Part 67: Episode 60: Quiet Summers with Quiet Friends

With all time I spent in the library this semester, I felt as though my hunter-gatherer abilities might have deteriorated, so I took a run around the area, and I ended up meeting this curious little biker birdie names Azami. She seemed awfully safety-conscious for a biker, but I’m not one to judge.



While it would’ve been nice to get a job this break, I also had library duties to take care of on break. So in the end, I decided to not add to my workload and just enjoy the free time I had.



Before I knew it, I had relaxed all the way to the summer festival. As I thought about who I could invite to go with me, I thought about my library friend, Nageki, and how we had started to bond over the last semester. He seemed like a bit of a shut-in though, and I thought he might appreciate going out to a festival.
I’ll invite Nageki. He needs to get out more!
…But I don’t know his address or phone number. I’d go look in the library if the school weren’t already closed.
Now that I think about it, I only know him as “the depressed freshman who’s always in the library”.
I’d like to learn more about him… though, he’d probably never tell me anything if I asked.
Aah, going out is too much trouble. I think I’ll have some udon and go to bed!
There will be other summer festivals, and I can enjoy the festivities then!


A week later, and I was called in by the school to be on library duty.

There’s nobirdie here, as usual. Maybe I should work on the newspaper…
I decided to test something out, since it seemed I was alone.

Nageki?

As I expected, Nageki appeared as I called his name.

Do you have a minute?
What is it?
Want to write a book review? I’m working on the library newspaper, and there’s a corner open, so I thought…
Can’t you write one yourself?
I’m always writing them! We never get submissions, so the book reviews are just turning into our personal soapbox!
Perhaps it would be better to remove them from the paper.

My thoughts exactly.

I’d like to see how you’d write one, though.
It doesn’t have to be very long, either!

Yaaay! Thank you!

I think that’s everything for the September issue. Wheee!
Thank you, Nageki! I’m sure you’ll make a valuable contribution to the paper!




I thought I was dead today. I woke up an hour after school started today and I had to rush to school, forgetting to brush my teeth, or grab my homework, or anything but the bare essentials of morning care. Worst of all, once I got there, Mr. Nanaki told me that I had shown up a day early, so it was all a waste.
While I was at school, though, I thought it would be good to check on the library and see if there were any preparations I needed to do before the new semester. It’d be bad if our library wasn’t ready for the rush of students trying to get their reading done last-minute! Plus, I have a bit of work I still need to finish, ehehe…
The library should be open now. I think I’ll go study…

Umm… I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not sure I’ve prepared enough for my tests. I’d like to go study, if it’s all right.
Of course! Work hard, okay?


They’ve probably all decided on their colleges and careers already… Will I be that frantic this time next year, I wonder?
!
Nageki is here, too, leaning against a bookshelf in a far corner.

Nageki!

It’s nice to see that he’s finally comfortable enough to use my name, even if he is overly formal. It’s still a lot better than constantly being called “miss receptionist”…

Why are you over here? There are still plenty of seats open… You should sit down!
I don’t mind standing.

You look like you mind!

You don’t… like being near other birds? Is that it?

He nods.

…they’ll just…


He spends all of his time in the library, and he refuses to get close to the upperclassmen… Is this…?

Nageki, are you being bullied?
……

He falls silent.
If there’s something wrong, I’d like to help…
But Nageki doesn’t tell me anything, so I can only tell him that if he needs to talk to someone, that I’m always here. It’s all I can do right now.
I hope this semester starts to take a turn for the better.