“What would we think… we wouldn’t think anything in particular.”
“Really? Wouldn’t you be a little disappointed?”
“Even if there was a possibility of that, it’s none of Iwama’s business—”
After saying it, I think.
Iwama is kind. She’s incredibly cautious in her consideration, exercising kindness subtly.
She pretended to talk about the rhododendron’s flower language to let Kannabi rest.
Even insisting strongly that she wanted to see the large camphor tree, perhaps that was also—
“Right. Rio thinks that far ahead when she acts. She’s compulsively made to think. Like she’s wearing a collar she can’t remove.”
“A collar?”
I couldn’t picture it. Does a collar relate to compulsively thinking about others’ impressions? Whether that’s actually an accurate metaphor or one of Kannabi’s signature mysterious expressions, I couldn’t tell.
“If you don’t know, that’s fine. This isn’t foreshadowing for anything.”
Listening to the sound of waves, I organize my thoughts.
“…To create a situation where Iwama could easily show her face at biology club, Kannabi joined?”
“Yes. It’s a simple story. [If you’re interested, why don’t you go see?]—Rio can’t move with that. [Won’t you come see for my sake?]—with that, Rio can move. Because it becomes a request from others.”
It’s like a way of thinking that hacks behavioral patterns. But the logic fits. To make a logical entity that can only take altruistic actions take selfish actions, you just need to make them interpret those selfish actions as altruistic. Like saying not “You can eat,” but “Help me eat.”
“Why does Kannabi go that far for Iwama?”
When I ask, Kannabi lets her sharp eyes smile just a little.
“Because I didn’t want a friend I finally made to go far away.”
Indeed, Kannabi doesn’t look like she’d be good at basketball.
“…So after this, I’m planning to tell Rio that I joined the biology club. When she heard that you two joined the biology club, Rio showed great interest. One more push should bring her. …So, if it’s not too much trouble, could you help me? Even you would surely be happy if someone with that much talent became a club member, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind lending a hand a little…”
I felt like the mystery surrounding Kannabi had finally been solved. Her sudden appearance in the biology room yesterday, tricking me into calling me out today—all from a simple reason. To join the biology club together with Iwama.
…Hm?
There was one thing that really bothered me.
“Who did Kannabi hear from that we joined the biology club?”
I only told Mikage about joining the biology club. I filled out the application form that was distributed and submitted it directly to Tokumura-sensei. Even in the classroom, I don’t remember having a conversation obvious enough to be noticed. Even Iwama who sits behind me didn’t know, so how did Kannabi, who I first talked to yesterday, know?
“Good question. As expected of Delta.”
After looking back toward the restroom, Kannabi continues.
“It seems a monster lives at Tsunagai High School. A terrifying venomous snake that secretly creeps up on us.”
It’s an expression that doesn’t sound at all like club talk, and I tilt my head.
“What do you mean? If you’re talking about a specific person, could you tell me who?”
“I think it’s better not to say the name from my mouth yet. So…”
Smiling somewhat meaningfully, Kannabi says in a whisper:
“Yes, let’s call them the ‘Director’ for now.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
We seem to have walked quite far. Iwama comes running to us saying “Sorry! I’m late!” She’s a bit out of breath. While I feel guilty, Kannabi says beside me:
“…A seagull, you see.”
“Hm? A seagull…?”
“Delta chased after a seagull, so we moved a bit. I’m sorry.”
“Ah, is that so? That’s totally fine!”
Though I’ve been arbitrarily made into the culprit, I have no choice but to go along with Kannabi’s lie.
Without denying the seagull story, I just mutter “Sorry.” There wasn’t any seagull anywhere.
We resume our walk. As we continue walking westward along the sandy beach, we run into Morigasaki jutting out into the sea. It’s a small cape thick with pine trees, surrounded by steep cliffs. We were talking about climbing the stairs built into the cliff when Iwama suddenly notices:
“The sand around here is black, isn’t it?”
“Ah, you’re right.”
Now that she mentions it, the white sandy beach had at some point changed to something blackish. It’s not that it looks darker because it’s wet—the sand grains themselves have become black.
“I wonder if the composition changed.”
In front of tilting-her-head Kannabi, Iwama takes out her smartphone. Wondering what she’s doing, she crouches down, opens her notebook-style case, and begins holding it over the beach surface as if scanning it.
“…What are you doing?”
Iwama immediately stands up and, instead of answering, cheerfully shows us the clasp of her phone case.
“I see, iron sand.”
The notebook-style smartphone case was designed to close with a small magnet. She held that magnet over the sand. If iron sand is mixed in, it could certainly be attracted that way, though it would be difficult to remove.
As I’d thought since the cherry blossoms, she seems reserved but doesn’t hesitate at times like this.
“Right! The geological layers around Morigasaki apparently contain magnetite. There must be somewhere—”
Mid-sentence, Iwama suddenly closes her mouth.
“Sorry, I said something weird. Don’t mind it.”
It must be almost a habit. The way she denies her own statements by saying “something weird” reminds me of Kannabi’s expression about “suppressing one’s true self.”
I know well from experience that if you talk about scientific things on a daily basis, the majority of people will treat you as a weirdo or eccentric. In content for the masses, science characters are often depicted as bespectacled people who act strangely. Sadly, I happen to fit into that category too.
If Iwama tends to find scientific elements in everyday events, she must have been viewed through that weirdo lens countless times. I’ve always cut off the majority’s gaze, but Iwama did the opposite.
Hiding what you love to play the role of a sensible, likeable person—how lonely that must be.
Imagining what kinds of experiences Iwama has had until now, I get goosebumps.
“…Saimitsujūten kōzō .”
Before I knew it, my mouth was moving.
“Eh?”
It must have been too sudden. Iwama looks at me with wide eyes.
“Saimitsujūten kōzō, or close-packed structure, refers to the arrangement where spheres of the same size are placed in a given space with the highest density and least waste. It’s used when considering the structure of metal crystals and molecular crystals.”
The words flowed out.
“Dilatancy is the property where something flows like a liquid when force is applied slowly, but becomes immobile like a solid when force is applied suddenly. It’s also why the wet sand under our feet right now becomes hard each time we step on it.”
Iwama looks dumbfounded. I thought about stopping because I’m embarrassed, but I continue anyway.
“Neo-Darwinism is modern evolutionary theory. It takes the concept of natural selection proposed by Darwin and adds newly obtained knowledge to more accurately capture evolution.”
I point at Iwama’s smartphone.
“And magnetite is Fe₃O₄. It’s a type of iron oxide with strong magnetism that sticks to magnets. It’s the main component of iron sand. All of this is within the scope of high school chemistry and isn’t weird or anything. Kannabi and I would know this.”
I wasn’t sure if Kannabi actually knew, but considering the bread and seagull incidents, I hope she’ll forgive me.
“Iwama, you don’t need to correct or apologize to us about the words you use. There may have been times when people didn’t understand, and you might have been thought of as pedantic. But you don’t have to hold back in front of us. It gets through to us normally.”
The sound of waves and wind shaking the pine forest. The sea breeze was a bit cold. Beyond Morigasaki, the sun had apparently already set. The clear sky was beginning to drop in tone toward black.
Did I mess up?
At my strange behavior, Iwama seemed stunned for a while. Eventually she looks down just a little and says in a murmur:
“…Thank you.”
I can’t see her face well.
“You know, I’ve decided to join the biology club.”
Kannabi steps forward from the side. Iwama looks up in surprise.
“I’ve already submitted the application form. It’s been decided that we’ll start activities in earnest from Monday. So Rio, if you’d like—”
My lower back feels itchy. I feel like I’m listening to a love confession from the side.
“If you’d like, Rio, won’t you join the biology club too?”
Iwama holds the smartphone she’d been holding in one hand with both hands to her chest. The way she looks like a girl who’s just been confessed to makes me feel even more uncomfortable.
“Rei… thank you.”
At Iwama’s thanks, Kannabi nods and glances at me.
I see. Iwama has only said thank you so far. Even this isn’t enough yet.
Others have their own survival strategies.
I’ve chosen a way of life that respects that, and that’s why I’m not the type to interfere with others’ choices. A place in the shade is, after all, that kind of place.
But just this once—even knowing my words might become a single drop creating ripples in Iwama’s way of life, I should probably say this.
“Even just trying it out is fine… if you’re interested, it would make me happy if Iwama came on Monday too.”
From behind the rocks, a large wave sound answered with a splash.
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