It wasn’t all that rare to see Miyagi so untalkative. I mean, she never really spoke that much to me in the first place.

       When I thought about it that way, it just felt like Miyagi had gone back to normal.

       Things weren’t as fun like this, but I guess it couldn’t be helped.

       I had no control over her mood, after all.

       At least, that was the reason I gave myself to help me accept it.

       Then, before I knew it, Golden Week came and went in the blink of an eye.

       Two days had gone by since the break ended and I hadn’t seen Miyagi once.

       We never even passed by each other in the hallway.

       Maybe that was because we were in different classes, though.

       Well, it wasn’t like I felt lonely or anything.

       I had no shortage of people to talk to, and my circle of friends also grew.

       There was nothing to complain about. My school life was coming along nicely and I was having fun. I’d heard some of my new classmates call me a people pleaser behind my back a few times, but it wasn’t enough for me to care about.

       「Hey, I’m gonna pop by the class next door for a sec.」

       In the midst of the bustling classroom during recess, Umina, who was seated diagonally across from me, suddenly spoke up.

       「Oh. What’s up?」

       「I forgot my textbook.」

       “Or maybe I should just skip class…” When Umina mumbled to herself, Mariko immediately interjected with,

       「Don’t do it. The teachers said you had to write an apology letter the next time you skipped, didn’t they?」

       「Hmm… I don’t really care about writing one, but whatever. Guess I’ll go borrow a textbook from someone next door.」

       Umina said, sounding unmotivated, as she left the classroom.

       She wasn’t exactly what you’d call an honor student. Just like last year, she was always ready to skip class. Even after being summoned to the school faculty room repeatedly, it seemed that nothing could deter her.

       During our second year, Mariko used to tag along with Umina whenever the latter decided to skip class. However, now that we were in our third year and our futures were at stake, it seemed that Mariko had a change of heart.

       Being in a friend group was kind of troublesome when it came to times like this.

       When one person got caught doing something wrong, the whole group was seen as in the wrong too.

       That was probably how we were perceived too.

       But it was true that Mariko had an extensive history of skipping class. However, now that she wanted some written recommendations from our teachers, she began to pay more attention to her grades, and was determined to stop Umina from skipping classes as much as possible.

       But for her to start being concerned about her grades now?

       I felt like it was a little too late in the game for that.

       Well, it was definitely a lot better than doing nothing, though.

       I pulled my notebook and textbook out of my desk.

       I didn’t find classes particularly fun, but I had no intentions of skipping them either. I needed to put in the effort to maintain my own image of being an honor student, unlike my friends.

       「Oh, can I borrow your notebook later? I wanna copy your notes.」

       Mariko asked. As I nodded my head to agree to her request, I heard a voice coming from behind us.

       「I managed to borrow one.」

       Umina said as she sat back down with a textbook in one of her hands.

       「Wait, that–」

       I reflexively let out my voice.

       Our next class was contemporary Japanese, so it wasn’t strange seeing her with that textbook in her hands.

       However, there were visible creases on the cover of it.

       「What?」

       Umina asked, sounding puzzled as she stared at the textbook.

       I clenched my fists.

       I blurted those words out as if the object in Umina’s hands was something special.

       I shouldn’t have said anything. But if I tried to play it off as nothing, that’d probably just seem even more unnatural and would only end up piquing Umina’s interest.

       「That’s not Ruka’s textbook, right? Who did you borrow it from?」

       Ruka was a friend who Umina usually borrowed her textbooks from. However, the current textbook Umina had in her hands clearly did not belong to Ruka or any of her other friends.

       The textbook that Umina was holding belonged to none other than Miyagi.

       I would know. I was the one who made those creases on that cover.

       「Huh? How’d you know that?」

       「Just a hunch.」

       I made sure to keep the reason a secret.

       Umina had no idea that Miyagi and I were close enough that I could recognize her textbook just by its cover, and there was no need to tell her either.

       「I wanted to ask Ruka for hers, but she wasn’t there, so I just borrowed it from some girl that was in the same class as us last year. What was her name again? It was some plain looking girl with longish hair.」

       “You know, that one girl…” Umina asked as she searched her memory for the girl’s name. But I was pretty sure Umina wasn’t going to find anything.

       And because of that, I decided to answer the question for her.

       「…… Miyagi?」

       「Ohh, right, right. Her name was Miyagi. You’ve got a good memory, don’t you, Hazuki? You never forget people’s names.」

       Umina said with admiration as she stared at the textbook. Then, she suddenly laughed.

       「Wow, Miyagi seems so plain, but look, her textbook’s all beat up. That’s hilarious.」

       Umina’s laughter was soon drowned out by the sound of the school bell. As Mariko rushed to her seat, the teacher walked into the classroom.

       「Settle down. Class is about to begin.」

       The teacher said as he gave his desk a knock.

       As the lecture started, the noisy classroom gradually quieted down.

       Words that could hardly be called legible were written on the blackboard. The letters that clearly looked like they did not belong on a chalkboard resembled earthworms wriggling across the ground, making the notes difficult to decipher.

       I glanced at the seat diagonally across from me.

       Umina’s back was all I could see; the textbook she was using was barely visible.

       I shifted my gaze back towards the blackboard and copied the words into my notebook.

       It wasn’t like I was trying to claim ownership of the bent textbook or anything, but the thought of Umina using it right now weighed heavily on the arm I was taking notes with.

       The sound of our teacher’s hoarse voice only made me feel more agitated.

       Snap.

       The lead of my mechanical pencil made a small noise as it broke off.

       You couldn’t even bother to remember Miyagi’s name.

       I closed my eyes.

       I shouldn’t be letting myself stress so much over a textbook. Having complicated, inexplicable feelings like these would only to lead to trouble.

       So, I closed my eyes.

       Let’s just stop worrying about the textbook. It doesn’t even matter. It’s not important.

       I opened my eyes again and stared at the blackboard.

       Just listen to what the teacher is saying and keep taking notes.

       As I repeated those words over and over again to myself in my head to dispel the unnecessary thoughts I kept having, class quickly came to an end.

       Time continued to pass by in the blink of an eye.

       Then, before I knew it, the school day was almost over.

       Of course, out of all the days Miyagi could have decided not to call for me, it just had to be today.

       What’s with that?

       You should be contacting me on days like this.

       I complained in my mind.

       “I’m coming over.” That was what I wanted to say to her.

       I’d never sent her a message like that before, but it wasn’t as if we made it a rule that I couldn’t reach out to her first.

       I was used to her being the first to contact me so I grew to expect it, but I’m sure I was allowed to do it too.

       As soon as the last bell of the day rang, I immediately pulled out my phone.

       I stared at the screen.

       「You waiting for a text? From who, your boyfriend?」

       I looked up when I heard Umina’s voice calling out to me.

       「I don’t have time for a boyfriend.」

       「Whaat? If you ever want one, I can always hook you up, you know?」

       「I’m good for now. At least, not until the entrance exams are over.」

       「I see. Are you going to cram school today?」

       No matter how many times I corrected Umina before in the past, she continued to refer to my prep school as cram school. Not bothering to correct her again, I answered with 「Nope.」

       「In that case…」

       “I got a lotta places I wanna go to today.”

       Umina said, expressing her desires, and Mariko agreed to go with her.

       I put my phone back in my bag.

       In the end, the messages should come from Miyagi.

       It’d be all wrong if they came from me.

       By the time homeroom ended, we’d already decided where to go after school, and we left the classroom.

---

< Previous Part | Next Part >