This takes place after the final episode, from Hanamura’s perspective.
This is also what you might call an extra, so please be cautious.
I found myself in the corridor of the staff room before I knew it. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was and must have frozen in place.
“Hanamura-san!”
Then, running down the hallway towards me, Senior Utagawa gave me a big hug, and that’s when I finally felt like I had come back.
Eventually, everyone who had been with George-san gathered near the staff room, and it just felt unsettling not to be together, so we ended up going to a family restaurant near the school.
“It feels so strange.”
Senior Sagara has been saying how strange it feels since a while ago, which is a bit funny.
“Sagara, you’ve been noisy since a while ago. Isn’t it fine? If you only look at the results, it’s more than enough, right? Just the fact that we became friends with people we wouldn’t have normally talked to is enough.”
Senior Imano might be right.
“Well, under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t have even talked to each other.”
Senior Utagawa, I think, is the school’s Madonna.
She’s very beautiful and smart.
If it weren’t for those events, I would have never gotten close to her.
“Right? I never thought I’d become friends with someone like Utagawa-chan.”
Senior Shiina has become quite good friends with Senior Utagawa now.
It turns out they got along well once they started talking.
“I’m glad I became friends with Kaji-kun!”
“Oh, that’s nice to hear.”
Senior Kaburagi and Senior Kaji might not have met if it were not for those events.
“I probably wouldn’t have talked to Umino-kun either.”
“I’m glad I got to know Senior.”
Senior Ikeda and Umino-kun share common interests, it seems.
You never know these things until you actually talk to someone!
“…But still, something’s missing.”
But people are missing from this group.
“Us, maybe?”
“Are you talking about us?”
…Senior Miura and Senior Misaki joined in, smiling. These two are interesting people too, but that’s not it.
“George-san… Yes. According to Maito-san’s story, George-san should also be somewhere as a high school student.”
That’s right.
We’re missing George-san.
George-san is… sloppy, always oversleeping, lacking motivation, a bit shabby… but a reliable and cool person.
I haven’t finished repaying my debt to George-san yet.
“Yasukura Jouji, right? The name isn’t that common. We might find him surprisingly quickly.”
…That’s true. Yasukura isn’t a common surname.
But how do we go about searching?
We’re just high school students.
There’s a limit to what we can do.
But… I really don’t like the idea of being without George-san.
The next day was just a regular day of classes.
Despite not feeling like it at all, there were classes! How terrible!
But even though I thought I had completely forgotten everything about mathematics, when I tried it, everything came out smoothly from my mind.
Hmm, what does this mean?
It feels like my mind is organized, which is strange.
It’s like there are two mes inside me, the me who went to that world and the me who has always been in this world, not two, but like they’ve become one, mixed yet separated, a very strange feeling.
Ah, but, if it weren’t like this, George-san would have trouble.
Because, having been in that world for nearly 20 years means… he spent more time there than in this world… George-san, he must have had a hard time.
…
Ah, what should I do, I feel like crying…
I attended classes as usual and went home as usual.
Everyone seemed a bit restless, and the teachers were wondering too.
…But, I guess they wouldn’t believe me if I told them.
On my way back to the station, I took a little detour.
I had never taken a detour before… maybe going to that world gave me a taste for adventure.
I started walking in the opposite direction of the station and just kept walking for about an hour.
And I looked at every house’s nameplate.
…It seems I’m still looking for George-san.
Even though there’s no way I’d find him like this.
Eventually, as the sun set, I decided to give up and go home.
…How can I find him?
George-san should be a high school student now… ah.
Right. A high school student, that’s what.
“Ah, I’ve heard about that,”
The next morning, when I went to ask Mr. Inamura, my homeroom teacher, his response was unexpected.
“Everyone went to a strange world, huh? I’d like to go there too,”
…Mr. Inamura already knew we had gone to that world.
People have been saying he might be a psychic, or the end result of a Nekomata, or even a fairy.
“Yesterday, Miura-kun and Misaki-san… ah, members of our broadcasting club, told me about it,”
Ah, those two… that explains it. I see.
“So, what did you want to ask me?”
“Do you know of any other schools where the students are acting strange?”
If what Senior Maito told me is true, everyone in this world who has been to that world should be from the same time as us.
So, if we find such a school, surely we’ll find the school George-san is at.
“I don’t really know much about other schools’ situations,”
I thought so.
Knowing that would be a bit scary.
“…But, one of my former students started teaching last year, and they called me saying their students were acting strange… Apparently, all their students went to that strange world too,”
You do know something, after all! That’s scary!
“Which school is it?”
“It’s a boys’ school within the prefecture. I can’t say more than that,”
…There are only a few boys’ schools in the prefecture… it’s almost like I’ve got my answer already.
“Um, could I talk to that teacher? I have something I want to ask,”
“Well, they’re quite busy… Hmm, if you have something you want to ask, I could ask on your behalf? What do you want to know?”
Strange, isn’t it.
Suddenly asking for a high school student from another school by name, someone I shouldn’t know.
…But, I still want to find George-san.
“I’m looking for someone named Yasukura Jouji,”
After school the next day, the homeroom ended very quickly, and Mr. Inamura called me.
The way he gestured with his hands… was very much like a fairy…
“I got a call during lunch and asked for you. Unfortunately, it seems there is no student named Yasukura Jouji at that school. At least, my former student doesn’t know them,”
“Is that so…”
…Well, it would have been more surprising if I had found him here.
Feeling down in a place like this is just ridiculous.
“But I did know about a male high school student named Yasukura Jouji.”
…Eh?
“This student of mine, who happens to be a teacher, was advising the literary club. And, at the prefectural literary contest, the grand prize went to a student named Yasukura Jouji, if I recall correctly.”
…Ah.
Ahhhh.
This world… This world is truly a world of magic!
The next day was Saturday.
Our school has classes on alternate Saturdays.
However, this week happened to be a Saturday off.
…I looked up George-san.
I could have found out everything from the start if I had just searched the net! Yasukura Jouji!
Even the school came up right away. Yasukura Jouji.
Ugh! It’s so frustrating! Really frustrating!
…So, um, about George-san’s school.
His school has classes every Saturday. Poor thing…
So, I decided to go with a very traditional method… waiting in front of the school gates, to look for George-san.
I decided to take the train around 10 in the morning to get to his school.
It would seem really suspicious if it was too early in the morning, after all.
But if I went around 12, I might get lost and be late.
So, I thought maybe around 11… but…
…In the end, I couldn’t stay put and just had to leave.
Despite it being a late Saturday morning, the train was a bit crowded. Wow, the trains really do get crowded going up.
All the seats were taken, and most of the hand straps were occupied too.
I ended up standing near the door, holding onto a pole, swaying for about 6 stations.
It was just after passing the fifth station that it happened.
The train car was getting even more crowded, and I was there, shrinking into myself.
…Someone touched my butt.
…It wasn’t just a little bump. No, it was different.
Probably, if it had been the old me, I would have just frozen up and not been able to do anything.
But now, I have the calmness instilled by Senior Utagawa and the bravery taught by Senior Shiina! Let’s put aside the good sense from Senior Ikeda for now!
I quickly grabbed the hand that was touching my butt to scratch it… huh, it’s not there!
Just as I thought there was no hand.
“This old man’s a molester.”
A boy with his school uniform slightly disheveled was holding the old man’s hand.
…ahh.
“We’ll take him off at the next station, so could you, sir and ma’am over there, help out? Are you okay with the time?”
Then, the boy efficiently started giving instructions to the people around him.
He seemed very experienced.
“Ah, and you, miss, sorry to bother you but could you come as a witness…”
…Our eyes met, and only then did the boy finally notice me.
“…Ha, namu….”
It felt as if time had stopped.
He appeared younger than I had imagined, almost childlike, which somehow made me laugh.
“It’s been a while, George-san.”
Much later, I learned that Senior Utagawa and Senior Sagara, just like me, had been waiting in ambush in front of George-san’s high school that day. They ended up not meeting George-san, who had apparently skipped out. I felt a bit of a superiority complex.
I was the first to find George-san.
Whether it was luck or coincidence, I was the first to find him.
