التعويذة الناقصة بعد انتهاء الدوام — 第一章 转学通知是白色的

Chapter One: The Transfer Notice Is White

The transfer notice was white, whiter than chalk.

The homeroom teacher set the envelope on Rin’s desk and said the paperwork would be finished next Friday. Someone in class started the teasing—“Shirasaki’s going to the big city”—and Rin only pressed the envelope beneath the draft of the magic circle.

After school, the missing corner in the empty classroom was larger than yesterday. As if someone had torn a piece of the ending away in advance.

“You could wish to stay here,” Tōru said.

“A wish means filling in the corner.” Rin shook her head. “If I fill it in, I won’t remember you. I’d rather remember that the duty student is awful than have a clean after-school with no you in it.”

Tōru picked up the transfer notice and drew a very ugly mop on the back. “Then we change the spell. We don’t fill in the corner. We lose the notice instead.”

“That isn’t magic.”

“It’s duty.” He said, “Duty students are in charge of disposing of unwanted paper.”