Please note: These are OPTIONAL side stories from Maika’s POV that sometimes come with the release of each light novel volume (to celebrate its publication). This one should be read after part 37.

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          「Well then, let’s begin our three hundred twenty-seventh meeting to look for clues on what Shiori and Sendai-san could have to do with each other.」

          Ami declared, clapping her hands together with a serious look on her face before taking a sip from her cola. We were sitting at a table in the corner of a fast food restaurant, a popular spot for students to gather after school.

          「What do you mean three hundred twenty-seventh? Isn’t this only our second time?」

          I asked Ami, who was sitting across from me, as I picked up a few fries in my hand.

          Even though Shiori wasn’t here with us after school right now, Ami was acting the same as ever—lively, cheerful, and bright.

          「Well, you know how it is. The bigger the number, the better, right? Anyway, what are your thoughts, Maika?」

          「On what?」

          「What do you think is the connection between Shiori and Sendai-san? Doesn’t it seem like there’s something going on between them?」

          「… Something going on between them, huh.」

          I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.

          Earlier today, when we were getting ready for our joint training session for the sports festival, I decided to try asking Shiori, “Has anything else happened between you and Sendai-san since then?”

          I was just that curious after seeing Sendai-san come by our classroom, asking to see Shiori back before our midterms began.

          I had heard that the reason why Sendai-san came to our classroom was because one of our teachers needed to see Shiori for something, and that they’d never spoken to each other before and she’d had no subsequent contact with Sendai-san after that.

          「Isn’t it like Shiori says?」

          I answered Ami’s question with the same thing I’d said many times before.

          What Shiori described were fairly ordinary situations, so I didn’t have much reason to doubt her. Though there were a few things that didn’t seem to add up.

          I ate some of the fries in my hand and offered some to Ami.

          「Don’t mind if I do.」

          She said, taking a few fries. After popping them in her mouth, she gave a thoughtful hum, then shot me a mischievous grin.

          「You’re probably right, but wouldn’t it be more interesting if there was something between them?」

          Ami began listing off a few absurd, impossible scenarios.

          For example, perhaps Shiori was being extorted by Sendai-san for money, or maybe Shiori had some dirt on Sendai-san and was using it to blackmail her.

          After going through all her wild speculations, Ami mumbled, “But I guess that’s not possible, huh.”

          「Well, looks like there’s no way Sendai-san and Shiori have anything to do with each other after all.」

          Ami said with a resigned tone in her voice as she gulped down her cola.

          「Yeah, I guess not. But more importantly, I’m actually kind of concerned about Shiori. It feels like she’s not totally herself lately.」

          Instead of continuing with our speculations, I decided to bring up something that was right in front of our eyes.

          When I saw Shiori during spring break, she looked a little down. She was never the type to be constantly full of energy, but she also didn’t seem like someone with emotional highs and lows either, so this lack of energy suggested something might’ve happened.

          It seemed better to focus on what we could actually see than to get wrapped up in wild theories.

          「Yeah, that’s true.」

          Ami said, nodding with a serious look on her face.

          Feeling Shiori’s absence, Ami started tapping her fingertips against the table, the rhythm audible even against the constant hum of background noise. After a few moments, she spoke up.

          「Shiori’s always been a bit absentminded, but lately, she’s been more spaced out than usual. I just wish she’d tell us if something was bothering her.」

          「Shiori hardly ever confides in us about her worries, though.」

          I replied, sipping my iced tea as her face flashed through my mind.

          She might seem talkative, but in truth, she was fairly reserved.

          She could chat endlessly about manga or anime, complain about studying or how hard it was to deal with Tigerhashi, but she never really opened up about personal things like love or her plans for the future. It felt like she rarely ever wanted to talk about herself.

          「… Hey, Maika. What if Shiori just doesn’t trust us?」

          Ami brought up the one possibility I’d been hoping wouldn’t come up. Though she didn’t seem entirely serious, I couldn’t help but think that given the situation, maybe it wasn’t so far off.

          「Don’t say that. Just thinking about it makes me sad.」

          「I mean, Shiori hasn’t been spending time with us much lately. It’s like I don’t even know her anymore. Let’s mourn her memory together.」

          Ami said with an overly dramatic tone, pretending to shed tears.

          Ami’s habit of going overboard was part of her charm, though it could be a bit much at times—but what she said was something that had been on my mind, too.

          Since our first year, I’d always invited Shiori to hang out after school, and that routine hadn’t changed even now in our third year. But today, she’d turned me down, and now that I thought about it, she’d been like this since last year. Ever since the summer of our second year, Shiori had been hanging out with us less and less, and every time I asked why, her answers were always so vague.

          At first, I didn’t think it was worth worrying about, but lately, Shiori didn’t seem like herself, and it made me wonder if something was actually going on. I wanted to bring it up, but with exams around the corner and my own cram school classes, we’d hardly had the chance to hang out—let alone talk about something serious.

          「This really is depressing to think about.」

          I sighed, picking up a few more fries, but instead of eating them myself, I held them up to Ami’s mouth, where they promptly disappeared.

          「Thanks.」

          Munching thoughtfully, Ami continued, “Okay, on a more serious note, some things are just hard to talk about, you know?”

          「Like what?」

          「Like when someone says they gained two kilograms, but they’ve really gained three.」

          「Uh, didn’t you say that exact thing about your weight the other day, Ami?」

          「Yep.」

          「Then it’s clearly not hard to talk about if you just told me about it. Wait, did you really put on three kilograms? No wonder you’re packing it in around here.」

          I reached out and gently tugged on Ami’s cheek.

          「Oh nooo! Please stop!」

          Her voice echoed over the already loud restaurant buzz, and I quickly let go.

          「That was a little too loud, Ami.」

          「Oops, sorry!」

          Ami clasped her hands and gave a little bow in apology.

          Without Shiori here, things felt a bit emptier. But it wasn’t as if I could just force her to hang out.

          「Guess all we can really do is wait and hope she’ll open up to us eventually.」

          I took a sip of my iced tea, uncertain if that day would come.

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