"Is there something I can help you with, senpai?"
Hikigaya looked at the girl in front of him. The service station where he worked was basically a customer service center. Outside, it served tourists, but within the school, it was just for students. It provided information about the water park and handled various other matters.
"Well, after I changed clothes, I realized I lost something."
Asahina, the second-year student, looked troubled and uneasy as she came to the service center for help.
The service center, of course, had a lost and found section. Although the changing rooms had built-in lockers, things still went missing from time to time. These situations usually fell into two categories.
"Senpai, did you lose something from your locker, or was it something you were carrying with you?"
Hikigaya asked.
The way they handled each case was completely different. If something was stolen from a locker, it was a much more serious issue, though it rarely happened since every locker came with a wristband key that students could use for free.
On the other hand, losing personal belongings was far more common. Most of the time, it was simply because the owner was careless. Every evening, when the park was cleared out, all sorts of forgotten items would turn up.
"It was a charm I always carry with me."
Asahina seemed especially attached to the charm. "I bought it when I started school. It's pretty common and not expensive, but… I don't know, having it with me just makes me feel at ease."
"I get it. When did you notice it was missing? And where have you been? Let's check the security footage first."
Hikigaya nodded. He could relate to what Asahina was feeling. He had a charm from Komachi that he always carried with him too. It only cost 250 yen from a roadside stall, but the sentiment behind it was priceless.
Seeing how serious Hikigaya was, Asahina couldn't help but take a closer look at him. Women were strange sometimes—this was their first meeting, yet she suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of goodwill toward him. Even she found it odd.
Hikigaya then took Asahina to check the security footage. The first step was to see if someone had picked it up.
After confirming several locations, they went out to search together. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything.
"This is going to be a problem."
Hikigaya sighed. If it had been something with a bit of value, someone might have turned it in to the lost and found—or just kept it for themselves. That wouldn't be ideal, but at least it would still exist somewhere.
But Asahina had lost a charm. To some people, things like that were more valuable than money, while to others, they were just useless trinkets. Worse yet, her charm was something anyone could buy from the school store. There was a good chance it had already been thrown away like trash.
It was obvious that Asahina had considered this possibility too. She looked really down, knowing that the chances of finding it weren't great.
"…Anyway, thanks."
Even though she was clearly upset, Asahina still expressed her gratitude to Hikigaya. "It's just a cheap charm that you can buy at any store, so I feel bad for wasting your time and bothering you."
She sounded like she was ready to give up, but Hikigaya shook his head. "The value of something isn't just about money. It shouldn't be the only way we measure worth. So don't give up—there has to be a way."
Asahina stared at him in surprise for a while before snapping out of it. Then, she let out a small, bitter smile. "I was ready to give up, but I didn't expect you to be even more determined than me."
For some reason, she felt a faint sense of closeness to this underclassman in front of her. Just twenty minutes ago, they had been complete strangers.
"If you give up on something important to you, I think you'll regret it later and feel terrible. I know because I've been through something similar myself."
Hikigaya let out a wry smile. "That's why… I just don't want you to go through the same kind of regret. Even as an outsider, I can tell that charm means a lot to you."
"But we've already checked everywhere we could think of…"
Even though Asahina was encouraged by his words, reality was still harsh.
"You've looked everywhere you've been, but you still haven't found it… Wait a minute!"
Hikigaya suddenly seemed to realize something. "Senpai, have you checked the locker room?"
Asahina shook her head. "I clearly remember putting it back on after changing…"
But as she said that, even she wasn't entirely sure anymore. After all, most people who lose things tend to think, "There's no way I could've…" and end up ignoring certain possibilities, or they start doubting their own memory.
"Let's check the locker room just in case."
Hikigaya and Asahina headed toward the women's locker room, but of course, Hikigaya couldn't go inside. He could only wait outside.
While standing there with nothing to do, Hikigaya's eyes drifted toward the men's locker room. When they had checked the security footage earlier, he had noticed something strange—not about Asahina's lost item, but about Ike, Yamauchi, and the others acting oddly near the locker room.
After thinking for a moment, Hikigaya stepped into the men's locker room. Right away, he spotted Sudou, Yamauchi, and Ayanokouji. The three of them were holding up a big towel, forming a wall, and from a distance, it looked really suspicious.
The moment Hikigaya entered, Ayanokouji immediately noticed him and quickly warned Ike, who was sweating nervously.
"Stop rushing me! It's too dark in here… Alright, done!!!"
"What are you guys doing?"
Hikigaya walked over with a confused expression while glancing behind them.
"N-Nothing! I just don't like changing in front of other people!"
Ike suddenly popped out from behind the towel wall, and Sudou and Yamauchi both let out relieved sighs. Only Ayanokouji remained expressionless.
Hikigaya peeked behind them but didn't see anything strange.
"There's nothing to see here. Just go already, you're in the way—we're trying to go play with the girls!" Ike said quickly.
"Yeah, Kanji was just changing. You're not trying to peek, are you? Haha, I didn't know you had that kind of hobby!"
Yamauchi started his usual ridiculous performance.
Hikigaya didn't say anything. He just gave them all a long look before turning around and leaving. The others all sighed in relief.
But none of them noticed the dark expression on Hikigaya's face as he walked away.
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