Things Changed.

"Good morning."

That was all she said to me. Something that you can hear from anyone at any point in your life. However, coming from her, it didn't feel like that. It felt special, it felt like something I have never felt before.

It felt as if, for the first time ever, someone who isn't my parents, was actually happy to see me. But that was probably just how it felt to me, because there are huge chances of her just being more polite than me, after all, I am not exactly what you could call a good person.

I was so confused by it that I wasn’t able to answer, I just stood there, right in front of the library desk, because there is where it happened, it took me a good ten to 20 seconds of putting my thoughts together, but in the end I couldn’t do anything better than reply: “G-g-good morning.” With an awkward smile and then ran away from the desk to pretend to organize some books on their shelves.

But the entire day my head was gone, I was still trying to figure out what she meant by that, could it be that she was actually happy to see me, or she was just being polite. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation and it was frustrating me more by the second. Unfortunately, the day came to an end before I could reach a conclusion. All the students left the library and it was just time for us to put the books back on the shelves. This time she beat me to it and got there first, so I was left alone at the desk doing nothing but getting more and more lost in my own thoughts.

She finished putting the books back and came back to the desk to pick up her backpack and go home. It seemed as if things went back to normal, because she didn’t say a single word while she did this, nor did she make eye contact or attempt to at any moment, just like usual; however, in my head things were far from being what they used to be. So, with what little strength I found inside of me I managed to speak to her as she was about to leave the library.

“S-see you t-tomorrow.” I barely managed to say.

Her hand was reaching for the door when I spoke, but she stopped and stood still the few seconds it took me to finish my sentence. Then she stood there for a few seconds, I’m guessing that she was as surprised as I was when she spoke to me earlier. However she showed me that she can beat me to a small chat competition any day of the year, because with a lot more of composure than I had, and with a cheerful tone in her voice she quickly replied:

“See you tomorrow!”

And that was the end of that day.

The next day, when I came into the library she also greeted me in the same way, this time I replied more naturally, because I was not only expecting it to happen, I practiced my reply the entire day hoping that she would greet me once again. Then, at the end I also bid her farewell with the exact same words I did the day before, and she replied in the same way she previously did.

After three entire months of not exchanging a single word, and trying to make each other quit, we turned that page and left it behind, and now we were on the best terms that I personally have ever been with anyone else. We greeted each other every time when we came into the library and said goodbye at the end of the day. That was all our routine, and somehow, it made me look forward to going to the library even more.

A few weeks after that we started to put the books back on the shelves together, instead of just one of us doing it all, we didn’t say anything while we did that, but surely it felt really different to what we had done up to that point.

But all the good things have an end, or a break at least, and that is exactly what happened on an unfortunate day.

I came into the library, getting ready to greet Tanaka-san, but instead of her, I found the librarian sitting in the chair she always sits in when I come into the library.

“Good morning, Masuda-kun.” She said when she saw me, but this greeting lacked everything that Tanaka’s greetings have. There was no special feeling about it, she might actually be happy to see me, but it didn’t feel remotely like that to me.

“Good morning.” I replied just to be polite, but then I didn’t say a word to her.

I went and checked the returned books so I could put them back in their place. I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but I was hoping that she was just late, and she would come through the door at any moment. But that moment never came, an hour passed and things remained the same, it was just me and the librarian. Another hour and no changes occurred; my impatience was growing by the second, and I wanted to know why she wasn’t there, but I just didn’t know how to ask.

Luckily for me, those feelings were clearly reflected on my face, so the librarian saw them and knew exactly how to help me.

“I haven’t heard from her the entire day, maybe she didn't come to school at all.” She said. “Maybe her homeroom teacher might know a little more about it. She is in class 1-E, so you can go to the teacher’s hall and ask for their homeroom teacher to tell you more.”

Those words came like a ray of light to my heart, certainly her homeroom teacher would know if anything happened to her, so I could ask her and everything would be alright.

“Thanks.” I told the librarian. “I’ll go as soon as I’m finished here.”

“Just go already.” She instantly replied.

“But…”

“Are you really going to be okay not knowing what happened to her?”

She was right. Even if I knew that her homeroom teacher could know more about her it wasn’t enough for me to calm down. So I stood off my seat, bowed my head to show my gratitude and then I headed out towards the teacher’s hall.

When I got there I asked the person in the front desk if the class 1-E teacher was still here, they confirmed my statement and told me in what desk I could find them.

“Good afternoon, sensei. My name is Masuda Masato, from class 1-B. I would like to ask you about one of your students because she didn’t come to the library to fulfill her duties as an assistant, her name is Tanaka Ayaka.”

“Good afternoon Masuda-san. Thank you for your concern. She has been abcent today, her parents called to inform me that she just catched a cold, so is nothing to be scared of, she should be back tomorrow without problem.”

Her words truly calmed me, I was glad that it was just a cold all that happened to her.

“Thank you very much. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh, yeah. Could you deliver her these printouts of today’s classes?”

“Eh? Why?”

“Well, it would be better for her to not miss those.”

“No, I mean, I understand why the printouts, but…” I said, pausing a little to get my thoughts together. “Why are you asking me to do it?”

She stared at me for a few seconds, apparently this situation was as confusing for her as it was to me. Then she asked me a question impossible for me to answer:

“Aren’t you two friends?”