Origami Girl

Chapter 18: Tōryanse I

Origami Girl

Chapter 18: Tōryanse

You may pass, you may pass.

To where does this narrow pathway lead?

This narrow pathway leads to the Tenjin shrine.

Please allow me through

- Tōryanse

"I wonder why he's not here today. . ." I sighed, looking over to Yukino-kun's empty seat.

"Perhaps he's got a cold," Sayaka-chan said. "You know, people get sick very often nowadays."

"I doubt so, Yukino-kun's not the type of person who got sick easily," I replied, opening my lunchbox. "And this isn't the first time. . ."

"Did he tell you anything?" the other boy asked. "You're his girlfriend after all."

"Perhaps he's just playing hooky," Kashiwagi-san said. "I don't mean to sound like I'm looking down on your boyfriend, but he does seem to give an impression that he's the kind of kid who would do these types of things."

"Well, he doesn't seem to care about school in the first place," I said. "So I guess that's possible."

Sayaka-chan stole a glance at Kashiwagi-san, but the boy just shrugged his shoulders.

Silence fell upon the three of us, with our unopened lunch boxes out on the table. Without saying a word, the three of us opened our boxes to have our meals. For lunch, my mother had just packed some onigiri for me. She told me that morning that we ran out of salmon, but I didn't mind. It was a pity Yukino-kun was absent, or I could have shared some of my lunch with him. It was his favourite, after all.

I seriously wondered why my boyfriend decided not to show up in school today. Surely he couldn't have fallen sick, Yukino-kun was strong and healthy. As Kashiwagi-san and Sayaka-chan talked about something amongst themselves, I periodically stole a glance at Yukino-kun's empty seat, like I had been doing for the whole of the morning. As the teacher rattled on and on, I messaged Yukino-kun asking him where he was, but all I received in reply was silence. I was so worried I felt like picking up my phone and calling him, but I couldn't do that, can I?

"Ah, you're having sandwiches again today, Jarrett?" Sayaka-chan remarked.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "It was the only thing I could fix in a rush."

"Well, your mother packs you sandwiches too," she said. "Since you can make them yourself, I guess now you don't have to get her to make them for you."

"I only did it because my parents are both out of town," he replied.

"Is that why there're no vegetables in your sandwich today, Kashiwagi-san?" I added in. "Usually there would be some lettuce and cucumbers in your sandwich."

"That's because he hates vegetables," Sayaka-chan said, laughing. "But of course, his mother forces him to eat them."