Absent

“Don’t come over?” Yuta stared at his phone, puzzled. “Why would she say that?”

‘Okay. May I know why?’ The message was sent and almost immediately, Shiori responded.

‘It’s personal. Don’t take it the wrong way.’

‘Should I leave the assignment by the door?’

The reply never came. After waiting a few minutes, Yuta pocketed his phone and went on his way.

Hitomura watched Yuta pass him in the hall. He stopped and observed for a moment. Remorse shown on his face. “You’re right, Yuta,” he whispered to himself, “I should respect people’s boundaries more…

Since Shiori never responded, Yuta thought it would be fine to drop off the assignment by the door. Posted on Shiori’s house was a nameplate that read ‘Ozaki’. Even if the nameplate wasn’t there, he would know it was her place. He’d only been there once, but his memory never failed him.

“Here we go…” He placed a folder on the doorstep and continued on his way home. Upon leaving the small property, he pulled out his phone and quickly texted Shiori.

‘The assignment is on your doorstep. Please take it inside when you have time.’ Again, there was no response, causing Yuta to worry if something had happened to his new student. “There’s no point thinking about it,” he told himself. “She’ll let me know what’s happening later.”

The earlier scene of Shiori falling down the stairs entered his mind. He brushed the thought away, positive she only fell because she wasn’t paying attention. ‘But what if something else caused it?’ For the rest of the day, he couldn’t get that thought out of his head.

…

The next day, Shiori wasn’t at school. Ominous thoughts swirled in his head. During lunch, he couldn’t ignore the issue anymore. He leaned against the wall and dialed Shiori’s number.

Several rings passed before there was an answer. “Hello…?” came Shiori’s weak reply.

“Shiori, are you alright? You didn’t answer my texts yesterday, and you’re not here today.”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired is all.”

“Are you sure? Where are you right now?”

Silence ensued for an uncomfortable amount of time. “...In the hospital,” she eventually replied.

“The hospital? What happened?” Yuta’s suspicions grew. “Is it because of the fall you had down the stairs yesterday?”

“...I’ll tell you later.”

“But–”

“Don’t worry about me… I’ll be back tomorrow.” She abruptly ended the call, cutting Yuta off from voicing any more concerns.

“What’s wrong with her…?”

“Are you talking about Ozaki?”

Yuta looked to his left to see a girl standing next to him. He jumped backward, nearly dropping his phone. Her black hair was pulled behind her ear and she wore a curious smile. Ayame Kurosawa, the girl nearly every guy had the hots for. She was captain of the tennis team, and was a key player on both the softball and volleyball teams. How she managed her time having three sports was beyond Yuta.

“Yes, I was… How did you know?”

“I’ve never seen you do anything but study until she showed up.” She paused for a moment. “Hold on, do you–”

“No way. I’m just her tutor. She didn’t come to school today so I had to check if she was okay. That’s all,” he explained.

“Ah, that makes sense. I’ve been wanting to talk to her ever since she transferred, but she always seems like she doesn’t want to talk to anyone…” She folded her arms and leaned against the wall. “She talks to you, though. So I wanted to ask you how I can approach her.”

“Approach her?” Yuta pushed himself off the wall and turned his body to face Kurosawa. “What do you mean?”

Kurosawa began to fidget. “Well, I was just thinking… Maybe I could be her friend. She’s new here, so I figured she could use one.”

“Yeah, she could. But unfortunately, she says she can’t interact with people. She wants to, but it's just really hard and uncomfortable for her.”

Her fidgeting stopped. “Oh, is that so?”

“Yeah. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to study.” Leaving her alone, Yuta turned the corner that led to the library. Unlike the majority of guys in his class, he didn’t find Kurosawa attractive, nor did he care for her attention. He chuckled, knowing that they would be jealous their idol approached him.

To his surprise, Hitomura sat at the table Yuta always studied at, reading a book titled ‘How to Get People to Like You.’

Yuta put his bag down and sat across from Hitomura. If Hitomura decided to interrupt his studying, he would just tell him to keep quiet. He pulled his chemistry book out of his bag and placed it on the table, opening it to the page he had left off on. Next to the textbook, he placed a piece of paper. In his hand was a freshly sharpened pencil, ready for use.

Every so often, Hitomura glanced up from his book to look at Yuta. Each time, he wanted to speak to him, but never opened his mouth.

The bell rang, and the two stood. Yuta put the paper on the page that was currently opened and closed the book, putting it back in his bag. “Modern Japanese is next,” he said under his breath.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bother lately,” Hitomura apologized, catching Yuta off guard.

He stared at Hitomura in near shock. “What?”

“I said I’m sorry for being a bother. I know you find me annoying, and I drove Shiori away, so… I’m sorry, Ichikawa.” He hung his head low in apology.

“Uh, thanks. We should be heading to class now, though.”

Hitomura followed him out of the library and into the classroom on the floor below.

The class took their seats, but Yuta couldn’t help staring at Shiori’s empty desk, wondering if she truly was okay. She certainly didn’t sound like it. He shook his head. Shiori’s been on his mind the whole day, distracting him from his studies. A decision was formed in his head to make him stop thinking about her during class.

After school, he would visit her in the hospital.