The music in the room wasn't really loud but the sound of everyone's chatter and laugh was overwhelming. Shiraishi ate a few brownies but it seemed like her tolerance level was quite high.
She was holding my hand below the table and was fiddling with her mobile on the other hand. The boy in front of me was trying to hit on the girl beside him but she was way too high to know what was happening.
I didn't like the atmosphere at all.
Moriko wasn't in the room as she had to use the washroom and Ishihara went to talk with staff about the brownies since none of us were delighted about the fact someone brought them.
"Hey, come with me for a moment." I asked randomly looking at the bunch of people sitting in front of me as I assumed that one of them would reply to me. One of the girls who was quite high flipped me off, "Fuck off."
"What's wrong?" Shiraishi asked me in a trembling voice as she was a bit high from eating those brownies too. They were affecting me too but it wasn't that much since I stopped right after taking a bite only.
"Nothing, I just want to use the toilet." I replied to her. The boy sitting on the rightmost side nodded slowly and pointed towards the door while saying in a loud voice, "Ah the toilet… it's you go straight…"
"Can you guide me? I'm bad with directions." I said awkwardly as he blinked in disbelief and sighed, "Dude…"
"Sorry…" I apologised sheepishly, noticing him getting up from his seat and walking towards the door. Turning the door open, he looked at me and said, "Well… follow me."
We were walking through the empty hallway. It was really quiet around us, except for the sound of our footsteps echoing. He wasn't that high, it appeared as he was quite aware of his surroundings.
He was from the same high school as the girl who flipped me off a few moments ago. I've never had this sort of interaction with anyone so everything was rather unusual for me.
"Dude… I can't believe it… this is your first time coming here?" He said with a surprised tone in his voice, as I nodded slightly and replied with an awkward smile, "Yeah… I'm not really a person who goes to events like these."
"Can tell that…" He chuckled and lifted his right hand while pointing towards a door with the men's sign on it, and said, "There… the toilet."
"Come with me…" I said in a serious tone, as he stepped back with a dreadful expression on his face and uttered in absolute disbelief, "Wha… Oi! Oi! I'm straight, my dude."
"No… bruh. I'll need you." I said, as he replied instantly in a confused and agitated tone, "For what!?"
The situation was a bit funny considering how he was misunderstanding everything I was saying. At that moment something struck my mind as I looked at him and asked, "Is this the only washroom here?"
He narrowed his eyes at me and said nothing for a while. His eyes were wandering around for a while and it appeared like he was thinking. After a brief pause, he nodded and replied, "Not really… there is one for the staff on the other side of the building."
"Not on any other floor right?" I asked, and he looked at me suspiciously before asking, "Why are you asking?"
Our walk came to an abrupt stop as I was standing in front of the men's washroom which was to my right side. I glanced on the side and noticed it was the women's washroom.
Since the men's and women's washrooms were different here, it implied that the staff also have different washrooms for different genders. And on the other side there was another one.
They couldn't be there.
"Alright then, can you check the men's washroom?" I asked him, pointing towards the door on my right side since he wouldn't go inside with me. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Check for what?"
"You'll see… just go inside… I'm going to check the women's washroom." I said walking towards the women's washroom. As I was about to enter, he asked, "Didn't you have to use the toilet?"
I knew there was no point in hiding anything from him. Turning back, I looked at him and he was already staring at me intently. Narrowing my eyes, I replied, "Nah… that was an excuse."
"What is your motive, Saishi?" He asked me in a serious tone. Jumping straight to the point, I asked him, "Ishihara… you know him right?"
"Yeah… but why are you asking…?" He asked me with a bit of concern in his voice. He was probably confused about this whole situation but rather than explaining anything to him, I replied with, "Actually nevermind… just check the men's stall and tell me if there's something or not."
I was thinking of telling him about the situation but the possibility that was in my mind was a speculation only and if there wasn't anything like that then he would definitely not be pleased.
After all, Sekiguchi and Ishihara were friends and making false allegations about him might upset Sekiguchi.
"Wait… Oi! Don't leave me in suspense." He yelled at me but I didn't pay any attention to him and entered the women's washroom.
The area near the entrance was quite dark but I could see the light coming around the corner. I slowly walked inside and it was really quiet around me.
The sound of an open tap could be heard as I walked towards the basin and turned it off. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I noticed that my appearance has changed a bit from what it was a few months ago.
Maybe I was just seeing things because I've been under constant pressure from the last six months.
I looked at the whole washroom in the reflection but suddenly the sound of a door slamming open hit my ear and the sound of two people having a heated conversation could be heard.
There wasn't anything unusual about women arguing among themselves. The odd thing which caught my attention was that there a male voice in there.
I walked behind the corner with loud footsteps to make them aware of my presence. The sounds stopped abruptly and a frown formed on my face at the scene which was unfolding before my eyes.
As expected, it was the correct decision to check upon them.