Chapter 9: Morning, Orimoto, Drop Warning

I'll come pick you up in the morning.

That's what she said.

She was like cursed equipment.

Now that I'm involved with her, it seems the woman called Orimoto Suzuka isn't as perfect as her reputation suggested. She particularly stands out in not listening to people.

「Kasugai-kun, good morning.」

This woman actually came.

I laughed through my nose thinking it was a joke, and just went with the flow to tell her what time I leave the house, and this is what I get. Or maybe she's conscientious in a backward way.

「...Mm? What's wrong?」

「Would anyone actually come?」

「I promised, so I came.」

「On your own! That was like a contract you decided yourself! I don't remember signing anything!」

What they say about sales pitches.

I had underestimated her action-oriented nature. I deeply regretted telling her my address.

The fact that she lives surprisingly close by made it worse.

The next day. The day after that too. And the day after that too.

Orimoto appeared in the morning.

To the extent I wanted to ask if she was a cursed equipment, she appeared in front of my entrance every morning. As thanks, she said.

「A beautiful girl walking to school with you, you're happy, right?」

「If it had been a more honest situation, environment, and relationship, I would have been happy. This is light punishment.」

However, at this rate, Orimoto really seemed likely to appear at my house every morning until graduation.

I felt reluctant to be harsh with her.

It's pushy thanks.

But when I analyze myself as a person, I have a habit of choosing temporary suffering if it means being freed from obligations. So after several days passed—I clicked my tongue roughly at Orimoto.

─────

Anyway, I just need to fulfill Orimoto's request to "ask if he remembers me".

However, that's somewhat difficult.

Nine times out of ten, Sera doesn't remember Orimoto.

If he remembered her, he should have stepped forward to rescue her from the current situation before I did.

Still wanting to ask might be Orimoto's stubbornness.

「──I'll ask directly. Is that okay?」

「Yeah, that's fine. Thank you.」

Before taking action. If I don't talk about Sera somewhat, even though I don't want to, it's hard to imagine the situation.

The man called Sera is Orimoto's childhood friend.

His natural looks and athletic ability.

His academic performance is also considerably excellent. His name is always written brilliantly on the ranking charts posted for regular tests, and that's normal operation.

And he's built a harem.

Whether he's aware of it or not. Anyway, as a fact, he's the master of his own domain. Simply put, he's super popular.

It's not that──I find him hateful.

It's not that I'm friends with him, and it's not that I compete with him over anything. I was just watching Sera Keiichi from the crowd as a mob.

When fate got tangled up and I needed to make contact with Sera through Orimoto, observing Sera closely made me recognize again that he's on the "born with it" side. Orimoto is also on that side, and from someone on this side, it makes sense to make them objects of envy, but personally I wanted to settle everything quickly.

「Sera, got a minute?」

Lunch break. I caught him when he came out to the hall alone. I call out to him.

Sera turns around after a moment.

He caught sight of me, the source of the voice, and put on a smile without any nastiness. It seemed like a suspicious smile to me.

「Kasugai-kun, was it? What's up?」

A questioning tone as if confirming.

Since the new semester started, about two months have passed.

Group formations have long been completed, and with an outsider──a plain guy──as his conversation partner, even Sera was taking time to identify the name.

「I have something I want to ask.」

I glance behind me. There's Orimoto Suzuka, holding her breath and tightly closing her eyes.

「Do you know a girl named Orimoto Suzuka?」

I asked calmly, composedly, normally.

「Orimoto-san? That's sudden.」

「...Yeah. It's just a confirmation matter. That Orimoto asked me to ask, do you recognize the name?」

I'm just carrying out my mission.

Even so, my hands and back were sweating.

Orimoto, who's usually like the embodiment of noisiness, was cowering like a picked-up puppy, harboring silence.

「...Mmm sorry.」

Sera, who had thought it through, scratched his cheek.

That gesture and words were the answer. I had expected it, Orimoto had also expected it somewhere in her heart. That became reality. It was as if a hazy outline had become clear.

If I hadn't asked, she could have hoped "maybe he remembers", but was this really for the best?

It is what Orimoto wanted, but──

「Did I maybe do something? If so, I'd like to apologize, could you give me that Orimoto-san's contact information?」

「I'd love to do that for you, but...」

「...Is she incredibly angry or something?」

「y-yeah. Tremendously so.」

「Seriously?」

I turn back halfway. A demon.

Forgotten by the man she loves, exposed to his intimacy with other girls, a demon whose blood vessels have burst.

「W-Well, you know... if you don't remember her, that's "not good" ...so, yeah.」

「Why are you getting weaker toward the end?」

「There's a lot going on, a lot.」

As if to cover my words, Orimoto opened her mouth. A chilling coldness.

Rather than loneliness from being erased from memory, anger comes first.

She cries and gets angry, so emotionally rich.

As a reaction, I hope she doesn't push more unreasonable demands on me next time, whether desserts, complaints, or more impossible tasks.

Sera should remember too.

You're the story's protagonist, right? She's the childhood friend who confessed to you, right? ...Why are you forgetting on your own?

「I'll smooth things over with Orimoto for you.」

「Wait! I really don't remember. …Hey... what did I do to that girl?」

「Ah~ "be"... be~?」

「Be~? What?」

Damn, I got pulled along.

How should I muddle through this? As I'm pondering in my mind, Orimoto's dissatisfied voice slipped right in.

I hurriedly waved my hands in front of me.

「Sorry, it's nothing. ──Anyway, if you've forgotten, there's nothing to be done about it. That's just how it is.」

「...I'll apologize right away if I remember.」

「...Please do that for her. Otherwise I'll have to listen to her complaints.」

I cut off the conversation and pass by Sera.

He was narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow.

Small footsteps, just one set.

Orimoto lines up next to me and mutters softly.

「I'll never forgive him.」

「So scary, and you expected this, right?」

「But I thought maybe there'd be a miracle!」

「...There wasn't, though.」

「I'll never forgive him.」

Quietly. Quietly.

If even Sera doesn't remember her.

Will Orimoto Suzuka stay like this forever?

Was Orimoto such a bad person?

I don't think so.

「Orimoto, don't come in the mornings starting tomorrow.」

「But you're weak in the mornings, right? Kasugai-kun.」

「I've managed fine until now, so I'll be okay.」

She blinks.

「──Ah, you called me Orimoto, right? You've been calling me "you" or using rough pronouns this whole time!」

「Did I? I'll go back to calling you "you".」

「You don't need to. Keep it like that! We're partners, so isn't being too formal weird?」

「I don't remember becoming partners.」

Well, that's a reasonable way to end it.

But there's no way it would end with such a reasonable conclusion.

─────

「I wonder what kind of logic this follows.」

According to Orimoto──that day, the day she was rejected.

She apparently slept in her uniform without even removing her makeup. Then the next morning, she woke up on the floor.

Her uniform and the smartphone in her pocket.

Everything else had disappeared.

For shoes, she seems to be borrowing hand-me-downs from family members. I noticed when she told me. The difference in design.

The problem is with the smartphone.

It's apparently in a heavily modified state, the signal connects but she can't contact others. She can view videos and SNS but can't post comments. Most importantly, the battery stays constantly at 100% and never decreases.

【Ah, ah~, is this getting through?】

Communication with girls is a rare experience for me. To be precise, I might be able to count them on one hand.

【It's getting through. Don't worry.】

【Thank goodness~! So I can contact Kasugai-kun. For now, that's a relief.】

Relief travels through the radio waves to reach me.

The read receipt appeared instantly.

【I think it's terrible. He completely forgot ME.】

An angry penguin stamp.

The terrible thing probably refers to Sera, who had completely forgotten Orimoto Suzuka at school today.

My smartphone was confiscated because she wanted me to listen to complaints at night too, and I was forced to exchange contact information.

We had verified on the spot whether it worked, but being asked again at night like this, maybe she's anxious.

I tap the screen.

I'm slow at constructing sentences. I'm good at internal monologues but lack input experience.

【That was, well, certainly.】

【He was like "What did I do to her?" You rejected her—! You rejected the beautiful girl Orimoto!】

This time a crying face stamp.

Even in text, emotions were coming through strongly.

【Hey, Kasugai-kun.】

After several exchanges, Orimoto cut off her message at an unnatural place. She made me wait.

About ten full minutes, that much.

【What do you think will happen?】

【I don't know. We just do what we can do.】

I said something similar in the gymnasium.

I don't know. I don't understand. We just have to do it.

That's everything, and it will be the same going forward.

After a while. A penguin stamp in the shape of an X. The penguin is crossed out.

The insane imagery made me pull back a bit.

【That's not what I meant. My words were insufficient, right? ...Em, in multiple ways!】

【That makes it even harder to understand. Organize your thoughts.】

【Mm.】

──Text. Summary.

【Who will Sera end up dating?】

【Will Orimoto spend her whole life like this?】

【Will I be the only one who can see her forever?】

All of them were unknowns.

The content Orimoto sent in rapid succession was all incomprehensible. I can't calculate the correct answers.

I don't intend to dig deeper than this.

Orimoto is Orimoto, and I am me.

However, if I were in her position, how would I feel?

──That bothered me a little.