"Mornin', Minato. What happened to you yesterday?"
Morning.
Feeling back to normal, I was heading to school as usual when Yumekawa's voice caught me off guard. I turned around, a little startled.
"Yumekawa? You're getting to school unusually late."
"Well, I just happened to oversleep. But hey, waking up early isn't the only secret to a good day, right?"
"You're the one who's always pushing the early bird stuff."
"Ehehe. More importantly, are you feeling okay? The teacher was worried since you didn't get in touch at all yesterday."
"Ah, right. Guess I have to stop by the staff room."
"Hey, are you listening?"
"Y-yeah, sorry. I wasn't feeling great, but I bounced back pretty quick."
I didn't really want to go into the details of yesterday with Yumekawa, so I tried changing the subject. But I got the feeling her expression darkened a little.
"Hmm."
"What?"
"Nothing. So, Minato, do you text with Asou-senpai on LINE or anything?"
"Miss Asou? Yeah, occasionally about shift changes at work."
"So you gave her your LINE. But you won't give it to me."
"That's because it's for work."
"But you said you gave her advice about her ex-boyfriend and stuff too. So she is special, huh."
"Just because she has my LINE doesn't mean she's special."
"Then can I have it too?"
"Uh, well, I guess."
"Hehe. I'm not gonna spam you or anything. But it sucks when I'm worried about you, like yesterday, and I can't even reach you."
"Why would you be worried about that?"
"Because... we're friends, right? If someone you're close with misses school, you worry."
Hearing her say that made me think back on yesterday.
I wondered if Kurenai had come over out of that same feeling.
Not that asking her would ever get me the kind of answer I wanted.
"Yeah, I guess that's how it works."
"Yep. That's how it works. Now, show me your QR code."
"Yeah, yeah."
We exchanged contact info as we arrived at school and headed straight to the classroom.
Yumekawa was immediately called away by someone else.
As usual, I found myself zoning out alone.
Then the bell rang.
The teacher came in.
But.
Kurenai didn't come to school.
◇
"Hey, hey, Minato. You working tomorrow?"
It was lunch break, and Yumekawa was at it again.
"Yeah, why?"
"But it's at night, right? Wanna hang out somewhere before then?"
"Hang out where?"
"Hmm, like that family restaurant on the way to the arcade."
"That's literally where I work."
"Wait, you work there? I've never been. Maybe I'll stop by sometime."
"I won't be able to entertain you."
"I just wanna see what kind of job you do."
"Don't get your hopes up. It's nothing special."
As we talked, I glanced over at Kurenai's empty seat.
I was trying not to let it show, but Yumekawa, for some reason sensitive to my gaze, piped up.
"You think Yuzu caught a cold?"
"Who knows. Don't ask me."
"Ahaha, right. Still, she's not replying to my texts. I'm kinda worried."
"Why don't you go check on her?"
"Hmm. Yuzu's always hated having people over, even since we were kids. Even though I live nearby, I've never actually been to her place."
"Is that so."
Come to think of it, I didn't know where Kurenai lived.
And I'd never really tried to find out.
We might bare ourselves to each other in some ways, but we never really pried into each other's private lives.
But, well.
So her house is near Yumekawa's, huh?
It's not like "Kurenai" is a common surname or anything.
...Still. I can't exactly just let her do everything for me and not give anything back.