The winter days are short, and the way back home was already getting dark. The winter solstice had passed, so the days should be getting longer, but it didn’t feel like it at all.

On the way back, we walked side by side. We only walk together when there’s something going on. Basically, we don’t need to pretend to be a pair outside of school, but today, I had a few things I wanted to talk about.

The road we were taking was a narrow path lined with old houses on both sides, avoiding the usual bypass. The bypass had heavy traffic, making it difficult to hear each other’s voices over the sound of passing cars. Osanai-san was holding the paper bag that Kengo had given her, and she occasionally sniffed it or lifted it up to look underneath, as if she were wary of it being poisoned.

Since the road was narrow, there weren’t many cars passing by, and there were few pedestrians. I took the opportunity to speak.

“I never expected there would be such words written. It was unexpected.”

“…… I guess so.”

Osanai-san seemed to have given up on inspecting the fried bread and replied with a sigh.

“In the end, it turned out that I solved it.”

“I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do.”

“I was the one who said there were words written. It’s not your fault, Kobato-kun. But that aside.”

Osanai-san buried her face halfway into her scarf and looked at me with a resentful expression.

“I’ll make you pay for this.”

I can’t help it, but this debt seems to be getting bigger.

I clasped my hands behind my head and looked up at the winter sky.

“It should have gone smoothly…….”

The original plan was like this. Osanai-san would look at the painting, but she couldn’t think of anything at all, and we would just leave it to fate and call it a day. I intended to proceed according to the plan we made at the family restaurant.

This plan, if executed, would have left Kengo tormented by guilt for a long time. But in the end, everything should have gone well. Because Shima Taiga’s sculptural work <The Sight and the Outer, or fortune-cookie> is not a forgery.

The words clearly stating the original made Kengo understand that the painting was a study. However, that was a hasty conclusion. If he read the interview and look at this year’s San Francisco Biennale’s Black Bear Award <Gaze and Shell>, he would understand.

That painting was a fortune cookie.

“Hey, Osanai-san. You looked at the painting, right?”