“What the?!” Asumi yelled, and Moena blinked several times and looked at her phone again.
“How’d you do that…?!” asked Sousei.
Yukisada put his index finger against his lips.
“It’s a secret.”
Sixth period was English. Their teacher, Ms. Yoshihara, always ended the lesson just before the bell rang and quickly left the classroom.
She closed the textbook. It was nearly time.
Sousei quickly exchanged glances with Asumi, Moena, and Yukisada.
“<That’s all for today,>” Ms. Yoshihara announced in English, using her usual phrase to wrap up the lesson. The next moment, she tucked the textbook and other teaching materials under her arm and moved away from the teacher’s desk.
Sousei immediately stood up. Asumi, Moena, and Yukisada followed suit at almost the exact same time.
When he turned to look at the seat right at the back of the classroom by the window, Kuchina Hitsujimoto was no longer there.
“No wayyy…,” Sousei murmured inadvertently.
Ms. Yoshihara opened the classroom door at the front of the room. She hadn’t left yet. But she was just about to.
Kuchina had placed her hand on the door at the back of the room. And she was holding her bag.
“Wai—” Sousei tried to call out to stop her, but Kuchina had already opened the door and dashed out into the hallway.
“<Yes?>” Ms. Yoshihara asked, turning around.
“Uh, no…” Sousei almost said “not you” on reflex. That would be such a rude thing to say to a teacher. “I-it’s nothing…”
Ms. Yoshihara looked dubious, but she left the room without saying anything else.
Asumi and Moena were staring in stunned disbelief at the wide-open door at the back of the classroom. Yukisada approached the door, glanced outside, then turned back to Sousei and shook his head.
“Whaaat…?” Sousei sat—or rather, slumped—back down in his chair. “We still have end-of-school homeroom…”
When their homeroom teacher, Mr. Oohira, noticed Kuchina Hitsujimoto’s absence, he asked the Class 2-2 students about it in his somewhat distinctive muffled voice.
“Huuuh…? What happened to Hitsujimoto…? Does anyone know…?”
“Seems she went home for some reason. She left school early, or only a few minutes ago, actually,” replied Kouichirou Wakuya with a half smile. For Wakkuu, who didn’t know the circumstances, Kuchina’s behavior probably seemed sudden and incomprehensible.
“I seeee…” Mr. Oohira scratched his head. He seemed more disappointed than confused, as well as extremely concerned. He wasn’t the type to actively engage with his students, but his good-natured personality was revealed through his demeanor.
According to the rumors, Mr. Oohira had been through a lot. His wife had a chronic illness, and he had apparently taken on the responsibility of single-handedly caring for their three (or maybe four) children.
Despite nobody saying anything, Sousei and his friends all stayed behind in the classroom after school.
Sousei’s body felt heavy as he sat down in his seat, and Asumi, Moena, and Yukisada all gathered around him.
“She saw right through us, didn’t she?” Yukisada said, standing in front of Sousei’s desk. He had his arms folded, and there was an unusually thoughtful expression on his face.
“Miss Hitsujimoto sure is sharp…,” said Asumi. For some reason, she was sitting back-to-back in a single chair with Moena. Sousei wondered if they weren’t cramped like that. “She’s really intuitive or something. How did she figure it out? It’s a mystery.”
“Hmmm… Is it a mystery, though?” Moena asked, tilting her head. “I mean, Takarai and Hayashi are one thing, but Asumin, you kept glancing at Miss Hitsujimoto.”
“Huh? Really? I did?”
“You sure did. It wasn’t even a few times, either—you were looking way too much.”
“You were doing it like once every ten seconds.” Yukisada chuckled.
Asumi raised her eyebrows. “I wasn’t looking that much! I might have done it a few times, though…”
“A few times?”
“Maybe like every fifteen minutes? At most, probably every ten—five minutes…?”
“Even every five minutes is enough for Miss Hitsujimoto to get suspicious.” Moena pulled candies out of her pocket with a frightfully practiced motion and passed one each to Asumi, Yukisada, and Sousei. These were different from the candies she’d given them during their lunch break.
“…Throat lozenges?”
The wrappers said SUMO CITRUS HONEY THROAT LOZENGE. Sumo Citrus was a kind of orange or mandarin. Sousei had never tried one before, but he’d heard about them.
He immediately tore off the wrapper and popped the candy in his mouth. It had a mild, refreshingly sour citrus flavor and a distinctive, luxurious sweetness. The medicinal taste suggested they would also soothe his throat, but it wasn’t strong enough to bother him. In fact, it added just the right amount of spice.
“I could get addicted to these…”
“They’re good, aren’t they?” Moena held out her hand, and Sousei automatically placed the empty wrapper in her palm. Moena also collected Asumi’s wrapper and put them in her pocket.
“You too, Hayashi—”
“Hang on.” Yukisada took out his phone. He put the candy wrapper on Sousei’s desk then pointed his phone at it, and the camera made a shutter noise. “So I can buy these later.”
“They’re sold at convenience stores and stuff, so they’re easy to find.” Moena took the wrapper Yukisada had placed on the desk and crumpled it in her hand. “They’re pretty cheap, too. I highly recommend them. No matter how many you eat, you don’t get tired of them.”
“Thanks,” Yukisada said with a smile, and Moena looked away.
“—Hnnngh.” Asumi suddenly looked up at the ceiling and kicked her legs around noisily. “After all that, I really wonder if Miss Hitsujimoto does have a phone. Maybe she doesn’t. I think she’d tell us if we ask, but we haven’t had the chance. Ugggghhhh…”
“That Miss Hitsujimoto sure is serious about running away from us, huh?” Yukisada rolled the candy around in his mouth. “It’ll probably be difficult to catch her unless we get serious, too.”
“You think we should ‘get serious’…?” Sousei let out a laugh that wasn’t bitter or forced—it sounded more like “Eh?” Even he had no idea why he was laughing.