Chase The Truth

Chapter 17: Waiting Around

Begin!

~Normal POV

5/27 - Friday

That evening, Yu brought Adachi over for dinner as promised. Tonight was good enough for him honestly. He needed the distraction while they waited for Kanji's recovery. And Nanako liked having company. It was a little weird having him around without Dojima, but they didn't want to dwell on it too much.

"Big bro? The potatoes are still hard." Nanako said, joining the two at the table. "Today, we're having shoe!" She explained to Adachi.

Adachi gave her a puzzled look. "Shoe? Oh, you mean stew?"

"Yeah, shoe... Stew!" Nanako said, brightly.

"Hey, you did it."

"Do you like stew, Adachi-san," Nanako asked.

"Hm. Yeah kind of... I mean, yeah I do like it. It's been a while since I had some." Adachi turned his attention to Yu. "So, do you cook like this all the time? I bet Dojima-san tells you all the time what a great help you are!"

Yu smiled. "Not really. He lets things like that go unspoken."

Adachi laughed. "I knew it. He's probably just embarrassed. I heard you're moving back in the spring, I bet Dojima-san's gonna cry!"

This reminder made Nanako frown and fidget uneasily. She didn't want to think about that yet. Adachi was quick to notice her discomfort though.

"Oh, sorry, sorry! That's still a long way away!"

"Yeah..." Nanako mumbled.

Adachi sheepishly rubbed his neck looking for something to change the subject. He then perked up and asked. "Hey, Nanako-chan, have you ever seen this trick?"

He pulled a 500-yen coin out of his pocket and showed it sitting in his palm. "Now watch closely." He clutched the coin so that it was no longer visible, and shook his clenched fist a couple times. He then opened his fingers to reveal the coin was gone!

Nanako gasped in awe; cheering up instantly. "What?! How?! Why!? Again! Do it again!"

"Nah, this time I'll show you a better one!" Adachi pulled out another coin and closed his fist around it again. "Now... look in your big bro's pocket."

Playing along, Yu reached into his pocket and pulled out the same coin. "Whoa..." He said, very shocked that it worked.

Nanako couldn't help clapping excitedly. "Wow! You're the best, Adachi-san!"

Yu handed the coin back to him. "That was a surprise... I didn't peg you for being good at magic tricks."

Adachi shrugged modestly. "I'm pretty good with my hands, so it comes easy to me." He looked more relieved at Nanako being cheerful again. "Maybe I should have been a magician. Then I wouldn't have such a- uh, well. I guess there's no job like a government job. It's not like I can make a living working with my hands... That's smelling pretty good. I think the shoe's about ready."

"It's stew!" Nanako argued.

"Shiatsu?"

"Shoe!"

"Wrong!"

"No, I said it right!"

Yu chuckled at their silly argument. He made the right call by inviting Adachi over. He made a mental note to do it again soon. It made dinner a lot more lively.

~...

5/30 - Monday

Seeing as how Kanji was still absent from school, Yu kept up his ongoing schedule of killing time with his friends or doing something more productive. In the spirit of doing so, he opted to bring Adachi over for dinner again tonight. The original intent had been to get him to help with studying, but that went out the window instantly. Apparently, Adachi forgot everything he learned in high school. He agreed to come anyway for the prospect of free food, and to see Nanako again.