Chapter 2

Just inside the restroom, there was a handwashing station and a closet for cleaning supplies. A few steps in, the floor shifted to blue tiles, with two open stalls and three urinals lined up on the opposite wall.

It was a typical men’s restroom, and I hadn’t mistakenly wandered into the wrong place. But strangely enough, a female student was there, casually leaning against the back wall with her smartphone in hand.

At her feet, two male students were kneeling on the floor, backs turned to me. They looked up at her from below, as if fascinated by her legs that stretched out from her short skirt.

“Oh? Did you call someone else over?”

At her voice, the two guys turned to look at me, eyes wide in shock. They were different from the baseball player I’d seen earlier—these two looked like classic nerds: one thin with glasses, the other a bit chubby. For some reason, both were clutching a thousand-yen bill in their hands.

“N-no, we didn’t… really…” one stammered.

“You two really don’t know him?”

The two guys shook their heads desperately. The girl tilted her head curiously, then walked over to me with a relaxed, almost lazy stride, tilting her head once more when she stopped in front of me.

“What’s up?” 

“‘What’s up’… I came here to, uh, use the restroom?” I replied, feeling strangely like I was the one in the wrong.

Her mouth curled up slightly as she leaned in close, looking up at me with those big eyes. The restroom was dimly lit, only a bit of light coming in from a small window at the back, casting her face in shadows.

It was a familiar face—the one I’d been running into today.

I asked Miki Tachibana the question that was burning in my mind.

“Wait… what exactly are you doing?”

“A secret audience with the princess,” she replied casually.

“What does that even mean?”

Instead of answering, she pointed her smartphone at me. I didn’t hear the shutter sound, but it seemed like she’d taken my picture.

“Did you just take a photo?”

“It has to be taken. It’s part of the participation conditions.”

“Participation in what, exactly?”

She ignored my question and held her phone screen up to my face. A list of rules was displayed on it.

 “Do not speak without permission. 

   Do not move. 

   Do not approach closer than the designated distance. 

   Phones are prohibited. 

   And keep the restroom clean.”

“What’s all this?”

“Come on, kneel,” she said, gesturing to the floor.

“Are you… feeling alright?”

I glared at her, but she just smiled back calmly, as if enjoying my discomfort. Then I noticed something strange. Just around the edge of her left eye, there was a faint, bruise-like mark. When I’d seen her in front of the staff room earlier, there hadn’t been any mark there. Had someone hit her?

“What happened to your eye?”

“…Why do you care?” Her smile vanished, and her tone grew sharp, almost like I was speaking to someone else. I glanced down and saw the top button of her blouse was undone, which it hadn’t been before.

From her chest pocket, a few crumpled thousand-yen bills peeked out.

Meanwhile, the two guys on the floor stayed silent, their heads bowed. Maybe they were following the “rules,” or maybe they were just too freaked out to react. Either way, they looked like dolls, utterly lifeless. It was unsettling.

I quickly turned and started walking toward the door.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Seems like you’re busy, so I’ll leave you to it.”

“Oh? Just gonna walk away? Or maybe you’re planning to go tattletale to the teachers?” 

“I wouldn’t dream of it. You do you,” I replied, waving dismissively as I exited the restroom. 

She said something as the door was almost closed, but didn’t follow.

Something told me that getting more involved in this would only lead to trouble. Even someone like me, no stranger to being treated as a troublemaker, could sense it. 

So apparently, “secret audiences” with the princess were a thing. She had her hands full, it seemed. And the teachers had the nerve to tell me to learn from her. Clearly, their judgment can’t be trusted.