“Hey hey Aya-chi, what are you doing?”
“I’m doing partial derivatives.”
“Eh, what’s that! Like weird derivatives? Sounds difficult!”
Senpai’s voice was cheerful, but Mikage’s voice was cold as ice. The temperature difference between the two threatened to cause convection in the air at any moment. It seemed there really was something between them.
Mikage had placed copy paper divided into columns by a vertical line next to the open math magazine, and was writing spell-like mathematical formulas on it with a mechanical pencil. I could tell she was solving problems.
She’d completely entered study mode.
She seemed to be the type who didn’t care about possessions—she was using a flat mesh case with a zipper, the kind sold at hundred-yen stores, as a pencil case. The contents were also minimal. It was a perfect contrast to senpai’s pencil case, which was bulging like a rolled omelet and cluttered with decorations.
“Huh? Del-chi, did my π catch your attention?”
I was startled when she suddenly spoke to me. Next to me, Mizusaki’s chair made a rattling sound.
“Oi Delta, it’s bad to stare at senpai’s π when she has a boyfriend!”
Tlnote : π = pi = pai = oppai = ϖ
Being told such unwelcome things from two directions, I had to protest.
“What do you mean ‘π’? I wasn’t particularly interested in anything.”
Senpai picked up her pencil case and showed me a strap.
Among the colorful straps, one stood out in particular. It looked handmade. It was cloisonné. On a black background, “ϖ” was written in light blue.
Whether it represented the circle ratio or π electrons I couldn’t tell, but apparently this was the “ϖ” Hongou-senpai was referring to. It was true that I’d been looking at the pencil case, so the “ϖ” had entered my field of vision—that much wasn’t wrong. But there was a misunderstanding.
Having lost the will to argue, I urged senpai on.
“Um, could you give us an introduction to the chemistry club now?”
Please forgive that some barbs got mixed into my words.
“Sure! Come to think of it, I hadn’t done that yet. Sorry sorry.”
Hongou-senpai made an OK sign by her cheek in a carefree manner.
Somehow, I got the feeling this chemistry club wasn’t compatible with my personality.
“How was it, Delta?”
After leaving the chemistry room, we returned to the place where we’d eaten lunch. Mikage seemed to have reached a critical point in her problem-solving. She walked over with the math magazine still holding copy paper and her pencil case, and as soon as she sat down next to us, said “Just give me one minute,” then immediately opened the magazine and resumed calculating.
Since she’d shown no interest in the chemistry club from the start, I proceeded with the conversation with just Mizusaki.
“To be honest, it was kind of meh.”
According to Hongou-senpai’s explanation, the chemistry club was one of the larger clubs, even including sports clubs. It was very lively. That wasn’t necessarily bad, but at least it didn’t suit us. Our ideal was to quietly conduct experiments or mumble about chemistry.
“Yeah. Maybe our expectations were too high just because it’s the renowned Tsunagai High School…”
Mizusaki showed me the booklet he’d received from Hongou-senpai.
“This stalactite cave report is mostly field trip impressions. There’s hardly anything written about chemistry. How should I put it—you could see right through the lack of passion for chemistry.”
“The resin factory one was the same. It’d be more accurate to call it social studies fieldwork impressions.”
“Seriously? But senpai chose the well-done ones to give us, right?”
“Maybe she accidentally grabbed the opposite ones?”
Mikage suddenly looked up.
“That woman isn’t the type to make such mistakes.”
She seemed to have finished solving the problem. It appeared to be a proof problem, with “Q.E.D.” written at the end.
“Either that’s the highest quality report in the chemistry club, or else that woman deliberately gave you low-quality reports. It’s one or the other.”
We froze for a moment at this unexpected statement. Not only was the content surprising, but the way Mikage matter-of-factly referred to senpai as “that woman” had an eerie quality similar to a curse.
As always in such situations, Mizusaki was the first to find words.
“…By the way, Mikage-san, what’s your relationship with Hongou-senpai?”
“Relationship? I don’t know that vixen.”
She definitely knew her, but neither Mizusaki nor I were foolish enough to dig deeper here.
Since Mizusaki was taken aback and the air had frozen over, I changed the subject.
“Mikage-san, what problem were you solving earlier?”
It was an obvious topic change, but Mikage returned to her usual manner and smiled.
“A simple proof problem involving complex exponential functions. It wasn’t particularly advanced, but there were a lot of calculations so it took some time. I really wanted to finish it while that woman was talking, sorry.”
She apologized for some reason. Both the contents written in the math magazine and the symbol-filled formulas on the copy paper were completely incomprehensible to me, and didn’t look simple at all.
“That woman” again. Perhaps to deflect, Mizusaki said in an overly bright voice:
“Wow, Mikage-san is so cool! You’re like a real mathematician. The type who can literally kill time endlessly with just paper and pen?”
Mizusaki pointed at the copy paper and mechanical pencil.
“Perhaps so. By the way, I use copy paper because I can keep it in the magazine. Normally I use blank notebooks.”
“Woow.”
Mizusaki looked impressed. Mikage was numbingly rational. I wonder if it’s related to liking math.
“And also, stationery—”
For some reason, Mikage showed us her mesh case pencil case.
“Basically just a mechanical pencil and eraser, plus a two-color ballpoint pen in red and black. Red is for grading, black is for letters and documents to submit. If required in class, I’ll also bring a ruler or compass.”
Inside really was only a mechanical pencil, replacement leads, an eraser, and a two-color ballpoint pen.
“Amazing. I think I don’t carry much stationery either, but I use highlighters to make words stand out, and also green markers for memorization. You know, the kind that turn black with a red sheet.”
“What’s good about mathematics is that it’s fundamentally simple. Beautiful mathematics is sufficiently explanatory while remaining minimal. So necessary and sufficient stationery is appropriate—that’s what both my brother and I think. Using some colors like Mizusaki-kun does is rational, but cluttering things up with unnecessary colored pens or putting obstructive straps on pencil cases is something we’d never do.”
It was obvious who she was talking about, but we tried our best not to touch on it.
Since Mikage told us the physics club could be last, we decided to go see the other science club next—the biology club.
“Ah, Izuta-kun!”
On the stairs going down to the first floor where the biology room was, we happened to pass by Iwama. She must have just changed in the first-floor locker room—she was in a brand new gym uniform. The skin of her arms and legs peeking out from the short sleeves and shorts was dazzling, and I responded while averting my gaze slightly to the side.
“Iwama-san, are you on your way to the basketball club’s welcome event?”
“Yeah. What about you, Izuta-kun?”
“We’re checking out science clubs. We just saw the chemistry club, and next is biology.”
“I see! Hey, how was—”
She started to say, then Iwama closed her mouth. She’d apparently been poked by a brown-haired girl with a side ponytail behind her and turned around. When the girl asked “Who’s this person?” Iwama briefly answered “Um… someone from class.”
The side-ponytail girl looked like she definitely played sports and sized us up with her gaze. This must be the “friend from middle school” who invited Iwama to the basketball club.
The two of them radiated a “sunny” atmosphere with everything they had. It felt somewhat overwhelming. As “someone from class” to Iwama, I thought I shouldn’t inconvenience her by chatting too long.
“Sorry, we’re blocking the stairs.”
“Oh, r-right, sorry on our end too!”
“See you tomorrow.”
Nobody was actually trying to pass, but I hurried down to the first floor.
As we parted, I saw Iwama give a small wave in our direction.
Still, I couldn’t wave back.
Dry footsteps echoed on the linoleum floor. The first floor of the science building was quiet and empty. Aside from us, there were only students in gym clothes like Iwama sporadically heading toward the stairs.
“Delta, did something happen with Iwama-san?”
While heading to the biology club, Mizusaki worried needlessly in a low voice.
“No, nothing.”
Really nothing had happened. After Mizusaki said “I see,” he lowered his voice even more.
“But you know, Iwama-san is pretty slen—ow!”
I smacked his head before Mizusaki could finish.
Mikage looked at us curiously, but we ignored it and headed to the biology room.
The biology room was directly below the chemistry room. It somehow seemed like there was no sign of people, but a color-printed poster saying “Welcome to Biology Club!” was posted on the whiteboard at the entrance. Photos of creatures were nicely collaged—a turtle sunbathing, a hamster with puffed cheeks, a light blue parakeet, a sea urchin eating cabbage.
However, through the slot in the biology room door, I could tell the lights weren’t on.
“Hey Mizusaki, isn’t anyone here?”
“Hmm? But look, it says new student welcome.”
Mizusaki pointed to the biology club schedule written on the whiteboard next to the poster.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
April 18 (Monday) New Student Welcome Begins!
I thought “certainly”—then a question arose. Was today the 18th?
Mizusaki seemed to have the same thought and checked the date on his smartphone.
“No, today’s Monday but it’s the 15th. This isn’t this year’s schedule.”
“This year is a leap year, so I think that’s a date from two years ago.”
Mikage informed us from behind. Mizusaki’s eyes widened.
“Eh, Mikage-san, you calculate fast!”
“It’s not much of a calculation. The remainder when you divide 365 by 7 is 1, so the day of the week shifts forward by one each year. In a leap year, there’s February 29th so it shifts by two. Since it’s shifted by three, this is from two years ago.”
Now that she mentioned it, it certainly wasn’t much of a calculation, but being able to answer confidently in an instant was impressive.
But still, how about a schedule that hasn’t been updated in two years? It would trouble people who want to know the club’s schedule.
“Hmm, but that’s weird. This poster is for this year. It’s printed with 2024.”
Strange indeed. When I tried touching the letters on the schedule, the black text didn’t even smudge.
“I see… Someone wrote it in permanent marker, and nobody tried to erase it.”
“Huh? Wouldn’t rubbing it with acetone take it off in one go?”
“Maybe it was too much trouble.”
Setting aside why the schedule meant for activities had been left alone for two years, while Mizusaki and I were about to turn back, Mikage slid open the biology room door with a rattle.
As expected, there was nobody inside. In the dim biology room, rustling sounds like small animals moving and splashing sounds of turtles thrashing about by the window echoed emptily.
“Excuse us.”
What answered Mikage’s voice was a high-pitched “G’dayyy…” Immediately after, flapping sounds came from the same direction, so we understood it was some kind of parakeet or parrot.
“Looks like Parakeet-senpai is here.”
Mizusaki smiled wryly. No humans were present.
“Doesn’t look like they’re doing a welcome event. Let’s not.”
“Yeah, right.”
Just as Mizusaki and I were about to leave, we heard the sound of a door opening.
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