Ch.119Chapter 18. Repayment (10)

I am terrible at writing.

It’s not that I’ve never written anything in my life.

I graduated smoothly from elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. Of course, there were subjects where my grades were barely passing, but not to the point where graduation was delayed.

Naturally, I’ve written things before.

In elementary school, I kept a diary, and in middle and high school, there were writing assignments, so I had to write something, even if reluctantly.

But I never particularly enjoyed writing.

I just filled in content because I had to. I did enjoy reading novels in my own way, and sometimes thought, “I’d like to write something like this,” but I never seriously attempted it.

As a result, when asked to “just write something, anything,” my mind went completely blank.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Koko, sitting to my right, seemed to be in the same situation.

No, I was at least better off since I was holding a pen trying to write something.

Koko’s gaze was wandering aimlessly through the air. Judging by her open mouth, she really wasn’t thinking about anything.

“…Ugh.”

And similarly struggling was Yuka, sitting on the opposite side of Koko, which meant to my left.

She was thinking hard with the button end of her ballpoint pen pressed against her forehead, but she didn’t seem to be coming up with any ideas.

Scratch, scratch.

Meanwhile, Izumi and Kaoru were skillfully moving their mechanical pencils across their manuscript paper.

Well, Izumi was originally in the literature club. At least until last year, she had seniors in the club. From what I heard, they were quite active as a literature club, writing various pieces, so she at least had the skill to fill pages.

Kaoru was writing with a very happy expression. She might be writing about that woman with the split mouth from before.

Of course, she would cut out the detailed parts. Well, I decided not to worry about it even if she wrote everything. After all, I knew no one would believe it was a “true story.”

“What’s wrong? Is it difficult?”

As the three of us sat in a row, staring blankly and killing time, Izumi looked at us and spoke.

“Ah, well, you see…”

“Huh?”

Responses came simultaneously from both sides of me.

Yuka’s voice sounded a bit embarrassed, while Koko still had that expression of not understanding anything.

Izumi put down her mechanical pencil with a slight smile and said:

“If it’s really hard to write, why not start with something very short? Like a one-line piece.”

“One line?”

“Yes. Like haiku, for instance? It’s the world’s shortest formal poetry, but people still find rhythm in it and enjoy it. There are even people in the West who write them.”

Izumi was showing her senior-like qualities for the first time in a long while.

Specifically, qualities befitting a literature club senior.

“But… isn’t it actually harder to condense meaning into such a short piece?”

Yuka seemed somewhat familiar with haiku.

This is just my own prejudice, but… well… she comes from a shrine maiden family. And not just someone who wears shrine maiden clothes for a part-time job, but a family that actually defeats evil spirits and exorcises yokai.

It would be understandable if she enjoyed somewhat traditional things. Though, in reality, Yuka played games on the Super Famicom since childhood and is a modern kid who exchanges emails with friends on her phone.

“I’m not saying we should write haiku specifically.”

Izumi said with a slight smile.

“Just start with something short. Hmm… how about this.”

Izumi closed her eyes and, with an expression like she was appreciating music, said:

“Imagine your way to school. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

“…”

Yuka didn’t close her eyes like Izumi, but she answered obediently.

“…The sounds. Since there are other students commuting at the same time as me.”

“What about the uniforms? Are they all the same?”

“…Some are different, some are the same. Though I’m the only one wearing my particular uniform.”

Hanakawa High School is difficult to get into. Not just because of grades, but the cost of attending isn’t cheap either.

“Then, why not start by writing about that?”

Izumi opened her eyes and said.

“Um…”

Yuka lowered her gaze again and looked at her still-empty manuscript paper.

Then, tilting her head slightly, she began to write.

On the way to school

Children in uniforms

“Good.”

Izumi said with a smile.

“And then? What about the sounds?”

“…”

Yuka tilted her head again, and following Izumi’s suggestion, added another line.

Sound of train tracks

“On the way to school, children in uniforms, sound of train tracks. See, it’s a haiku!”

It was indeed a haiku, satisfying the 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

And once it was written down, it actually looked pretty good. After all, a poem is a poem.

“But… is this really okay?”

After struggling for nearly 30 minutes, she seemed unsure if what she had written following Izumi’s guidance was acceptable.

“It’s fine. That’s how creation works. Some works are completed after a long struggle of revising and erasing, while others come from suddenly jotting down inspiration. Since we’re not trying to make money from this anyway, you can write however you want. Don’t worry about evaluation.”

Wow.

She really seems like a literature club president.

Pleased by my somewhat admiring expression, Izumi straightened her shoulders.

“Well, it’s good that you completed a piece, but…”

Kaoru, who had stopped writing to listen to Izumi’s lecture, spoke up.

“I don’t think the student council will accept just one haiku. Don’t we need to meet a minimum length requirement?”

“Ah.”

At Kaoru’s uncharacteristically sharp observation, we all came back to reality.

“…Then, could you write a slightly longer prose piece based on that inspiration?”

Izumi tried to maintain her composure as she said that.

In the end, after going in circles and ending up back at square one, Yuka collapsed onto her desk.

*

Still, I somehow managed to fill the required length.

Feeling I needed to write something, I racked my brain and submitted something resembling a diary entry, which Izumi accepted with a nod.

“Then next week, let’s refine this!”

Apparently moved by finally doing something befitting the literature club, Izumi said this with sparkling eyes, which terrified me.

Well, I suppose we couldn’t just publish something that wouldn’t even fill one A4 page when typed.

…Still, I’m glad to see her energetic.

After all, she had been in a panic for quite a while after what happened yesterday.

In reality, it would be difficult for an ordinary high school girl to handle such a situation. …Is it because this is a light novel world that the residents have stronger mental fortitude?

Or maybe it’s because no one died.

Come to think of it, she seemed more scared during the police questioning than when she saw the yokai.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

Yuka asked, noticing my contemplative expression.

“Ah… just that I’ll be late for my part-time job today.”

Through all these events, I had completely forgotten that the reason Kaoru appeared there was to find material for the literature club’s anthology.

And that anthology needed to be completed by the week before the cultural festival. That way, the student council and teachers could check for any inappropriate content.

So, we were actually in a time crunch. Izumi just wasn’t pressuring us to fill the quota.

Today being Saturday, I had already told my boss I would be about an hour late.

…Actually, I also wanted some time to organize my thoughts.

“He doesn’t seem like the type to get angry about that.”

“Yeah… that’s true.”

The boss is definitely a good person.

Even if the kids working at his shop come from unfortunate backgrounds, it’s rare for someone to personally bring homemade lunch boxes to their sports festivals.

Just saying a few encouraging words after hearing their stories would be enough to be considered a good person.

“He’s very… considerate.”

Yes. I am being shown consideration.

The boss, and everyone else around me, shows consideration to Koko and me.

Sometimes, I wonder if I’m taking too much advantage of those around me.

No, “taking advantage” is definitely the right phrase.

“…”

At my words, Yuka briefly wore an expression of not knowing how to respond. Probably because the expression on my face was complicated.

And this too was consideration.

Can I ever repay the people around me? Can I repay everything before I leave?

Especially to Yuka.

…Will Yuka be able to remain unaffected after experiencing that incident?

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

Yuka asked, seeing me lost in thought while looking up at her face.

I nodded.

“I’m fine.”

“…”

Yuka didn’t seem to believe me, so I added a bitter smile.

*

To explain a bit about yesterday’s events that I hadn’t mentioned: it ended less seriously than I had feared.

First, the police had a huge misunderstanding about us.

It was a bar guarded by yakuza, and finding four female students who had just bathed inside, they acted as if they had stumbled upon some bonus.

We didn’t even have time to explain before warm blankets were draped over our shoulders and we became “protected subjects.”

Until a man in a suit arrived at the police station.

“…Student. Even if your mother works there, bringing your friends is a bit…”

Fortunately, it was taken into consideration that the upper floor was just an ordinary residence.

Of course, my actual home was far away in Saitama, but this was also a home, wasn’t it? One way to enter that home was through the bar in the basement. Though one could also go up directly from the upper floor.

Strictly speaking, it was illegal, but if I was trying to see my mother, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

The police seemed to have made that judgment after hearing the explanation from the suited man, my testimony, and the statements from Kaoru and Izumi.

More precisely, they “pretended” to make that judgment. It seemed that the suited man was in a similar position to Mr. Miura.

The reason he didn’t come here… was probably because I was with Kaoru and Izumi. Both had seen Mako during the previous retreat. There was every possibility they could run into Mr. Miura, Mako’s father.

“However, you’ll need to cooperate with our investigation.”

The suited man said, as if pressuring me.

“It seems our investigation area will expand.”

However, that man, taller than Mr. Miura, exerted less pressure than Mr. Miura. Was it just my imagination?

Well, in the original work, he might have been rampaging behind the scenes after losing his daughter, so it was natural for me to feel pressure just knowing about him.

Mr. Miura was scarier than a man whose name I didn’t even know.

So, we were able to return in less than an hour, but—

“I’m Miki~”

…The problem was Miki.

From the circumstances, Miki seemed to be the boss’s younger sibling, and from what the boss said, she appeared to be a minor.

And the problem was that Miki was brought in with us when we were taken away.

Japan doesn’t have resident registration cards like Korea. In fact, few countries besides Korea have such things. But usually, there are means to verify one’s identity.

The same goes for Miki.

If they started searching properly, they would probably find records of her being in juvenile detention.

“No, I mean, your full name including your family name…”

Watching the police continue their investigation of Miki, I suddenly pointed at her.

And looking straight up at the man who was pressuring me, I said:

“Let her go first.”

“What?”

“If you don’t let her go, I won’t cooperate either.”

At my words, the man’s mouth opened slightly.

Was it an unreasonable demand?

Well, it seemed much easier than releasing four potential suspects who might have created a corpse discovered less than two hours ago.

After all, Miki was currently not even disguised as an adult.

“You think you’re in a position to—”

“You’d better let her go.”

Kagami, who had been waiting while yawning, said.

Unlike when he was explaining things to us, his attitude was very light and delinquent-like.

Yes, the same attitude he had when he saw me at the police station.

And this was a police station too.

“She’s quite stubborn, you know.”

“…”

And this person didn’t have many means to pressure me.

Yuka is an exorcist. Given Yuka’s personality, she wouldn’t endanger others’ lives for her own desires, but dirty adults often think of children’s standards in terms of their own profit calculations.

So Yuka is outside their calculation range. She’s someone they need.

After excluding her, there’s not much else. Almost all students at Hanakawa High School come from wealthy families. There are many children they can’t casually mess with.

Kagami?

“I’m suffering all sorts of damage because of that stubbornness.”

On the surface, we don’t seem to have any particular relationship, right?

Well, I wouldn’t say we’re particularly close either.

At least I have no intention of getting involved when Kagami is in a politically difficult situation. Kagami probably has no intention of dragging me in either.

So, Kagami, my only family member besides Koko, can’t be a target for threats.

Koko… well.

Koko is more like “my” means of threatening others, isn’t she? Though I have no intention of using her that way.

“So, just let her go quickly. She’s reliable when it comes to work, even if she’s a bit slow and often late.”

Kagami said with a snort to the speechless man.

*

I still wasn’t sure if letting her go was the right answer.

Would it have been better to hand her over to the police so she could return to her home normally?

But she might end up back in juvenile detention if things went wrong. I had no intention of sending the boss’s sibling back to such a place.

But letting her continue working at the bar also seemed… a bit wrong.

In the end, during the hour I had negotiated with the boss, I arrived at the café without reaching a proper conclusion.

“Oh, did you write well?”

The boss asked with a smile.

His usual languid expression and attitude.

Seeing him, I thought again.

Why doesn’t Miki go to the boss?

Is it because she doesn’t want to hear criticism? Or because of her situation? Does she have debts and doesn’t want to burden the boss?

Or… is it simply because she’s too ashamed?

“…What?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. I’ll go change.”

I said and quickly went to change clothes.

As slowly as possible, changing clothes as if buying time, I continued to ponder.

I want to repay.

I’ve received so much from the boss.

Just as Kuro helped me simply because he raised me, I wanted to help the boss.

If I hadn’t known about Miki’s existence, I wouldn’t have thought this far. The only way I could help right now was by working hard.

…The boss takes care of me because he thinks I have a sibling in a similar situation to his. But that’s not actually true. Like my relationships with other kids, I’m essentially getting kindness from the boss through lies.

That’s something that could be called a debt.

“…Alright.”

After changing, I nodded to myself and muttered.

Let’s ask the boss directly.

That seems better.

After taking several deep breaths, I went outside and headed straight for the boss.

Seeing me approach with a determined expression rarely seen on me, the boss looked at me with wide eyes.

“Boss.”

“Yes, what is it? Did something happen?”

“…If.”

I said.

“Just hypothetically, if you could meet that sibling of yours again… could you understand their situation, no matter what it is?”

“…What?”

At my words, the boss looked dumbfounded.

“I mean, if—”

But before I could continue, the boss grabbed my shoulders firmly.

And pulling me close to him, he said:

“Do you know something?”

“Ah, well—”

I was a bit flustered, but I composed my expression and said:

“…Please answer my question first.”

“…”

At my words, the boss stared at me for a while. We were so close our noses almost touched. Shii, who was working in the distance, looked at us with concern.

If Koko had been here, she might have forcibly separated the boss from me.

“…Did something happen?”

“…”

But I didn’t say anything.

The boss took a deep breath and then,

“Of course I can understand.”

He said that and released me.

Then he sat down in his seat with a somewhat deflated expression.

“…No, actually, I might not understand.”

He added in a slightly uncertain voice.

“But still, I want to meet them. I want to meet them and say I’m sorry.”

“…”

I looked at the boss quietly.

This… might be an act that disregards Miki’s feelings.

In fact, it’s naive to think the boss is just a good person. I don’t know what actually happened between them.

But still.

I nodded.

*

Usually after work, I have dinner with Shii and then go straight home, but today I headed elsewhere.

Before coming, I had already contacted by phone. I could have sent an email, but calling seemed much more certain.

I had requested Miki in advance. Miki seemed a bit confused but answered, “Then I won’t be late today~”

Seeing that we were heading to the bar, the boss looked like his soul had left his body, but as he had promised me before coming here, he followed behind me silently.

And then—

“…Ah…”

He came face to face with Miki.

I had worried it might not be her, but now I had a different concern.

Was it too sudden? But I thought if I had told her, Miki might have run away. There was already a precedent for that.

“…”

The boss didn’t say anything.

Miki, half-risen from her seat, and the boss, standing expressionless without saying a word.

The first to move was the boss.

The boss rushed toward Miki.

Before Miki could go anywhere, the boss embraced her tightly.

“…Ah…”

Like when she first saw us, Miki could only make such a sound.

“…I’m sorry.”

That was the first thing the boss said.

I don’t know what history existed between them. But I was certain that those words melted something that had been between them.

After all, Miki’s face was soon a mess of tears.

Miki hugged the boss back.

Feeling awkward, I turned my gaze away—and ended up making eye contact with Kagami.

Kagami just shrugged.

His expression seemed so nonchalant, as if saying “Ah, lost an employee,” that I had to suppress a laugh.