Part-3 Ch-04 Ep-03
117
Entries
Trivial Things, Silly Little Things, Things Not Even Worth Talking About.
2026
Only then did the conversations begin to pick up, and the hall gradually filled with a low buzz of noise.
"Don't spill your food. And don't get the books dirty either,"
the supervising teacher called out loudly. After that, members of the student council walked around carrying trash bags while explaining the sorting rules.
Eating inside the library, where bringing in food and drinks is normally forbidden, somehow felt like breaking a rule, and that tension lingered among everyone.
The bento itself was simple, neither especially tasty nor unpleasant, but sharing it with Maki and the other participants made the moment enjoyable and refreshing.
About an hour had passed since we finished eating and returned to studying.
All of a sudden, I realized that Maki, who should have been sitting beside me, had disappeared.
I wonder if she's taking a break somewhere.
Even after remaining seated and scanning the room carefully, I couldn't spot her anywhere, so I told myself she might have gone to the restroom.
I lifted both arms and leaned my upper body back, stretching out completely.
Just as my spine cracked audibly, I figured that since I was already standing I might as well look for a book, and I got up from my seat.
Several lights in the bookshelf area had already been turned off, leaving the space dimly lit.
After passing a few rows of shelves, I spotted Kagami-kun, Todoroki-kun, and Asahina-kun.
Hidden in the shadow of a bookshelf in a corner of the library where the teachers couldn't see them, they were playing a versus game on their phones.
The smartphone screens in their hands glowed faintly, dimly illuminating their faces.
Since they had seemed to be studying seriously not long ago, I assumed they had either finished for the day or were just taking a break.
I had also seen Ranjishi-kun at the opening ceremony, so it felt oddly coincidental that all the capture targets except Inuino-kun had gathered for this event.
I figured it must be the compelling force of the game's scenario, though honestly I didn't feel any panic about it anymore.
After all, I'm the one currently dating that girl.
Again and again, I repeated that fact inside my head, putting it into words and turning it over in my thoughts.
"...Umm, the novels should be somewhere around here, right? Ah, sorry!"
While focusing on a book at eye level, I suddenly noticed a figure below me and quickly stepped back.
Looking closer, I saw that a student had spread out a sleeping bag on the floor and was lying stretched out on top of it.
"No, it's fine. I chose a spot this dim myself, so sorry."
I apologized to the student I had almost stepped on and carefully took a large step over them. They replied casually, showing they didn't mind.
It was still a bit early to sleep, but only the lights in the table area used for studying remained on, making the nighttime atmosphere feel even heavier.
When I glanced around, I saw people here and there between the bookshelves who had already laid out their beds with the provided sleeping bags or their own blankets and had begun relaxing.
The student I had almost stepped on had also placed a battery-powered lantern and a tumbler beside their bedding, making that spot alone feel like a tiny campsite.
"...Wow, they're really committed to this."
For students who truly love books, this event must have felt like a dream come true.
Watching the people who seemed ready to spend the entire night reading among their beloved books in such an unusual setting, I gave a wry smile, thinking I could never do the same.
Careful not to trip, I picked up books from a few of my favorite authors while wandering between the shelves.
Starting from the a row, then moving through ka, sa, and ta, I scanned the book spines arranged in gojūon order, tracing them with my finger.
[T/N- Gojūon order (五十音順, gojūon-jun) refers to the traditional Japanese system for ordering kana characters (hiragana and katakana), similar to alphabetical order in English. It organizes the basic sounds into a grid of roughly 5 vowels × 10 consonant groups, giving the name "gojūon" (literally "fifty sounds," though modern Japanese uses 46 basic hiragana/katakana plus extras). Ka sa ta is "consonant" row of sort.]
I walked around the backs of several continuous shelves, tracing the names in the same way and picking out a few books that caught my interest.
I tend to prefer calm stories that unfold steadily with a strong narrative voice rather than grand adventures or plots that shift rapidly.
In contrast, Maki seems to enjoy romantic comedies, adventure stories where characters overcome various obstacles, mysteries, and thrilling tales.
Thinking that our personalities might show through those preferences, I reached the ma row shelf and noticed movement behind it.
Tilting my head slightly, I peered through the narrow gap between the shelf and the books to look at the other side.
There I saw Maki sitting on the floor with her back leaning against the bookshelf by the wall.
What is she doing?
This area behind the shelf should have been filled with encyclopedias, dictionaries, and similar reference books.
Assuming she might be looking something up, I quietly walked around the shelf to see her more clearly, and I found Maki staring at her smartphone with a troubled expression while tapping the screen.
"What are you looking at?"
When I asked, she quickly looked up and immediately switched off the screen.
She looked more flustered than I had expected, and that caught me off guard too.
"Just doing some research."
"I see... In a place like this?"
"Yeah. There are dictionaries and reference books on this shelf."
"Hmm," I nodded while glancing at the bookshelf.
But even so, she wasn't holding any dictionary at all, though I kept that thought to myself.
"......"
"......"
"...I see."
"Yeah."
I waited quietly for a moment, but it seemed she had no intention of telling me what she had been looking at.
If that's the case, then that's fine. Alright, I thought, and changed the subject.
Surely Maki has moments like that too, and maybe she really had been researching something too trivial to mention.
Even when something seems trivial, she usually tells me everything.
I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my mind.
Thinking like that would only make me a bothersome girlfriend.
"By the way, Kagami-kun and the others are playing games over there," I said as I shifted the topic.
"Oh, I also saw Seishuku-san telling fortunes in that direction. Quite a few people had gathered around," Maki replied.
Hearing that response, I couldn't stop a surprised "Eh?" from escaping my mouth.
"...Wasn't Seishuku-san reading books the whole time today?"
"I wonder what that girl even came here for. Even the people who came for books were studying at first while keeping an eye on the teachers. Ah, but it seems the fortune telling was requested by the student council as one of today's relaxation activities."
"Even so, I don't think I've ever seen Seishuku-san studying outside of class."
When I said that, Maki replied, "Me neither," and the two of us tilted our heads in confusion.
~~~End~~~