“Oh, crap. My phone died.”
When I took my smartphone out of my pocket during lunch break, I found it had no charge. It was only then that I realized I’d forgotten to plug it in the night before.
“Uh-oh,” said Mishima. “Though you don’t use it that often anyway, right?”
“Yeah…I guess not,” I replied vaguely.
Just as Mishima said, I used my phone only to tell Sayu when I was working overtime or eating out with a coworker and would be coming home late. That said, with her big day fast approaching, not being able to contact her made me a little uneasy.
“Didn’t you bring your charger?”
“I left it plugged in above my bed.”
“Oh no… And my phone’s a different model, so I can’t help you,” Mishima said.
That reminded me—didn’t Hashimoto have a similar phone?
“Say, Hashimoto…”
“Yeah, my charger will probably work. I brought it, so I’ll lend it to you later.”
“Thanks. As long as I can charge it at some point during the day, I’ll be fine.”
“No problem,” Hashimoto replied, slurping down his miso soup from the work cafeteria.
“Tomorrow’s the day, right?” he added, looking over at me like he’d just remembered.
“What day?”
“The day Sayu goes home.”
“Oh, yeah…”
Hashimoto rarely brought up Sayu. I guess even he’s worried about her, I thought.
“You’re right. It’s tomorrow.”
“Already, huh? …It’ll be lonely without her.”
“You’ve never even met her!”
“I mean for you, Yoshida,” he clapped back. I didn’t have anything to say to that.
“I…”
“You’re suddenly going to lose the person who welcomes you home every day and prepares your meals and baths. I’m sure you’ll miss her.”
His words were like salt in my wounds, and I fell silent.
“Once Sayu goes home, you’ll have to do all the housework yourself. It won’t just be sad—it’ll also be stressful,” Mishima said, jumping in. She was smirking, seizing the opportunity to tease me.
Usually, I would have shouted something back. But for some reason, I couldn’t work up the strength that day.
“Yeah, you’re right…,” I replied listlessly. The two of them looked at each other, sharing a wry smile.
“Well, be sure to head straight home after work and make the most of the time you guys have left.”
“Make the most of it, huh…,” I repeated.
This was the last day we’d spend living together.
How could I wrap up our final day in a way that’d send Sayu home on a positive note?
I thought this over as I finished lunch, and before I knew it, it was time to go back to work.
I had a lot to get done that day. If I didn’t concentrate and finish, I wouldn’t be able to leave on time.
I went straight back to my desk and got started right away.
It was getting toward time to leave, and I’d managed to complete almost all of my tasks for the day.
As my concentration began to slip, I suddenly remembered my smartphone. Oh yeah—it’s out of juice.
“Do you mind if I borrow that charger, Hashimoto?”
“Oh, that’s right…”
He’d apparently forgotten all about my request. He quickly fished the charger out of his desk drawer and handed it to me.
“Thanks.”
“Be sure to put it back in here when you’re done with it.”
He knocked on the drawer he’d pulled it from, and I nodded. Unless the whole department was drowning, Hashimoto always left on time, so I’d be in trouble if I didn’t find out in advance where to put it back.
I plugged the charger into the wall and connected my phone. After a short wait, its pitch-black screen lit up with a large image of a charging battery. All I had to do now was wait a few minutes, and the phone would start up on its own.
I put it down for a bit and focused my attention back on my remaining work.
Just as I finished, the phone vibrated to signal that it was switching back on.
I didn’t think anyone would have contacted me, but I tapped the screen to check my notifications anyway.
Much to my surprise, I had three.
The first was a missed call. It was from Sayu’s number. I was curious why she would call me, but she hadn’t left a message, so it probably wasn’t urgent. But in that case, wouldn’t a text have sufficed?
Finding this suspicious, I went to check my other notifications. The next was a message from Asami.
As I read the contents, I broke out in a cold sweat.
Hey, Yoshi. Did Sayu go out someplace today? I rang the doorbell, like, a million times, but there was no answer.
She’d sent another message a few minutes later.
Uh, the door’s unlocked and Sayu’s not here. What’s going on? She isn’t reading my messages. Do you know anything?
I reflexively shot up from my desk. I could feel my coworkers staring at me from their seats nearby.
Crap! I thought as I sat back down. My breath grew shallow, and I couldn’t stop sweating.
“What’s up?”
Hashimoto, who was sitting beside me, shot me a questioning look.
“It sounds like Sayu’s gone missing. She called me an hour ago, but there’s been no word from her since.” My voice was trembling. “Her friend messaged me to say she wasn’t at home.”
“…Is she gonna be okay? She’s not in danger, is she? Like that time before, when you had to leave early…?”
“I don’t know. I just need to get in touch with her.”
I was frantically tapping away at my phone’s screen when Hashimoto suddenly grabbed hold of my arm to stop me.
“What?”
“You should do that on your way home. Pack up and leave.”
“Huh? But work’s not over—” I began to protest, but Hashimoto interrupted me with the harshest tone I’d ever heard him use.
“What the hell are you talking about? Who gives a crap about work?! You need to think more about what really matters to you, Yoshida. I’m sure you already know what that is.”
Having spoken his mind, Hashimoto got up from his desk and hurried off to where Ms. Gotou was seated.
Then, loud enough for me to hear, he said:
“I’m feeling a little under the weather, so I’m going to head out early. Yoshida’s feeling awful, too, so I’ll see him home.”
Ms. Gotou sat there for a few seconds, baffled by this bald-faced lie. Then, after a glance or two my way, she appeared to work out what was going on.
“Fine. I’ll let the higher-ups know you’re leaving. But…it’ll be your responsibility if there are any problems.”
“Great. We appreciate it.”
Our excuse was an obvious lie, which probably wouldn’t go over well with the bosses. I figured that’s what Ms. Gotou meant when she said we’d be responsible.
I was still seated, shocked by Hashimoto’s uncharacteristically decisive action, when he made his way back.
“Come on, Yoshida! Let’s go.”
“O-okay…”
“See you all tomorrow!” Hashimoto called out, his voice way too loud for someone who was supposed to be sick. Our confused coworkers all said, “Bye…,” and I followed suit, then hurried out of the office.
Once I was in Hashimoto’s car with my seat belt buckled, he hurriedly asked, “You’re still living in the same place, right, Yoshida?”
“Yeah… Come to think of it, you’ve driven there before, haven’t you?” I recalled that he and his wife had come over once some time ago. “I haven’t moved.”
“Got it. I more or less remember where it is, but you’ll have to help me once we’re off the main road.” He spoke quickly, then started the engine.
I spent a few minutes trying to think of what to say to him as he drove, but in the end, I settled for a simple “thanks.”
He didn’t answer.
We spent a few more minutes in silence before he finally spoke up.
“You’re pissing me off.”
“Huh?”
His aggressive choice of words caught me off guard—I rarely heard him speak that way. He kept his eyes on the road as he continued.
“To be honest, ever since you picked up that high schooler, I had a feeling things would turn out like this.”
“What do you mean, like this?”
“All you think about is her.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. The fact that you don’t realize it makes it even worse. You’re not in grade school…”