Shamer

five hours.”

“Because Marimaru, you always keep me company for short periods of time, but you only play games with me for long periods of time once in a while.
With you, I can go another five hours.”

“That’s honestly nice of you to say that, but give me a break.”

I can picture Marumaru smiling bitterly.
I’ll give him a break for today.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, let’s play ranked tomorrow.”

“Ok, see you later.”

After I heard those words, I didn’t hear Marmaru’s voice anymore.

I turned off the game and lay down on the bed.

“Is it time for club activities now…?’

It was past four in the afternoon.
If nothing had happened to me in middle school, I would have been practicing for the soccer team at high school right now.
…But now I haven’t even touched a soccer ball.

…Well, video games are fun and I don’t have to play soccer.

I was thinking about that when there was a knock at the door.

Oh, I guess my mom was off work today.

But no matter how long it took, I didn’t hear my mom’s voice.
…Eh, what?

I wondered, and finally, I heard a voice through the door.

“Kenji-kun.
I’m the homeroom teacher for your class, my name is Kiritani Kakeru.”

It was the weak voice of a man I did not know.

To be honest, I couldn’t see his face, but I thought he must have been a terrible person.

—But I didn’t know at that time.

I didn’t know that he would save me from this disaster.