Part-2 Ch-12 Ep-03

 Mari’s POV

Turning my back on Godaiin-kun, I retraced the path I had come from.

The moment I stepped out of the dimly lit room, the bustle returned, and it felt as though time, which had been standing still, had begun to move again.

“Mari……!”

Perhaps she had been searching for me. I heard Maki’s panicked voice, and immediately afterward, she hugged me tightly from the front.

“Maki, sorry to keep you waiting. I’m really sorry.”

As I said that, I gently patted Maki’s back, soothing her the way one would calm a small child, as she clung to me.

“I thought you left me behind.”

“No way. That would never happen.”

When I softly stroked her head, Maki, who had been wearing an anxious expression, said, “I’m sorry for keeping quiet about Godaiin-kun.”

“Maki, you didn’t do anything wrong at all. I’m not even angry.”

“Then why did you go ahead without me? I thought you had left me behind, and that you really were angry after all. But you told me to wait, so……”

Faced with Maki’s question, my gaze drifted as I wondered what I should say.

I didn’t want to tell her that I had gone to talk to Godaiin-kun.

“Um……”

As I hesitated, my eyes landed on the fish swimming leisurely in the tank right in front of us, and something suddenly caught my attention.

“…Did you see me when I went to the deep sea area?”

When I had turned around earlier, Maki had been looking down.

At the very least, I don’t remember our eyes meeting.

This aquarium, like many others, separates its exhibits according to the creatures on display and their habitats, and the entire facility is quite spacious.

Up to this point, we had passed through zones featuring shallow water creatures, coral reefs, tropical fish, and various other areas, following the designated route.

Even the Kuroshio Current* area we were in now was fairly large, and if you took your eyes off someone for even a moment, it was easy to lose track of them among the crowd.

[T/N- It's also called the Japan Current or Black Current, a powerful, warm ocean current in the western North Pacific Ocean. This major current flows northward along the eastern coasts of Taiwan and Japan, similar to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. Here it's refering creature of this current.]

 I myself had planned to blend into the crowd after separating from Maki. In that situation, how had Maki known where I was headed?

When I asked that, she let out a small “Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“…Um…”

“Maki?”

“…Erm……”

“Are you hiding something?”

After I pressed her like that for a while, Maki finally gave in and began to speak.

“Um, well, you see…… I was checking the app the whole time.”

“App?”

“…………I have a location sharing app installed. On your phone, Mari.”

Maki murmured in a tiny voice.

“What!? This is the first I’m hearing about this!?”

I raised my voice without thinking, then quickly looked around us. Thankfully, in the already noisy museum, no one seemed to be paying us any attention, which made me feel relieved.

“Sorry for raising my voice. But when did you install it?”

After calming myself, I asked, and Maki answered awkwardly, “Before the school trip.”

So that explains why my battery has been draining so quickly lately. That had been bothering me subtly throughout this trip as well.

Maki puffed out her cheeks and said, “…I told you,” then quickly looked away.

And in that moment, I realized it.

Ah. This is the face she makes when she’s lying.

“Um, I don’t remember that at all, but when exactly did we have that conversation?”

I asked, testing her.

“…On the morning before the school trip, when I went to your house, Mari, and while you were still sleeping, I asked if I could install the app, and you went ‘Uuun’……”

“That’s sleep talking, right!? And you just admitted it was while I was still asleep!”

Once again, I raised my voice, and Maki stubbornly pushed back without backing down.

“But it’s a school trip! The first thing we should do is make sure Mari doesn’t get lost, right!?”

“I’m not that much of a child, you know!”

“But you actually did disappear!”

“W Well…… sorry about that……”

Wait, why am I the one being overwhelmed here?

Even as I thought that, somewhere deep down, part of me felt a little convinced.

During our first year forest school trip, it had actually been me who got lost.

And it was Maki who came to rescue me, pushing through the bushes with an outdoor machete in one hand while carrying an enormous backpack on her back.

So I understand why she worries.

But according to the scenario, no major trouble was supposed to happen on this school trip anyway.

That’s why I thought it would be fine this time.

But still.

Looking at my childhood friend, who had completely shifted from her earlier attitude and now looked like a child who had pulled a prank and was waiting to be scolded, feeling awkward.

Having someone who worries about me more than I worry about myself is, in truth, something to be grateful for.

Besides, since I’ve always been able to see Maki’s location using the map function since long ago, it might actually be unfair the other way around.

Ah, whatever. At this point, I’ve already forgiven almost everything Maki has done.

Somewhere in my mind, a tiny Kagami-kun is trembling and saying, “If it were me, I couldn’t handle such distorted, heavy love.”

I close my eyes and nod. Mm hmm.

I’m probably the only one who can endure this.

“…Should I delete the app?”

“No, it’s fine. Leave it as it is.”

Even if my phone battery drains quickly. When I said that, her face immediately brightened with joy.

“Hey, um…… is there anything else you’ve been doing behind my back?”

Just to be safe, I asked.

“There’s nothing else, and I haven’t done anything yet.”

The way she phrased that sounded far too ominous.

I’ll have to ask what she plans to do in the future, I thought, rubbing my temples.

We probably need to properly talk and share a lot more things, just the two of us.

“Ah, right. There was a shop at the exit, so let’s buy matching souvenirs again, okay?”

As Maki tugged on my hand with a beaming smile, I replied, “Yeah,” and smiled back at her.