A Case in Which My House Is a Gathering Place for Girls - Chapter 6: A Precious Charm

The Amahashiritsu Academy is large in any case.

Since the school buildings from elementary to high school are within the same ground, the building is vast, so several people lose their way every year because they don’t know where they are. Misuta-sensei laughed and told everyone to be careful, but since we’re not walking in the mountains, it seems impossible to get lost on school grounds.

“Well, if it’s Jinpei-kun, who’s always had mountains as his friend, even if you got lost, you’d probably show up for school with a sulky face.”

“Is it just my imagination that I feel some malice about what you say?”

Kanna smiles gracefully while ignoring my words. It’s true that there’s no problem because my grandfather drilled into me all sorts of things about how to behave in the mountains and how to deal with being lost.

“It’s great that it’s spacious, but why is there a fountain on school grounds? And not just any fountain, but one that looks like it belongs to some royal family. I’m beyond surprised and I’m bewildered.”

As I changed my shoes, I looked outside.

Just outside the school building is a huge marble fountain. I don’t understand why there is such a luxurious thing in the school that it looks like it could host a light show.

“I heard that the original plan was to set up Merlion, which would be as good as the main house. What’s more, with three bodies. Well, it seems to have stopped after all.”

“I’m sure they’ll be able to stop it, or didn’t they stop making the fountain itself? I have no idea what they’re thinking.”

“They say that ‘fools and geniuses are two sides of the same coin.’ The principal is that kind of person. But every winter the lights-up show is wonderful and famous!”

Kanna says with a smile, “Let’s watch it together next time.” I can’t believe they’re really doing a show. I can’t think of it in the countryside where I was born and raised.

“Oh, we’ve been taking too long. We must hurry!”

Kanna said that it was crowded at this time while checking the time on her smartphone. The destination is a hidden coffee shop located quietly in an alley near the nearest station. Apparently, the omelet rice with fluffy eggs is superb and recommended, but my consciousness was more focused on the strap attached to Kanna’s smartphone than on that story.

“You still have that strap.”

That’s the handmade strap that I gave Kanna as a present when she moved. The beautiful stone I picked up in the mountains was polished with the help of my grandfather, and I just made a hole and put a string through it. The string is strange, but it must have been something I gave her as a charm.

“I can’t throw it away because it is a very precious treasure to me.”

She stroked the jewel as she spoke with a lovely expression on her face, and it was surprising that she cherished it so much because I thought she had thrown it away a long time ago.

“When I left Jinpei-kun and moved here, but perhaps because of the strange way I spoke, I couldn’t find anyone I could call my friend…”

I bit my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that it wasn’t a little odd. As Wada also said, I wonder if the difficult words had probably made people uneasy here too.

“Because of that, I was often alone, but thanks to this charm that Jinpei-kun gave me, I was able to do my best.”

“Come to think of it, Kanna is the president now. That’s amazing!”

“Hehe. Thank you. However, people around me often say that I don’t know what I’m saying or what I’m thinking.”

It’s probably not just my imagination that Kanna’s smiling face looked sad. How hard must those many years have been for her?

“That’s silly. If they can’t understand you, they should just study or figure it out. They shouldn’t just blame you for their own shortcomings.”

“Jinpei-kun, you’re grown taller than you used to be, but your inside hasn’t changed at all. I’m relieved.”

“Are you complimenting me or insulting me?”

“Hehe. Which do you think?”

Kanna smiled cheerfully. There was a slight sense that she might be teasing me, but these exchanges felt refreshing, and I couldn’t help but smile too.

As we walked side by side toward the school gate while chatting about trivial things, a sudden out-of-season spring wind blew. I heard a cute scream, “Kyaa!” from beside me. When I looked over, I saw something fluttering in the air.

“…Didi you see that?”

Kanna’s face is red while looking at me as she holds the hem of her skirt. It was only for a moment, but it was clearly imprinted on my eyelids, and it was an emerald green fabric with flower-patterned embroidery.

“…I think it’s very cute.”

“Why are you answering me so straightforwardly!? Usually, this is a place where you exercise your right to remain silent or at least try to brush it off!”

Even though I had answered the question properly, Kanna was stamping her feet in frustration.

“It’s true that I saw it briefly, so it’s no use lying, isn’t it?”

“All right. I will forgive Jinpei-kun, if you pay me the entire price of the coffee shop as a way of apologizing!”

“It’s an unreasonable request even though it was unavoidable. But I’ll pay for everything as an apology and a thank you.”

“What do you mean by thank you?”

Kanna shouted and lightly hit my shoulder with a tap. It was a little painful, and honestly, the gazes from the people around us were starting to become uncomfortable. At this rate, I felt like I might end up suffering some serious mental and physical damage on my first day of school. Somebody help me.

“Oh, my handkerchief…”

“I have no choice but to report it.”

Perhaps the cry of my heart reached heaven, I heard the voices of two girls. Something must have happened. One of them sat with her hands on the edge of the fountain, and the other shrugged her shoulders at the sight. Kanna and I decided to head to them to see what was going on.

“Is something wrong? Are you all right?”

Kanna doesn’t hesitate to talk to the two girls who were hesitating in front of the fountain… A combination of looking like a puppy and like its owner.

“Eh… Hanazono-san? No, it’s not a big deal, really…”

A puppy-like girl who sat down at the appearance of Kanna became even more flustered. From the fact that their ribbon colors matched, I could tell that the girl sighing beside her was also a classmate.

“Her handkerchief fell into the fountain because of the wind. She’s honestly so clumsy.”

The owner-like girl spoke in an exasperated tone and pointed at the handkerchief with cherry blossom appliqué in which was floating in the fountain.

“…I see. That’s what happened…”

Kanna’s face changes while listening with her hand on her chin, perhaps because she realized something. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something unpleasant was about to happen.

“That’s why it’s no big deal. I’ll have to ask the teacher or the janitor to take it—wait, what are you doing?”

“Huh? Hanazono-san, why are you taking off your shoes?”

Kanna takes off her socks as well as the leather shoes that she just changed. It is no wonder that the two of them are confused by her sudden action. It seemed my bad feeling had come true.

“You don’t have to call a teacher or a janitor. Leave it to me!”

“Wait, Hanazono-san…?!?”

Kanna ignored the restraint and stepped on the edge of the fountain and jumped into the fountain without hesitation.