[Maehara: Nitta-san.]
[Nina: Yes. I'm done with my interview a while ago, so I can move around.]
[Nina: I've heard the story from the Asanagis]
[Nina: Anyway, let's split up the search.]
[Maehara: Got it, let's do that.]
Out of five of us, Nitta-san was the one who was always messing around and never took anything seriously. But, at times like this, she was always the most dependable one.
Anyway, since Amami-san should still be in school and there weren't many places she could go to.
Considering the situation, she was probably alone in a secluded place, so all we needed to do was to find that place.
Nitta-san would cover the school building while I'd go around the school grounds. Although there were a lot of buildings in the school, turning this into a pretty big hide and seek, there really weren't many places for her to hide.
We could probably find her in around twenty minutes… No, probably a little more than that.
"Ah, Maki! What are you doing here?"
"Nozomu?"
After I changed my indoor shoes to outdoor ones and exited the school building, Nozomu suddenly called me out from behind. Since it was still the parent-teacher interview period, he was exempt from participating in his club activities, but it seemed like he didn't take that chance to slack off. From the way he looked, he probably had just finished running.
"Hm… Ah, right, your interview was today, huh? So, how was it? Well, knowing you, your grades are crazy good, so I don't think you had that much trouble, eh?"
"Yeah, but.."
"Huh? But…?"
"…"
For a moment, I hesitated whether to tell Nozomu about Amami-san or not.
He was an important friend of mine. If I were to ask him, even if he were in the middle of a practice, he'd leave it all behind and help me out without hesitation.
If Amami-san just went missing, then I'd definitely tell him without the need to ponder about it, but the current case wasn't that simple. The moment I asked for his help, I also had to tell him the details about the situation.
Amami-san seemed a little unsure about her career path. I've heard that she was aiming for a good university to attend, but I didn't know which university it was. Seeing that something like this happened, I could guess that the interview probably went badly because her grade wasn't high enough to go to the university of her choice.
It was one thing if we were still in the first year, but in second year and above, grades had started to become a quite sensitive topic.
…That was the reason why I wasn't sure if I should tell Nozomu about this. Yes, we were all 'friends,' but I couldn't just ignore Amami-san's opinion on the matter based on that…
"What's wrong, Maki?"
"Ah, no…"
Maybe I should ask for Umi and Nitta-san's opinion? But, Umi's interview was still ongoing and Nitta-san was still focusing on her search. I doubt that they could immediately reply to my text.
That meant I had to decide on my own.
So, what should I tell him?
If I were to lie, he'd definitely find out about it, and I really didn't want to lie to him either.
"…Um, sorry, I have something to take care of."
"Is it urgent?"
"Yeah… Also, I kinda need to keep it a secret for now…"
"I assume that I can't lend you a hand…?"
"Yeah, sorry… Not now, at least…"
I could tell that my answer sounded awkward and half-hearted, but this was the best I could do for the moment.
"I see. Well, I'm going back to practice then."
"Sorry, Nozomu. Even though we're friends…"
"Don't fret about it. We're friends, but we have no obligation to tell each other everything. We aren't families or lovers, you know?"
"…You're a kind guy, you know that?"
"Not really, this much is common sense. Anyway, just hurry up and finish your business. If you need me, just call me, okay?"
"Got it. Thank you."
"Mm."
Nozomu patted me on the back and headed towards the field.
In our group, he was often left out because of his club activities, but he was still an important friend to me.
I knew that it would be impossible to get a body as big as his, but I wanted to have a heart as big as his.
"Thank you, Nozomu."
I muttered to his leaving back before continuing my search for Amami-san.
Since Eri-san and Nitta-san hadn't texted me, that meant Amami-san probably wasn't in the school buildings. I didn't need to check out the fields since they were crowded with people who were practicing like Nozomu.
"…That means…"
A certain place came to my mind, so I moved my legs there, all while looking around the secluded places on the way, just in case.
Since we became second years, we had practically stopped going there anymore. But, back when we were first years, our group often came to that place to eat our lunches.
The place I had in mind was the former teacher's smoking area. Located in a secluded place in the back of the old school building, with only a single bench there, it was a place that neither the students nor teachers frequented anymore.
When I passed the old school building and went to the back, I concealed my footsteps.
There, I found a certain someone's lonely, hunching back.
Perhaps because it was a dimly lit place, but her usually dazzling hair looked a little dull.
"…Sniff…"
"Amami-san…?"
"M-Maki-kun…?"
Hearing my voice, she immediately reacted and turned around. A single drop of tear ran down her cheek and stained her blazer.
She was an expressive person. Due to that, this wasn't the first time I've seen her crying face.
…Still.
This was the first time I've seen her wearing such a sad face.