University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus.
Inside the student cafeteria.
Sawamura Haruno was sitting across from Mine Shiori, holding his phone as he edited a text message to Miyazawa Maki.
It was already lunchtime. The other party should have gotten up by now. To keep that girl from running off again and disappearing without a trace, he planned to send her a message telling her where the food at home was kept.
If that still didn't work, letting her order delivery herself was fine too. It wasn't like he hadn't given her money.
If he just left things alone and she vanished again, it would only make things harder for him to explain to Mana later.
"Is that really all you're getting, Sawamura?"
Mine Shiori glanced at her own tray, then at his, and couldn't help asking, "Don't you want to order a bit more?"
Hearing that, Sawamura Haruno paused his typing.
"No need. I usually don't have much of an appetite at noon," he said with a gentle smile. "Probably because of the recent weather."
"I guess so. It has been pretty hot lately—makes it hard to eat," Mine Shiori replied softly.
She found herself wondering whether Sawamura simply didn't like cafeteria food. After sitting down, he'd been focused on sending messages on his phone, and even now he looked like he had little appetite.
Still, this was the University of Tokyo—one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Even if the teaching facilities were a bit old, the student cafeteria should be decent, right?
The interior layout aside, just the variety of dishes alone was impressive, and the prices weren't high either.
…Or maybe that was the problem?
Because the prices were low, the food naturally couldn't compare to restaurants outside. After all, as the saying went—expensive food isn't always good, but good food is always expensive.
Maybe she shouldn't have invited Sawamura to eat at the cafeteria. No matter how she thought about it, it would've been better to take him somewhere nicer to show her sincerity.
"What's wrong? You don't have much of an appetite either?" he asked.
Unlike Mine Shiori, who was lost in her thoughts, Sawamura was calmly eating his "free lunch." When he looked up, he saw the obvious regret on the petite girl's face.
Why did she suddenly look so dejected? He hadn't said anything wrong, had he?
"No, I'm fine."
Mine Shiori hurriedly picked up a piece of pork cutlet and put it in her mouth, while quietly making up her mind that she'd have to find a better place later to properly express her thanks.
After all, that necklace meant a great deal to her—it was the only keepsake her mother had left behind.
She'd thought it was lost forever, never to be found again. Who would've guessed that Sawamura would pick it up and turn it in to lost-and-found?
It was really a blessing hidden within misfortune.
"By the way, Sawamura—"
"Just call me Haruno," Sawamura said, shrugging with a joking smile. "I can tell it takes you a lot of effort every time you say my full name. Calling me Haruno would be easier, wouldn't it?"
"Then you can call me Shiori too."
Mine Shiori's lips curved slightly upward as she smiled. "Our names are both pretty uncommon, after all."
The surname Mine was rare, but at least it could be read correctly.
Sawamura's surname, on the other hand, was another story. It was written as 沢山 but read as Kiriyama. When romanized, it became Kiriyama.
Compared to more common names, his name was tricky on multiple levels—especially for someone like Mine Shiori, who was prone to slips of the tongue. The fact that she'd managed not to mispronounce it so far was already impressive.
"Because of that, when I was in middle school, teachers kept calling me by the wrong name. I was misnamed for a full three years."
"What?!"
Mine Shiori jumped in surprise.
That was way too much. As a teacher, getting a student's name wrong for three years straight was unbelievable.
"It wasn't a big deal," Sawamura said indifferently. "I just got laughed at a bit by my classmates. It wasn't the first time—I got used to it pretty quickly."
Well… rather than "used to it," it was probably more accurate to say he'd never really taken it seriously in the first place.
After all, it was a confusing name, written one way and read another. Being miscalled was only natural.
And besides, he wasn't a native-born Japanese anyway—no need to get depressed just because his name had been mispronounced for three years.
Compared to that, he was more curious about what Mine Shiori had been about to say earlier.
"Shiori, what were you trying to ask just now?"
"Oh, I was just wondering whether you were busy this afternoon—if it was because you were planning to pick up your sister."
"Huh? No, that's not it."
Sawamura suddenly felt a bit guilty and avoided her gaze. "I already made plans to meet a classmate from high school this afternoon. It doesn't really have anything to do with my sister."
…Sigh. Another lie.
They say one lie needs countless more to cover it up. The ancients really knew what they were talking about.
Then again, Miyazawa Mana was his high school classmate, so maybe this answer didn't count as a lie?
"I see—your high school classmate," Mine Shiori nodded, not pressing further.
In any case, they'd still be classmates for a long time. Opportunities to treat him again would be easy to find.
All in all, she should probably ask for Sawamura's LINE contact—it would make it much easier to check when he was free later.
"Well—"
Just as she was about to speak, Mine Shiori noticed two girls entering the cafeteria.
One of them had slightly curled short hair and a cold, detached gaze. Yet her face and figure were striking enough to make people avert their eyes unconsciously—the kind of beauty that made even other girls' hearts race.
Mine Shiori wasn't unfamiliar with this person.
It was just that the hairstyle and expression didn't quite match her usual impression.
So she swallowed the rest of what she'd been about to say and instead let out a puzzled, "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Sawamura asked.
With his back to the cafeteria entrance, his attention fully on the food in front of him, he looked up at Mine Shiori with confusion after hearing her curious sound.
"That person… is that Miyazawa Mana?" she asked uncertainly, pointing toward the entrance. "The one who just came in."
"Miyazawa Mana?"
Hearing that name, Sawamura immediately turned his head to look.
Since he'd sent her a message in the morning, she still hadn't replied. If they happened to run into each other in the cafeteria, it'd be a perfect chance to ask her what she planned to do next.
With that thought, his gaze quickly locked onto a target—
and then he froze.
—It was a Miyazawa, no doubt about that.
But it wasn't Mana.
Why would she be here? Even if she woke up and realized she wasn't at home, there was no reason for her to run straight into the University of Tokyo, right?
Before Sawamura could sort out what was going on, the next moment—
Their gazes met in midair.
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