CK 64

Chapter 64…

To Run or Not to Run
Nothing to Talk About

Time goes back to right before Insei Masato parted ways with Yui Shirakami and the others.

☆☆☆

“Do whatever you want. I’ve got things to do, so I’m heading home.”

Maa-kun said that and started walking away.

I shouted at his back, “Hey!”

“Are you seriously leaving!? Hey, I’m talking to you!!”
“Wait, are you for real!? Hey!”

But Maa-kun ignored both me and Shirō completely and kept walking.
Soon, he turned the corner down the alley and disappeared from view.

The two of us left behind let out a long sigh at the same time.

Then Shirō spoke up quietly, almost muttering to himself.

“…Guess we’ll look for Sayama ourselves.”
“Yeah…”
“I’ve got more stamina, so I’ll take the far side.”
“Thanks… Then I’ll—”

I stopped mid-sentence.
Because honestly, I had no idea where to look.

Given how Sayama-chan acted earlier, she probably wouldn’t go back to school.
So… should I head farther out too?

But Seiun City is pretty big…

Just as I was thinking that, Chiharu, who was standing behind me, spoke up.

“Then maybe try going back to the school?”

I turned around, tilting my head.

“…Why?”
“That girl Shirakami-san asked me to take care of earlier.
She’d been fighting with Sayama-san, so I thought she might know something.
Her leg was hurt, so I took her to the infirmary. She might still be there.”

“Oh, right!” I replied, realizing it made sense.
But then I hesitated again.

“What about you, Chiharu?
Wouldn’t it be better if I went searching, since I can fight, and you went to talk to her?”
“I’m going after Insei-kun.”

“Whaaat!?” The surprise slipped right out of my mouth.
Shirō seemed equally stunned.

“Hey, you don’t need to go after him…”
“I’m bad at talking to new people. And besides, there’s something I want to tell Insei-kun.”

…Forcing her to do something she’s not good at wouldn’t be right.

And that “something she wants to say”… probably has to do with how Maa-kun talked earlier.
…Maybe she’s thought it through more than I have.

But still, I don’t think he was right either, and I didn’t get to say what I wanted to.
So I said, “Then… please take care of Maa-kun for me.”
“Yeah. If anything happens, contact me. I’ll tell Insei-kun.”

After saying that, Chiharu jogged off.

…Come to think of it, she doesn’t know where Maa-kun lives, does she?
I hurriedly shouted again.

“I’ll message you the address!!”

But Chiharu didn’t respond and disappeared around the corner.

I quickly shared the location from my map app and sent it to her by message.

No reply… but she must’ve heard me, right?

As I sent it, a small sense of unease crept up inside me.

Then Shirō spoke up.

“Well, I’m off too.”
“Y-yeah. If anything happens, I’ll message the group chat!”
“Got it!”

After that, we split up and went our separate ways.

I started running back toward the school—didn’t want to end up thinking, “She’s already gone!”
Still, I kept an eye out in case Sayama-chan or that scorpion showed up again.

But in the end, I reached the school without finding anything.

…Anyway, my goal now is that girl.

I straightened up and walked through the gate into the school grounds.
I headed straight for the infirmary—no time to change shoes, so I went around from outside.
It was hot, but whatever. I’d put on sunscreen.

In less than a few minutes, I could see the area around the first-floor infirmary.
Through the hallway window, I spotted several people standing outside the door.

From this distance, I couldn’t make out much, but it looked like a male and a female student,
and probably the nurse and another teacher.

I moved a bit closer and squinted.

It looked like the boy was the one Sayama-chan had fought earlier,
and the girl was the one who tried to stop them.
And that teacher… was that the vice-principal?

Anyway, at least I made it in time.
Relief washed over me.

…Maybe that girl got hurt when she tried to protect Sayama-chan.
She was limping when I helped her earlier.

I hesitated for a moment—it felt awkward to interrupt—but I had to talk to her.
I steeled myself and took a step forward.

Then everyone except the boy started walking toward the staff room,
leaving him to head in another direction.

…Which way should I go?

That question immediately popped into my head.

But if I followed the teachers, I’d probably just get in the way.

And honestly, the vice-principal is scary—he’s in charge of discipline too.

So I decided to follow the boy instead.

…Even if he looked kind of scary too.

He slipped on his shoes at the first-floor corridor and stepped outside.
I hid myself so he wouldn’t notice me.

He started walking toward the school grounds.

I followed, wondering how to start a conversation.

Then he suddenly stopped, half-turned toward me, and said,

“What do you want?”

Guess he’d noticed I was following him.
I panicked a little but managed to stammer, “Um, uh…”

“Your friend… is she hurt?”
“Yeah, earlier. I’m busy, so if that’s all—”

…Wow, he’s really in a bad mood.

Maa-kun in a bad mood was scary enough, but at least I could talk to him.

With someone I’ve just met, who’s angry? I had no idea what to say.
But I had to ask—otherwise I’d learn nothing.

So I gathered my courage and asked,
“Do you… know Suzuhō Sayama?”

He didn’t answer.

The hot summer wind blew through, feeling even hotter now.
My mouth went dry.

Then, after a few seconds, came only a sharp tch—a click of his tongue.

…Scary.
I really didn’t want to deal with this guy alone.

If Maa-kun were here, they’d probably start a fight.
So I wished Shirō were with me instead…

But if I ran away now, I’d never find out anything.
So I stayed, waiting for him to speak.

His gaze was fixed somewhere past me,
his fists clenched tightly.

I don’t know how long we stood there—maybe a few minutes, maybe less than one.
Finally, still looking away, he muttered:

“…There’s nothing to talk about when it comes to her.”

Then he walked off.

If I followed him now, he’d probably really get angry.

Left without any leads, I stood there, lost.

…What should I do now?

I knew I should go back to searching for Sayama-chan.
But from how those two acted, there was clearly something between them.
They’d fought earlier too.

Would it really be okay to just leave that alone…?

I couldn’t decide by myself. I wanted to ask someone.

But Maa-kun would definitely say, “Just leave it.”
Shirō… was probably still running around somewhere, so I didn’t want to bother him.

Hii-chan might listen, but Maa-kun told me not to drag her into things too much…

Without thinking, I muttered aloud,
“Ugh, there’s no one I can talk to…”

…Then it hit me. Actually, there was someone I could talk to.

I quickly opened my messaging app, found that person’s chat,
and pressed the call button.

They picked up before the third ring.