التعويذة الناقصة بعد انتهاء الدوام — 第三章 未完成，才是咒语

Chapter Three: Unfinished Is the Spell

On Friday morning, the office said one letter of guarantee was missing from the transfer documents. The letter was in Tōru’s pencil case, lying with that stub of chalk, a ring pressed into it by the barley-tea can.

Rin stood behind the window and watched him. She did not go in to claim it.

“Unfinished is the spell.” In the empty classroom she wrote the sentence beside the missing corner. “Whoever finishes it is a traitor.”

Tōru leaned the mop against the door. “Then I apply to be an accomplice forever.”

Rin nodded, solemn as if some ceremony were being held. Outside the window someone shouted again, “One more ball.” This time, neither of them looked.

The clock still ran an extra forty minutes. No one filled in that corner.