CH 3

“Two years in and you’re still the same old onigiri. ……”

Lunch break. As I put the two homemade rice balls I had taken out of my bag on the desk, Keiichi said to me in a tone of exasperation. By the way, his lunch was a sweet bread bought at a convenience store.

I’m going to ask him to buy me a specific meal when I feel like it.

“It’s a waste to buy, and I’m too lazy to make a lunch box.”

“……, but Tomoki, you usually buy juice, don’t you? The vending machine is also used normally.”

“I want to buy what I want when I want it, so I save money and work part-time in places. Besides, it’s hard to buy games and such with the money my father sends me.”

“I think it’s okay to rely on your parents more since you’re a student.”

“You’re working too.”

“That’s true too!”

The door right behind him rattled open as I looked at Keiichi, who was smiling. The classroom was noisy because it was lunchtime, and few students paid attention to it.

Through the open door, a female student’s face appeared in a flash.

She had brown hair, and just by looking at her face, I got the impression that she was very active, which is not my favorite kind of girl.

“Hey, I’d like to ask you something.”

She asked me with a smiling expression. I guess because I was in the best position to talk to her.

She seems naive, and to be frank, I’m not good ……, but it’s still not a problem if the other person is alone. I can at least have a conversation.

“What’s up? You need someone?”

“Yes. I need to talk to someone named Sugino-kun. …… is he in the classroom? Is he in the classroom or has he gone to the cafeteria?”

“Hmm? Sugino is me,…… sorry, do we know each other?”

When I answered, her eyes instantly narrowed.

Her eyes narrowed instantly and her sharp and piercing gaze was directed at me as if piercing me.

“Yes. Come to the courtyard after school, will you? I need to talk to you”

While I was puzzled by the sudden change in her attitude, she said what she wanted to say and immediately left.

No, what if I had something to do after school in the first place? At least wait until you hear back from me with my approval.

As I stared in dismay at the door that had been slammed shut behind me, Keiichi spoke to me, raising an eyebrow.

“I have a feeling trouble is coming. And she’s the type Tomoki hates the most, isn’t she? She doesn’t want to listen to what anyone has to say. I think you should just ignore her. Whatever the reason may be, she’s too rude.”

“………… That’s true, but we go to the same school, so I can’t just ignore her. I’m curious as to why, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to just let it go.”

It’s really bothersome…… but I guess I can consider it part of overcoming my difficulties.

But why in the world would I have to be called out by a girl I don’t know at all, staring at me with disgust?

“Seriously, I think I’m going to go to another exorcism …….”

“Haha, let’s go together then!”

The good thing is that all the people involved in the past cases are on my side.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

After school, I headed to the courtyard as told by an unnamed female student and found several couples and a group of men and women sitting on the ground chatting – in addition to a lone Kohinata sitting alone in the shade of a tree looking at the ground.

I wondered why Kohinata was …… or what in the world she was doing there.

She looks even smaller when she is curled up on her knees. It was such a small animal-like position that it was no wonder her classmates loved her.

I approached her, since it seemed that the person I was supposed to meet had not arrived yet and it would be a waste of time to wait around for him to arrive.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, and she glanced up at me, then quickly looked back down. She looked up at me and immediately looked back down at the ants, who were busily carrying what appeared to be food. I was no better than an ant in her sense of value.

“You’ve been watching the ants?”

Kohinata nodded her head cockily at the question.

I never thought I’d see students watching ants in a high school courtyard, but I don’t mind them either. I don’t get tired of watching the ants work so hard. I don’t actively do it, though, because I think people might look at me funny when I think about what they think of me.

Maybe she doesn’t care what people think of her or anything like that.

“To pass the time, do you mind if I watch too?”

Her silence is very much appreciated by me.

The girl I’m most comfortable talking to at this school is definitely Kohinata.

I don’t like girls who do nothing but force their opinions on me.

In that respect, Kohinata doesn’t talk, doesn’t have an opinion, and doesn’t talk to me in the first place. In other words, it’s peaceful.

After confirming that Kohinata shakes her head, I hold my knees and watch the ants, just as she does.

As I watch for a while, I see a single ant carrying something many times its own size. Sometimes it wobbled, sometimes it dropped, sometimes it grabbed again.

“–Ooou, are you all right? Isn’t that a lot to carry for you?”

He was carrying it so desperately that I couldn’t help but let out a soliloquy like that.

Then–

“Kohinata?”

Kohinata, who was probably watching the same ants next to me, pinched the package that the ants were carrying with her fingertips. The ants carrying the luggage were also lifted up together.

She then gently placed the package near the end of the direction in which the ants were moving, near their burrow. Then she looked up at my face from diagonally below. Then she shook her face up and down.

“Ah, yes. That’s right. I’m sure the ants think they’ve been saved.”

Her expression was as expressionless as ever, but for some reason it seemed to me that she was saying, “I saved you”. Kohinata just nodded, though.

After hearing my response, Kohinata nodded broadly once more, as if satisfied, and then returned her gaze to the ants again. I chuckled at Kohinata, then stood up and looked around to see if that girl had arrived by now.

That girl student was standing in the center of the courtyard.

“……, she’s so intimidating.”

The saving grace is that the other person is probably alone.

If it had been just the two of us, it’s not impossible that I might have thrown up, depending on what we talked about.

Oh well,……, let’s just get it over with and go home. I’ve got Keiichi waiting for me.

“Well, I’ve been called away for some reason, so I’m going to go now. See you tomorrow.”

She nodded her head when I said this to Kohinata, who was still looking at the ants.