| Izumi | (It might be more atmospheric if we make the lighting here a little dimmer. If we shift their positions and the mood, maybe it'll look better.) |
| (We should still be able to improve the staging......) |
| Itaru | Ah, Director, GJ. |
| Izumi | Itaru-san. Good work. How was it accompanying Banri-kun on his school visit? |
| Itaru | It seems Banri was loved as a problem child after all. It was as you and Tsumugi said. |
| Izumi | Hehe, as expected. |
| Itaru | It had been a while since I entered high school grounds, but it was nostalgic; I remembered a bunch of things. |
| ......As I've said before, my high school life wasn't all fun, though. |
| ...... |
| Izumi | Itaru-san? |
| Itaru | Director, would you......accompany me on my school visit? |
| Izumi | (I wonder if going to Hanagaki changed Itaru-san's feelings in some way.) |
| Of course! |
| Itaru | ......Thanks. |
| |
| Izumi | Tomorrow it's finally time for Itaru-san's school visit! |
| Itaru | Director, you're too intense. |
| Izumi | I couldn't go before, so I'm going to get intense~! |
| Itaru | Were you that much of a hot-blooded character? |
| Izumi | Ahaha. Maybe I'm being carried along by Tsumugi-san's Kondo. Don't mind that. |
| Misumi | Meow, meow meow meow~! |
| Itaru | Ah, Misumi. |
| |
| Misumi | Ah~ It's Itaru and the Director~. |
| Izumi | The cats came to play, huh. |
| Misumi | That's right~. |
| This pure white one is Hanpen~. |
| Izumi | !? |
| Misumi | This gray one is Konnyaku~. The one over there with markings is Onigiri~! |
| Itaru | Konnyaku is referring to how it is in oden, huh......They're all triangular foods......That's Misumi for you. |
| Izumi | It's a very Misumi way of naming things...... |
| Itaru | I remembered because of the cats; you visited your old school too, didn't you. I'm going to visit my old school with the Director tomorrow. |
| Misumi | Yeah, I went too~. There was a teacher who remembered me. |
| Izumi | Is that so......Good for you, Misumi-kun. |
| (Misumi-kun seems kind of happy.) |
| Misumi | I invited him to come to the play this time, too~. |
| Izumi | In that case, we'll have to make it a good play. |
| Misumi | Yeah! |
| I'm sure they'll be a teacher who remembers Itaru too. |
| Itaru | Haha......I wonder about that. |
| Cat A | Meow~. |
| Misumi | The cat is saying it'll be okay too~. |
| Izumi | Hehe, is that so. |
| Itaru | Thanks. There, there. |
| Cat B | Meow~. |
| |
| Itaru | ――. |
| (I'd been trying not to think about that time, but......these past few days, I've been unconsciously thinking back over my high school days.) |
| (After the incident with Tonooka, it became troublesome even to keep up appearances and my conduct at school clearly changed.) |
| (I'd been hanging out with him practically every day up until the summer holidays, but after that I had plenty of time by myself......) |
| (It was exam season, so I'd go to prep school; it became routine to kill time in the library until it was time to go.) |
| (......Now that I think about it, there was a teacher who called out to me in the library. The new modern Japanese teacher......) |
| (His name was...Akutsu, I think.) |
| |
| That day, as always, I was reading a book in the library by myself after class. |
| "Hey, what are you reading?" |
| When I looked up, the one before me was the modern Japanese teacher Akutsu, the youngest teacher in school; he'd barely left university. |
| Apart from his excessively small writing on the blackboard during lessons, he hadn't left much of an impression. |
| But he'd often spotted me in the library after school like this. |
| "If you'd like, I have recommendations, but......" |
| Akutsu might have mistaken me for a bookworm. |
| I didn't hate books, but if I was being honest, I'd rather head straight home and play games. That, or take out my handheld console. |
| My house was further than the prep school, though, so it was a pain to go after returning home, and having a handheld console was against school rules, so I didn't want to be found out. |
| Up until now, I'd been breaking those rules occasionally, but now I followed them perfectly so other people wouldn't bother me. |
| Thus, this person didn't know why I was spending time in the library. |
| "......Please, of course." |
| While I was fed up on the inside, I sent him the perfect smile my older sister had taught me. |
| "......Umm, what was it......" |
| But Akutsu faltered. |
| An undefinable atmosphere passed between us. |
| "I forgot which book I'd wanted to recommend to you......Sorry." |
| "Is that so. Please tell me when you remember. It's about time for me to go to prep school, so......" |
| When I collected my gear and rose from my seat, trying to go, a voice called out to me from behind. |
| "Um......I've only been here since Spring, and I don't know you very well......But." |
| Wondering what I was being told, I turned back ――. |
| "I'd thought you were a child who smiled more naturally." |
| Those words really hurt. |
| Seeing my face turn expressionless, Akutsu was clearly aware he'd messed up. |
| But I was unable to muster up the smile I'd worn until just before; leaving him with a cold 'goodbye', I vacated that place at a swift pace. |
