I quickly ran up to the second floor and came to the classroom door. She was standing at her desk with her back to me. "Found it! Izumi is right, you're really here—" Chihiro said as she walked behind her and breathed a sigh of relief.

"The relay run is about to start, aren't you going to participate?" Lola never answered my question. That's when I noticed, she was wiping something on her desk with a rag. "What's wrong?" I patted her lightly on the shoulder, and only then did I realize that she was shaking a lot. "Is it ......?"

For a moment, I had a sense of foreboding, and the moment I looked over her shoulder, the doubt turned into conviction. - Her desk and chair were marked with ugly words, and the mere mere sight of those words made one feel angry. "Who did it!?"

Chihiro circled around her and expressed her anger mercilessly. "Could it be that the people from the previous third grade are again?" Thinking of this, he made a certain decision, "You wait, I'll go find them!" Definitely have to make those guys apologize to you! ”

After speaking, he walked out of the classroom, but at the moment of passing through the podium, he was pulled by Lola who was chasing from behind, "Don't! She shook her head desperately, as if she was about to cry. Even if I didn't say it, I understood what she was trying to say.

"Why? Aren't you angry at being treated like this? "But although I understand it, I can't accept it." No, of course I'm angry. But I don't want to see you hurt because of me. Lola quickly scribbled these words in her notebook.

That's when I noticed that there were also many burns on her arms—"What is this injury?" I couldn't help but ask by the arm. It was obvious that it was burned by a cigarette butt. "This is left over from the previous school, don't care."

She shook her head with some embarrassment, and wrote down the explanation below what she had just said. Then, without stopping, "Can you help me?" It seems a little hard to erase those handwritings. Chihiro sighed and agreed.

"Do you think so too?" On the way, Lola asked me, who was still a little indignant, this seemingly inexplicable question, "What do you mean?" Faced with my question, she quietly flipped through a page of her notebook and wrote on it.

"Do you think I shouldn't be here?"

Then show it to me. "I never thought of it that way—" I borrowed her notebook, and wrote it down carefully and carefully. "That-" Lola's face was full of sad expressions, and there was suddenly some anticipation in it, "Can we be friends?" ”

Then, somewhat at a loss, she wrote this line in her notebook. Then, hand it to me again. "If you think I can, that's fine." Chihiro hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to tell the truth. After all, at this juncture, rejecting her is really a bad idea.

I was just about to return the notebook when I caught a glimpse of Lola's smile that narrowed her eyes. "Let's get this place cleaned up!" As if I was infected, I almost laughed out of my heart, and in order to hide the slight shyness in my heart, I urged her.

After that, although some traces of the remaining traces were still visible, the handwriting was removed to the greatest extent. When I returned to the playground, I couldn't stand Izumi's questioning, and finally had to tell her what had happened.

"Huh?!"

As expected, she was even angrier than I was, "Why do you want to do such a thing? Aren't they ashamed?! Izumi glared at me mercilessly; While talking loudly. "And then Chihiro just gave up? Don't you think it's time for them to suffer a little? ”

"That's what I thought, but Lola doesn't seem to want us to make a big deal out of it, after all, both you and I have been trained a lot before. Isn't it? I explained immediately. But these are two different things, right? It's not us, it's the other party! ”

"I know."

"You don't know!" Izumi pointed at me as a matter of course, "The more times like this, the more we as friends have to help her, isn't it?" As soon as she finished speaking, she sighed again. If you're worried, I'll go alone this time—"

"Where to go? What are you going to do? ”

"Of course, I'm going to the basketball club to reason with those guys—" As soon as Izumi's voice fell, he heard a whistle blow—"Find your own partner and prepare!" Under the teacher's reprimand, Izumi and I had to give up continuing the argument and look for our partner instead.

She soon found it, a tall, shy boy with glasses. The seats were in the second row by the window, which happened to be very close to Izumi. "That's right—"

The two seemed to have a good relationship, but I couldn't remember his name after searching in my head for a long time. "Forget it. When the meeting is over, let's ask Izumi. "I lamented my forgetfulness; While thinking so. "Speaking of which, she's—"

"It's weird!" Then, just as I was about to pick myself up again, I saw Lola feeling at a loss in the crowd. "What to do?!" Her anxious look of not knowing what to do made me almost burst out laughing.

"How about a group?"

After that, I walked over to her and said to her. "Thank you!" She was relieved when she understood what I meant. "Let's go!" Then, I gently took her hand and walked towards the respective starting line.

I'm on the far left, and Izumi is on the far right – "Don't lose! At this time, she quietly poked her head out and encouraged me with a playful and serious expression. At the same time, cheer yourself up. But maybe I was too confident in my physical strength, and as I ran, I gradually forgot that I was 30 years old this year. And around, the fact that these guys who are competing with themselves are real high school students.

As a result, after running for about 20 meters, I suddenly felt a very uncomfortable feeling in my ankle. The body gradually lost its balance and became a little shaky, "Chihiro!? Finally, after completing the handover with Lola, he fell to the ground in an instant!

"Why bear it!"

Izumi ran up to me and blamed. - At this time, the left ankle was swollen to the size of a steamed bun. I struggled to sit up, "I'm sorry for holding you back." "Apologize to her." That's not the point at all! ”

Izumi interrupted me without saying anything, "I really want to win, that's true, but I don't want to see you hurt because of me!" That's putting the cart before the horse, isn't it? Then she turned to Lola, who was trying to help me up—

"Lola, could you please take him to the infirmary?"

Lola nodded without even thinking about it. Although I still resisted, "What a fuss, isn't it?" But even this resistance was immediately glared back by Izumi's annoyed gaze. I'll go somewhere a little bit, and this guy will ask you. ”

"Where are you going?"

At this point, I cautiously leaned my body on Lola's shoulder and asked. However, Izumi did not answer my question, "You just go to the infirmary, it's just a private matter." She prevaricated with such a statement.

When we came to the infirmary, we found that the teacher happened to be absent. But Lola told me that maybe she could handle it. - "Leave it to me! She confidently sat me down in a chair and went to the cupboard behind me to get some medicine. Then, slowly squatting down—

Her movements were skillful and careful, although sometimes it hurt me in a cold sweat. But she didn't mean to show mercy, and she didn't pay any attention to my feelings. "That's it!" Finally, after about 5 minutes of bandaging, she finally told me that it was done.

Then, he stood up naturally. At this moment, the eyes were rightly met, "Lola, may I ask a question?" She nodded, though a little confused. Did you also reply to that day's text message? ”

After listening, she hesitated for a moment, but still took out the notebook from her bag and thoughtfully wrote an answer. "Yes, if I say so. What do you think? In the end, however, her answer was somewhat ambiguous.

Then, closing the notebook, she turned her back to me and collected the medicine she had just taken out of the cabinet for emergency treatment.

It wasn't until she had all this in order that she faced me again, smiling a little reassuringly. However, just as the two of us were about to go out, the door to the infirmary was opened from the outside.

The person who came was a boy who had teamed up with Izumi just now—"Oh no, Chihiro! Izumi, for your sake, quarreled very much with the people in the basketball club! It looks like he's going to ...... at any moment, "I can already guess what he's going to say next."

"Anyway, can I ask you to go and see ——!?"

"I see—"

Finally, under his leadership, we rushed to the gymnasium.