘yaaay,’ Asumin…?” Moena was a little taken aback. She looked around. “Where’s Hayashi?”
“He should be coming soon, I think…” Even Sousei was surprised by how quiet his voice was. It sounded like a whisper.
Yukisada came out of the classroom and waved at them with a refreshing smile.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
“Huh? We weren’t waiting at all!” Asumi laughed. She seemed to have a lot of energy. It was actually a little strange.
Moena gave a nervous laugh. “Did you sleep last night, Asumin?” she asked.
Asumi opened her eyes wide. “I slept!”
“…Oh, you did?”
“Yeah. I was super excited, and thought I might not be able to, but next thing I knew, it was morning. I didn’t even dream! I woke up busting to use the toilet!”
“Asumiiin…”
“Hm? Gaaah! I shouldn’t have mentioned my bathroom habits, huh? But my bladder was just so full—fuller than it had ever been before in my life!” Asumi covered her mouth with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. “Hyaaah! What am I saying? I can’t believe I just said that…!”
“Ba-ha-ha!” Yukisada roared. He was always laughing in all different kinds of ways, but he was laughing even harder than normal. It was contagious, and it almost infected Sousei as well.
He saw that Kuchina was looking toward the ground. And that wasn’t all. Her shoulders were shaking slightly, as if she was trying to suppress something.
Moena patted Asumi’s lower back.
“Calm down a bit, Asumin. At this rate, you’re gonna tire yourself out before we even get there.”
“Hmmm, yeah, I’ll come down.” Asumi tilted her head. “…Huh? Came down? Hmm? Cam…down? What…?”
“Honestly! It’s ‘clam down’!” Moena tried to correct her but got it wrong as well. “—Huh?! Now I can’t say it for some reason! Ca-r-m, no, that’s wrong…”
“Ha-hah!” Yukisada doubled over and clutched his stomach, looking like he was in pain as he laughed like an idiot.
“No, uh, it’s ‘can down’—” Sousei also ended up saying it completely wrong as well. That’s when Kuchina muttered something quietly, as if she’d just had a thought.
“Condolences.”
That one word had tremendous power in making them explode with laughter. What was so funny about it? Sousei had no idea. The reason it had all started was because Asumi just happened to trip over saying “calm down,” but it was funny regardless, and they couldn’t help laughing.
Asumi was laughing so much that her face became bright red and sweaty. Moena cried, “I can’t take it anymore!” and ended up squatting down on the floor. Yukisada’s eyes were brimming with tears. It wasn’t outrageously funny, but they couldn’t stop for some reason, and sometimes laughing too much brought tears to a person’s eyes.
Kuchina was hugging her bag and covering her face with both of her gloved hands, but she couldn’t hide it. She was laughing as well.
“Hey! What’s goin’ on?! What’re you guys doin’ out here?” asked Kouichirou Wakuya, aka Wakkuu, tapping Sousei on the shoulder.
Sousei tried to explain what had happened. “Oh, umm, she tried to say ‘c-condo,’ no, that’s not it—” But he stumbled right from the start.
“Ba-hah!” Yukisada let out a short, sharp burst of laughter, Asumi let out a strange squeak, and Moena banged her fist on the floor. Kuchina shook her head as if saying it would be impossible to explain.
“Wait a… Huh?! What?! What the…?!” Even Wakkuu, who usually jumped in on anything, was flustered, as if it was impossible to understand.
“I know school’s over, but what’s with all the commotion?!” Iori scolded them. “You’re in the way! People are trying to get past!”
Sousei hurriedly bowed his head in apology. “My aboronies…,” he said, failing to pronounce apologies properly. The resulting aboronies seemed to be a huge hit with Wakkuu.
“Aborrr.” Wakkuu pointed at Sousei and looked like he was about to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a “Pohhh!” of laughter that sounded like a blank being fired.
“Pohhh…” Iori’s eyes widened, and she closed her mouth, her cheeks instantly puffing up like balloons. She tried to hold it in, but air burst from her nose with a “Hmph!” The dam had burst.
“Ah…!” Asumi screamed as she laughed, almost out of breath. “I-I-I’m gonna die…!”
Sousei and everyone else continued laughing for several minutes after that. Even after they’d arrived at the shoe cubbies and were changing their shoes, someone would suddenly remember what happened and start another bout of laughter or try to say, “Let’s calm down,” and almost mispronounce it again, throwing them into critical condition yet again. However, they had to band together and try as hard as possible not to laugh as they left the school. Everyone was in agreement on that point. They hadn’t decided on it after a discussion, but if they continued on like this, there would be no end to it. At the rate they’d been going, someone might actually pull an abdominal muscle.
“Huh?” Just as they passed through the school gate, Wakkuu looked at Sousei and the others. “Now that I think about it, are you guys off doing something now? The five of you are all together. What’d you call yourselves? The Potato Party? Are you all going somewhere?”
“Sure are!” Asumi raised her right hand high in the air and snapped her fingers. “The Aurora Light Show!”
“Huh…?” Iori was startled.