Ch.23Chapter 4. Where People Live (2)

Yuka’s grandfather brought more than just a TV.

Of course, the TV came first. A 14-inch CRT TV. They also brought a small cabinet to put the TV on.

With the TV on the cabinet and the Super Famicom next to it, everything looked quite substantial.

At least now I wouldn’t have to worry about how to pass the time.

Not only that, they also bought several plastic storage containers.

My spare clothes and underwear that had been scattered around the room were all neatly organized and put inside them.

…I could understand why Yuka was shocked when she came over. I thought I had organized things in my own way, but my clothes and underwear were just rolling around on the floor.

I also received a spare blanket to sleep with, and even a small refrigerator.

“I thought I might need it for business trips, but it’s been sitting in storage after being used just once. Don’t feel burdened.”

When I hesitated about what to say, her grandfather said that while installing the refrigerator in the kitchen.

It wasn’t very large, and it had yellowed with age, but it was a perfectly functional refrigerator with both freezer and refrigerator compartments! Since it was free, I had no reason to complain.

So… now I could buy discounted drinks and ice cream from the supermarket and stock them up.

Ah, the wonders of modern civilization.

I also received a clothes drying rack, clothespins, and even gym clothes.

The gym clothes were hand-me-downs from Yuka, but that was fine. It was more than enough.

…By the way, I wonder if Yuka sees me as something like a little sister.

“Good, now it finally looks like a place where someone lives.”

After bringing all the items into my room, Yuka nodded and said.

I… agreed with that statement. Certainly, bringing in these household items made the bleak atmosphere disappear a bit. It didn’t look like a wealthy home, but it had transformed from an “empty room” to something more like a “studio apartment.”

“…”

I stood beside her for a moment, blankly looking around the room,

“…Thank you.”

I said with sincerity.

“It’s nothing, this is all just employee welfare.”

“Yes, child. None of these are newly purchased, so don’t worry.”

But the storage containers for my clothes definitely looked new.

Of course, for working people, they might have been affordable. They were just plastic containers after all.

But for someone like me who had been carelessly leaving clothes scattered around the room to save every penny, they were quite wonderful.

“Thank you.”

I said once more, bowing.

“It’s really nothing.”

Yuka waved her hand as if genuinely embarrassed.

The two of them really just did that much and then left.

“You have to go to school tomorrow too.”

Yuka said from inside the car.

“Since you have a way to get back, there’s no reason for me to stay overnight.”

“…”

“Well, see you at school tomorrow.”

“…Yeah.”

I waved back to Yuka who was waving at me.

“Then, until next time, when the opportunity arises.”

“…Goodbye.”

I also said goodbye to her grandfather.

And the two of them really left without taking anything in return.

For a long time, I stood outside watching until the car disappeared from sight, then slowly walked back to my room.

Since I had gone out just to say hello briefly, the lights were still on in the room.

And under that light, the room was both exactly the same and completely different from the room I remembered.

As I said before, it felt like “a place where someone lives.” Literally.

Hmm, if the room is like this, I probably wouldn’t have a problem showing it to Shii later.

Thinking that, I sat down at the table in front of the TV.

There were still some snacks that Yuka had left.

I opened the snack bag, put it on the table, and turned on the TV with the remote.

“…”

A slightly exaggerated variety show typical of Japanese broadcasting was on. It was already getting close to what could be called “late night.”

I quietly watched the program, picking up snacks one by one with my hand and putting them in my mouth.

“Haha…”

At first, I laughed along with the people on the broadcast. Even watching a show that would have made me burst into laughter before, laughter didn’t come easily from my mouth.

Rather, my vision was a bit blurry.

I wiped my eyes with my forearm and picked up another snack.

Feeling the crispy texture of the snack, I thought.

Really, really grateful people.

…I should properly repay them someday.

*

The rain falls steadily.

It’s been well into the rainy season for a while now.

Only after getting a television could I properly keep track of the weather forecast.

And according to that forecast, the rainy season had already started on June 6th.

I probably didn’t notice the rainy season because I was just lucky. Although the weather had been cloudy or rainy before, strangely, the rain would stop when I was going to school or coming home from work, so I didn’t really feel the rainy season on my skin.

But now that luck seems to have run out, as it was raining from the moment I left this morning.

For someone like me who has to walk for more than 30 minutes in the morning, it was almost a disaster.

The hem of my uniform skirt and my socks were completely soaked.

“Hmm.”

Fortunately, we wear indoor shoes inside the school. At least I don’t have to walk around in damp socks.

I brought a pair of new socks in my bag.

…I didn’t know my past life experience would be so valuable.

After wiping my feet with a towel, putting on new socks, and putting the wet socks and towel in a convenience store plastic bag and tying it up, I put it in my shoe locker.

Saying it takes an hour and a half to get to school means that if something unexpected happens, travel time increases dramatically. So I left very early and was able to arrive at school quite early.

There weren’t many people at the shoe lockers, so I could do all that without feeling self-conscious.

My uniform was still a bit wet, but feeling somewhat drier, I headed to my classroom.

“Oh, Kurosawa-san.”

“Hello.”

I happened to meet Ms. Suzuki in the hallway.

I couldn’t tell where she was going, but judging from the stack of file folders she was carrying, it was probably for work.

“…”

Why?

I was a bit tense under her gaze as she stared at my face, but Ms. Suzuki just smiled.

“You look happier these days.”

“…”

Do I?

I touched my face with my hand, just like when Shii asked me.

It feels the same as usual.

“Did something good happen?”

Yes.

The space where I live now feels like a place where people live.

I’ve been realizing lately how much entertainment affects people.

In the past, I would have tried to sleep to pass the time, but now I do something. Watch TV, play games. You know what? There are quite a few fun classic games.

“…Yes.”

When I nodded and said that, Ms. Suzuki also nodded.

“…That’s good.”

That response made me feel a bit strange.

“Ah, I’ve kept you too long. Sorry. I’ll see you in the classroom later.”

Hearing Ms. Suzuki say that, I slightly bowed my head again.

*

People, you know.

Have this thing called learning ability.

In other words, they usually don’t fall into the same trap twice.

So why would someone set up another bread trap in the hallway leading to the literature club room?

Today it was cheesecake.

As it happens, this was a flavor I knew.

Soft texture, not too spongy and dry, but appropriately moist and tender. I hadn’t tried it in this world yet, but it would definitely taste like that. After all, doesn’t it sell out much faster than cornet bread? That means students know its taste too.

But, I am a human. I’m different from animals that fall into traps.

This time too, the end of the bread bag had a hole punched through it with a thread.

At the end of that thread would probably be Kaneko, or Kaoru, or Kaoru Kaneko, anyway, that strange person who for some reason gave up a promising track and field club to try to create an occult club.

Knowing that, this time I walked past the bread without even glancing at it.

—Yes, I am not an animal that falls into the same trap over and over, but a thinking being.

I know how to break this trap!

I quickly turned around and stepped on the thread with my foot. The other person tried to pull the thread at the last moment, but it was too late.

I deliberately pretended to give up on the bread and moved far away from it, standing in front of the literature club door. This was to prevent accidentally stepping on the bread and making it inedible.

Thanks to that, the bread was dragged along the thread and then stopped when it hit my foot.

My victory.

Feeling triumphant, I bent down to pick up the bread—

“That’s not going to work!”

I felt someone grab me from behind.

“—Ah!!”

I struggled with both arms, but I was already being dragged backward by a powerful force.

Ah.

The soft, fluffy, sweet, and savory cheesecake was getting farther away.

“If you see a trap, it’s only polite to fall for it, Kut-chan.”

Kaneko, who was hugging me tightly from behind, said.

“Ah, but you always fall for it when it’s food. That’s what makes you cute. Ah~ I just want to kidnap you like this.”

“…What are you two doing?”

The literature club room door opened with a creak, and Ikeda poked her head out.

Her eyes looked at us with disdain.

Of course, those eyes were directed at Kaneko, not me.

The reason I thought so was because Ikeda bent down, picked up the cheesecake from the floor, and put it in my hand.

“If you want to give her bread, why don’t you just give it as a gift? Why do you do this every time?”

“But this is more fun. Kut-chan always falls for the trap.”

“…Kurosawa, even if they’re your seniors, you don’t need to play along that much.”

Hmm.

I just wanted to eat the bread, but if that’s how they want to see it, I don’t need to reveal my true intentions.

Kaneko finally let go of me as I clutched the cheesecake bread to my chest.

“…You look happy.”

“It’s like flowers are about to burst from your face.”

Even if they say that, my thoughts won’t change.

Getting daily bread is indeed a happy thing.

Ikeda shrugged and went into the literature club room, and the two of us followed, ending the situation.

*

“By the way, about that ghost member.”

Kaneko spoke up while we were filling our stomachs with snacks in the literature club room.

“Huh?”

Ikeda, who was absorbed in a book, didn’t seem to hear properly and looked up to ask.

“That ghost member you claim exists. Who is it? Coming to join a club that doesn’t even advertise itself, they must be quite strange.”

…But that applies to me too.

Maybe they’re like me, underestimating the literature club activities. I don’t think they came just to extort snacks, but still.

“Hehehe.”

But Ikeda laughed, pushing up her glasses with her finger as if she had been waiting for this question.

Flash!

Lightning flashed from behind.

But it didn’t look particularly evil. Real lightning isn’t as spectacularly bright as in comics, so unless it’s very close, it’s not as bright as the fluorescent lights in the literature club room.

“Believe it or not, I was promoting the literature club at the beginning of the semester. I wanted to prevent the club from being disbanded, if only for the seniors who helped me last year.”

“…So, only one person responded. You didn’t beg them ‘Please just put your name down so the club won’t be disbanded~’ or anything like that, right?”

“…”

The smile didn’t disappear from Ikeda’s face, but she didn’t continue speaking either.

Ikeda just silently pushed her glasses up further. Um… you’re pushing them up so much that your eyes are above the glasses. Is there any meaning in pushing them up that much?

“And so! I got a male member!”

Boom!

The delayed thunder sound matched our feelings quite well.

“A male!?”

Kaneko expressed my feelings.

“You can even talk to boys!?”

She expressed them very accurately.

“Hehehe…”

Hmm.

She doesn’t seem to have any reaction to being surprised that she “talked to a boy.” Wouldn’t most people get angry and say “It’s not that bad!”?

“Who is it? Can you tell us?”

“Huh?”

“I mean the member. You directly approached him and got his signature, right? Can you tell us who it is?”

“O-Of course I can!”

“Are you sure? It’s not some ghost or something?”

“Why would a ghost join the literature club?”

Hmm…

Yeah, why would they join the literature club? If the atmosphere was gloomy, I might understand, but the literature club becomes bright just with Kaneko’s presence.

No, thinking again, when that male student joined, Kaneko might not have been frequenting the literature club yet.

It is a bit gloomy to imagine Ikeda sitting alone in an empty literature club.

As I blankly stared at Ikeda’s indignant back as she rummaged through the files on the bookshelf, a possibility briefly crossed my mind.

…Wait, could that ghost member be.

“Found it!”

Ikeda pulled out a file that didn’t look too old.

“Look, see, the name is properly written here!”

Ikeda flipped through the pages and then placed the file in front of us.

The name written there was,

Souta Sasaki—

“Nakano Noboru (中野昇).”

—it wasn’t.

Well, if the protagonist had joined a club in the original work, there would have been episodes about the club. I’ve read about six volumes.

This Nakano Noboru is probably someone I’ve never read about in the novel.

“It’s just an application form. It doesn’t even say which class he’s in.”

Kaneko said, tilting her head.

“You said he was a first-year last time, right? Kut-chan, have you heard this name among the first-years?”

I shook my head.

Unless you’re a social butterfly who knows almost everyone in school, most people only know the names of students in their own class.

“By the way, why do you still have the application form? Don’t tell me you haven’t submitted it?”

“Ah, well.”

Ikeda’s face reddened a bit.

“The… only part filled in is the name.”

That was certainly true.

Except for the name, everything else was blank. Ikeda said this person was a first-year, but even the field for which class was blank, so you couldn’t tell which grade they were in just by looking at this.

“No, more importantly. If you haven’t submitted this, then you were the only member, right?”

“…”

Ikeda avoided Kaneko’s eyes.

“Maybe they just wrote any name and gave it to you!”

“N-No! I don’t think so?”

…Stop it.

Ikeda is going to cry.

I silently reached for the snack basket in the literature club.

Kaneko and Ikeda continued to argue for a while about whether the name written on that paper was real or not.

Hmm.

It seems Yuka isn’t coming today.

I thought quietly while listening to the sound of rain.

*

The next day.

For normal people, Tuesday might not be so enjoyable.

The third Tuesday of June was still in the middle of the rainy season and it was hot too.

Plus, the weekend was still far away, but fatigue had built up since Monday. It was literally a “weekday.”

But for me, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are the most comfortable days.

Because I can go to the club room briefly in the afternoon and then return home around five or six to watch TV or play games.

Rather, Thursday through Sunday are not so great because I work until late at night.

So, on this pleasant Tuesday, during the break after the third period.

It was still one period before lunch time.

“Kurosawa?”

I looked up at the voice calling me, and Miura was looking at me with a somewhat puzzled expression.

“Some seniors are calling for you in the hallway.”

When I turned my head, I saw Kaneko waving at me through the window. Ikeda was also there, but she seemed a bit uncomfortable being in a hallway for a different grade.

“Are they your club seniors?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Seeing me get up from my seat, Miura looked at the seniors through the window again.

They both have a somewhat… very innocent impression. It’s not just their appearance, but their personalities are clearly reflected on their faces.

If Kaneko or Ikeda were bullying someone in a sinister way, that would be quite shocking in its own way.

“They seem like nice people.”

“…Yes. They give me a lot of food too.”

“Uh…”

Miura seemed to forget what to say for a moment at my response.

“I’ll be back then.”

“Okay. See you.”

After that brief exchange, I went out to the hallway, and Kaneko put her hand up to her temple and said.

It seems like she was trying to salute, but from the perspective of someone who’s been in the military, it was an angle that would require a lot of training. Like drill training. I’m not sure how they do it in Japan, but at least it’s not such a casual attitude.

“About what we talked about yesterday.”

Kaneko spoke before I could open my mouth.

“We’re going to try to find that male student.”

I rummaged through my head for a moment to choose my words.

“…So you’re in the hallway where the first-year classrooms are?”

The reason it didn’t end with just “So?” was because I was trying my best not to forget my manners.

“Yes. So, junior, would you help us a bit?”

“…”

Hmm.

I looked at Ikeda.

Ikeda shook her head vigorously as if to say it wasn’t her idea.

Hmm…

I’m… the type who feels extremely uncomfortable going into other classrooms.

At the beginning of the semester, I’m the type who gradually expands my circle by becoming friends with those sitting in front and behind me, and then their friends, and their friends’ friends. So usually my network rarely extends beyond half the class. I also get stuck when faced with people I can’t communicate with.

“…Yuka is the only friend I have in another class.”

“Oh, good. Search operations should proceed one step at a time. Come on, let’s go.”

But it’s not lunch time yet, just a break between classes.

Do you have enough time? Don’t you need to leave some time to get back to the second-year classroom?

When I looked at Ikeda, she raised her shoulders high and then dropped them again with a deep sigh.

She was expressing with her whole body that it wasn’t her idea.

“…”

Ah.

I almost followed suit out of carelessness.