92 – The cat that climbed over the fence
I realized something was wrong. Seeing Shiraishi’s empty seat. As her absence from school got longer day by day and preparations for the cultural festival were getting closer, I packed my bag and stood up.
“…… Sorry, Haruna. “Something urgent comes up today, so I think I should go first.”
“Uh… “Where?”
Shiraishi had been out of school for a few days due to a cold, but her preparation for the play went without a hitch thanks to the clear instructions she had given to those in class on what to do. .
But that didn’t mean I could just sit there and wait for her to come back.
“…… Are you worried about Aki-chan?”
She glanced at me and asked, looking at me.
Shiraishi has not gone to school since that day.
And when Haruna saw me paying special attention to her empty seat, she immediately noticed.
“……… “Do you want to go with me?”
Then she would know.
When I scratched the back of her neck and asked her a quick question, Haruna looked worried.
“…… Elena said that. Just a cold. “I’ll be back soon after taking a few days off.”
“I heard that, but….”
“Furthermore, he said he would not accept visits in the hospital.”
Yes, I heard everything.
So, I just waited for her helplessly, but as expected, staying still didn’t suit her temperament.
I was missing something.
For that, I really wanted to meet her.
“…… Okay. “I’ll tell the story to the other kids.”
In the end, Haru nodded and gave her a push on my back.
“I think I probably won’t see it, but… “But do you still say hello to Aki-chan when you see her?”
“Yes.”
The classroom door closed and I left the place.
If there is one thing I realized after spending a day or two, it was that the cause of this conflict was me, not anyone else.
Neither Yuuki nor Shiraishi.
I tried my best to force the two together.
I was clearly mistaken about Shiraishi.
In order to correct her illusions, the first thing you have to do is meet her.
We need to meet and talk.
We need to be together a little longer.
I knew everything about her from just a short story about this world. It was my fault for misunderstanding her.
“……… Ha.”
So, I stopped by the Shiraishi residence even though I was unable to prepare for the after-school cultural festival.
“Even if you press it, Shiraishi won’t come out.”
I didn’t have the courage to ring the doorbell.
As Haruna said, she had already received word that no visits would be accepted.
Others in her class were worried about her, but they thought it was just her absence due to a cold and all they did was wait for her.
“…… “Maybe I’m just impatient.”
I was the only one who came to her house complaining about missing school for a day or two.
I glanced back and looked up at her wall.
If you ring the doorbell, the employee will just come out and send you away. Or maybe Elena will come out.
“……… No no… “Are you crazy?”
I shook my head.
I heard that as a child, Yuuki fearlessly climbed over the wall of this mansion and had her first meeting with Shiraishi. It was accepted because he was a child.
If a high school boy the size of me were caught climbing a wall, she might be caught and tied up.
Or your arm gets ripped off.
So, they were treated like nothing more than thieves.
“But… ….”
Unless he was a thief, it was impossible to meet Shiraishi in this situation.
She was a noble daughter who grew up surrounded by gold and jade in the Shiraishi family, but at the same time, she was a poor girl bound by the family’s rules.
If you did not receive a visit in the hospital, it literally meant ‘forbidden’.
“…… “I’m not a prisoner.”
She is not particularly confined in solitary confinement, and this may have been done out of concern for her physical condition.
Even though she ran away, thinking about her being locked in her house and unable to meet anyone, she cried and her unknown emotions surged in her heart.
I trusted the momentum and pressed the doorbell.
Eight. With the mindset that whatever happens, happens.
Of course, Shiraishi will not appear. No matter who it was, I first tried to convey my business. Even if you are cruelly kicked out.
“Oh… !”
While I was waiting for the bell to ring while thinking that, the door to the mansion opened.
Not even 5 seconds passed after I rang the doorbell. The door opened immediately and I tried to greet them cheerfully.
“Hello…… !”
However, the greeting did not end.
A large shadow covering me. This was because the tall maid, Elena, was right in front of me.
“Ah, ah… Elena… Seed….”
I did well not to climb over the wall.
If I couldn’t resist her impulse and made the wrong choice, I would have been caught by her and had her arm ripped off.
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“Ah… I… Shiraishi… I was worried…….”
The overflowing emotions subside as I look at the maid in front of me.
Well, I didn’t mean to barge into the mansion. I also had something called momentum.
That momentum also breaks down in the face of fear. The fear that if you get caught wrongly, you could be overpowered.
“……… ….”
“Ah… “Hey, Elena.”
I carefully called out to her as she looked at me with her calm eyes without saying a word.
“……… “Please come in.”
“Yes?”
As she turned her body and muttered, I thought I had heard wrong and asked back.
“Aren’t you here to visit Shiraishi?”
“…… Yes, that’s right.”
Huh? Surely a free pass?
I’m surprised.
Even if other students can’t do it, I can do it.
I didn’t know why such a special exception was allowed, but I followed her in silence.
I was a little amazed as I looked at the beautiful flower bed embroidered with colorful colors.
I don’t have eyes to see, but I felt that Shiraishi’s garden had definitely become more beautiful since Elena came here.
“…… “This way.”
When she came to her senses, she looked back at her. However, that direction was far from the entrance to her mansion.
“Yes?”
Rather, it goes backwards. I followed her in a puzzled mood as we walked around the outside of the garden.
She entered the white pavilion there and saw me.
“Please sit down.”
“……… ….”
I sat there quietly, unable to bear to say that I had come to see Shiraishi.
Does this mean that I am going to go see flowers here?
As she looked at the other person whose true intentions were still unknown from the beginning to now, she spoke dryly.
“Please wait a moment.”
“…… Yes.”
Let’s not do anything foolish.
Thinking like that, she sat there quietly even after she turned around and left.
If you look around, you will see beautiful flowers and well-maintained trees. And a small pond.
In the corner, I saw a small warehouse with the door slightly open. When I peeked my head out, there were miscellaneous items inside, including a cart and a ladder.
And when you look up, you see the outer wall of the Shiraishi residence.
I looked at the protruding balcony there.
“…… “There’s no way Shiraishi will come from over there.”
If the room with that large balcony is where Shiraishi is. Maybe if I wave her hand and call her, I can meet her here.
She held up her hand just in case.
“…… “I brought the car.”
I sat down right away with ghostly timing.
My heart is pounding. sh*t… Although she decided not to do anything foolish, she felt anxious.
Even after coming all the way here, I can’t see Shiraishi.
I saw her slowly putting down her tray containing the teapot and glasses with her maid-like gesture.
Meeting her one-on-one like this made me feel as if I had come to a cafe with that concept, but this was an actual maid.
“……… Here.”
She picked up the teapot and poured black tea into my cup.
But the seat across from her was empty. I heard that Shiraishi would come all the way here to greet me.
Although, in a small way, she had such expectations.
“……… Phew.”
After pouring me her tea, she moved her body and sat down.
The other person was Elena.
Hiding her small disappointment, she glanced at the woman in front of her.
“I can finally get some rest now.”
She muttered that and as she took a breath, she answered Yuyamuya and drank her tea.
When I suddenly turned my gaze to the sound of her whispering, I saw her moving her mouth.
She took a gulp and swallowed the snack she put in her mouth.
“…… Is there some problem?”
She asked, conscious of her gaze on me.
“Oh, no…” .”
I heard you eat cookies too.
She was amazed to see the maid, who seemed so inhumane, sitting in front of her, drinking her tea and eating her snacks while making noises.
But the intention was still unknown.
You probably didn’t invite me here just to have a tea party.
The sound of cookies breaking apart is heard.
I watched while drinking tea. She has been eating only snacks since earlier. If she said, “I hope you enjoy your meal,” Would it sound like she was being sarcastic?
“……… Boy.”
After finishing all the refreshments on her plate, she opened her mouth.
“Yes….”
I’m not used to being called that, but I’m the only boy here. She answered haphazardly and put down her empty glass.
“You won’t be able to see the lady for a while.”
“……… ….”
“Even if we come to your door in person, the conclusion is the same.”
His shoulders slumped at his calm but firm tone.
“That is a guideline handed down from the main family. “The message is that no one should enter the mansion until the patient is cured.”
“……… ….”
Is that so?
Should I say that I am lucky to be able to enter a garden like this, serve tea and snacks, and listen to good explanations?
“It is the role of our employees to protect and monitor it.”
Now they are openly calling it ‘surveillance’.
It was a mixed feeling, but I couldn’t argue with it.
I was sipping tea with that feeling in mind.
“However, we cannot stop the blue butterflies flying sky and sky, drawn by Shiraishi’s beautiful flowers.”
“……… Yes?”
What a sudden sound?
As I listened quietly with a blank expression on my face, she calmly continued speaking.
“The same goes for the cat that walks along the wall and crosses the garden on a moonlit night.”
“……… ….”
Customers are not accepted.
However, butterflies and cats are exceptions.
“As expected, the blackbird that lands on the window sill and cries in the middle of the night.”
“……… ….”
“It’s something I can’t stop.”
And even birds.
She looked at me and asked quietly.
“…… Do you understand?”
At first I didn’t understand so I just put a question mark, but I soon got the hang of it and nodded quietly.
At the same time, the cookie crunched and broke in half.
I stood up, bowing my head at her who had eaten all of her snacks by herself in her seat.