After about 10 minutes, Suzumoto went to the chemistry prep room again, and when he returned, he had the project proposal in his hand…
“What?”
“Why?”
“Huh…? This is strange…?”
For some reason, the proposal had been edited.
“Are you sure Sensei wasn’t hiding in the prep room? Maybe he’s stuck in the chemical storage?”
“That’s a crazy idea, to say the least.”
Maito-san went to check the prep room, but of course, Sensei wasn’t there…
“Oh, this is one of those…”
“We’ve been had. This is it.”
On the other hand, it seemed that Hagasaki-kun and President had figured it out.
Yeah. I had a hunch too. In fact, I should’ve been the first to figure it out. After all, I was the only one watching Sensei’s hands.
“Could it be that the proposal was written with an erasable pen?”
“Correct.”
…Yeah. It seems Sensei accidentally used a pen that wasn’t supposed to be used when he replaced the pen…
“Huh? Did Sensei erase it afterward? Did he erase it while he was in the office?”
“No, I don’t think he erased it. Even if it was partially erased, it would be difficult to erase all the edits on four pages of the proposal.”
I briefly imagined Sensei frantically trying to erase the text, but yeah. That’s not possible… It’s just not.
“Does this ink disappear without rubbing it…?”
“Yes. It disappears. In fact, the ‘rubbing’ action isn’t even necessary to make the ink fade.”
Listening to Suzumoto’s words, Maito-san was staring intently at the text, rubbing it with her fingers, and then… Oh. She started holding it up to the stove.
…And just like that, the edited text on the proposal disappeared.
“Oh no, I erased it.”
“…Are you an idiot?”
“I should’ve taken notes before erasing it…”
“You’re really an idiot, aren’t you?”
Well, what’s done is done. It can’t be helped…
“It came back when I froze it.”
“…I think you understand, but if you repeat it too many times, the color won’t come back anymore.”
“Yeah. I won’t erase it again.”
After that, Maito-san put the proposal in the freezer in the chemical storage room, and the text came back. Yeah, that’s good…
“I see. So the ink in this pen disappears when it’s heated and comes back when it’s cooled. That’s surprising.”
Yes. This pen is one that “can erase text without correction fluid,” even though it’s a ballpoint pen. The ink color disappears when rubbed.
…The mechanism behind it is that “the ink color disappears when heated,” so even without friction heat, the ink will disappear if you heat it. By the way, if you put it in the freezer or something to cool it down, the ink color will come back, though it will be a bit faint.
“…Was there a time when it got heated?”
The reason the ink color disappeared was because “it was that kind of pen,” but for the ink color to disappear, it had to be heated.
You didn’t need to rub it, but there had to be some heat applied, so the question is, where did the heating occur…?
“Um… Did Sensei, like, warm it up with their stomach?”
I don’t think Sensei would do something like a bird incubating an egg. Yeah. In Kadomi-kun’s mind, is Sensei some kind of chicken…?
“Sensei seems to have a high body temperature.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
I understand how you feel. I really do. But that’s not it.
“It’s the copy machine. Sensei probably copied the project proposal in bulk.”
I think it warmed up during the copying process.
If you copy one sheet at a time by placing it on the scanner, it might not be an issue, but if you use the function to copy multiple sheets at once, the original passes through the inside of the copy machine. If the machine has been used just before, the inside is warm, and if you pass something written with ink that disappears when heated through there, the ink will vanish.
“Oh… that’s what happened.”
“Exactly. I’ve been through it myself. Sensei once left a note written with this pen on top of a stove…”
That’s something that would definitely disappear…
“Oh, I had a similar experience with Mr. Inamura, the math teacher. I did my homework with that pen, and when I submitted it, he printed the answers on the back of the sheet, which erased all my work.”
“Were you okay?”
“He returned it to me with ‘I’m sorry’ written in pencil.”
Toriumi also shared his story. Yeah, Mr. Inamura… I bet he returned it looking very apologetic.
“…By the way, isn’t there some way to make good use of this pen?”
“No, it’s a useful pen! A pen that can erase only what you want to erase is revolutionary!”
Maito-san seems to be getting a bit carried away. Yeah, I understand that feeling of going around in circles, but don’t lose sight of its intended use.
“How about using it to solve problems in a workbook and then putting the book in a plastic bag and boiling it? Though, you might as well just use a notebook.”
“That’s actually a pretty valid use…”
Hagasaki-kun suggested something quite interesting. But as he mentioned, it would make more sense to just use a notebook from the start…
“For those who like to write notes in mystery novels, they could use this pen so they won’t get scolded when they sell the book to a second-hand store!”
Maito-san also came up with a weird idea. But, are there really people like that…? Isn’t writing the culprit’s name in a mystery novel usually done out of malice…?
“My suggestion is to use this ink to add a disadvantageous clause in a contract, then warm it up to erase the clause, get the signature, and finally freeze it to make the clause reappear.”
“Hey, stop being a lunatic.”
President is as lively as ever today.
“I propose a tragic story where a cute girl gives her crush on the baseball team a love letter written with this pen, only for the ink to disappear after being left on the scorching ground!”
“That’s so sad…”
Kariya is also in high spirits today.
“Hey, if you heat up the whole pen, wouldn’t you get a pen with invisible ink? That’d be cool!”
“What’s the point of making such a pen?”
Hariu is full of energy too…
…We continued discussing ways to “effectively use the pen that loses ink when heated,” but no legitimate ideas came up. Yeah.
Well, because you can think of normal uses for it easily, it doesn’t really feel like ‘effective use’…
At least, I learned that President could become a criminal if he wanted to. Yeah.
“Let’s just ask Sensei to get rid of all these pens!”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh…?”
“Maybe not dispose of them, but we should ask Sensei not to use them for marking or editing.”
“Especially considering past incidents.”
I wonder what message Suzumoto had erased by the stove… Depending on what it was, it could have been a disaster, so I hope they take measures to prevent it from happening again…
“Oh! I just thought of something great!”
Just as we were beginning to think of ways to prevent such accidents from happening again, Hariu suddenly raised his hand to speak.
“The next birthday gift for Sensei! Let’s give them a ballpoint pen with ink that doesn’t disappear with heat!”
…Ah.
Yeah. That might be a good idea.
We’re the type who never know what to give as a gift. Yeah. A ballpoint pen sounds great. I have a feeling Sensei would use the one we give him. If he does, the heat-sensitive ink pens would naturally stop being used. That’s perfect.
“Hariu-kun, giving stationery to a superior is considered rude.”
“What? Really!?”
What? Really!?
“It apparently carries the implication of ‘Be more diligent,’ so it’s often said that writing instruments should be given from a superior to an inferior.”
Aw… I thought a ballpoint pen was a good idea…
“But Sensei doesn’t seem to care about stuff like that, right?”
“Yeah, maybe Sensei doesn’t even know about that.”
“Like giving an ashtray as a housewarming gift or a knife as a wedding gift.”
“That’s a bit extreme, though…”
…Yeah. But it’s probably safer to avoid it. What a shame… I thought it was a good idea…
+ Today’s Record +
We searched all over for Sensei. It was tough.
Afterward, we had Sensei review the project proposal, but Sensei used a pen with ink that disappears with heat to make edits, and then he put it through the copier, which caused some of the edits to disappear.
Fortunately, the edits came back when we put the proposal in the freezer, so it looks like we can continue with our work.
We really hope Sensei refrains from using the pen with disappearing ink to prevent any further accidents.
*Addendum*
When we told Sensei, “It was a hassle because the edits disappeared from the copier’s heat,” he responded with, “Oh no, I’ll be more careful.” I think he’ll be more cautious in the future.
*Addendum 2*
Speaking of which, we discussed giving Sensei a ballpoint pen with ink that doesn’t disappear, but it turned out to be unnecessary. At some point, Sensei started using the same ballpoint pen we got during a university lecture.
“It’s because you all have matching ones. I can use it too, right?” Sensei said, which made me think he’s a really good person.
*Addendum 3*
It didn’t work! Even though Sensei started using a new ballpoint pen, it didn’t work! Sensei is using the disappearing ink pen again! Only the part where he placed a warm coffee cup is missing the edits! Come on!
Of course, that’s how it would be! If they happen to have one at hand, they’ll use it! Especially since Sensei frequents both the staff room and the chemistry lab, so if it’s on one of the desks, he’s bound to use it!
Maybe we should really ask them to get rid of the pens with disappearing ink…
Wait, hold on. Knowing Sensei, maybe he’s enjoying this because he knows the ink disappears…?
Yeah, I’m starting to think that might be the case…