Misaki pulled another book out of the bag that she always carried. This one was The Many Words That Guide You: A Collection of Proverbs That Will Echo in Your Heart. Another strange book… I was no longer surprised.

Moving her cake plate aside, Misaki opened the book on the table.

“Let it be.” Saying this, she intently looked at me. “It seems to be a saying by a man named John. What do you think this means?”

“L-let things be as they are.”

“Ah, that’s a great saying!”

Eventually, our meandering took us back to the manga cafe where Misaki worked occasionally. The man sitting at the register nodded at her. Acting like a regular customer, I took a receipt. Then, we sat down in the very back of the room.

The place was basically deserted.

Drinking free cola, I concentrated on reading manga. Misaki, who sat across from me, watched me and drank orange juice. I was incredibly distracted, but there was nothing I could do about it. I felt like a hole was about to open in my stomach.

Finally, I couldn’t put up with it. There was no way I could read manga like this. I tried speaking. “Misaki?”

“Hm?”

“There aren’t many people in this manga cafe, are there?”

“It’s because of the recent downturn in the economy.”

I looked over at the man behind the counter. “That man, how is he related to you?”

“He’s my uncle. I’m always causing him trouble; but because I’m leaving before long, I think he’ll forgive me.”

It sounded like they had some sort of complicated family dynamic; however, I didn’t want to hear that story, so I changed direction. “Anyway, Misaki, do you enjoy your religious activities?”

“Not really. I trouble people all the time.”

“Trouble?”

“You know—how to phrase it? I disturb the atmosphere. Well, my presence there depresses a lot of other people. Actually, it would be best if I weren’t anywhere.”

“You could just leave the group.”

“I can’t. I have to do something to repay my aunt.”

“Misaki, you don’t really believe in God, do you?”

Misaki put her cup of juice on the table. It made a small clank. “I do think it would be nice if God existed. If I could, I’d like to believe, but it’s rather difficult.”

She sounded disappointed. In a discouraged tone, she gave an abrupt hypothesis. “To start with, if God really existed, He would have to be a terrible villain. Thinking about it comprehensively, I’ve come to that conclusion.”

“Huh?”

“Well, for human beings, the ratio of painful things to enjoyable things has to be about nine to one. One time, I wrote it all down in my notebook and calculated it.” Misaki took out her secret notebook and spread it open on the table.