A bus was slowly speeding away from me. I watched it from a little distance. I held the collar of my coat with my hand, but it was still too cold. With my other hand, I touch the screen of my phone.\n\n
Naoya Ookusu: Iām at the station, how about you?\n
Shiori Fujisaki: Iām already here too.\n\n
At the south exit of the station, there is a large bus roundabout. It has a nice view, but I didnāt see Fujisaki there. By the bicycle parking lot, I sent her a line message.\n\n
Naoya Ookusu: Are you by any chance at the north exit?ćItās closer if you go from the south.\n\n
I received a reply right away.\n\n
Shiori Fujisaki: Oh, I see. Iāll be right there.\n\n
After a few minutes of waiting, Fujisaki came down the stairs. I waved to her and she noticed me. With her racket case slung over her shoulder, she walked up to me.\n
āIām sorry. I shouldāve said the south exit.ā\n
āItās okay. Donāt worry about it.ā\n
It was probably the first time we had met outside of school. The uniform I was used to seeing her in looked prettier than usual. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already past 5:30 pm.\n
āOokusu-kun ā¦, youāre not wearing your uniform huhā\n
I nodded.\n\n
I have already done my shopping and changed my clothes. I left Enami-sanās house about an hour ago. Once home, I checked the fridge and bought what I needed after getting dressed.\n\n
āā¦ā¦ You have a different atmosphere than usual.ā\n
āReally?ā\n\n
My outfit was quite simple. I was wearing a beige coat and jeans. Itās probably the first time Iāve seen Fujisaki in casual clothes.\n\n
āFujisaki, you look like you just came straight out of the badminton club.ā\n\n
When I said that, for some reason, Fujisakiās eyes widened in a flurry, and then she stepped back.\n\n
āYes, thatās right. I thought it would be bad to make you wait too long.ā\n\n
She took another step back. I wondered if she was avoiding my vicinity. I took a step forward to test it out, and Fujisaki stepped back again.\n\n
āLetās go, Ookusu-kunā\n
āItās okay, you know.ā\n
āEh?ā\n\n
Somehow I knew what was going on, so I said softly.\n\n
āI donāt think you smell of sweat at all, so donāt worry about it.ā\n
āNo, no, no, itās not like Iām not worried about that!?ā\n\n
But my words seemed to have had a positive effect, and she stopped pulling away from me.\n
We started walking side by side along the railroad tracks.\n
There are not many commercial facilities in this area. There are only convenience stores and dry cleaning stores. The houses stand side by side on the flat land with a good view. The north entrance has more department stores and entertainment facilities. As we walked along, freezing in the cold, we eventually came to a large bridge.\n\n
āI didnāt know there was a river here. Itās pretty big.ā\n\n
Indeed, the width of the river is large, about 20 meters. The bridge is arched, so if you stand in the middle, you can look down on the river from a high position.\n\n
āItās not a very clean river, though. Itās not like you can bathe in it.ā\n\n
Iāve lived here since I was a little kid, but Iāve never experienced the benefits of having a river.\n\n
We crossed the bridge and walked for about five minutes to my house. Itās a very ordinary house. It was a two-story house with black tiles and white walls. There was a small gate in front of the entrance.\n
āCome on in.ā\n
When I opened the front door, my sisterās loafers were already lined up on the wooden floor. I wondered if it was because she was nervous about Fujisakiās arrival that they were arranged differently than usual.\n
āPardon my intrusionā¦ā¦ā\n
It seemed that Dad hadnāt come home yet. There was no one in the living room. Sayaka was probably in her room.\n
āGo ahead and sit on that couch.ā\n
I poured a cup of barley tea and placed it in front of Fujisaki. I then walked upstairs and knocked on Sayakaās room door.\n
āYes.ā\n
I turned the doorknob when I heard her answer.\n
Apparently, Sayaka was cleaning her room. She hid as many of her otaku hobbies as she could and gathered the mess into plastic bags. It seemed that she had already made a lot of progress in cleaning the room, and to the casual observer, the usual mess was unrecognizable.\n
āSheās here.ā\n
āI know. I was going to come, even if my shitty brother didnāt call me.ā\n
After hiding what she couldnāt hide under the quilt of the bed, Sayaka left the room. She walked past me and went down the stairs.\n\n
I followed her back to the living room. Fujisaki, who was stretched out on the sofa, noticed us and turned to look at us.\n
āAh, Sayaka-chan!ćYou look so cute in your casual clothes too!ā\n
Thatās when I noticed. She wasnāt wearing her usual sweatshirt. She was wearing a pink sweater with long sleeves and big bottoms. She had also untied her hair and straightened it.\n
āNo, no, not at all. ā¦ā¦ā\n
Apparently, she was embarrassed to be dressed in her usual attire. She was wearing something a little more fashionable. To be honest, Iāve rarely seen my sister dressed like that.\n
āMm, the boys of the world wonāt leave you alone like this. Even though Iām a girl, still Iām being mesmerizedā\n
āOh, Iām not such ā¦ā¦ā\n\n
I guess sheās not very good at receiving compliments. Sayaka seemed to be at a loss as to what to do. I said.\n\n
āYou two go ahead and start studying. Iāll make dinner in the meantimeā\n\n
Sayaka nodded. I thought they were going to study in the living room, but they decided to do it in her room. Thatās probably why she was cleaning up earlier.\n\n
After the two of them went upstairs, I took out the ingredients I had already bought from the refrigerator. I had decided to make curry today.\n\n