Chapter 2.1

Upon our arrival at the site of the disaster, I looked at Hayashi disappointingly—it wasn’t that catastrophic. Did he really need to run?

Well, I usually spent time here in the library.. an angry librarian was a common sight—though it’s the first time I’ve seen him that angry, it makes sense I guess..

I worried about the time and took a peek at my watch, but it was still early; more than enough time to fix this mess. “I was THIS close to fainting Hayashi, everybody knows that at that hour, the library’s still closed.” the librarian scolded him with frustration. “I thought you were a ghost..”

Having eye contact with Hayashi, I folded my arms and gave him a look, judging him—wondering how he didn’t know about that rule.

“I apologize, we’ll get to fixing it right away.” he spoke with casual sincerity as he slightly bowed.

I walked over to the fallen cart and set the books aside so he could make it stand. Then I crouched on the floor, arranging the books one by one as Hayashi handed them to me.

“You know, the librarian’s in his mid 60s or 70s… did you really have to make him chase you?”

“His throw was lethal, I could’ve died.”

..Is he joking or was it really that strong of a throw?

Regardless, we managed to fix and arrange the cart. Erasing the footprints of Hayashi’s mishaps in the library.

“We still have time don’t we?” I asked.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Don’t you think you deserve more punishment than this?” I said, and he tilted his head in confusion. “Let’s rearrange some shelves as well.”

I waited for his answer assuming he’d be in disagreement, but he nodded and we began working.

We walked from aisle to aisle, checking some sections that had incorrectly oriented books or if we saw any particular one that was put in a different section. Of course, those at the top shelves were of no exclusion. Hayashi got a ladder and I climbed out of curiosity.

“Be careful, you’re wearing a skirt.” he said.

“Then don’t look, it’s not like I asked you to.”

I stood atop the ladder, observing if there were any disarranged books.

There were a few, so I fixed them and moved to another spot. Hayashi kept insisting he’d climb up the stairs instead of me, but I enjoyed doing it so I resisted.

I continued looking across the top shelves until I noticed something.

Peeking out of a misoriented book…

A letter…

How long has it been since..

I immediately snatched it, wary about who else would see it and not wanting to miss this chance. Without missing a beat, I had snuck it in the pocket of my blazer.

But there I felt the ladder tumble—the quick and unsupervised motion I had done was an entry to my downfall… sending me off balance and I felt myself begin to fall backwards.

I was just a girl, falling from such a tall height to her eventual demise. Unable to fly nor soften the fall… so I had to accept my fate and just bear the consequences this fall would ensue.

Though I expected contact with the hard floor, I closed my eyes and landed on something else.

Hayashi; whom I thought wasn’t looking, actually ran over to catch me, effortlessly I’d say as he simply stared down at me, keeping me held in his arms. “How careless, who knows what would’ve happened if I wasn’t here.” he said with a lower voice than usual.

I remained carried in his arms, staring at him longer than usual.

It took some time before I realized the situation.

But the moment I did, I broke eye contact and looked away from him. I couldn’t show him such an expression.. Why won’t he let me down already..? It’s… embarrassing..

“You okay?” he asked, unsure of how I felt.

“Y-yeah..” I muttered, preferring not to look at him. “Can you… put me down..?”

Gently, he settled me back on my feet, and I turned my back on him, settling myself for a moment. “Let’s finish this and go back to the classroom.” he said and I followed suit.

I blankly rearranged some of the books on the bottom shelves while he took care of the ones on the top. With due effort, we eventually finished.

As we walked back to the classroom side by side, the image of him catching me kept replaying in my head, I couldn’t find the pause button.. It was unusual for me to be so careless… If only I hadn’t been so agitated when I saw that letter.

“If I were you, I’d eat more.” he said as we stopped by a vending machine.

“Me? I eat plenty.”

“You sure? I didn’t have the slightest of difficulty when carrying you earlier, that’s how light you were.”

“...” I stood as he waited for my response. “You can’t talk your way out of this, give me my apple juice.”

“Right.” he gave in, purchasing drinks for the both of us. “Well, it seems like you drink plenty.”

“What?” I glared at him.

“Nothing.”