I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

Uwano said this sincerely.

Mahiru Takanashi stood at the door, at a stalemate, not knowing how to respond.

She had never been good at this.

"…with me?"

"That's right, and Mahiru." Uwanokiri Hotaru nodded seriously.

……

The appointed time is up.

"Mahiru, you're here."

From a distance, Mahiru Takanashi saw Uwano waving to welcome her.

"..."

As she called out to her, Mahiru Takanashi walked over, grasping the hem of her skirt, somewhat at a loss.

"It's been so long, but Mahiru is still so embarrassed after seeing me."

"……No."

"Ok?"

"Not long."

After whispering a retort, he raised his voice again when Uwano asked him.

"The one with Uwano-san is Maya, not me.1"

"Is that so...Okay." Uwano nodded with a smile, and then skipped the topic.

"Okay, anyway, today, I want to go somewhere with Mahiru."

“… … “What’s the difference?”

"Mahiru will find out later."

Uwano walked up to Mahiru Takanashi and took her hand.

"..."

Mahiru Takanashi, who was completely frozen, was just being led away.

……

"here it is……?"

Mahiru Takanashi was looking at the store in front of her.

There are all kinds of strange things, but the most eye-catching thing is, of course, the gorgeous long skirts of various styles.

The style is Lolita.

"The dress Maya is wearing is a Lolita, right?"

Uwano looked at the various lolita skirts in the store in amazement.

Then, he turned his gaze to the profile of Mahiru Takanashi, who was also looking around the store.

"I searched for a long time online before I finally found the dress Maya wore that I had seen before in this store."

Uwano pointed to the doll in the cupboard that was wearing a black Gothic Lolita dress.

"That's the one, isn't it?"

"..."

In fact, before Uwano pointed it out, Mahiru Takanashi had already seen the long skirt at a glance, the long skirt that Maya wore most often.

This is what Maya was wearing when she first appeared.

"So it's still here..."

"what?"

Uwano vaguely heard Mahiru Kotori mutter something.

"No, no."

Mahiru Takanashi immediately shook her head to deny it.

"Uwano-san...why did you bring me here?"

"Just call me Kirihotaru." Uwano said with a smile, and then, "Actually, this is not the ultimate destination, but I thought, if it was Maya, she would definitely like this place, right?"

"..." Mahiru Takanashi agreed with this statement.

"So before going to the final destination, let's stop by here to take a look. By the way, I have another question..."

Uwano seemed to suddenly remember a question and asked Mahiru Takanashi.

"Mahiru, did Maya buy that long dress here?"

"..."

"Ok."

Mahiru Takanashi didn't know how to answer, but during her silence, Uwano looked as if he had already gotten the answer and nodded easily.

I don’t know what the answer is.

"Okay, let's go to our final destination."

……

This is a shrine, a...slightly shabby shrine.

It was small and perhaps abandoned, untended, overgrown with weeds and hidden in the branches of the woods.

Walk past the old gray stone torii and the several-meter-long stone approach to the shrine, and you will arrive at the main hall of the shrine.

"Here..." Mahiru Takanashi looked around hesitantly.

"A shrine," Uwano answered. "It took me a long time to find this place. It must be deserted. I can't even find it on the map. Look, the cash box is gone."

"Maybe the cat hid in the cash box and was taken away by someone." Mahiru Takanashi suddenly said something inexplicable.

“——Huh?” Uwano looked at Mahiru Takanashi in confusion.

"…Nothing." Mahiru Kotori denied quietly, and then asked, "Uwano-san, what are you doing here?"

"Well..." Uwano quickly stopped dwelling on Mahiru Takanashi's strange words, "Because..."

She glanced at the shrine here, and finally gave the answer.

"Maye told me about this place."

"……Yeah?"

"Ah."

"..."

"..."

This abandoned shrine is hidden in the woods, with dense shadows covering everything here, making it look very quiet.

The two people who were originally talking to each other may have been affected by the atmosphere here and became unusually quiet.

Uwano quietly waited for Mahiru Takanashi's reaction.

Mahiru Takanashi was silently looking at everything in the shrine.

The one who broke the silence was Mahiru.

"I think... I've already said it..."

"What did you say?"

Uwano seemed to know nothing and was still smiling at Mahiru Takanashi's words.

Mahiru's voice seemed a little muffled in this environment.

"Uwano-san, I've already told you that Maya, the one you're looking for, has disappeared. Why do you keep mentioning her today?"

"Ah... So that's what you mean..." Uwano seemed to realize it belatedly.

Mahiru Takanashi lowered her head.

"If you're looking for Maya, I'll be leaving now."

She took a step forward.

but……

"No, I'm looking for Mahiru."

Uwano grabbed her hand.

"..."

"Yes, there is no doubt that I am looking for Mahiru."

Mahiru Takanashi turned around again.

"Then why do you always talk about Maya?" she asked.

"If you want to say that..."

"answer me."

"Okay, okay... since Mahiru insists on asking." Uwano nodded, "But, Mahiru, please answer a few questions for me first."

"..."

Uwano took the initiative and didn't even wait for Mahiru to refuse.

"The first question is what I just asked, Mahiru, Maya, did you buy the dress you are wearing from that store?"

"..."

"Why didn't Mahiru answer me?"

"——How should I know?"

"No." Uwano shook his head. "That answer is wrong."

"..."

"Right, there's no way Mahiru doesn't know."

"…Why do you say that?" In front of him, there was a calm expression on Mahiru Takanashi's face.

Uwano did not respond to Mahiru Takanashi's question, but continued to ask the next question.

"The second question is, why did Maya show up?"

"……I have no idea."

"It's still not right. Mahiru knows." Uwano denied Mahiru Takanashi's statement quite accurately.

"..."

However, after the denial, there was no further explanation, but he continued to ask further questions.

"The third question is, why is Maya exactly the same as Mahiru?"

"..."

"Why does Maya know so much about Mahiru?"

"Why does Maya always accompany Mahiru and can't act on her own?"

"Why--"

"——That's enough, Uwano-san!"

Uwano stopped and looked at Mahiru Kotori, who had her head down and finally couldn't help but shout out amid her questions.

"Hmm? What's wrong? Mahiru?"

"How would I know about Maya?"

"—No, you know."