"Leaf, are you dating Nakata?"
In gym class. One of my classmates asked me while I was stretching. Across the half-partitioned gymnasium, girls were playing volleyball and shouting in yellow.
"No, I'm not dating her."
When I answered honestly, the other guy suddenly revealed a delighted expression on his face.
What's with that look?
"Nakata is cute, but she's got a tight guard, right? That's why I need your help and want you to cooperate with me."
"Cooperate? Cooperate with what?"
"I've had a crush on Nakata since freshman year."
He looked at the person at the back of the gym while saying this, and I immediately answered with a smile, "I can't do it." My mouth moved before my brain could think. I think It's called a conditioned reflex. Just like when I hear the melody of the automatic door opening at the convenience store and "irasshaimase"[1] pop out of my mouth.
I moved my body to the front of my classmate's line of sight. I felt a little uncomfortable with him looking at Walnut.
"What the hell, you're not dating, are you?"
I moved my body to block his view again as if I was angry at him for extending his head.
"I'm not going out with her, but I can't do it."
He stretches his head to the right, and I also move to the right.
"I beg you, you just have to create a chance to have a conversation."
He extends his head upward, and I also lift my heels up as high as I can.
"So you like Nakata, Leaf?"
I was finally told this while being half-glared, and I held my chest out stubbornly.
"That's right. I'm an important friend."
There are various emotions when it comes to "liking" someone. I remembered what Walnut had said the other day, and I put up the cause of being an important friend. If I said "I don't like her," I would be asked to cooperate, and if I said "I like her," they would make a fuss about my love life.
Sure enough, the other guy gave me an annoyed look and said, "What's that about?" Then he dribbled the ball away.
"Since when did you become the father of Walnut?"
When I turned around at the sound of his exasperated voice, Takumi seemed to have seen the whole thing. To my chagrin, Takumi looked cool on the basketball court, even to me.
The girls have been glancing at Takumi for a while now, but he doesn't mind at all.
"I haven't become a father, though."
"Despite that, you certainly sounded like a father with a daughter at your age earlier.”
“But I'm worried. What if our precious friend, Walnut, gets caught up with some strange guy?"
"Don't become a father on your own, you little prick," Takumi laughed at my words.
◇
The sound of light rainfall is heard. Raindrops from the overcast grey sky were tapping on the glass windows.
"It's raining, isn't it?"
"It's the rainy season, so it can't be helped."
Walnut, with her chin in the air, looked up at the other side of the window. In her hand was an illustrated book of natural stones that she had borrowed from the library.
In an empty classroom after homeroom, Walnut and I were sitting across from each other. I was sitting on the chair in front of her, backing her.
Incidentally, I was playing a game on my smartphone. The kind where you line up blocks of the same color and they disappear.
"I can't believe I have to go to a guidance session on a Saturday."
"But it was interesting to hear the stories of the graduating seniors."
It was a Saturday, which would normally be a holiday. After the guidance in the morning, we were planning to have lunch somewhere together. However, Rizakura, as a member of the class council, was asked to run an errand by her homeroom teacher.
Noguchi, the other member of the class council, was absent today due to a cold.
Takumi was asked to do some heavy lifting.
And we were waiting for them in the classroom.
"Is that book interesting?" I say as I tap the screen of my phone. The red block hasn't disappeared since a while ago. Oh, I failed again.
When I grabbed the stick-shaped snacks on the edge of the desk, I chewed it in my mouth.
"The story that the professor told me was interesting."
She replied as she flipped through the glossy pages, oblivious to my frowning.
She was referring to yesterday's geology class. We call the geology teacher with the white beard ‘professor’. Technically, he is a teacher, since this is not a university and he only teaches here.
However, his calm demeanor, the beige waistcoat he wears all year round, his sleepy chatter, and the air of an expert on life and death, all of these things make him sound very much like a professor.
“The other day, about the rocks?"
Whenever the topic of conversation turned to something he liked, he had a habit of talking about it and being reluctant to leave the class.
“Yes, the next page. Oh, this picture is of a mine. I remember there is a place in Japan where you can mine the source of gems that we all know and love.”
T/N:
[1]: 'Irasshaimase' means 'Welcome to the store/restaurant'
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