Breakdown

Hitomura watched Shiori rush out of the library. "What's gotten her all upset?"

"Gee, I wonder." Yuta stood and grabbed his belongings. Shiori had left her book on the table. He reached for it and placed it in his bag with his other stuff. "It's quite obvious that she's not comfortable with people, so when you act like you're her buddy, it's bound to freak her out."

"I was just–"

"Doesn't matter. What matters is that she's upset. She left her book here, so I'll go give it to her. And don't try to bother her, she clearly needs some alone time right now."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make her upset." Hitomura sighed. "To think I've made a maiden cry!"

Yuta flung his hag over his shoulder and went after Shiori. He paused outside of the library. "Where would a girl go if she was upset?"

"The bathroom is the most likely place."

Yuta turned to see Hitomura leaning against the door. "I can't go into the girls' bathroom."

"You don't have to." Hitomura pushed his glasses to his face as if it were cool. "You need only wait for her to come out."

"That'd still make me seem creepy. Thanks for the help, though." The bathrooms were a good place to start his search. Shiori was always reading, so it's obvious that she loves books. If he said he had her book, she would likely come get it from him.

A few students roamed the halls, chatting amongst themselves. Yuta wished he could spend his time studying as he usually did, instead of dealing with the effects of Hitomura's annoying personality.

Luckily, the girls' bathroom wasn't far from the library. "Ozaki? You left your book in the library. I'm here to give it to you."

Moments passed, and there was no answer. "Guess she's not here." Yuta shrugged and turned away. He continued down the hall. A couple girls walked together, going the opposite direction of Yuta.

"The new girl's so weird!"

"Seriously! Her face is always in a book, and when it's not, she's always crying!"

The girls laughed as they gossiped about Shiori. Yuta felt bad, but their gossip did help him. If they saw her, then she shouldn't be too far ahead.

Yuta stopped at an intersection. He could continue straight or turn left. He didn't see the girls very long, so they must have come from the left. He took the left hall, wondering where Shiori went.

He stopped again, now faced with a decision he had no previous leads to help with. The hallway continued in front of him, but a staircase existed to his right.

There was another bathroom farther down the hall, but if she wasn't in the one closest to the library, she probably wasn't in a bathroom at all.

"Downstairs will be the best bet," Yuta told himself. One step at a time, he descended the stairs. Thinking back, he realized this was the staircase he and Hitomura found Shiori after she tumbled down the steps. "She didn't go to the nurse's office, did she?"

At the bottom of the stairs, he retraced the steps he had taken earlier to the nurse's office. He didn't want to run into Ms. Sasaki but returning the book to Shiori was his top priority.

“What brings you back here?” Ms. Sasaki’s voice asked from behind him.

Yuta nearly jumped. He turned his head to see the nurse standing behind him. “Is Ozaki here?”

“Ozaki?” She crossed her arms and grinned. “Why, that depends. You’re not going to do anything improper, are you?”

“No, not at all! I’m just returning the book she left behind.” He showed her Shiori’s book, hoping the nurse would let him go.

“Is that so?” She paused to think. “Well, it should be fine as long as I monitor you. She’s on the same bed she was on earlier.”

“Thanks.” Yuta returned his attention to the nurse’s office, relieved that she didn’t get any wrong ideas.

The curtain around Shiori’s bed was closed when he entered the room, but he could hear the sniffling coming from the other side. “Ozaki?” He pulled the curtains to the side.

Shiori lay on her stomach, hugging a pillow that she had obviously been crying into. She looked up at Yuta and wiped away the tears that still stained her eyes. It appeared as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silent.

Ms. Sasaki loomed behind him, putting a chill down his spine.

He pulled her book out of his bag and handed it to her. “You left this in the library. I figured it was important to you, since you’re always reading it.”

Shiori accepted the book and a smile crept onto her face. “Thank you,” she managed to whisper.

“Also, don’t let Hitomura get to you. He’s like that to everyone. And he’s desperate for any girl to give him attention.”

“It’s not his fault…” Shiori murmured. “It’s all because I can’t interact with people.”

“It’s okay. Everyone’s different. I understand not wanting to–”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t.” Tears started to fall down her cheeks and she buried her face in the pillow again.

Ms. Sasaki softly put her hand on Yuta’s shoulder. “I think Ozaki needs some time to herself now.”

Yuta departed, leaving Shiori alone with the nurse. As soon as he walked out of the nurse’s office, the bell sounded. “Home Ec is next, huh?” He mumbled to himself. He started toward his next class, the sound of Shiori’s sobs becoming more distant.

…

After school, Yuta searched for Shiori to give her the first assignment he prepared for her. She never came back to class after lunch ended, so the first place he checked was the nurse’s office.

“Ozaki? She left a while after lunch. I thought she had gone back to class.” Ms. Sasaki scratched her head, wondering where the girl had gone, and why Yuta was constantly looking for her. “Why are you looking for her?”

“There’s something I have to give her.”

“Something?” Ms. Sasaki narrowed her eyes. “What is this something?”

“Just an assignment,” Yuta said, avoiding eye contact. “I’m actually her tutor.”

“Her tutor?” Her expression changed instantly. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“It’s not really something I’m trying to make public…”

“If she never went back to class, perhaps she went home early,” she suggested.

“Thanks for the help.” He bowed before taking his leave. In the hall, he pulled out his phone to check the time. The thought immediately came to him to text her. “How did I forget that I have her number?”

‘I have your first assignment prepared. Where are you?’ The text was marked as read almost immediately.

‘At home. I wasn’t feeling well,’ came the speedy reply.

‘I’ll swing by to drop it off, then. Since you struggled with math the most, I decided to focus more on that.’

He put his phone away and swung his bag over his shoulder. “Guess that means I’ll have to make a quick stop before I go home.” The phone buzzed. Taking out his phone, he read the message from Shiori.

‘Don’t come over.’