Loss 1: Shikiya Yumeko to the Rescue

Loss 1: Shikiya Yumeko to the Rescue

Loss 1:

Shikiya Yumeko to the Rescue

A T THE FAR END OF THE WEST ANNEX, WE ARRIVED at the literature club room. As soon as my hand touched the doorknob, I was overcome with dark premonitions. “Hey, uh, Komari? What exactly are we—”

She shoved me. “O-open the friggin’ door already.”

“All right, sheesh. Don’t have to be rude.”

Surrendered to my fate, I turned the knob. It was eerily dark inside. When my eyes adjusted, I could just barely make out the silhouette of someone with long hair sitting in a chair.

“Yanami-san?” I called out. “Is that you?”

“Literature club boy…”

The someone staggered to her feet. I recoiled. It was the student council’s very own gyaru of the dead—Shikiya-san. And she was wearing a nurse’s outfit for some reason.

I flung myself back out of the room and slammed the door shut behind me. What in God’s name did she want? And in that getup? I pressed my back against the door, taking long and deep breaths, until a knocking came.

The zombie nurse wanted out. For what exactly? I wasn’t about to find out. The doorknob rattled ominously.

“O-open up! I’m s-still in here!” Whoops. Nearly forgot about her. I took my weight off the door and cracked it open just enough for Komari to slink out. “S-screw you! You left me b-behind!”

“Hey, not on purpose.”

It wasn’t technically abandonment if you didn’t mean to. Betrayal is a sin, but forgetfulness is an honest mistake. And mistakes can be forgiven.

While I tried to convince Komari of my ironclad logic, a chill ran down my spine. Bone-thin arms crept forward and wrapped themselves around our necks. No escape. She had us. Shikiya-san fixed her cold gaze on us, her irises pale white on account of her trademark colored contacts.

“Why did you run?” she breathed wearily.

“Uh, reasons.” She was freaky as hell, that was why. Komari was shaking like a leaf and clung to my necktie. “Komari, can you stop stretching my clothes? And Senpai, your hands are cold. Can you… Hey, are you okay?”

“Tired…” Shikiya-san went limp, and her arms around us began to slip.

“Whoa! Komari, do something! Grab her!”

“N-no way,” Komari protested. “You grab her.”

Me. A guy. Grab a woman. Okay.

Shikiya-san was getting closer to the floor with every second. I stopped thinking and looped my arm around her cold, cold body.

***

“Here. You’re good. Sit down. I’ll get some tea or something.”

With Shikiya-san securely in a chair, I started on that tea, but I couldn’t stop thinking about one thing:

How unbelievably soft she was.

Were all girls like that? She felt…springy. Like raw fish. What an experience. I didn’t get any of that from Kaju. Meanwhile, it was business as usual with Komari shivering in a corner with her phone.

When my head was clear of nonsense and the teacup full of piping hot tea, I returned to Shikiya-san and placed the cup in front of her. “What brings you here today anyway, Senpai?”

I took a seat across from her. Now that my wits were about me again, I had to wonder—seriously, what was with the nurse outfit? The miniskirt was already a lot, and the exposed cleavage was even more so. I’d made a valiant effort to keep from staring until she reached straight in and pulled out a piece of paper.

“Tsuwabuki Festival…classroom…reservation form…”

Tsuwabuki Fest was one of our high school’s obligatory biannual festivals. Normally, we’d have both a sports and a cultural festival back-to-back, but due to some scheduling snafus we were only doing the latter this year.

The lit club was supposed to take part, of course, and the plan was to do a kind of exhibit geared around us first-years, but we never settled on a theme. There was barely half a month until the big day, and the most we’d settled on was “make a journal and then do something to show off what we do.” Komari had barely gotten the form turned in on time.

“Something wrong with it?” I asked.

“Exhibit details… Layout. Particulars.” Shikiya-san shot Komari a stiff glance. Komari nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Tried to show her…how to fill it out,” she said all slow. “But she ran.” I probably would have too. “We have many applicants. Do it right…or not at all.”

“Is that all? We didn’t fill in the form right? What was it again? Details and layout. Particulars.” I reached for the paper but stopped halfway. That thing had been in her boobs. Was I even allowed to touch it? “Komari, c’mere. You take it.”

“Huh? Wh-what?” she stammered. Somehow, she managed to shrink herself down even smaller than she already was.

I waved her over. “Come on. Shikiya-senpai doesn’t bite. Promise.”

“Y-you’re sure about that?”

“Sure I’m sure. She’s a real sweetheart. Fosters kittens, I bet.”

“You th-think so?” Komari inched closer. My ruse was working. Just a little bit more…

Shikiya-san chose that moment to mutter under her breath, “I’m a dog person.”

And just like that, Komari was back in her corner and all the way back to square one. I rolled my head back and got to brainstorming again.

***