When I got to the nurseâs office, the was nobody there. There was a note on the white board saying that the nurse is in the faculty room, but I canât go there right now.
I canât bring the crying child to the staff room, and I canât leave her here either. I have to wait for the nurse for who knows how longâŠ
It seems that the school has a shower for children who are in sports clubs, but I sonât know where it is because Iâm not in any clubs since I often take days off of school.
Even If I knew where the shower room was, the crying child would shake her head in shame from being seen by someone that she knows. Well, it looks like sheâs in a fine arts type of club. Sheâd look normal reading a book in the library. So, she probably wouldnât meet anyone she knows in that shower room. And, the pool shower room is locked at this time and canât be usedâŠ
By the way, if there arenât any possible places to shower in the school, thereâs always my house. Itâs a few minutes away on foot, and, if we walk quickly, it wonât be a problem.
âDo you want to go to my house? Thereâs clothes there.â
âEhhâŠ? Bu-but, if you leave school at this time, theyâll get angryâŠâ
âItâs fine, itâs fine, Iâm always leaving, so itâs okay.â
For other people, if a guardian doesnât pick them up, they canât leave, but, due to the nature of my job, Iâm allowed to leave early if Shinosaki-san is unable to pick me up. The security guard-san knows my face, and I can pass.
Well, the school might get angry later, but it canât be helped.
In fact, I could get out of the school without talking to security guard-san. But, that requires climbing a 5-meter wall, (1) and I canât possibly do that with the crying child with me.
When we arrived at my house, my mother wasnât there.  The small white board in the living room had, âKazukiâs kindergartenâs  visiting day.â I thought that they will come home together at 3 oâclock. I didnât know that sheâd leave early, but itâs good that way.
I showered the crying child, and my skirt and pantsu got wet. I wound a shawl, which I borrowed from the nurseâs office without permission, around her back, and I threw the dirty clothes into the washing machine, and then I started dressing her. Since there werenât many clothes, it didnât take much time to wash them, and Iâll only have to wait 40 minutes for them to dry. Â Weâll just barely be in time for 4th period.
I got a change of clothes, and I gave them to her with a bath towel. Â I wondered if I should give her spare pantsu, but I certainly wouldnât like to wear the pantsu of others. Until her pantsu are washed, sheâll have to endure wearing pajama trousers with no pan(tsu).
âYouâll have to change here.â
âS-sorryâŠâ
When I, in the dressing room, talked to the person in the bathroom, that reply came back over the showerâs noise. Â After that, I started stretching using a balance ball in the living room.
The bodyâs flexibility is important, so I do it everyday. When Shinosaki-san sees me stretching on my free time, she gets angry for me not resting.
âUm, umm⊠My uniformâŠâŠAh!â
After her shower ended, she came out and saw my completely-curved pose on the balance ball. Because of that, my pantsu was completely visible. I was careless as I thought nobody would see me, but itâs okay since sheâs a girl.
âI washed your uniform; I think itâll dry in around an hour.â
âI see⊠SorryâŠâ
âWell, relax until it dries. What do you want to drink?â
I got up without any trouble. My pantsu are completely hidden now, good?
I took orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured it into a cup, and I brought the tray that was holding the cup.
This areaâs supermarket only has high-grade, domestic, and expensive things, so this orange juice is expensive. It seems that even Sakuranagi Academy students donât have a problem with their high-class products.
When we first moved, my mother grieved over the price and went to a distant supermarket, but she seems to have given up.
It was expected, but, in this area, a madam holding bags from a cheap supermarket and riding a bicycle stood out.
I put the juice on the table and sat on the sofa next to the once-crying child.
The once-crying child stopped crying, but she didnât talk about anything.
âI am Hanamura Nanami from class 3 in 4th grade. You are?â
âUmm⊠Me too, class 3⊠Same class, Iâm⊠Ogasawara Ayano.â (2)
âYes! Weâre in the same class!â
ââŠSorry, I have no presence⊠people(strangers) would always forget meâŠâ
Bad, I totally didnât know that we were in the same class. Well, I didnât go to school that much. I only remember half of my classmatesâ names, but I thought I remembered their faces. But, apparently, her presence was so thin that it didnât enter my hippocampus. I tried to remember so I wouldnât be shamed, but I was found out, wasnât I? Sorry.
With that unpleasant silence, I drank the orange juice. It had a refreshing sour taste. Yep, expensive orange juice is delicious, much better than escaping reality by looking at the corner of the living room like Ayano-chan.
My family put posters of dramas and movies that I appeared on there. Yes, I forgot to clean up this place. Since we moved to this mansion, there werenât any other visitors other than for work, so I was careless. Well, whatever. She heard what I said in the science prep room anyways.
ââŠAre you okay?â
âUm, umm⊠Hanamura-san really is âHanasaki Nana-chanââŠrightâŠ?â
âYes, thatâs right. For various reasons, I hid it.â
I took off the wig and my glasses. As I posed and did a wink, Ayano-chanâs expression quickly shone.
âIt-itâs the real Nana-chanâŠâ
She gazed at me with glittering eyes. I posed and winked, but Iâd never do that for real. I do it a lot in acting, but itâs pretty embarrassing when I do it.
âThis⊠Donât tell anyone from school.â
âUmm, yes, since you said so, Iâll keep the secret⊠Why are you hiding this?â
âWell⊠Various reasons.â
Because of the harassment at my old school, the story of me transferring wasnât mentioned in the news nor did it enter the wide show.
Well, me transferring wasnât newsworthy, and the wide show probably didnât want to report on the trouble that they caused. Therefore, it wasnât commonly known; only the concerned parties knew that I transferred.
So, I explained of what happened in my previous school.