“Still… I never expected us to finish them all in half an hour…”
The potato chip bags were completely empty. Every single one. All eight bags.
“You know, I just had a thought,” Yukisada said with a smile. “Potato chips might be good to have with rice. We could crush them up and sprinkle them on top like furikake seasoning.”
“That’s a great idea!” Moena exclaimed, pointing at Yukisada. “I’ll try it out right away, during dinner.”
“Whaaaaa?!” Asumi’s eyes bulged. There was something small stuck near her lip; seaweed, probably. “After eating all these potato chips, you’re also going to sprinkle some over your dinner tonight?!”
The small piece of nori was stuck quite low on her right cheek. Moena wouldn’t be able to see if from her position sitting next to Asumi.
I wonder if I…should point it out…
However, as Sousei sat there unable to act on that thought, Kuchina spoke.
“Shiramori.”
“Hmm?” Asumi turned to face Kuchina and tilted her head slightly. Kuchina pointed her index finger to the lower area of her own left cheek.
“You have something stuck to your face.”
“Huh? Here?” Using Kuchina like a mirror, Asumi was immediately able to find it. “Oh, it’s a little bit of seaweed! Thanks, Miss Hitsujimoto!”
Kuchina looked down and shook her head. The sun had long since set, and the classroom was getting dark.
“Oh, right, should we turn the lights on?” Moena asked. She started to get out of her chair, but Yukisada stopped her.
“I’ll—”
Just then, Kuchina stood up. Her bag was in her hand. Without anybody realizing it, she had neatly placed the chopsticks she’d been using back in their package and placed them on her desk.
“Shiramori, Shigee, Hayashi.”
Kuchina said the three names in order. She was looking downward, but she was trying to look them in the face. Sousei could tell from the slight change in her posture each time she said someone’s name.
“Takarai.”
She said Sousei’s name last. For a fleeting instant, so short it could barely even be called a moment, her gaze skimmed across him.
“Thank you. I’m sorry. I’ll be leaving now. Good-bye.”
Nobody said anything. Kuchina started walking away before anyone could open their mouth. She walked quickly, almost at a run.
Just before Kuchina opened the door at the back of the classroom and left, Asumi called out to her and waved.
“Bye-bye, Miss Hitsujimoto! See you later!”
Kuchina closed the door at the same time Asumi finished speaking.
Asumi lowered her arm. She was still looking at the closed door.
Moena nodded. “…Well, we got to have a potato chip party.”
“And I got to come too,” Yukisada said with his ever-pleasant smile.
“Yeah…” Without noticing, Sousei had started pressing down on his left arm with his right hand. “We really did it…”