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Chapter 75
I'll be fine even if I don't see Sendai-san — 75
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
My neck is unsettled.
The tie is neither tight nor loose.
Maybe I am fidgety and restless because this piece of cloth around my neck is not mine.
I try to pull on the tie.
Sendai-san’s tie looks and feels the same as mine. Maika and Ami are so unaware of the change in the tie that it should be just a tie, no matter who sees it or who pulls it on.
Only Sendai-san and I know that the tie is different.
「Shiori, don’t look at your tie, look ahead. Be careful.」
I hear Maika’s voice and she pulls me by the arm.
My consciousness that had been directed toward the tie goes outward, and the sounds that had been shut out flow in all at once.
The voices of people coming and going.
The sound of cars running.
The sound in my ears suddenly makes my head buzz and reminds me that I’m heading to the mall.
We’re going shopping, I thought.
I take my hand off the tie and look ahead.
The festival, which is nothing but a hassle, is just a few days away, and I am also busy preparing for it, although I don’t feel like it. Today, because someone wanted to decorate the sign a little more, we had to dedicate an after-school day to shopping for materials.
「If you dawdle, you’ll bump into someone again, just like you bumped into Sendai-san.」
Ami says with a laugh, and Maika makes a sound of dismay.
「I’m afraid you’re going to hit a cyclist, let alone a person, so get it right.」
「Sorry.」
People in uniforms and suits mingle on the sidewalks, and bicycles weave in and out of people. I am not going that fast, but if I hit them, I might get hurt.
I don’t care what happens at the festival, but I don’t want to end up in the hospital after a collision with a bicycle. I don’t want to make such a silly schedule, whether it’s a hospital visit or a hospital stay.
I haven’t seen Sendai-san since then.
Preparations for the festival and prep school have kept her off schedule. The replies to the several messages I sent were telling me that she had a prep school, and my postponed plans were destroyed by preparations for a cultural festival. If I had to go to the hospital, my schedule would be further extended.
「I’ve been seeing a lot your necktie lately, what’s up with that?」
Maika points to my tie.
「It’s nothing. I was just wondering if it was tied well.」
I take a big step forward and run away from the stares that stab at my chest. But Ami tapped me on the shoulder with a force that made me feel that she would not let me go.
「I doubt that you suddenly care about your appearance. You never cared that much before.」
「It’s not unusual. I just felt something strange. More importantly, what are we buying?」
It forces me to end a conversation that I have no way to answer when pursued. And by the way, I also expel from my mind the tie that is causing me to be restless.
「I have a memo.」
Maika pulls a folded piece of paper out of her skirt pocket. I looked at the piece of paper that had been part of my notebook a few dozen minutes ago and even wrote something I wasn’t sure what it was for. It would be quite a load if I bought everything, but it would be better than working in a classroom.
We headed for the shopping mall, complaining about what we were doing.
Although not as hot as in mid-summer, the white blouse clung to my back. Unlike the tie, I don’t mind the blouse, since Sendai-san’s blouse is somehow unwearable and stored away in my closet. But I am wondering what Sendai-san did with my tie and blouse.
I had seen her in school.
However, just by looking at it, I cannot tell whether it is mine or Sendai-san’s that make up the uniform.
I would like to meet her and ask her directly what she did with my uniform.
「I wish the festival would end soon.」
Ami responds to the words I blurted out.
「The preparation is a hassle, but the festival itself is fun, isn’t it?」
「This is the last year, let’s see what’s going on.」
「Not that I’m not looking forward to it.」
Ami and Maika’s happy voices answer brusquely.
I don’t dislike the cultural festival itself. Last year was a lot of fun there, and the year before was moderately fun. It’s just not fun to get caught up in the『let’s enjoy the event』fever that some people create.
They are forced to get excited together when they should be excited only with the core members of the class. Even today, if I didn’t have to buy anything, I could have called Sendai-san home.
I can’t help going home early now, but I want to go home as soon as possible.
While I was stuck in such backward thinking, I heard Ami’s positive voice.
「Well, let’s just relax, do some shopping and get back today.」
「Ami, we’re not here for personal shopping today, okay?」
Maika flutters a note and shows it to her.
「Shopping is just a matter of time. We just need to do it quickly, kill some time, and return.」
「Say something appropriate again.」
「It’s no use being an errand girl if you don’t take it seriously. You think so too, don’t you, Shiori?」
「Well, yeah.」
I don’t mean to emulate Ami’s easygoing attitude, but it’s futile to think about doing something about something that can’t be done. It would be better to finish the troublesome shopping quickly and go home with something fun to do with the two of you.
I enter the shopping mall with them.
Maika purchases a good amount of unfamiliar items with a memo in hand. Ami and I, who have become luggage carriers, are no better than willful zombies. We follow Maika around and serve as errand girls.
「Would you like something to drink?」
Almost thanks to Maika, the shopping is done, and with a few words from Ami, the next destination is decided to be the food court.
This time, Ami takes the lead and starts walking.
We rode the escalator, talked nonsense, and as we passed the grocery store, I stopped.
It was a store I usually don’t pay attention to, and I usually don’t even change my walking speed there. But an accessory in the store caught my eye. It was a necklace with small ornaments dangling from a silver chain, and it looked like it would suit Sendai-san
As I approached it, I could hear Maika’s voice.
「What is it? Did you find something cute?」
「Yeah.」
I answer quickly, and Ami, who almost left me, comes back.
「Perhaps you would have preferred a birthday present or an accessory?」
「If you wanted something like that, just tell me and I would have bought it.」
Maika said ruefully, and I hastily denied it.
I like the pen case and book cover that they gave me last week as birthday presents. I’ve been using the pen case since the day after I got it, and the book cover is over a novel I’m reading. Both were things I had said I wanted, so there is no way I would have preferred the accessory.
「I don’t want it, it just caught my eye.」
That’s right, it just happened to catch my eye and reminded me of Sendai-san. The accessories are not something I would buy and give her, although they are not something I could afford to buy with the 5,000 yen I would pay her. In general, there was no way I could give her a necklace, nor would it be a good opportunity to give it to her. If I knew her birthday, it would be a good opportunity to give her a necklace, but I didn’t know her birthday and I had never heard of it.

I know, but I won’t give it to her.
Needless to say, we are not the kind of people who give gifts. If I can’t give it to her, it’s pointless to find something that would suit her.
「Do you want to look in?」
Maika asks me, and I answer once and for all.
「I won’t.」
「If you don’t want to, let’s go?」
Ami says in a light tone and starts to walk away. Maika asked me,「Are you sure?」But I don’t change my answer. There was no need to change it because there was no way to see it.