Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051603068864073
In the classroom after school, Shiori and I were standing in front of a huge wooden frame.
It was a decorative frame for taking photos on the day of the cultural festival. It was big enough for two people to stand side by side, and we planned to put our class name and paper flowers on the surface. Today, we were working on gluing the corners together to set the shape.
“Once you mix the glue, you have to align the four corners within five minutes. Minato-kun, please don’t start doing something else in the middle of this, okay?”
Shiori, wearing a navy blue apron, emphasized this while holding down the instruction manual with her finger. Her hair was pulled up high so it wouldn’t get in the way of her work, with just a single thin strand falling beside her cheek.
“Do you not trust me that much?”
“If you ask me to do something, there’s a chance I’ll put my own work aside.”
“…Hard to argue with that.”
Tanabe, who was making paper flowers nearby, chuckled.
“Miyahara-san, you’ve even finished the instruction manual for Segawa, haven’t you?”
“I’m still revising it. He tends to do unexpected things.”
“I’m not a machine, you know.”
Even as he retorted, Shiori’s concern was valid.
We mixed two types of adhesive and applied it to the corners of the wooden frame. I held the left side, and Shiori held the right. We had to coordinate our strength so it wouldn’t shift before it set.
“A little this way. That’s it, right there.”
“Isn’t Shiori’s side heavy?”
“It’s designed to be held by two people. Don’t go taking all the weight on yourself.”
Shiori nodded with satisfaction, keeping her arms tense.
Just then, a loud noise came from down the hallway.
After a clang that sounded like metal hitting the floor, several voices rang out in unison.
“The support pole came loose again!”
“Why is the height different on this side alone?!”
“Kuga-senpai, will this be fixed by the end of the day?”
I looked up reflexively.
At the stage setup area, Chitose and the executive committee members had gathered. A folding support pole lay on its side on the floor. We’d had a similar problem last year. If you attach the left and right mounting brackets backwards, only one side won’t lock into place.
“Segawa!”
A male executive committee member spotted me and waved.
“You saw this last year, right? Could you come over here for a sec?”
My body started to move before my mind could catch up.
I was in a bind. I probably knew the cause. It would be faster if I went. The moment I thought that, I was already starting to let go of the wooden frame I was holding up.
My weight shifted toward Shiori.
“Minato-kun.”
Shiori didn’t yell. She just looked at me while still holding onto the wooden frame.
“Do you want to go? Or do you feel like it’s your fault if you don’t go?”
I couldn’t answer.
I did want to help. But more than that, I was afraid to just leave her alone when I was the only one who realized what was causing the problem. If things went wrong later, I felt like I’d blame myself for not lending a hand.
Shiori’s arms were trembling, but she didn’t let go of the wooden frame.
“I want to finish this with you, Minato. But please don’t use me as an excuse to stay here or to turn them down. You, Minato, need to decide for yourself where you want to be right now.”
The glue on the wooden frame was already starting to set.
This was a job Shiori and I had taken on together. If I walked away now, I’d be leaving Shiori to shoulder both the burden and the risk of failure all by herself.
I called out toward the hallway.
“Last year’s blue folder is on the second shelf in the equipment storage room! The mounting brackets might be reversed left and right, so check them against the diagram in the manual!”
“Will that be enough to figure it out?”
“The person in charge will know! If it’s dangerous, don’t touch it—just call a teacher!”
The male student on the executive committee hesitated for a moment, but Chitose acted first.
“Go get the blue folder. The three of us will check the manual together. Segawa-kun, you keep working on your own task.”
Without even a moment to worry about the hem of her skirt, she knelt on the floor. Holding her long black hair back with one hand, she peered into the bracket on the support post herself.
I turned back to the wooden frame.
“Shiori, a little to the right. I won’t let go this time.”
“Okay. I’ll hold it until the very end, too.”
The two of us aligned the corners and tightened the fasteners.
Because I’d applied too much force, the white paint on my finger touched Shiori’s cheek.
“Oh.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t move.”
When I tried to wipe it off with my finger, Shiori pulled her face back slightly.
“Your finger is dirtier than mine, Minato-kun.”
“Then let me get a cloth—”
Before I could finish, Shiori’s finger touched the tip of my nose.
She wiped away the paint from there, then burst out laughing when she saw my white fingertip.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Shiori laugh out loud like that.
“Is it really that funny?”
“I’m sorry. Minato-kun, your nose is the only thing that’s white… It’s way funnier than I thought.”
“You’ve got some on your cheek too, Shiori.”
This time, when I wiped it off with the cloth, Shiori closed her eyes, trying to hold back her laughter.
When we set up the finished wooden frame, Tanabe and the others clapped.
“Alright, let’s take a sample photo. Segawa and Miyahara, get in there!”
“Us?”
“It’s easiest to understand if the people who made it are in the picture, right?”
Thinking Shiori might be reluctant, I glanced over at her.
But Shiori stepped into the wooden frame first and tugged at my sleeve.
“Minato-kun, please come in too. After all, the two of us finished this together.”
As I stood beside her, Shiori nuzzled her shoulder against my arm.
Tanabe shouted, “Smile more!” and Shiori giggled softly again. Drawn in by her expression, I found myself smiling naturally too.
The photo we took was posted on the bulletin board in front of the classroom as a sample.
Shiori took another copy and carefully tucked it into her navy-blue notebook.
“Another entry?”
“Yes. It’s the day Minato-kun and I made this together and laughed together.”
Across the hallway, Chitose-senpai and the others were reassembling the support poles. It seemed the mounting brackets had indeed been installed backwards.
After checking the completed setup, senpai glanced at the photo on the bulletin board just once.
Then she turned back to the executive committee members.
“Make sure to document this malfunction and how we fixed it. From now on, we’ll make sure we can check things on our own.”
I could no longer hear her calling my name.
Just as I was about to head back to the classroom, Shiori took my hand.
“I was so happy you chose this path today.”
“I wasn’t forced to choose it. I wanted to finish this project with you, Shiori.”
Shiori stopped in her tracks; her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t let go of my hand.
“If that’s the case, I’m even happier.”
Holding the notebook with the photo of the two of us smiling close to her chest, Shiori intertwined her fingers deeply with mine.
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