Volume 1 - CH 21

I talk a little with Himekawa over breakfast.

This morning there is bread and soup. And a simple salad.

“Himekawa, what have you been doing for lunch? I either went to the cafeteria or bought something from the convenience store.”

“I used to bring my own lunch. But from today, I’m thinking of going to the convenience store.”

“Do you want me to make the lunches?”

Suddenly, I look at Himekawa and she gives me a hard look.

“Boys making lunch for girls?”

Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that?

“I’m sorry. Maybe you don’t want to eat lunch made by a man.”

“No, it’s not like that. For the time being, I’ll buy lunch and then go to school, or I’ll just go to the cafeteria.”

“I see. Well, if that’s okay with Himekawa, so be it.”

A bit pouty, Himekawa silently brings a piece of bread to her mouth.

Is she angry? Was I a little insensitive, too?

“Thank you for the meal.”

Himekawa leaves the table first, puts down the dishes, picks up her bag from the chair, and leaves the kitchen.

“I’ll go first”

Himekawa is completely upset. Her words have a thorn in them.

“Oh, please spare some time after school today. I’d like to take Himekawa to the store about the part-time job”

Himekawa nodded silently and walked out the front door early, leaving me alone at home.

I’ll do some simple cleaning and take out the trash afterward, so it won’t be a problem if we leave separately.

It’s a bigger problem if we go to school together.

I was a few dozen minutes late from Himekawa.

The school is full of students after the vacations. Well, it’s a school, of course.

I enter the classroom and sit on my seat as usual, and put the earphones in my ears.

I follow Himekawa with my eyes. No one is around, and Himekawa is reading a book by herself.

“Hey, Tendo. Do you think Nadeshiko will quit school after all?”

Takayama, sitting behind me, is still shaking the same stuff at me.

“I don’t know.”

I cut Takayama off and opened my reference book.

“Tendo really doesn’t care about people, does he?”

“I’m not disinterested. It’s just that it’s a pain in the ass”

It’s not that I’m not interested. It’s just that I don’t benefit from being involved.

In fact, it would be a great disadvantage.

I am slightly annoyed with my classmates who have turned their hands upside down toward Himekawa.

I am sure that these people will flip their hands in the same way they flip everything.

If that’s the case, it’s better not to get involved with them from the beginning. It’s a waste of time.

―Ring―Ring―Ring―Ring

“Homeroom is about to begin”

The loud voice of the homeroom teacher took the podium.

She is a woman in her early thirties and is known to be quite beautiful.

However, she has a bad drinking habit, is single, and is currently looking for a boyfriend.

Takayama, seated behind me, said.

“That’s all. Look at the results of the exam and make up for your shortcomings. Also, for the first period, this is the handout for the local language. All students except for Himekawa are required to submit it.”

The class was buzzing. Himekawa was the only one given special treatment.

“Himekawa got a perfect score in the last exam. However, Himekawa should come to the student guidance office after this.”

I look over the handout.

It’s almost the same as the test I took the other day. I made a few mistakes, too, so I didn’t get a perfect score.

“Ugh, I’m so bad at this subject…”

I can hear the lamenting voice of Takayama from behind me.

Hang in there. Even you could rank up if you could raise the grade in your weak areas!

As I look at the printout and solve the problems, What is Himekawa talking about when she leaves the classroom? Somewhere in the back of my head, I am thinking to myself.

I guess it’s still about the case or her parents. Or is it something else?

After some time passed, Himekawa and the teacher returned to the classroom.

Himekawa sits in her seat silently. She is looking straight at the blackboard and has no expression on her face. What did they talk about?

“Oh, good. Finished with your prints?　I need to talk to everyone. All of you!

Without understanding the meaning, I shifted my eyes from the printout to the teacher.

“All of you listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you! So, about the Himekawa case”

My heart might have made an audible thumping sound.

It was beating harder than usual and probably upset.

What in the world have the teacher and Himekawa talked about?