“Hey there, Mr. Class Duty. How’s it going?”
After school.
I was filling out the class diary, which had been pushed onto me by Erina Kaimi-shi, the class representative of Class 2-6, with a ‘Erina has club activities, so I’m leaving the writing to Takuto-kun~!’ Suddenly, I felt a pat on my shoulder from behind, accompanied by a greeting that sounded like something from a middle manager.
“What is it, President…?”
I turned around.
“…I told you, I’m not the President anymore.”
The former Instrument Club President was standing there with a face that said ‘Ugh…’
“Sorry, Azuma. I might have hit a sore spot.”
“You’d better seriously reflect on that, okay!?”
I had just spoken with Azuma in the hallway earlier this week, when she was either a hollow shell or a burnt-out husk after losing her entire youth, but her middle-manager-like behavior just now instinctively made me treat her like a President again.
“So, how did you know I was on duty?”
“Because I love people on duty. I memorize the person on duty for every single class.”
“Heh, is that so…”
As expected of the current President of the Youth Club…
“Whoa, you’re seriously creeped out. It was a joke, a joke. I just heard it from Amane during lunch break.”
“From Ichikawa?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Azuma nodded repeatedly.
“During lunch, Amane was coming back to the classroom from the club room with her instrument. When I asked her, ‘Oh, was there practice today?’ she said, ‘No, I have something to do after school and have to leave as soon as homeroom is over, so I brought it.’ Then I asked, ‘Heh, are you going somewhere with Konuma?’ and she turned bright red and said, ‘K-Konuma-kun is on duty…!’ Uhe, so cute…”
“I see…”
Azuma reenacted the scene from lunch, imitating Ichikawa’s voice with a slightly beautified tone.
“So, do you need something? Or are you just the type who talks to acquaintances when they’re on duty?”
“There’s no such type, what are you talking about?”
Azuma-neesan glared at me, wrinkling her brow. No, it seemed like exactly the kind of thing she’d do…
“I’m telling you, I don’t. Actually, I heard a strange rumor. Konuma, have you heard of the Seven Wonders of Musashino International?”
“The Seven Wonders…? No, first I’ve heard of it.”
I decided not to care that she responded so naturally to my monologue; that’s just how she’s built. The question that followed was far more intriguing anyway.
“Right? Glad to hear it. I only just found out myself. Tsubame told me during lunch.”
“What do you mean, ‘glad’?”
“Nothing.”
Azuma crossed her arms and shook her head once, as if to say the subject was closed.
“So, what did Taira-chan say?”
“Something about finding the Seven Wonders while searching online.”
“Hmm…”
“…What’s with that look, like you’re expecting something?”
Apparently, she wasn’t going to give me a dramatic reenactment like she did with Ichikawa’s conversation earlier. I thought I might hear an Azuma-version of ‘Um, um, please listen, Master!’ or something.
“It’s nothing.”
“Really? Fine then. Anyway, I want to verify those Seven Wonders. Could you come with me?”
Azuma tilted her head slightly.
“Eh? You’re going to verify them, Azuma?”
“Yes, I’m going to verify them.”
“Doesn’t our school have a Mystery Research Club?”
“We do. We totally do.”
Not ‘totally.’ There should only be one.
“Then shouldn’t that be the Mystery Research Club’s job?”
“Yeah, well, I think that’s a rare sound argument from you, Konuma.”
Azuma closed her eyes, nodded once, and continued.
“But you know, when something so perfectly ‘High School’ comes up, I can’t just stand by and make the mistake of missing out by handing it over to the Mystery Club, right?”
“I see.”
I didn’t really get her wordplay, but anyway, it seemed like she just wanted to do it herself. I guess anything happening within the school, even a mystery, falls under the Youth Club’s jurisdiction.
“Well, I get it. That’s fine, but… Azuma, you’re bad with ghosts.”
I felt like this was the biggest problem.
“Aren’t Seven Wonders usually just ghost stories?”
When I pointed that out, Azuma bit her lower lip.
“That’s the thing… That’s why I can’t do it alone, so I came to ask you for help.”
“Why me? You’re a social butterfly, aren’t there other people who’d go with you? Like Taira-chan or someone from the Mystery Club.”
“Because we have a track record of successfully doing a test of courage together, and because I found out you were free today.”
“Wait, can you really call that ‘successfully done’…?”
I only remember Azuma herself turning into a ghost and saying ‘No, no, no, no…’ the whole time.
“Shut up… Since when did you get so talkative?”
“It’s not that much. …So, what are these Seven Wonders?”
Actually, I was curious, so I asked.
“…These.”
She held out her smartphone toward me.
The screen showed a long string of text in a memo app.
“Can’t you just read them aloud?”
“…Reading them is scary, isn’t it?”
“…Azuma, you’re not cut out for this.”
I looked at her with exasperated eyes.
Someone who is even scared of reading the text shouldn’t be able to investigate them.
“W-Whether I’m cut out for it doesn’t matter, right? If I could give up just because I don’t have talent, I wouldn’t have been dreaming in the first place.”
“Wait, is this really that kind of conversation?”
“It is. Don’t nip my ambition in the bud.”
“Fine, fine…”
When she brings up ambition, it makes me feel like I’m the one doing something wrong.
Reluctantly, I took the phone and followed the text with my eyes.
＊ ＊ ＊
① 3:53
In the light music room, if you crouch down two meters away from the drum set and toss a five-yen coin into the hole of the bass drum, your future self will appear inside.
② 4:03
From a point where only the administrative office is visible, walk a few steps to the right. In the scenery that appears, a future key person will emerge.
③ 4:22
After counting the stairs from the library to the 1st floor one by one, if you climb the same stairs while counting from the 1st floor, there will be one extra step.
④ 4:44
In the corner of the messy science lab, there are two anatomical models. If you put a beige cardigan on the older one, something precious will appear.
⑤ 5:17
Among the remaining cans of Calpis Water, one has a concentration 1% higher than labeled.
⑥ 5:45
※Impossible? From a table outside the empty cafeteria, reflect the setting sun with a hand mirror onto the top of a stack of trays. Letters will appear.
⑦ Only those who follow the six wonders exactly on time will see what appears next.
＊ ＊ ＊
Phew, what is this?
“First of all, what are these numbers?”
“Those are the ‘Times.’ For example, for ①, it means you have to do it at 3:53 PM.”
“Hmm, for Seven Wonders, none of them are in the middle of the night. You know, like a piano playing in the music room when no one is there.”
“Well, since no one enters the school at night, even if something mysterious happened, it wouldn't be discovered. Maybe something amazing is actually happening…? Like, an unobserved phenomenon is the same as it not existing?”
“Don’t look at me for confirmation.”
What is this flimsy setting that sounds like it was overheard from a sci-fi fan…?
“Don’t call it flimsy.”
I didn’t say it out loud.
“Still, they really like things ‘appearing.’ Though they aren’t very consistent with what actually appears.”
“It’s not a matter of like or dislike, that’s just how they are, so it can’t be helped, right?”
“Also, Calpis Water for ⑤. These are the Seven Wonders, right? It’s strangely modern…”
“But Musashino International is in its 39th year, right? And Calpis has been around for about 100 years.”
“Why is there a note for ⑥ saying ‘※Impossible?’ out of nowhere?”
“The person who wrote it probably added that. Maybe the sun sets too early depending on the season.”
I stared at Azuma, who had an answer for everything.
“…What.”
Azuma squirmed uncomfortably.
“No, you’re really defending these Seven Wonders, Azuma.”
“No, no, it’s not defending them. It’s just that there’s no point in nitpicking something that might not even exist, right?”
“Well, I guess that’s true… Wait, it’s almost time.”
I looked at the clock; it was 3:40 PM. The first one is at 3:53, so we have to do it in 13 minutes.
“Well, shall we go…?”
I slowly stood up.
“Eh, you’re coming with me?”
“What, you’re the one who invited me…? Besides, today is probably the only day I can do this.”
“Yeah, thanks…”
Don’t get all meek all of a sudden…
“Oh, can I stop by the faculty office first? I have to turn this in.”
As I said that and closed the diary—
“No, wait, Konuma.”
My wrist was grabbed firmly.
“Hmm…?”
“Make sure you finish writing the whole diary first.”
“I did. I just need to submit it.”
“Liar, the ‘Thoughts of the Day’ section was blank, wasn’t it?”
Ugh, she saw it…!
“Write it properly. Otherwise, no one will be able to remember what kind of day it was later.”
“…Why are you suddenly so strict about this?”
The Youth Club President seemed to be strict about school-related matters.
“Filling out the diary is a privilege of being on duty, and a privilege of being a high school student.”
I let out a sigh under her straight gaze.
Azuma was probably the one in the right here.
“Fine, I get it… What should I write for ‘Thoughts of the Day’? Is it okay if it’s just my thoughts?”
“Konuma, how many times have you been on duty? Your own thoughts are fine.”
“I never know what to write here.”
“…Just write ‘It was fun.’”
At those words whispered quietly—
“Man, for someone who told me to write it, you’re being pretty lazy.”
I retorted while scribbling it down quickly.
“Alright, is this good enough?”
When I showed her the diary, she smiled happily with a ‘Hehe,’ before her face turned serious.
“Alright, let’s hurry. It’s almost 53 minutes past.”