Volume 1 - CH 21

Harusame is troubled by the rainy season

After school that day, I stood in front of the teacher’s desk in the conversation club room as usual and looked around at everyone.

“Well then, I think it’s about time we started club activities…”

There, sitting with a smile, was Arai, and Kamiyama was wearing a plastic bag over his paper bag and had a damp school uniform on. However, I couldn’t see Harusame, the other club member.

“Hasn’t Harusame arrived yet?” I asked, and Arai responded.

“Come to think of it, Harusame-chan is usually the first one to come to the club room, but she’s not here today. She didn’t come to eat lunch either… I wonder if she’s absent from school.”

Kamiyama also chimed in.

“Come to think of it, you’re right… I didn’t see her at school during the day either…”

“Hmm, is she skipping school today? Well, then let’s start with the three of us—”

Just as I was about to suggest starting with the three of us, we heard the voices of girls coming from the hallway.

“Ahaha, A-chan, there’s no way that could happen, right? Ouch! But now that you mention it, I… ouch!”

It was Harusame’s voice.

Harusame’s voice, usually accompanied by lively conversations with A-chan, gradually approached the club room. Today, their usually lively conversation was unusually intermittent, and it seemed like something was causing her pain. In addition to Harusame’s voice, we could hear the sound of wheels turning on a life-sized panel of a car and occasionally a dull thud.

“…What is she up to?” I asked the two of them, and Arai spoke up.

“I wonder… Should we go take a look?”

“Nah, I’ll go,” I said as I opened the classroom door and peered into the hallway.

There, I saw a petite girl wearing a paper bag, walking in a zigzag pattern in the hallway, having a conversation with a life-sized panel of a magical girl.

Unable to see in front of her, she occasionally bumped her head against the wall, holding her paper bag-covered head and staggering closer to us.

Why are there two paper bags now…?

I approached Harusame, who was walking unsteadily, and called out to her.

“Hey, Harusame-san… What are you doing?”

Startled by the sudden voice, Harusame let out a short scream and jumped in place.

“Eek! Is that voice Kominato…? Don’t startle me by talking to me out of nowhere! And what about you? What are you doing here?”

“That’s my line… What are you doing near the club room?”

“The… club room…?”

Harusame said so, adjusting the direction of her paper bag and aligning the position of her eyes and the holes to look around. Then, realizing that this was the side of the club room, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew… Finally made it… ”

“Finally made it? It’s you who… And why the paper bag?”

Before I could finish my sentence, Harusame swiftly passed by me and entered the club room. However, her paper bag seemed to have shifted again, as she stumbled while making her way to her seat and groped around to find her chair. She sat down as if nothing had happened.

I also entered the classroom and stood in front of the teacher’s desk, looking at the club members once again.

In front of me was Arai with a smile, Kamiyama wearing a plastic bag over the paper bag, And Harusame with a paper bag on her head. Outside the window, there was continuous rainfall since morning, a long rain during the rainy season. God, I might be at my limit. While praying to God, I opened my mouth.

“Well… Before we start club activities now that everyone is here, there’s one thing.”

I looked at Harusame and said,

“Hey, Harusame, what’s that?”

Harusame turned towards me with a guilty look and answered,

“T-T-That? W-What do you mean? Oh, you mean the snacks I brought today? You don’t have to rush, I can give you some later too.”

“I’m talking about the paper bag.”

“P-P-Paper bag? What’s that, what are you talking about? I have no idea at all.”

Harusame pretended not to know. If she’s playing dumb, then I have an idea too.

I approached Harusame in silence and reached out towards the paper bag on her head, giving it a gentle twist. The peephole ended up at the back of Harusame’s head, completely blocking her field of vision.

“N-No, wait… Sto… Ahhhh!”

Harusame blindly swung her arms trying to grab me, losing her balance and tumbling off the chair. In the process, the paper bag slipped off, revealing Harusame’s face. Harusame’s hair, usually neatly tied up on both sides, was now curled in all directions, resembling the aftermath of a mini hurricane passing over her head.

Harusame landed on her bottom on the floor, forgetting to fix her skirt that had flipped up, and instead showered me with verbal abuse.

“Ouch… What the heck are you doing, Kominato?! What if I got hurt…”

As Harusame said this, she touched her own head and noticed that the paper bag had come off, letting out a scream.

“No… Don’t look! It’s, it’s embarrassing…”

“Harusame, what happened to your head?”

Harusame, pressing her hands against her head, said with a bashful expression.

“Kominato! Die, you pervert! Trash pervert! Garbage pervert! During the rainy season, the humidity messes up my hairstyle like this… That’s why I was wearing a paper bag to hide it…”

“Well… even so, you…”

“I-I-I-I understand… Harusame-chan! Wearing a paper bag makes you feel secure!”

Kamiyama-san showed agreement, but that’s not the point. Even though it’s limited to the rainy season, if Harusame also wears a paper bag, then there will be two people with paper bags.

Feeling annoyed, I spoke to Harusame.

“Ah… Sorry for making you fall. But, you know, that hairstyle of yours is cute, so you don’t have to wear a paper bag.”

The last part might have sounded flat, but I didn’t care about that.

Harusame blushed and said,

“A-Are you stupid? Cute… It’s not something to be taken for granted. But… if you say so… should I take off the paper bag?”

Everyone has their own troubles during the rainy season…

Quietly, I returned to the front of the teacher’s desk, holding my second impression of the day.