Chapter 4: The Day Everything Changed

When I went down to the second floor of the old school building to return to the classroom, I was found by a teacher.
A lot had happened, so lunchtime had long since ended, and with the afternoon classes already underway, it was only natural that they spoke to me.

Not wanting to get scolded, I covered it up by saying, “My stomach started hurting, but the toilets were all occupied, so I used the third-floor restroom.”

Since it was right after I had cried and my eyes were red, they even worried and asked, “Was it painful enough to make you cry?”

With that teacher accompanying me, I returned to the classroom.
They even explained things for me, which saved me the trouble, and it was settled without any fuss.

The moment I turned my eyes to my seat, I noticed three empty desks.
—They were the seats of those three.

When I asked a chatty girl about it during the break, she told me that the three of them had been screaming and making a huge scene, crying that “Hanako-san appeared.”
A teacher apparently didn’t know what to do either, and they were sent home early.

The girl who talked with me didn’t seem to believe in Hanako-san, so I just went along with what she was saying.

The three of them stayed absent for a few days and then started coming back to school the following week, but they stopped doing anything to me.
It seemed like they were whispering about something, but since there was no actual harm, I felt that, for me, the problem had been resolved.

Even while the three of them were gone, I kept going to the restroom and eating my lunch at Hanako-san’s place.
I still remember feeling how fresh it was, realizing that just having someone to talk to could be this enjoyable.

Later on, there was a time when I asked Hanako-san, “Why did you come out?”
Based on what I knew back then, the rule was to knock three times on the third stall of the girls’ restroom on the third floor and call out, “Hanako-san.”

I didn’t understand it at the time, but looking back now, although it was rough—hitting and kicking the door—they did knock on it three times and call out, “Hanako, come out.”
It was a coincidence, but the conditions were certainly met.

Even to doubts like that, Hanako-san answered me casually.
“I could have ignored it, but… after all, when something isn’t right, I should tell them properly that it’s ‘not right.’”

Curious, I asked one more thing.
“If they hadn’t said, ‘Hanako, come out,’ would you not have come out?”

Hanako-san smiled mischievously and said, “I wasn’t called, so that’s how it would be.”

On another day, there was also a time when I asked a different question.
Because those three had screamed and made a fuss, crying that “Hanako-san appeared,” there were some kids who tried to call Hanako-san out.
However, since Hanako-san didn’t come out, it seemed that everyone in the class lost interest.

About that, Hanako-san said, “It’s a problem when people call me just for fun.”
Then, right away, she smiled warmly and said, “But Nana-chan is my friend, so you can come anytime,” and she took my hand.

The first time I touched Hanako-san’s hand—it was warm.

It wasn’t that I was taking advantage of her kindness, but I went there every day to see my one-of-a-kind best friend.
The stall was a little cramped for the two of us—but that closeness, something I’d never had back when I was lonely, made me happy instead.