The Last Magic Chapter 6

06 Sato 2

That book was something Nagumo-san always carefully kept in her bag, and it was unthinkable that she would drop it or lose it. It was probably the work of Takahashi-san's group, who had arbitrarily made Nagumo-san their enemy. That was obvious to everyone. Takahashi-san and her friends were the type who couldn't study well, were needlessly aggressive, and always spoke ill of someone as if taking out their frustrations.

Even when Nagumo-san realized her book was missing, she maintained her composure on the surface, silently searched the area around her, and then reported it to the homeroom teacher.

During the after-school homeroom, the teacher asked everyone about the book's whereabouts, but Takahashi-san said something that was almost like a confession:

"Isn't it her fault for bringing something unrelated to school?"

She said this while sneering with her companions.

The teacher seemed to want to say something, but couldn't suspect students without evidence. The homeroom ended with the worst possible atmosphere, and it was time for after-school activities.

Come to think of it, had anything ever been resolved in a school homeroom?

Most of the time, things just ended with an uncomfortable feeling. In fact, Takahashi-san and her group, who were the prime suspects, were trying to leave quickly. At this rate, the case would remain unsolved.

But then Kobayashi-san spoke up.

"Takahashi-cchi, let me see inside your bag for a moment. There's a possibility it might have gotten in there by mistake."

"Takahashi-cchi" was a nickname that only Kobayashi-san used for Takahashi-san. Despite it never catching on with anyone else, Kobayashi-san's heart must have been made of steel to keep using it.

"What, Kobayashi? Are you suspecting us?"

Takahashi-san seemed a bit intimidated. In terms of class hierarchy, Kobayashi-san, who had many friends and connections with upperclassmen, ranked higher.

"No, I'm not suspecting you. But just in case, you know? Please, Takahashi-cchi. Look, if this becomes a problem tomorrow and eventually leads to a whole school assembly, that would be annoying, right? I think it would be easier later if we prove you're innocent now. It's not just Takahashi-cchi—I was thinking of asking everyone to open their bags and show us. Right, Sensei?"

"Oh, yeah..."

Our 30-year-old, unmarried, indecisive homeroom teacher was easily swayed by Kobayashi-san's proposal.

After hearing this, Takahashi-san thought for a moment, then casually opened her bag and said:

"See? I couldn't carry such a big book anyway."

She showed us the contents. It contained a pouch, hand mirror, mini brush, and other items, but no textbooks at all—it was practically empty. That seemed like a problem in itself, didn't it?

The other girl with her followed suit and opened her bag. The contents were similar to Takahashi-san's, but she did have the handouts from today, showing at least some conscience.

"OK, OK, I'll vouch that Takahashi-cchi isn't the culprit. Sorry for stopping you when you were about to leave."

Seeing Kobayashi-san's bright face, Takahashi-san seemed to think she had confirmed their innocence and left the classroom with a smug smile.

After seeing them off, Kobayashi-san called out to Nagumo-san.

"Nagumo-san, they didn't have it, so the book is still somewhere in the school."

It seemed Kobayashi-san had wanted to confirm that the book was still on campus by checking Takahashi-san's group's belongings.

"Thank you, Kobayashi-san. Thank you for checking."

Nagumo-san said with a slightly troubled expression. These two weren't particularly close friends, but Kobayashi-san always looked out for Nagumo-san.

"Takahashi-cchi isn't really that bad a person, you know. She's just still carrying some elementary school mentality. I don't think she'd go as far as tearing it up or burning it, so I think it's hidden somewhere."

"Then I'll do my best to find it."

Nagumo-san shrugged her shoulders. Neither angry nor lamenting, just matter-of-fact. Even in this situation, she remained a cool beauty.

"I'll help too. Anyone else want to participate in this volunteer activity?"

When Kobayashi-san said this cheerfully, several enthusiastic classmates spoke up. Since I wasn't particularly close to Nagumo-san, I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to participate, so I hesitated and missed my timing.

I'm always like this. I can't act reflexively, can't reach out to help people in trouble. Even when I know I should. But...

As I looked around desperately, my eyes met Kobayashi-san's.

"Sato-chan will help search too, right?"

Kobayashi-san said this as if it were obvious. This is what makes her amazing. As if she could read people's hearts, she says exactly what you want to hear. No wonder everyone likes her.

So we began thoroughly searching the classroom, but it wasn't easy to find.

When we decided to "extend our search outside the classroom," Shiba-san came to our classroom with many other students following her. They were probably all from the landfill area.

"Sakurako, we all came to help."

Shiba-san winked playfully as she said this. I thought this was a kind of teasing, but she was such a bright person that she seemed to blow away any such dark undertones.

Still, it was surprising that Nagumo-san was so well-liked. Were the people from the landfill area bound together by strong solidarity?

While I was thinking about this, people from my elementary school background also began joining in one after another.

Maybe the place where you live doesn't really matter that much after all. Maybe I was just drawing arbitrary lines.

From there, we began searching throughout the school like a treasure hunt.

With Kobayashi-san and Shiba-san cheerfully encouraging everyone, it became a competition to see who would find it first. We searched everywhere—from classrooms to restrooms to the gymnasium, even places you wouldn't expect. 

But we couldn't find it easily. Though it was summer, the sun was already beginning to set.

I thought about it. Takahashi-san's group's range of activity at school was basically limited to being in the classroom or pointlessly lingering in the restrooms, and then... come to think of it, they sometimes went to the forbidden rooftop, acting rebellious.

No one had searched the rooftop yet, but that door should be locked. How did Takahashi-san's group manage to open it?

For now, I headed to the rooftop. In front of the stairs leading to the rooftop, two traffic cones and a bar between them blocked the way. It wasn't much of a physical barrier—it was a psychological one. While feeling a slight sense of transgression, I climbed over the obstacle and reached for the rooftop door handle.

*Click*—the sound of a locked door.

"As expected, no good."

I couldn't help but mutter to myself.

"No, no, your instincts are good."

Suddenly a voice came from behind me, and I jumped with a "Eek!"

It was Kobayashi-san.

"The key to this door... back in the bad old days, duplicate keys were made without permission, and they've been passed down through generations of students. I got one from a senior too."

She pulled out an old key with a jagged edge.

The "bad old days" probably referred to when this city's schools were banned from Kyoto. Apparently, delinquent seniors like those in manga had destroyed important cultural properties. That's why we couldn't go to Kyoto for school trips back then, or so the rumors plausibly claimed. I don't know if it's true.

Beyond the opened door spread dirty concrete surrounded by a fence.

"There's nothing here, right? It's not even an interesting place."

Kobayashi-san was grinning. Indeed, there was nothing. No place to hide things either.

But this was within my expectations. Looking above the door we'd just entered through, there was a concrete protrusion. I remembered that when I came up to the rooftop once in elementary school, there was the same protrusion. It was probably for rain protection or something.

It was positioned quite high, but if I used the window frame as a foothold, it wasn't unreachable.

I didn't exactly climb up gracefully, but I managed to clamber up and felt around the top of the protrusion with my hands. Takahashi-san probably took similar action when she hid it. I immediately felt the touch of hard leather.

"Found it!"

I shouted as I grabbed it and jumped down boldly.

I held the magic book high above my head. It felt like acquiring a precious item in a game. I was a bit tempted to peek inside, but I hesitated to do so.

"Well done, Sato-chan."

Kobayashi-san smiled brightly.

When we returned to our classroom, everyone who had been searching was waiting there.

I received probably the biggest applause and cheers of my life.

In the center of that circle, I solemnly handed the book to Nagumo-san.

"Thank you."

Nagumo-san smiled, her white cheeks turning rosy.

I felt like I was seeing Nagumo-san's smiling face for the first time.

"Gratitude must be shown in tangible form, Nagumo-chan."

Though she had been calling her "Nagumo-san" until just now, Kobayashi-san seized the opportunity to start calling her "Nagumo-chan."

"Tangible form? That thing?"

For some reason, it was Shiba-san who answered with a troubled expression.

"That's right, that thing."

Kobayashi-san grinned.

"Hey, Nagumo-chan. I've been hearing Rin brag about it constantly—'Sakurako's magic is the most beautiful in the world.' Since she says that much, I've been wanting to see it for myself, for a long time now."

"Could it be that Haruka helped with that as her goal?"

Haruka was Kobayashi-san's first name. I didn't know it, but it seemed Shiba-san and Kobayashi-san were good friends.

"Of course. I wouldn't help for free. I'm not that much of a saint."

Kobayashi-san made an exaggeratedly evil face. But everyone there knew she was a good person.

"Hey, everyone wants to see it too, right? Nagumo-san's magic."

When Kobayashi-san encouraged the other students, they all started saying "We want to see it! We want to see it!" at once. Their faces showed they were seriously interested, not just going along with the mood. Of course, I really wanted to see it too.

I knew from watching TV several times that magic wasn't anything spectacular, but I still wanted to see what could make Nagumo-san so passionate.

"...It can't be helped."

Nagumo-san sighed.

"But before that, one thing. Everyone, thank you for searching for my book today. I am grateful, even if this is me. I'm often told I'm expressionless, so it might not look that way at all."

Then she bowed deeply. At her joking gratitude, everyone murmured rather than laughed. "So Nagumo-san can make jokes too."

"Could you turn off the lights, please? Atmosphere is important for this kind of thing."

Someone quickly turned off the classroom lights.

It was already dark outside, so the classroom was covered in thin darkness.

Nagumo-san began quietly chanting an incantation.

Words that might have been used long ago in distant foreign lands.

With inflection, like singing, like performing music, Nagumo-san continued weaving her spell.

I didn't understand the meaning, but each word was beautiful and careful. I learned for the first time how beautiful words could be.

More than anything, I felt a warmth I could never have imagined from Nagumo-san, who usually handled most things smartly. I didn't know what would happen with the magic, but just hearing the incantation, I could see what she had built up over time.

Everyone held their breath, not wanting to disturb this moment.

A time that felt both long and short passed, and a small flame appeared in Nagumo-san's hands.

A small, small flame.

Still, we all let out an "Ooh!"

Nagumo-san held that flame reverently in both hands like a shrine maiden and showed it to everyone.

It took quite a while, and the flame lasted only about 10 seconds.

But still, it seemed like something amazing.

Even if it served no practical purpose, this flame would never fade from within me for the rest of my life.