Yamazaki slowly stood up from his computer desk and opened the door in the front hall. Standing there were two religious solicitors. However, today’s solicitors weren’t Misaki and her aunt but a young man around twenty, wearing a suit, and a roughly middle-school-aged boy in a navy blazer. I wondered whether perhaps the routes had been changed.

Either way, the solicitors’ actions remained unchanged.

“Um, we’re handing out these magazines…” The solicitor handed two pamphlets to Yamazaki. “Uh, see, we’re spreading the word about our religion…”

Yamazaki tried to chase the solicitors away with some appropriate speech.

Watching them, I suddenly had a wonderful idea. Joining them at the front door, I pounded Yamazaki as hard as I could on the back before interjecting, “What are you saying, Yamazaki?! Earlier, didn’t you say that you were interested in such literature?”

“Huh?”

Ignoring Yamazaki, who had turned to give me a look that meant, “What are you talking about, you idiot?” I faced the solicitors and rattled on, in one breath: “Actually, we’ve been interested in your activities for a while. Could we possibly convince you to let us attend one of your meetings?”

Part Two

Last night, when we parted, Misaki had whispered, “Tomorrow, it’s my turn to present at missionary school, and I don’t want to.”

“What’s that?” I asked, and Misaki falteringly described it.

Missionary school was apparently a kind of assembly where “research students” could perfect their skills at “service activities.” The following day, she would have to give a speech in front of everyone.

She used so many technical religious terms that an outsider like me couldn’t really understand what she was talking about. When I tried to get her to explain more fully, Misaki quickly got up from the bench to go home. She left, saying merely, “Anyway, as I have this thing that I have to do tomorrow, we’ll have to go into the city the day after that. Don’t forget your promise.”

That was last night. Today, Misaki’s religious group would hold a meeting, and at that meeting, she would have to play a really difficult role. Having put all this together, an idea struck me. Today was the perfect opportunity to find out who Misaki really was! Summoning my courage, I begged the solicitors, “Please, take us with you and allow us to observe!”

Apparently, it was a rule that normally, outside observers first had to attend the “literature research” that took place every Wednesday. Thus, the two solicitors appeared uncertain what to do with me. I continued to entreat them, “It must be today! Please, take us to the meeting today!”