Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

My First Familiar - 23

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
By Noriko Ogiwara
A Translation

Notes on this week's translation:

Once again, the author gets a little vague on who's saying what at one point in this week's translation. Luckily this time, it doesn't make much of a difference.

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
Chapter 4: Wamiya
Part 1 (2 of 2)

The class was given a day off to recover from the trip, but when they returned to school on Tuesday, there were sobvious signs that everyone's mind was still on what they had seen in Tokyo.

When Izumiko walked into the classroom, Ayumi and Haruna were waiting for her, their arms interlocked.

"Ah, you're here. Izumiko, we need to talk about something important."

When Izumiko asked what it was, the two dragged her all the way down to the home economics room. The fact that her friends didn't think they could talk about it in the classroom was enough to make her tense with nervousness.

"So, what is it?"

"It's something we can't talk about in the classroom."

There were a number of other girls already in the room. Ayumi and Haruna looked at her, their faces filled with anticipation. Being under their scrutiny made Izumiko recoil into herself. She hesitated, unsure of how to respond.

"It's alright. It's not anything bad. We wouldn't ask you anything weird."

"On the first day of the trip, you and Miyuki disappeared. We didn't even notice that you'd gone."

As her friends spoke, Izumiko couldn't help but stiffen more and more. Ayumi spoke next, taking no notice of Izumiko's reaction.

"Don't worry. That's not really what we wanted to talk about. Actually, we brought you over here to talk about Wamiya."

Izumiko looked at her.

"About Wamiya?"

"The morning we left for the trip, you asked about him, right?"

"I did, but..."

"I was thinking about it afterwards and I realized I almost never think about him. Isn't that embarrassing? We had a classmate who couldn't go on the trip with us, and no one seemed to care."

"When we were talking that night, Ayumi mentioned it and the rest of the girls in the room realized that they hadn't noticed Wamiya wasn't on the trip either." Haruna put in. "He doesn't stand out much, so everyone forgets about him. But we shouldn't do that."

The other girls in the room came closer, nodding together.

Ayumi continued, her voice serious. "Everyone talked about it at the hotel. We realized it's like we've been ignoring him."

"We think you're great, Izumiko. Everyone thinks you're very thoughtful to worry about him when no one else did."

"I'm not..."

As confused as she was, Izumiko felt her shoulders relax.

"But you were sick on the trip and you couldn't go anywhere or buy any souvenirs. So, we pooled our money and bought a souvenir for Wamiya."

One of the girls presented a box of snacks to Izumiko. She guessed that they had bought it at the airport.

"I should give a little money too, then..."

"You don't need to do that. We just want you to give it to Wamiya."

"Me?"

The girls nodded. Izumiko was shocked.