Volume 2 - CH 3.3

It seemed that I had just not been aware of it until now, that there was a girl named “Mise Shinobu” on the seating chart.

Mise-san’s seat was on the diagonal, a distance that I would never have had a chance to come in contact with her, even if I had wanted to.

The reason why I was not familiar with her face was probably due to the strong impression of her glasses.

The glasses fit her so well that I thought they were part of her face.

When I arrived in the morning, she was already sitting in her seat, not talking to anyone, reading a paperback book, and playing with her cell phone. The same goes for breaks and lunch breaks.

She called herself a shady character and a loner, but it looks like she wasn’t  exaggeration.

“What are you looking at?”

During lunch break, Hinagata was wondering why I was looking away, and was looking for where my gaze was directed.

“Ahh, no,  nothing.”

“…Hmm.”

Bored, Hinagata pouted her lips.

“Do you know anything about Mise-san over there?”

“Mise-san…?”

Blinking suspiciously, Hinagata looked in the direction I pointed.

“Ahh, Mise-san, she’s usually alone.”

It seems that her solo activities are not limited to today.

“What’s with Mise-san?”

“Uhmmm”

I was going to say that she was my senior at my part-time job, but then I remembered that I shouldn’t have revealed where we worked part-time.

“I just wondered what she was doing alone.”

“We were in the same class last year, but she doesn’t seem to have many friends.”

Hinagata didn’t say it as if she was taking pity on her, but just said it plainly.

It’s not that there aren’t people who deliberately choose not to make it, but there is an atmosphere in the classroom of not getting involved with people who don’t fit well.

I saw Mise-san preparing for the next class, fishing through her desk and now her bag.

But I could tell she was in a hurry because she couldn’t find what she was looking for.

She looked back at me with a fearful look.

Ah, our eyes met.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but then turned her head forward again. Then she turned her head toward me again.

Then, as if determined, she got up from her seat and came over to my side.

Hinagata rolled her eyes in surprise.

“To… to… nomura… kunu…”

“Ahh, how may I hel- …I mean. What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my notes for the next class. I’m supposed to answer the homework for the class, but I don’t have my notes, so I don’t know what to do. Do you mind showing me yours?”

Mise-san quickly  told me about her situation.

“So-Sorry, while y-y-y–you were eating, I-I talked to you.”

She was super nervous.

She seemed so different from the calmness at her part-time job that it was hard to believe that she was the same person.

Even if I had the chance to meet her at school, I would not have recognized her as Mise-san. She is at her part-time job – that’s how big the gap was.

“Sure… why not.”

“Ryu… Tonomura-kun, have you done your homework?”

A simple question was asked by Hinagata.

“…”

I didn’t… The notebook is blank.

“Sorry, Mise-san, I also…”

I was in junior  mode, and Mise-san shook her head in small increments as if to rebuke me.

“Ahh, uhmm. I haven’t done my homework… Hinagata, have you?”

“Yeah. For the time being, is it your turn this time, Mise-san?”

“Yes, it is.”

Why is she being so respectful to the Hinagata?

Perhaps it was because she was depressed, or perhaps it was her image, but I couldn’t see her eyes behind the lenses of her glasses, and about a quarter of her face was the domain of her glasses.

“…Is mine okay? I don’t know if it’s right.”

“Y-Y-Y-yes it is! May I copy it…?”

“Yes, For sure.”

Saying this, Hinagata took out a notebook from the desk and handed it to Mise-san.

“Th-Thank you, very much…”

Mise-san is a bit of a low-life, or worse, she tends to behave in a suspicious manner.

“I guess it’s better than copying Tonomura-kun’s.”

“Hey, don’t casually diss me.”

I have a 20-percent chance of getting it right.

“I’ll quickly return it to you.”

With a short run, she returned to her seat and began to copy the notes of the hinagata.

“Why did she ask it from you…”

Hinagata was raising her eyebrows suspiciously.

I guess it was because I was the only person she had contact with and could talk to. It was a desperate measure that I couldn’t take.

If she wasn’t sure if she was going to get punished, she wouldn’t have talked to me.

Mise-san asked me to keep the part-time job a secret, but I guess it would be okay to tell Hinagata.

She wouldn’t tease her by making fun of her.

“Actually, Mise-san…”

I told Hinagata about Mise-san, the girl I was working with at my part-time job.

“Senpai? Is she in charge of you at your part-time job?”

“Yes, I didn’t even notice it until yesterday. She wasn’t like that. Mise-san. At the part-time job.”

“I don’t feel the shadowy character aura at all. Maybe it’s hard to tell because she’s in cook’s clothes.”

“Senpai…”

“Hmmmmm,”  Hinagata narrowed her eyes and was somewhat dissatisfied.

“So you’re working together?”

“Well, yeah. She’s in charge of teaching me.”

“Muuu”

The puffy cheeks of the hinagata were flattened by the cheekbones.

“Do… you leave her… to her home?”

“Noo.”

I don’t even know where she lives.

“I see.”

The gloomy look on her face cleared up.

Hinagata peeked at me with a curious look on her face.

“Ryunosuke, you are a loyal dog who doesn’t even consider his seniors harassing you, so I’m worried about you.”

What does she mean by a Loyal Dog?

“She doesn’t harass me. You know she’s not that kind of character.”

Indeed, Hinagata agreed with me.

But she’s worried about whether I’m being treated badly at my part-time job, isn’t she…?

“Thanks, for worrying about me.”

“…Nope.”

When Hinagata shook her head, her black hair swayed, and I could smell the scent of her shampoo.

I wonder if Mise-san has already copied the notes.

I glanced toward the seat, tried to get closer but I gave up.

“The light is too strong, I can’t get any closer…”

She said something I couldn’t understand.

When Hinagata noticed Mise-san’s hesitation and went to get the notebook, Mise bowed repeatedly.