Episode 32
I’ve been staring at the pamphlet Fujishiro gave me.
Reading through it, there were more jobs that interested me than I’d expected.
Working as a civil servant might genuinely be worth adding to my options.
“Mei-chan, I’m so jealous that you’re good at sports.”
I’d been lost in thought when a girl with a soft, fluffy bob cut spoke to me.
“Hinata-san is good at sports too.”
“Stop with the -san, you’re not opening up to me at all! At least use -chan!”
“Okay.”
Hinata-chan poked at my cheek with one finger.
Does everyone who spends time around Fujishiro become this keen on touching people?
There really are a lot of people around her with almost no sense of personal space.
“Mei is actually a good person, really! So even if she’s a bit prickly sometimes, don’t worry about it!”
“Ran-chan really does love Mei-chan, doesn’t she.”
“Yeah! I love her so much!”
This time Ran threw her arms around me.
Today might just be one of those days where everyone touches me.
I wished she’d move away, because it was getting a bit much.
“I want us all to get closer. If you two are free this week, do you want to hang out?”
“Yes!”
“Really?! Where should we go?!”
Before I’d quite understood what was happening, plans were already being made. The two of them chattered happily about what to do on their day off.
“More people makes it more fun, so I’ll invite Yudzuki and Nanoha too!”
“What?!”
The sound came out before I could stop it. I caught myself and covered my mouth. But Hinata-chan was peering at me with a worried look.
“Mei-chan, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing… it’s fine.”
Fujishiro would be there too…
As long as she didn’t do anything strange, I supposed it would be all right — but unease filled me to the brim.
Come to think of it, Hinata-chan was close with Fujishiro. I found myself curious about how they’d become friends.
“How did you get close with Yudzuki and Fujishiro, Hinata-chan?”
“Fujishiro…? Oh, you mean Nanoha. Yudzuki and Nanoha are childhood friends! I’m not, but Yudzuki and Nanoha have been competing with each other on grades and sports since they were little! I always liked watching that from the side.”
“Is that so.”
I’d been the one to ask, and my response came out quite flat. I made a note to do better next time.
The conversation about Fujishiro gave me an opening to raise what had been bothering me lately.
“What kind of presents do you give Yudzuki and Fujishiro for their birthdays, Hinata-chan?”
“Mei, since when do you care about things like that?!”
It was Ran who jumped on that, more than I’d expected. She probably found it unusual because I’d never talked about birthday presents or anything like that in front of her before.
I regretted asking.
But Hinata-chan answered my question calmly.
“I usually give Yudzuki and Nanoha small accessories or cosmetics! Is there someone you want to give something to, Mei-chan?”
“N, no…”
“Mei, really?”
Both of them were fixing me with suspicious stares, and I panicked. But there was nothing I could do but shake my head vigorously and deny it.
※
“Apparently we’re all hanging out together this week.”
“I’m not going.”
“Why?!”
Fujishiro had been studying, and then suddenly slapped both hands flat on the desk. She turned a disgruntled face toward me.
“If you promise not to talk to me, I’ll go.”
“With everyone there, the two of us not talking would be weirder. What’s the problem?”
“Because I don’t want Ran making a big deal out of things.”
“After everything we’ve done together, you’re saying we’re not close?”
Fujishiro was looking thoroughly surprised.
It was true that what we’d been doing was probably more than what close people usually did, but the reason we’d ended up doing those things was because we’d each been seeking some kind of benefit from the other.
It wasn’t a special relationship.
“Be quiet. Focus on studying.”
“Hey, Morishita. Are we not close?”
In front of me was a girl with an unusually sulky expression.
She came closer, practically pushing me down.
“Come on, answer me.”
“We’re not close.”
“Even after that kiss?”
“I said it was just curiosity.”
At that, Fujishiro puffed her cheeks out.
“That was my first time, you know.”
“So?”
“You took a girl’s first, so take responsibility.”
“Don’t phrase it like that.”
This wasn’t a shoujo manga. I didn’t think firsts mattered that much.
If it had been so unpleasant, she could just pretend it never happened.
I didn’t understand what Fujishiro wanted.
“…How was it for Morishita?”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you kissed anyone before?”
Being asked that with flushed cheeks made me embarrassed too, and I didn’t know how to answer.
It didn’t matter either way, did it. Whether someone had experience or not.
I genuinely couldn’t care less about firsts.
“It doesn’t matter either way.”
“If you won’t tell me I’ll kiss you.”
She cupped my chin and traced her thumb across my lips. That sent a shiver running down my spine, an unpleasant crawling feeling.
Irritated at being made to feel that way, I bit her finger. But unlike usual, Fujishiro didn’t say that hurts or pull her hand away — instead she pressed her thumb further in and ran it across my tongue.
The unpleasant feeling made me let up my bite immediately.
She was doing something disgusting, and yet Fujishiro was wearing an expression of such obvious enjoyment that I must have been glaring at her with an extraordinary scowl.
“Morishita’s tongue is soft.”
“What is wrong with you.”
“Maybe something is. You can bite my finger more if you want. I like it when Morishita hurts me.”
She moved her finger against my lips, provoking me.
I wasn’t going to play into her hands, so I turned away.
No matter how cold my attitude, Fujishiro picked up her pen looking pleased, and went back to studying. That pen, held between her fingers — those were the fingers that had been inside my mouth. The wrongness of it sat in me like a splinter, and for a while I couldn’t concentrate on studying at all.