“Got tired of playing with test tubes and now you’re playing with hamsters, Delta?”
“It’s not playing. Today we’re just learning how to care for them. If you’re not interested, hurry up and go back to interfering with waves or something.”
I’d accidentally retorted, and the biology room’s atmosphere became tense.
“Come on, don’t be like that. We came to observe in the spirit of friendship.”
Tomare Jō, looking far from friendly, appeared restless and idly reached out to touch Jounouchi.
“…He’ll bite.”
Kannabi suddenly spoke up.
“That hamster—once he bites your finger, he won’t let go until he dies.”
Like a snapping turtle, huh.
But the effect was immediate. Tomare Jō recoiled in fear and pulled back their hands. Then, as if feeling humiliated, they looked around the biology room with their usual delinquent-like eyes.
“So many animals.”
“Well, it’s a biology room. It’d be weird if there were tuning forks instead.”
Ignoring Mizusaki’s quip, Tomare Jō glared at me. That look—it’s the one he gives when he has something to say. The gaze he has when he reluctantly opens his mouth to say something he thinks is for my own good, even though he shouldn’t.
“You know, Delta, there’s a reason the biology club has declined this much.”
I was impressed he could say such a thing in front of the biology club senpai, but I was curious about this reason. Without interrupting, I simply glared back at Tomare Jō.
“Four years ago, their activities were severely restricted, but someone still had to continue caring for the living creatures. It was a losing hand. New members plummeted, and those who did join were apparently all animal lovers. As a result, the biology club was ridiculed as an ‘animal appreciation society,’ and even the demographic that would normally join the biology club ended up going elsewhere.”
After saying all that in one breath, Tomare Jō finally seemed to remember the existence of Karato-senpai and the others.
I wonder if he heard this from Mikage-senpai. It was a persuasive story. However, it wasn’t something to discuss here. I could see Karato-senpai shift slightly in my peripheral vision, but I couldn’t bear to look directly.
I opened my mouth to retort, but Tomare Jō held up his hand to stop me.
“Which club you join is up to you guys… but just don’t become boring people.”
Having said his piece with satisfaction, he turned on his heel and left.
What an unnecessary concern.
Fujito seemed desperate to get away from the small animals as quickly as possible and headed straight for the exit. Oosawa (the blond, lanky one), who had been silent the whole time, awkwardly bowed his head and followed after.
That blond figure suddenly disappeared from view.
Almost simultaneously, a loud crash rang out from that direction. It sounded like many glass instruments shattering. We jumped to our feet and hurried over.
Oosawa had fallen. Since he’s the clumsy type who often trips without watching where he’s going, that was fine, but it seemed he’d stumbled over a bucket full of broken glassware. A light blue bucket labeled “Non-combustible Garbage” lay on its side with shards scattered around.
“Ow ow ow ow…”
“Hey, what are you doing, you idiot?”
Tomare Jō offered his hand with an exasperated look and helped Oosawa up. Oosawa rubbed both his hands painfully.
“Are you… okay? You didn’t touch any glass?”
The gentle Iwama rushed over first.
“Ah, uh, n-no… probably. Sorry.”
In front of Iwama, Oosawa’s ears turned bright red as he stammered. Easy to read.
I went to where the glass was scattered and stood the fallen bucket upright.
“…Clean it up properly.”
“I know that.”
Tomare Jō answered irritably, then turned to Karato-senpai.
“Sorry. Can we borrow a broom?”
“Ah, a broom…? Sure, it’s in the cleaning supply cabinet in the back.”
While Tomare Jō and Oosawa went to get the broom from the locker senpai had pointed to, Fujito, Mizusaki, and I picked up the larger glass fragments. Iwama also crouched down next to me.
“Ah, no no no, you guys don’t need to, we’ll handle it.”
“No. Let me help.”
In the end, Kannabi joined in too, and then Tomare Jō and Oosawa came in with the broom and dustpan, and the cleanup was finished quickly. Fujito, who had wrapped packing tape around his hand, patted up the fine fragments at the end.
Until the three of the “Ototo Trio” hurriedly left and the door clattered shut, Karato-senpai stood there as if in a daze.
“I’m sorry, those guys are from the same middle school class as me… they’re the type to say stuff like that without feeling bad about it.”
Mizusaki bowed his head to senpai. Finally, senpai shook her head as if coming back to her senses.
“No, it’s fine, you don’t need to apologize. Survival of the fittest. It’s all true anyway… sorry.”
“Please, don’t apologize.”
“I’m kind of tired. Let’s call it a day and go home.”
The atmosphere was terrible because of the Ototo Trio. There were no objections.
Well, I suppose the first day would be like this.
We started to clean up—
And then we noticed that Jounouchi had disappeared.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“One of those three must have taken him!”
While Karato-senpai didn’t exactly shout, her tone was sharp.
He wasn’t in the maze either. Nor had he returned to his cage.
In the moment we’d looked away, Jounouchi had vanished cleanly from the top of the long desk.
“Perhaps he fell off?”
I had to voice that possibility.
“Those three are unpleasant, but they’re not the type to do something so thoughtless.”
“Jounouchi doesn’t fall off the edge of desks. Absolutely not. I know him best. Besides, I don’t know you well enough yet to just accept your assessment of those three.”
That was also true. As I hesitated over my words, Iwama spoke up.
“Um, isn’t it possible he was startled by the noise? The bucket full of glass fell and made a loud sound. Perhaps he reacted to that noise and while running, fell off the desk.”
“No, that’s not it. When hamsters sense an invisible threat, they first freeze and observe their surroundings. If they just dash away at full speed, they’d be spotted and eaten by predators right away.”
As expected, she must be knowledgeable about animal behavior. Senpai’s words had persuasive power.
However, there were points in senpai’s theory I couldn’t agree with either.
“Senpai says one of those three took him, but is that really the case? One of them was afraid of hamsters to begin with. Another was told the lie that Jounouchi bites and wouldn’t have felt like touching him. And the one who fell injured both his hands.”
“…………”
There was no rebuttal from senpai. I continued.
“I watched carefully when the three left the biology room, and none of them appeared to be carrying Jounouchi, nor did I see him escaping at their feet. Jounouchi fell from the desk for some reason and is still in this biology room. Let’s split up and search.”
This was irrefutable. Senpai closed her eyes slightly as if reflecting, then said:
“…You’re right. Let’s do that. I’m not blaming you guys… sorry.”
She looked down awkwardly and turned her back to us.
An uncomfortable silence to the extreme.
The four of us exchanged glances and nodded to each other, agreeing to search for Jounouchi anyway.
Fortunately, the biology room was sealed shut to prevent RotGelb from escaping. The door the three had left through was immediately locked from the outside so it couldn’t be opened. The door leading to the biology preparation room was also locked, and according to Karato-senpai, the preparation room was empty and wouldn’t be opened from that side. She also said there weren’t even small gaps in the biology room to prevent insects and small animals from entering from outside.
In other words, this space was currently a locked room with no way for a hamster to escape, and we could assume that Jounouchi was somewhere in this biology room unless he’d employed some clever trick.
We split up to search the biology room.
The long desk where Jounouchi had been was left as is to preserve the scene. On the long desk, just the cage and the maze. We’d already confirmed Jounouchi wasn’t hiding in either. We started searching around the desk, each checking inside our bags just in case, gradually expanding our search area.
I moved toward the back of the biology room. With various cluttered items scattered about, there were plenty of places for a hamster to hide. For now, I examined a nearby cabinet.
“Wait.”
Senpai’s voice came from behind. I turned around.
“I’ll search there. You should go talk to those three after all. Just in case.”
“…I’m sorry, but I don’t think those three abducted Jounouchi.”
“But then, explain how Jounouchi disappeared from the top of the desk.”
I was at a loss for words. The desktop was a closed space in its own way. The surroundings were sheer cliffs for a hamster. He’d supposedly never fallen off the edge of a desk before.
“No, that’s not it… sorry.”
When I remained silent, Karato-senpai apologized.
“I’m going to the bathroom for a bit. When I leave, everyone lock the door and continue searching.”
And with hurried steps, though careful when opening the door, she left the biology room.
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