Chapter 19 – Off script

Classes ended early.

Something about a faculty meeting or projector wires melting no one knew for sure.
But by lunchtime, half the school had already vanished. The rest stayed in the halls like a confused pre festival ghosts.

“Free period,” Daiki declared, stretching like he’d been released from a cage. “You know what that means.”

“It means go home,” Hina replied, closing her textbook.

“It means spontaneous bonding session!” he announced, ignoring her. “Let’s grab an empty room!”

Somehow, that’s how I ended up in an unused tea ceremony club room?? with Daiki, Kenta, Mika, Hina and Airi.

There were floor mats, a dusty scroll with kanji we couldn’t read, and an old kettle in the corner that can probably summoned spirits.

“Why are we here again?” I asked.

“To strengthen our class unity,” Daiki said, holding up a deck of cards. “With a game.”

Kenta lit up. “Please tell me it’s strip poker.”

“It’s question cards,” Daiki said, smacking him with the deck.

“Lame,” Kenta pouted. “But fine.”

The rules were simple : pull a card, read the question, everyone answers.

Daiki pulled first: “If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be?”

“Mika,” Kenta said immediately. “I want to know what it’s like to fall down twice before lunch.”

“Rude,” Mika mumbled, blushing.

“I’d pick Yuuji,” Daiki said. “He’s clearly the main character.”

“Please don’t,” I said.

“A cat,” Hina said. “Because people leave them alone.”

Everyone turned to Airi.

She shrugged. “Probably someone boring, So I can finally rest.”

Nobody said anything after that.

Round two.

Mika’s card : “What’s your safest lie?”

“That I’m fine,” Hina said, blank face.

“That I studied,” Daiki said.

Kenta flexed. “That this body is natural.”

“Literally no one believes that,” I muttered.

Airi didn’t answer, She just looked at the question and flipped it face down.

Round three.

“Who do you trust most in this room?” Daiki read aloud.

Everyone looked at each other.

Mika’s eyes flicked toward Hina.

Daiki winked at me.

Kenta whispered, “Is it weird if I say the mop in the corner?”

I looked at Airi.

She wasn’t looking at me.

“Pass,” I said.

Eventually, the group thinned out, Daiki and Kenta went to test taste takoyaki from the cooking club. Hina dragged Mika off to see if the drama club was stealing their stage props.

Only Airi and I were left.

She stood up.

“Walk with me?”

"Sure."

The school felt different when it was empty.

We walked down the back hallways, passed rooms covered in construction paper and festival signs.
No one else was there. Just us and the faint sound of vending machines.

She didn’t speak for a while.

Neither did I.

Eventually, we ended up near the old bicycle shed. A place no one really used anymore.

She leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

“You’re quiet,” I said.

“So are you.”

I nodded. “I guess I’m just… waiting.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Something.”

She looked at the sky, just starting to dim into soft orange.

“If you could freeze a day,” she said, “keep it in a snow globe or something… would you?”

“Depends on the day.”

“What about today?”

I looked at her.

She wasn’t smiling.

Just straight face.

“…Yeah,” I said. “Maybe today.”

She looked down at her hands.

Then held one out toward me.

Palm open.

“I don’t have anything to give you,” she said. “But if I did… I think I’d want it to be something you could remember.”

I stared at her hand.

Then took it.

She squeezed gently.

“Thanks for today,” she whispered.

After we parted, I checked my pocket out of habit.

Something was inside.

A small paper star, folded from the script page.

On one side, it said :

“This isn’t part of the story. But it still matters.”

On the other :

“Rest well today, I want to watch you get it right tomorrow.”

No signature.

But I didn’t need one.

Yuuji’s Mental Diary – Day 19:
Airi Status: Actually Nice and ...Cute?
Mental State: Dreamy
Daiki’s Game Rating: Surprisingly emotional
Kenta Moment: Nearly proposed to a mop
Conclusion: Sometimes, a quiet day says everything. Even if the script skips over it.