Hourglass [Quintessential Quintuplets]

Chapter 29 - Lost & Found

Kazuma's POV:

The oppresive silence in the room was broken only on rare occasions, either by the dry turn of a page from the book in my hands or by the rustle of the bedsheets every now and then.I had never imagined I would spend an afternoon of my life in this exact configuration, babysitting an intoxicated teacher whose own colleagues couldn't be bothered to look after her.

Yet here I sat, planted in this fucking room that shrinks another centimeter inward with every passing second. Through the closed windows, I could still pick up the screams and laughter from the courage test grounds outside. Cheerful little reminders of exactly how detached from normality my situation had become over.

I never wanted this job.

But, thanks to the chain of incompetence that plagued those around me, the task had inevitably fallen to me. The active teachers downstairs were fed up to the back of their throats with cleaning up after Shiwa-sensei's mess, so they had wasted no time dumping the responsibility onto the student council instead.  And since I happened to be the only active council member not currently entertaining myself with one of this trip's parade of ridiculous activities, I became her forced keeper and controller for the time being.

''Why do you have to take care of me, Kazuma-kun? I'm a grown woman, I can take care of myself!''

I won't respond. The answer to that question won't be worth the effort and breath. ''...'' Instead, I buried myself deeper into the pages of the book I had been trying to read since the moment we were first confined together here. It's nothing but a vain attempt at salvaging some semblance of mental peace.

"Kazuma-kun, I'm talking to you! Put that book aside and respond to your teacher. Hmph!"

''At least let me enjoy the books...''

''Nee nee! Why do I have to stay locked in this stupid room while everyone else is having fun? I want to take the courage test too!''

She has that particular and repetitive note that drills straight through bone and into the back of my skull. My patience finally snapped. I closed the book set it down on the table with a thud loud enough to make her flinch in place against the headboard. ''Neither of us is happy to be here. But here we are. So deal with it.''

''T-Then let me go! Look, I p-promise I'll be back before anyone even realizes I'm gone!''  The desperation in her voice tangled together with a childish stubbornness that undermined every syllable on the way out. ''Like really! Teacher promise!''

''...Wonder which one of us the adult here? You should have thought about this before getting poisoned, sensei.''

Her mouth opened and closed several times without producing a single coherent syllable. Then she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest like a scolded child. ''You don't have to be so mean about it, you know. Mou! My head hurts, my stomach hurts... Everything hurts, ugh.''