Volume 3 Short Story 2

Forgot something, huh.

If it were Shiori, I could believe it might happen.

But thinking about how she was acting earlier, I also feel like it probably didn’t.

“Yes! Utsunomiya-sensei, may I have your opinion?”

Ami’s voice, raised like that of an elementary schooler with her hand in the air, echoes down the hallway.

I know exactly what she wants to say.

It’s probably about Shiori.

Sorry, I forgot something.

Shiori, who had been heading toward the shoe lockers with us, said that and disappeared into the depths of the quiet hallway that hardly seemed like it had just hosted a cultural festival.

The plan to eat at the fast-food restaurant we had promised vanished along with her.

And Ami and I are left behind in the hallway where the daytime clamor feels like a lie.

“I understand what Ami-sensei is trying to say.”

I say it in an intentionally exaggerated tone, then walk up to the shoe lockers and change into my shoes.

“Come on, let’s do it properly as teacher and student there.”

“Is that really the part you’re stuck on? Teacher and teacher is fine, isn’t it? Come on, Ami-sensei, state your opinion.”

“Fine, fine. Then I’ll state my opinion. Don’t you think ‘forgot something’ plus ‘dad’ equals ‘boyfriend’?”

That was something I hadn’t considered.

But since Shiori unnaturally brought up her dad earlier as well, I can see why Ami would think that.

“Shiori having a boyfriend, huh.”

“Yeah. Doesn’t it sound suspicious?

We were supposed to have a three-person cultural festival after-party right now, but she suddenly looks at her phone, says she forgot something, and then adds, ‘Dad’s coming home early, so today won’t work’?

I think both the forgotten thing and the dad are lies, and she was actually called out by her boyfriend.”

“Well, yeah.”

If I have to choose between suspicious and not suspicious, it’s definitely suspicious.

If it were just the forgotten thing, maybe, but once ‘dad’ gets added, it would be stranger not to doubt it.

“It’s definitely her boyfriend. You think so too, right, Maika?”

Ami declares it decisively and starts walking, so we leave the school building together.

“She probably really did forget something, and the reason she canceled is actually her dad.

Shiori’s pretty spacey, and her dad calls her a lot anyway.”

When talking with Shiori, her “dad” comes up with a frequency that isn’t exactly rare.

Today didn’t really have the kind of atmosphere where the ‘dad’ explanation slid in naturally, but it’s not impossible to force myself to accept it.

I still feel that the likelihood she actually forgot something is higher, but I twist that feeling away and set it aside.

Of course, I’m curious.

I’m curious, but I’m going to leave it at just that.

Under a sky where the sun is beginning to sink, we continue walking slowly, the two of us left behind after Shiori was taken away by whatever she forgot and by her father.

“Well, maybe you’re right, Maika.”

Ami says it in a dejected voice.

“If Shiori got a boyfriend, wouldn’t she tell us?”

“You think so?”

“Then how about we interrogate her tomorrow and ask whether it’s a boyfriend or not?”

I throw out a half-joking suggestion and glance at Ami.

I’m not planning to say “tell us everything,” but if she has a lover, I want her to tell us.

I’m curious what kind of person Shiori would like, and I want to know whether it’s someone I can entrust her to.

Well, I don’t really think Shiori has a boyfriend.

“Good idea. Interrogation confirmed. Well, I don’t think Shiori has a boyfriend either.”

Ami says it as if she peeked into my thoughts, so I reply, “Same opinion. Then should we just drop the interrogation?”

I’ve never heard Shiori talk about someone she likes, and she doesn’t seem to have anyone in mind.

To begin with, Shiori seems bad at conversations like that, and whenever romance comes up, her energy noticeably drops.

“No, let’s do the interrogation. It sounds fun.”

A cheerful voice comes from beside me.

“Poor Shiori. I’d like to say that, but since she ditched us today, maybe we should make her our toy just a little.”

I don’t seriously intend to turn Shiori into a toy, but since we let her strange behavior slide today, I want her to at least put up with being teased a bit.

“Then Shiori’s fate for tomorrow is decided.

She’ll pay for what she did today.”

Saying that, Ami broke into a grin.