The First Note

“Terrible? To Ozaki? Like what?” Yuta questioned, trying to figure out who would bully Shiori. An earlier scene came to the forefront of his mind–two girls walking down the hall, badmouthing Shiori while Yuta tried to find her.

Hitomura looked around the room to make sure no one was listening and leaned in to whisper. “I heard they were going to start leaving nasty notes in her locker every day.”

“Starting today?”

“Yes. That’s what I heard, anyway.”

“Where’d you get this information?”

“I heard a couple girls talking about it during lunch. I hid around the corner and listened to their conversation when I heard them mention Shiori.” He stepped back, giving Yuta some room. “I may have accidentally hurt her, but I won’t let anyone do it on purpose.” He saluted. “It is my duty as an otaku to protect girls’ fragile hearts.”

“I don’t think being an otaku has any duties…” Yuta sighed and picked his bag from off the floor, flinging it over his shoulder. “I could ask her for her combination, but I doubt she’d want to give it to me. She might also think I’m the one leaving the notes if she finds them.”

“That is true…” Hitomura put his hand on his chin. “We could leave a note in her locker telling her not to read any other notes.”

“I doubt that would work.” He leaned against his locker, facing Hitomura. “It’d be best if we could keep her from knowing someone is trying to bully her.”

“That would require us to take the notes out of her locker. Asking her would probably be the best way to go about this.”

“I guess.” Just as Yuta was about to pull his phone out of his pocket, it buzzed. His father had sent him a message.

‘Kaori has a fever. I need you in the restaurant from five till nine.’

Yuta typed his reply. ‘Got it.’ Switching to the conversation with Shiori, he let her know about the sudden change in his schedule.

‘Can we do ten, then?’ Read her response.

‘That works. By the way, what’s the combination to your lock?’

‘Why?’

‘In case I need to give you an assignment when you’re not here.’

‘You could just come to my house like you did last time.’

‘I might have to hurry home to help with the restaurant sometimes.’ There was a long pause before her next message came through.

‘Okay. It’s 12-29-6.’

‘Thanks.’ Yuta pocketed his phone.

“You got it?” Hitomura asked expectantly.

He nodded and moved in front of the locker that belonged to Shiori, testing out the combination she had given him. On his first attempt, the lock clicked open, and the locker unlatched, revealing some of Shiori’s belongings, as well as a small paper that lay on top of her shoes. He picked it up and turned around, flipping it over.

Hitomura stood next to him, reading the note over his shoulder. “You’ll never make any friends here, especially with that dumb personality of yours… Get your face out of that book or we’ll make you…” He cringed. “What kind of person thinks this is funny?”

“A terrible one. I’m glad we could find this note before Ozaki. You said they planned on putting a note here every day?”

“Until she stops reading, apparently. Not sure why they hate seeing her read all the time. It’s none of their business.”

“Her reading isn’t the reason for this. They think she’s vulnerable, since she’s a transfer student with social problems. An easy target for bullying.” Yuta crumpled the note and shoved it in his pocket. “Thanks for sharing this information with me. I have to get home now. See you tomorrow.”

The distance between them grew as Hitomura watched Yuta leave, a smile on his face. “I’m glad to be of service.”

…

To Yuta’s surprise, there were no customers in the restaurant when he arrived. Not even the regulars were in the building. His father spotted him from behind the counter and waved.

“How was school?”

“It was alright. I helped someone study, and I stopped someone from being bullied.”

“Someone was being bullied?”

Yuta nodded. “The girl I’m tutoring. Which, by the way, she’ll be coming over once my shift is over.”

“Ah, bullying is never fun. Shall I have a meal prepared for her?” He grabbed a wet rag and started cleaning the counter.

“She doesn’t know what we have, so let her see the menu first. And it’ll be late, so don’t make her anything huge, okay?”

His father gave him a thumbs up. “Understood.”

“Where’s mom?”

“She’s with Kaori. If you want to visit your sister, go right ahead. But don’t get too close. And wash your hands.”

“I know, I know.” Yuta jogged up the stairs and opened the first door on his left. His sister rested under the covers of the futon. Sitting by her side was their mother. Kaori turned her head when Yuta entered.

“Hey, bro. I’m sorry to make you cover my shift today. You probably wanted to spend that time studying…”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” He sat on his knees by his sister. “How are you feeling?”

“Not that well, to be honest… I’ll be better by morning, though.” She yawned.

“Just take it easy. I’m always willing to cover your duties for you when you need me to.”

“You’re a nice brother… If only you would spend more time with me instead of studying…” She dozed off, quietly snoring.

His mother shifted to face him. “How’s your tutoring going?”

“We haven’t done much yet, but we are going to meet again tonight. She wanted to come here because of the food. And also so her mom doesn’t threaten me again, probably.”

“Her mom threatened you?”

“Yeah, but it didn’t bother me. Her mom just wants to keep her safe.” He stood up and stretched his legs. “I know I still have a while until my shift starts, but I should probably start getting ready.”

“Alright. We appreciate your willingness to help with the business,” his mom commented.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m always happy to help.” He left her alone with the sleeping Kaori and headed downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, a girl leaped onto him. Her glasses almost fell off after the impact.

“Yuta!” She beamed while she had her arms wrapped around the confused Yuta.