Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e - Volume 4.5 - Chapter 4.01

4.1

By the time I finished eating, I still hadn’t heard from Horikita. As I drank the last of my barley tea, I started feeling like something was wrong.

“She couldn’t be… She’s not really in danger, is she?” 

Could she have collapsed somewhere? This whole thing was atypical of Horikita, without a doubt. Was her phone malfunctioning? If so, she could just have contacted the school.

If I knew someone close enough to Horikita to go to her room and check on her, this would have been over quickly. Sadly, I couldn’t think of anyone who fit the bill.

Are you okay? I texted.

I had to find out what was going on.

“Oh…”

The read notification didn’t appear. The situation had changed. Maybe her phone’s battery had run out, or her phone had automatically shut off. 

What other possibilities existed, though? The fact that Horikita called in the first place still weighed on me. Why? It was also strange that she hadn’t said what was going on.

Logically, my first thought was that Horikita had some business with me, but had been interrupted by something else. A teacher might’ve called her, or a classmate. But that theory was very shaky. It was hard to imagine someone from the school calling Horikita in the middle of the summer, especially at night. She didn’t have any friends who’d contact her that way.

Maybe some accident had stopped the call. Or she just fell asleep and forgot to call me back. That might have been it.

“That doesn’t fit.”

Horikita was a gifted and focused student. I couldn’t see her forgetting to reply. 

“I’m worried.”

In the end, my options were limited, but I was too concerned to just let things be. For the time being, I decided to try calling Horikita again. I dialed her number. On the fourth try, I finally managed to connect.

“Hello?” Horikita didn’t seem surprised. If anything, she actually sounded tired.

“Hey. Sorry for calling a bunch of times. I was worried, since you tried calling me. Were you sleeping?” I asked.

“No, I wasn’t. I’m sorry for not replying.” 

I didn’t hear any hint of panic, nor did I get the feeling she’d had an accident.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something right now,” she continued.

I heard a metallic thunk over the phone.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Nothing to worry about. Goodbye.”

She abruptly ended the call. Well, at least I managed to get in touch with her, and she said that everything was fine. I decided to forget about this for the time being.