It wasn’t anything amazing, but thus ended the one-night, two-day trip.
Last night, I saw Fukuda crying, but his face wasn’t gloomy until the morning.
Rather, it seemed that having that conversation was refreshing, and Fukuda’s expression was a little more relaxed than usual.
Nanaami, perhaps feeling a bit regretful about going home, kept suggesting they hang out until just before leaving, and even the kids who had been somewhat awkward up until coming here accepted Nanaami’s words and ended up having fun.
On the way back home, Shii fell deeply asleep, leaning on Sota’s shoulder in the train.
“……”
In front of Sota and Shii sat Yuka and Nanaami side by side.
Although they couldn’t really say their relationship was good, seeing Shii peacefully sleeping on Sota’s shoulder made them feel they couldn’t ask to switch seats and ended up agreeing to sit together.
On the way back to Tokyo, the sounds of the two chatting and lightly bickering made Sota stifle his laughter.
In the back seat, Kurosawa and Fukuda were sitting together.
Compared to the sporadic talking from the front, the two didn’t have much conversation on the way back.
When Sota glanced over, through the gap between the seats, he saw the two staring blankly out the window.
Kurosawa was sitting by the window, gazing at the sunset scenery.
And next to her, Fukuda wore a somewhat ambiguous expression, whether he was looking at Kurosawa or looking out the window together.
But at least, it was a relief that the strangely disgruntled expression he’d had when looking at Kurosawa until now was absent.
“……”
What am I even worried about?
Sota let out a small sigh and turned back to look out the window again.
The sunset scenery was beautiful. It was still a stifling summer— an ordinary summer vacation experienced for the first time since becoming a high school student.
Sota thought to himself that he was somewhat satisfied.
*
Summer vacation is short.
Of course, if you think about it, this kind of long period where one can rest without anyone’s supervision and can just relax is only during student days.
At least until high school, and at most through college, after that, when one starts working to make a living, days off like this are almost nonexistent.
Unless one quits their job.
However, to all students like this, including Sota, this relaxation period felt short. If one were to relax endlessly without any purpose, it might be torture in itself, but anyway, Sota is a student.
Even after the summer trip, he met up with friends a few times. He also hung out and chatted with classmates and met up separately with Yuka and Nanami.
……But not with Fukuda or Kurosawa. Neither of them were the type to reach out first.
If someone were to ask if he was worried at all, he wouldn’t lie, but still, for some reason, Sota had felt a little relieved seeing Kurosawa at the beach.
So he thought leisurely that once the break was over, they should all meet up for tea.
*
On the last day of summer vacation, school starts.
Though attending school isn’t all that great, gathering with friends after such a long time is quite a pleasant thing.
At least on the first day back.
“Sasaki.”
Yuka raised one hand slightly in greeting from her usual spot by the window.
Sota also sat in front of Yuka, where she always sat since entering this school, and waved his hand lightly in response.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Well, sort of. This summer vacation was pretty peaceful after all.”
Sota bitterly smiled at Yuka’s words.
It wouldn’t be right to say it was all peaceful since there was an incident with delinquents at the festival, but at least he wasn’t threatened by Yōkai either.
“Ah.”
Sota’s phone vibrated.
[Happy New Semester!]
It was an email from Nanami. From the message, it seemed Nanami made it to school safely.
‘Safely,’ huh.
Somehow, it seems like he’s starting to pick up Yuka’s mannerisms.
“Nakahara?”
“Yeah.”
Sota nodded at Yuka’s question.
Whenever Nanami was mentioned, Yuka would rest her chin on her hand and sport a sulky expression. Sota had learned to read the room to avoid irritating Yuka with more talk of Nanami.
“Alright, everyone take your seats.”
At that moment, the homeroom teacher entered and said so, and the kids quieted down and took their seats.
And so— the first day of the second semester began.
*
That day, Sota and Yuka naturally set out to find Kurosawa.
Kurosawa, who usually came over first, didn’t today.
It made him a little worried.
Since he had to see those girls again that day, and when that guy was nearby, he hadn’t resolved things, too. Even if Kurosawa hadn’t been bullied separately over the break, they were in the same class after all, so they would definitely run into each other.
“Eh? She’s not here today.”
And then, Yuka and Sota heard that.
The one who shared this was at least someone who wasn’t openly bullying Kurosawa. Though they were bystanders, they weren’t the type to outright lie for gain.
Above all, Kurosawa was really nowhere to be seen in class.
“……”
While Yuka was sharply peering through the classroom window, Nanaami approached, having spotted Sota and Yuka from afar.
Seeing the serious expressions on the two even from a distance, Nanaami didn’t greet them in her usual bright way.
“What’s wrong?”
Instead of a greeting, she asked in a slightly serious tone. Just as Sota was about to explain the situation, Yuka moved.
“Hey, Yuka?”
Before Sota could stop her, Yuka forcefully opened the classroom door and stepped inside.
BANG!
With the sliding door crashing against the wall, the kids in the classroom turned to look at Yuka in surprise. A few in the hallway were startled as well.
“Wait a minute, Yuka!”
Sota quickly noticed where Yuka’s gaze was fixed and followed closely behind. Nanaami also trailed behind with a serious expression.
But they couldn’t stop Yuka from grabbing the collar of a girl.
“Hii, Hiiik!?”
Suddenly grabbed by her collar, the girl stood up in shock and went pale. Only after getting closer did Sota see that the girl had a wound on her face.
It wasn’t that serious, but one of her eyes was slightly swollen, and there were portions of her face that were bruised.
Had she tripped or something—
“……Where’s Kurosawa?”
Yuka asked that girl.
One of the three who had bullied Kurosawa. The other two were completely absent. For a brief moment, Sota thought those two had taken Kurosawa away, but—
“I-I don’t know!”
Surprised by the girl suddenly bursting into tears, Sota was taken aback.
“That girl said she wouldn’t mess with him anymore! That’s that!”
At her shout, the classroom fell into a hush. Having accidentally followed Yuka inside, Nanaami and Sota looked around in confusion.
They couldn’t know what had happened, but it seemed the classmates thought Yuka did something wrong.
However, Yuka was glaring at the girl without even acknowledging the gaze.
“You couldn’t possibly not know. You guys bullied Kurosawa like that. You tried to do something horrible just because you recognized her outside of school, didn’t you?”
“I… I really don’t know.”
The girl was now whimpering.
“I’ve broken off with the boys, and yeah, I won’t do anything like that again…”
“Wait, Yuuki. Something’s a bit off with her.”
Nanaami gently placed a hand on Yuka’s shoulder as she spoke softly.
“……”
With Nanaami’s words, Yuka relaxed her grip a little.
“Hey, what happened?”
As the girl slumped back into her seat while sniffling, Nanaami asked in a somewhat subdued voice.
“Why are you reacting like that to Kurosawa’s name?”
“Ugh. Ugh…”
Perhaps reassured by Nanaami’s voice or just feeling a bit relieved after being released from Yuka’s grip, the girl couldn’t continue speaking and finally broke down in tears.
Sota, who usually wouldn’t think about such things in front of a girl like this, was somewhat puzzled.
It wasn’t normal for someone who had done such things to suddenly act fragile.
It was as if, during summer break, Kurosawa had been the perpetrator while these girls were the victims.
“……Let’s go.”
Eventually determining that she wouldn’t get any answer from the girl, Yuka turned and left the classroom.
And then.
“……”
Sota’s eyes met Fukuda’s, who was leaning against the wall outside the classroom.
Fukuda had a somewhat complicated expression.
Seeing that expression, Sota thought that Fukuda might know the backstory of what happened during summer break.
And it seemed Sota wasn’t the only one who thought that.
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“……Where’s Kurosawa?”
“Looks like she’s not in school.”
After exchanging a brief conversation with Yuka, Fukuda clenched his teeth.
“……Follow me.”
With that, Fukuda moved. Yuka naturally followed him, and Nanaami and Sota exchanged a quick glance before hurriedly following behind.
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