I Don't Want to Go to School

"So, we can never go back there?" I asked, gently tugging on the hem of Amy's shirt as she organized our things.

Amy, who was carrying the items we had used over there to various corners of the room, smiled at my question. "That's right. Are you sad to leave?"

It would be a lie to say I wasn't, but I shook my head. "I'm fine."

Though Valentine and Uncle Ben's shop would linger in my mind, I felt like I could easily move past it in a few days. I plopped down on the floor and popped a gummy into my mouth. The soft, sweet treat squirming on my tongue was incredibly delicious.

Apparently, Jin had cleaned up the scene in a flash. I didn't know exactly what he did, but it seemed like the gem he held and his ability had created some kind of synergy. Shine seemed to have taken an interest in that gem.

"That must have been a support item Mary made, right?"

"Probably, right?" Shine asked, snatching and eating my gummies one after another.

"Ah! Those are mine!" Even though our portions of gummies had been divided equally, Shine had already devoured all of hers and was now eyeing mine.

I grabbed the gummy box from within her reach and hid it behind my back. At that, Shine's expression turned peculiar. A mischievous smile spread across her face, sending an inexplicable shiver down my spine.

I slurped up the long spaghetti gummy hanging from my mouth. It wiggled up toward my lips, but Shine was faster. She leaned her face right in and bit down on the other end of the gummy dangling below my chin.

Chomp.

Shine's face was suddenly so close that I gasped in surprise. Her small lips nibbled their way up the gummy I was holding. I held my breath at the sight of her chewing.

Leaning in close, Shine flashed a mysterious smile and pulled away. The severed end of the gummy drooped, brushing against my lips. Perhaps because of her saliva, it felt sticky and wet.

"D-did you really want the gummies that badly...?" The situation was strangely embarrassing. Touching my burning cheeks, I held out the gummy box I had hidden behind my back.

But Shine shook her head. "No. I wanted to eat something else."

"W-what?" She didn't answer my question.

Springing up with a light movement, Shine spun around, whipping her dinosaur tail. As she did, Rain, who had been sitting behind us diligently stuffing her face with gummies, got smacked by the tail and tumbled backward.

"Oof." Rain rubbed her forehead once, then got right back up to keep eating her gummies.

"Is everyone writing their reports properly?" Amy asked, having carried the last box into the room.

The three of us, who had been peacefully eating gummies, froze instantly, unable to utter a word. The white sheets of paper Amy had handed us, detailing the report format, were still completely blank.

"I-I never used to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠write these. My teammates always did it for me...?" Rain offered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a half-hearted excuse. Her pronunciation was a bit muffled by the gummies stuffed in her mouth, but Amy had no trouble understanding her.

At Rain's words, Amy narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. She looked slightly displeased.

"Um... Rain, do you want to write it together?" I pulled Rain's hand while keeping an eye on Amy's reaction. Still reluctant to leave her treats, Rain grabbed a handful of worm-shaped gummies as she stood up.

Shine, Rain, and I sat back down at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the desk. We were given only a single small pen to share. We had to write our reports with this. However, neither I, Shine, nor Rain could fill in the blanks on the paper. It had already been an hour.

"Ugh..." I groaned, clutching my head.

I feel like I should know this. I feel like I know how to write it, so why can't I?

My chest felt tight. It was so frustrating. Irritation welled up inside me. I swung my legs back and forth and drummed my fists on the desk. The desk shook slightly, causing Shine and Rain to look at me with wide eyes.

"Jeff?"

"Oh, sorry. I just got a bit frustrated."

After hesitating for a moment, Rain seemed to make up her mind and began to move the pen.

"Rain, do you know how to write it?"

"I think I have an idea. I always saw Hughes—my former teammate—writing them. Since he wrote about what happened on missions, I think it's basically a diary. That's my theory."

Hearing Rain's explanation, it actually made sense. I nodded blankly and started moving my pen. Thus, the three of our reports took the form of diaries. Once I finished writing, the remaining blank spaces looked a bit empty. I pulled out some colored pencils and drew pictures in the margins. I drew us playing ball, having a barbecue in the evening, and a massive lightning dragon falling from the sky.

"Done." I set down the colored pencil and stared at the completed report. For some reason, I had a feeling I might have to redo it. But for now, this was the best I could do. In this manner, all three of us managed to finish our reports.

"Everyone's finished, right?"

"Yes!" At my reply, Amy gave a doubtful look and gathered the reports from the desk. She began to read through what we had written. Her expression shifted rapidly by the second. Seeing her tense up as if trying to hold back laughter, I tilted my head. There shouldn't be anything funny in there. Why is she holding it in?

After reviewing the reports for a long while, Amy nodded. "You all did a good job. But you can do even better next time, right?"

"Yes!" What a relief that she thought we did well. As I nodded in response, Amy let out a small sigh and stood up. "I need to show these to Jin. Wait here for a moment."

"You're showing those to Jin?!" At Amy's words, I jumped up from my seat and blocked her path.

"Yes. Why?" She tilted her head, looking genuinely confused about what the problem was.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "No way! There's embarrassing stuff written in there!"

Things like when I went to the bathroom, Shine trying to sneak into my room, and the names of foods I wanted to eat... Showing a list of things like that to anyone other than Amy was incredibly mortifying.

"But I have to. I must show it to Jin," Amy said, patting my head. Her large hand patted me gently as she nudged me aside. With that, Amy left the room.

I paced in circles where she had stood, trembling with anxiety. What should I do? What if that guy who likes the weird rabbit comes back to steal my snacks again? Did I write down the exact times I eat lunch and snacks in too much detail?

"Jeff, what's wrong?"

"Shine, we're in big trouble. If Jin gets his hands on that report, he'll know exactly when I eat my meals and snacks."

"You wrote about that too...?"

"Yeah..."

At my confession, Shine chuckled softly and pulled my hand. I let myself be dragged helplessly into her embrace. A soft, sweet scent drifted from her.

"It'll be fine. I'll protect you. Jin will never be able to steal Jeff's snacks."

Saying so, Shine popped a candy into my mouth. As the small, sweet treat rolled onto my tongue, my anxiety melted away in an instant.

While we waited for Amy to return, we booted up the newly set-up computer.

"How much time is left until the field boss?"

"Hmm... about ten minutes," I replied to Shine's question as the computer booted up. The computer we used to have at our house in District 2 had been moved to our room. Just as we were about to log into our online game, Shine let out a sharp shriek.

"What is this?!"

I turned my head at her exclamation to look at the screen.

"Ah!"

The moment I saw the screen, a short cry escaped my lips as well.

A green shield icon. That program was blocking access to the game's website. It was the safeguard program Amy had installed—the one called "Child Protector." When on earth did she install this?

Shine moved the mouse around frantically, her face filled with disbelief. But there was no way we could bypass it. To unlock the program, we had to enter the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠password Amy had set, and Amy had never once told me what it was.

Shine tapped away at the keyboard with a frantic expression. But the password wouldn't budge! Just like that, Shine and I missed the raid. Perhaps due to the shock of not being able to play, she lost all her energy and went completely limp. Her long tail dragged lifelessly across the floor.

As we lay sprawled on the bed wasting time, Amy returned. She had a contemplative look on her face, but the moment she walked in, Shine sprang up and rushed toward her.

"Amy!"

"Je—Shine?"

Whenever Amy came home, running to greet her was always my job. Thus, Amy, who had instinctively started to say my name, realized in an instant that the girl running toward her was Shine, not me.

Amy smiled warmly at Shine's unprecedented behavior. She scooped up the girl who had thrown her arms around her.

"Shine. Did you miss me that much?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes. I missed Amy a lot. So please unlock that."

Clinging to Amy's embrace, Shine pointed at the computer. Amy followed her finger to look at the screen, where the green shield was displayed.

"Hurry. Unlock it quickly. We missed our raid."

Shine shook Amy back and forth when she didn't respond. Swaying slightly, Amy calmly set Shine back down on the floor.

"Do you really want to play it that badly?"

"Yes. I want to play it every day."

"Every day?"

"Yes. Hurry and unlock it."

At Shine's words, Amy began to contemplate with a serious expression.

"It's not a weird game, is it?"

"No. It's a fantasy game. Jeff plays it with me too."

Amy's gaze shifted to me. I let out an awkward laugh and nodded.

Ultimately, Amy walked over to the computer, examined the installed game, and searched for it on her phone to look up some basic information. "Hmm... it doesn't seem like a weird game."

"Right!"

In the end, Amy opened the Safeguard settings and added the game Shine and I played to the exception list.

"But only for one hour a day. Got it?"

"Yeah!"

"Shine. That's not how you answer."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Answering vigorously at Amy's gentle scolding, Shine nodded and buried herself in the computer chair. The sight of the little dinosaur merging with the chair was rather cute. I followed suit and sat down next to her.

As we were getting ready to play, Amy's voice drifted from behind us.

"Hey, Jeff, Shine. Have you two ever thought about going to school?"

It was an unexpected question, a topic we had never even considered. Because of that, neither Shine nor I could answer.

As a brief silence stretched, Amy continued, "You're worried about going by yourselves, aren't you? Rain will be going with you."

At Amy's words, Rain jumped up in shock and asked, "Me? Why me? Why do I have to go?!"

Amy didn't answer.