Chapter 40: Bad Selection: Useless

Bad Selection: Useless

A few days had passed without me ever encountering Yukinaga-senpai nor Shigure.

I was unable to because of bad timings, and also because of the fact that I had to participate in club activities.

However, I could have met with them if I wanted to. Maybe I was just letting myself be swept along by the flow.

I didn't contact them, nor did I visit their classrooms during breaks.

Perhaps, I was afraid of what might possibly happen.

But I couldn't continue on like this.

Tomorrow was Saturday, an off day. Starting next week, clubs would begin busying themselves in earnest.

Yet here I was in a daze, thinking about all of this inside the classroom.

"Hey Susumu, you plan on leaving yet?"

"Ah...I don't really know what to do."

"How about club?"

"Hm...I think I'm good for today."

Next to me were Reika and Hanae. They both were seated on my sides plopped on their desks, waiting for me to do something.

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Initially, I was planning on meeting the other two today. But apparently, there had been a committee meeting.

There was no point in forcing the situation. It would be best to wait until the meeting was over and catch up with them as they were leaving.

I had a firm grasp on the location of the meeting this time. I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

But frankly, part of me was already giving up.

"If you don't have club activities, why don't we go and hang out?"

"That's nice~, I'm a bit hungry."

Part of me wanted to and instead, just hang out with these two.

But today wasn't the time for them. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

"Sorry, I have some business to take care of."

"How long would it take?"

"Um...around an hour?"

I didn't know how long the meeting would take. I figured if I blurt a random timespan, they would give up quietly.

But to my surprise, they insisted on waiting.

"I'm free today, so I can wait, you know?"

"Yeah, I won’t have anything to do tomorrow too, so I can take it slow.”

"B-but it might take longer than this..."

"Contact us after, then? We'll head home together at that time."

I nodded at their suggestion and left the classroom.

――――

――

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I arrived at the meeting room where the committee members were gathered.

For the time being, there were signs of people inside and I could hear them talking. Unlike last time, I heard student voices.

But, still. If this was another staff meeting, I would lose it.

So, I approached the door to the room and quietly opened it. It didn't seem like it was locked this time.

Nobody noticed me, probably because I entered in the middle of the meeting. I slowly looked around the room.

...Not here?

There was no sign of Senpai nor Shigure in the meeting room.

I checked again, but there was no doubt about it.

―― Look for them

I shouldn’t be the case that they were out because they had the day off. If so, maybe they were working somewhere else?

As I wondered where they were, I realized another important detail.

Jimichi Ikuto wasn't here.

I wasn’t sure how many people there were on the committee and student council in total, but these three at least were missing.

I had a bad feeling. I had a flashback to that time when the three of them seemed to be getting along well.

I ran all over the school, trying to forget about the matter.

――――

――

―

"Nowhere..."

I looked for them in numerous places since then, but I couldn't find them.

I ran around frantically without any particular destination, but I still no signs anywhere, and I was getting impatient and frustrated.

―― Continue search

However, I couldn't give up here.

But where should I look? The more I thought, the more I was stumped.

I might have gone through every possible location I could think of, even if I was running around randomly.

What should I do? It was regrettable that I missed them, but it would be even worse if it happened again if I didn't continue.

Then, ringtone from my phone calmed me down a bit.

"...Hello?"

"Hey, Susumu! How long are you going to keep us waiting?!"

It was from Reika. I had completely forgotten that I had told her I would call if I took too long.

I didn't know long it had been, but it was definitely more than an hour since then.

"M-my bad...this errand had take a while..."

"Then contact us! You promised, didn't you?!"

"...So loud. This isn't even the time for that!"

"...What are you even talking about? No, I’ve had enough."

Out of frustration, I said something unnecessary. It wasn't right to lash out at Reika just because things weren't going well.

Reika's voice dropped a tone lower and hung up.

I would apologize later. But first, I cooled for some time and returned to the meeting room.

――――

――

―

I went back to meeting room. I ran around having lost my composure, but it occurred to me now that all I had to do was ask someone where they were.

However, it might have been too late.

I noticed that I could no longer hear anyone at all from inside.

Always passing by each other was a curse at this point.

Why did I start running that time? If I silently waited here, at the very least, we would have been able to meet each other.

"――"

It was then. A voice leaked out from inside the meeting room, although faint.

I couldn't hear it clearly, but it sounded like Yukinaga-senpai. I approached the door and listened.

"Is it usually like this?"

"That's right. First, we'll start with a questionnaire for the event, and based on the results..."

No doubt, it was Yukinaga-senpai.

I heard another guy's voice and wondered if it was Jimichi, but when I listened a bit more, I realized it belonged to Tateyama-senpai.

I was afraid to go in because they seemed like there were in some kind of a discussion.

"Where should we have our next meeting?"

"Hm~m, wait a moment..."

There no point in listening to their conversation.

I was sure that Yukinaga-senpai was there, and then, just as I was about to take my ears off the door.

"President, you finally have a smartphone."

"Yeah. I had it changed the other day."

"The president, who was mechanically challenged, did it by herself?"

"By no means. I had someone else with me."

Hearing those words stopped me in my tracks.

Choosing a smartphone, that was what I was requested for last time. There were many things that happened that day, and she didn't get to finish.

Did she go with someone else after that?

I couldn't believe such a thing, so I opened the door to the meeting room and took a peek inside.

"It's quite a cute case."

"Right?! It’s my favorite!"

There, was Yukinaga-senpai holding her smartphone, or rather, the case, with both hands as if it was something important.