Secrets of the Eyepatch Senior and the Infirmary

Episode 4: The Eyepatch senpai's Plushie

The hallway after school was eerily quiet, like the daytime noise had been a lie all along.

A breeze slipped in through the open windows, making the curtains flutter gently.

Even that soft sound felt unusually loud in my ears.

I took careful, silent steps and stopped in front of the nurse’s office.

— Knock, knock.

I gave the door a gentle tap and slowly pushed it open.

And just as I expected, there was only one person inside.

“Welcome back, Sumire-chan.”

Yuri-senpai sat by the window, smiling gently—

as if she had known from the start that I’d come.

“The teacher’s... not here, huh?”

“Nope. Just stepped out.”

There it was again.

I could’ve sworn I checked earlier—saw the nurse back at her desk near the faculty room before coming here.

But somehow, every single time I talk to Senpai, the nurse is never around.

“...Earlier today, when my friend got hurt and came in for treatment, I found this.”

I pulled out a small, folded piece of paper I’d been keeping in my uniform pocket.

— ‘You really protected your friend this time, huh?’

A note I found in the nurse’s office.

The kind of words you’d expect from someone who was watching the whole thing...

Or worse—someone who already knew it was going to happen.

“This note… You wrote it, didn’t you, Senpai?”

Yuri-senpai just smiled, her expression deepening slightly.

She didn’t say anything. But that silence... it wasn’t a denial.

“...So, you really can see the future, can’t you?”

“Do you believe me, Sumire-chan?”

She answered with a question of her own.

Always dodging things. Every time I tried to reach the truth, she slipped right through my fingers.

But even so, I already knew.

This person understood everything, and yet chose to say nothing.

In the silence, my eyes drifted to a register sitting at the edge of a nearby desk.

Its cover read: Visitor Logbook.

(This is where they record everyone who comes in…)

I didn’t even pretend to move closer—just leaned in enough to peek from above.

The log had the past five days recorded.

Today’s date had both Ao and my name on it.

But… Yuri-senpai’s name was nowhere to be found.

Even though she said the nurse had just stepped out… there was no trace of her in the log.

A chill crawled down my spine.

Just who is this person I’ve been talking to?

And then—

“Hey, Sumire.”

Her gentle voice sliced through the heavy air.

Yuri-senpai was talking to that stuffed toy in her arms.

A small plush angel.

But for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it looked a bit… like me.

“Sumire-chan doesn’t seem to trust me at all.”

Something in my chest snapped at those words.

That doll—being treated like it was standing in for me.

It sounded like she was talking to me… but it also felt like her words were really meant for that thing.

And that thought—

sparked something dangerously close to rage.

“What kind of choice will Sumire-chan make, I wonder?”

Her voice was calm.

But the way she said it—it was like she was testing me. Judging me.

“...Don’t screw with me.”

I didn’t even realize the words had left my mouth.

Was it anger? Sadness? I didn’t really know.

But in the next moment—

my hand reached for the stuffed toy.

I couldn’t stop myself.

My body moved faster than my thoughts.

“Ah!”

I heard Yuri-senpai let out a gasp.

I yanked the plush out of her arms, bolted for the door, and ran.

“I’m not some damn doll!”

I screamed as I tore down the empty hallway, not looking back.

The setting sun poured through the windows, stretching my shadow long behind me.

And I kept running, like I could outrun even that.

I ran from Yuri-senpai.