6.1

On my days off, I go to Keyaki Mall. Perhaps with friends, my lover, or alone.

The facility was packed with the only source of entertainment in our school lives and provided endless fun without growing tiresome, but it tended to consume one's private points.

Keeping a membership to the gym and only commuting between it and the dormitory would've been efficient, but that wasn't possible.

Eating out with somebody, going to karaoke, or even impulsively picking up attractive items—the battle against temptation continued.

Therefore, sometimes I wanted to spend time without using any private points.

Staying cooped up in my room was an option, but I wanted to reserve that for difficult situations.

With such reasoning, there weren't many options left.

Putting on my uniform for the first time in ten days, I left the dormitory.

I headed to school during my winter break; my goal was the library.

Shortly before winter break, I was on my way towards the bookstore when a person's back briefly caught my attention. 

That was the reason why I decided to go to the library. I didn't know whether or not she was there now.

While the school was closed for three days, it reopened today, January 4th.

Despite it being earlier than 11 a.m., I wasn't the only one headed to school; there were also students sweating during their club activities.

Setting foot inside the campus, I heard students' energetic voices coming out of nowhere.

On the way to the library, I encountered Sakagami-sensei.

"Happy New Year," I told him while nodding, as ignoring him completely would've been impossible.

"Ah, Happy New Year to you too," came a greeting from Sakagami-sensei. He greeted me even though he may have felt a slight sense of awkwardness towards me since I wasn't taking part in any club activities.

He tried to pass by, but then he called out from behind.

"You seem to have improved your academic ability quite a bit lately. But while you've made progress, Sudō-kun's growth in particular has been truly remarkable."

"That's true. Sudō has been working really hard,"

"He's shown an incredible growth rate since he enrolled. He was constantly causing troublesome incidents before. Among the staff, he's now a great topic of conversation," he added.

It was excellent news. Since Sudō had stood out for his bad behavior, he was probably always under the teachers' watchful eyes.

But why did he bring it up now?

"Now from Class D to Class B, you're even on the verge of reaching Class A."

Sakagami-sensei gently touched the edge of his glasses.

Since the first time I recognized him as Ryūen's homeroom teacher, the atmosphere around him had somehow changed.

The behavior that others found repulsive had become less pronounced than before.

I didn't think it was like that during the uninhabited island exam in the summer...

Chabashira-sensei, along with Mashima-sensei and Hoshinomiya-sensei, often had opportunities to talk. Perhaps because they were of the same year.

On the other hand, I hardly had any contact with Sakagami-sensei, so maybe my impression of him had changed due to the long absence.

"To be honest, I didn't expect your class to grow this much," Sakagami-sensei said—a compliment that seemed genuine.

Immediately after that, Sakagami-sensei's gaze sharpened behind the lenses of his glasses.

"Was it you who changed the class known as 'defective'?"

"No way. I haven't done anything special. Isn't it the result of the whole class, starting with our leader Horikita, working hard?"

Although I entered with a greater denial rather than modesty, it was unclear how much it resonated with Sakagami-sensei.

The three homeroom teachers that belonged to the same year knew to some extent that I was a student from a special environment.

It wouldn't be strange if Sakagami-sensei shared that knowledge, and even if he didn't, it wouldn't be surprising if he understood it from the atmosphere or his intuition.

"Certainly, things like Sudō-kun's attitude and achievements in studying can't be forced... Well, that's fine. Regardless of individual abilities, if the class is really gaining power, you'll have to cooperate sooner or later, whether you like it or not."

I guess I'll have to show my abilities when that time comes.

"Are you going to the library now?"

"You guessed it."

"At this time, there are limited places that non-club students can enter. Besides, I know that you're a student who frequently goes to the library."

Certainly, I visited the library quite often, but I wasn't aware that Sakagami-sensei knew about it.

I'd never seen Sakagami-sensei at the library before. If so, I'd have to think about how he indirectly knew.

"Can teachers view the students' lending history?"

"Lending history? Only the librarian can do that. It would be a violation of privacy if a teacher arbitrarily viewed it."

"Then how did you know that I was a student who goes to the library?"

"That… you might find out when you go to the library. I have a staff meeting for the third term now, so please excuse me."

Sakagami-sensei, who seemed to have avoided directly answering, said that and walked away.

The words' implications bothered me, but I couldn't stop the retreating teacher, so I went to the library as planned.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, the room was engulfed in silence.

Originally, this place was supposed to be quiet, but it was different when people were present.

A complete silence spread where no one was present.

There was no sign of the librarian, who was often seated at the reception desk.

Is she away from her seat on some errand?

The door wasn't locked, so I didn't think entering was a problem, but I was a little hesitant.

I thought about waiting at the entrance for a while, but she'd come back eventually.

Without any particular thought, I bowed slightly in the empty space and started browsing the books.

I didn't know what I wanted to read or borrow yet; if I picked something up and it felt right, I'd go for it.

"Happy New Year, Ayanokōji-kun."

As I was browsing for a book to borrow, I heard a voice from the other side of the bookshelf.

I went around to see who it was, but it seemed that the other person was trying to do the same, so we ended up passing each other. However, I caught a glimpse of their side profile.

And then, realizing that we had switched places, they hurried back.

"I went the wrong way, huh?"

"Seems so."

It was Hiyori Shiina, who I hadn't seen in a while since chatting with her at the school festival.

She used to be in and out of the library quite frequently—a true bookworm—but she had disappeared for some time.

I heard that she was back to her old routine recently, and it seemed that was indeed the case.

"Happy New Year. It's been a while since we last met in the library."

"Yes, it has. Have you been well?"

"I have. And you?"

"I caught a cold at the end of the year. Fortunately, it wasn't the flu that's been going around, so I recovered after a couple of days."

We briefly shared updates about our lives before moving on to talk about books.

"Since we're here, if it's not a bother, I might borrow one of your recommendations."

"Really? That makes me happy."

Though there was no advantage in choosing someone else's book to read, she gladly accepted.

"I know that there's a reason you choose the books you do, so I'm sure it'll be good."

"Then please allow me to guide your choice."

Far from being bothered by my one-sided request, she happily clasped her hands together.

"First off, what kind of genre are you in the mood for?"

"Well, I've been spacing out a lot during the holidays, so maybe a mystery to get my brain going?"

"A mystery it is."

Without showing any signs of distress, Hiyori began to walk, gesturing for me to follow.

It seemed she had a firm grasp on that particular genre as well.

"Have you read 'The Glass Key'?"

She quickly picked out a book and asked me so as we walked through the library together.

Dashiell Hammett, huh? It's a masterpiece that's been selected as one of the top 100 best detective novels of all time.

"Unfortunately, I read that about two years ago."

"Not unfortunate at all, but rather impressive. It'll be more challenging to find something for you."

Saying that, she continued to recommend classic mystery novels from the past.

I could see Hiyori's approach of starting with more famous works.

"By the way… this isn't related to mystery novels… but have you read any of Kaminai Tsushi's works?"

"Kaminai Tsushi? No, I don't recognize the author's name, so I probably haven't read it."

Though I was relatively knowledgeable about books, there were still far more authors I didn't know than those I did.

But if I read a book, I would at least remember the author's name.

"It can't be helped. It's a completely unknown author, and they've never sold anything back then or now."

Hiyori laughed somewhat amusingly as she answered.

I wondered if she might've recommended them to me too, but after confirming it, the conversation went back to mystery novels without her bringing it up again.

"Have you read 'The Secret of the Two-Wheeled Carriage'? It's Fergus Hume's debut work."

"I haven't read it."

"Well, no one's borrowing it right now, so it might be a good opportunity to do so."

After picking out three more books, including the one with Hiyori's help, we moved to the front desk where the librarian had returned.

We exchanged New Year's greetings, and Hiyori swiftly checked out the books.

"If you'd like, please come visit again, Ayanokōji-kun."

"I think I'll come by a few more times before the third term starts. Hiyori, you're staying in the library, right?"

"There's not much else to do since we have so many days off."

"Don't you go to Keyaki Mall with friends or something?"

"Not really."

As I recalled, I hadn't seen Hiyori hanging out with friends during our regular school life. Of course, I'd seen her interacting with classmates for various reasons, but...

It was possible that she might've had fewer friends than I thought.