Before leaving the cafeteria, Miyazawa Mana finally replied to the message.
The content was simple—just confirming the time and place they would meet that evening.
But it was only a little past twelve-thirty now. There was still a long stretch of time before nightfall, and Haruno didn't have any afternoon classes either.
After a moment of thought, Sawamura Haruno turned to Miyazawa Maki and asked:
"So what were you planning to do when you came out today?"
"None of your business."
Maki muttered irritably under her breath.
How was she supposed to explain that she'd just been wandering around aimlessly—and somehow ended up at the Komaba campus gate?
That sounded ridiculous no matter how you put it.
Obviously, it was all because of what happened last night. She'd been restless ever since.
Yeah. This was all Sawamura Haruno's fault.
Maki shamelessly dumped all the blame onto him—but the next thing he said made her stiffen on the spot.
"If there's somewhere you want to go," Haruno said, "we could go this afternoon."
After thinking for a moment, he added calmly:
"I don't have any classes either. I can go with you."
"So suddenly you're being nice?"
Maki narrowed her eyes suspiciously, deliberately provoking him.
"What, you finally come to your senses?"
"No."
Haruno raised his hand as if to give her a light chop on the head. But the moment Maki reflexively shut her eyes, he stopped and lowered his hand again.
She quickly forced her eyes back open and glared at him—but that brief flash of fear hadn't escaped his notice.
I didn't even use that much force before, did I?
He sighed inwardly.
If Maki didn't spend all day running her mouth, maybe she wouldn't need "discipline" so often.
What Haruno really wanted was for her to go back to being the aloof, icy girl she used to be—not this troublemaker with increasingly questionable preferences.
"I don't have classes this afternoon," he said flatly.
"If there's nowhere you want to go and nothing you want to buy, then let's just go home."
"…Then let's go back."
Maki puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
Coming all this way only to eat cafeteria food—it hadn't even tasted that great.
But she didn't feel like going anywhere else either. In the end, she figured it was better to just follow Haruno home—and look for another chance to tease him.
She didn't believe for a second that his willpower was really that strong.
Once the day came when he couldn't hold back anymore, she'd climb right on top of him and force him to admit it—
Who was better, her or Mana?
Not only that, she'd smugly tell Mana that she'd stolen the man Mana liked.
After all, it was Mana who had pressured her for over ten years just by being "better" at everything.
This time, she'd take everything back.
Don't worry, Maki thought fiercely.
This time, I'll win it all back myself.
By the time she snapped out of her thoughts, Haruno had already been carrying the tray away for quite a while. The short-haired girl hurried to catch up.
After leaving the Komaba campus, there wasn't much around worth seeing.
Meguro wasn't exactly one of Tokyo's most developed districts. It didn't have the unique flair of places like Kichijoji, Kabukicho, or Akihabara. If it left any impression at all, it was probably just that there were a lot of universities nearby.
Haruno lived in Shinjuku, and places like Shibuya were closer anyway. Even if he wanted to go shopping, Meguro wouldn't be his first choice—especially not with Maki in tow. Who knew what kind of trouble she'd stir up?
So without hesitation, he boarded the train home.
When they arrived at the high-end apartment building, it still wasn't even 1:30 p.m.
"Hey, Sawamura—"
The middle-aged man sitting at the front desk of the first-floor lobby waved them over.
"A delivery arrived for you. The box has a 'fragile' sticker on it, so I didn't dare put it by the mailboxes."
As Haruno walked over, the man broke into a cheerful grin.
When his eyes landed on Maki standing beside Haruno, his brows shot up—and he almost let out a low whistle.
"Thanks, Mr. Takashima. I thought it'd take another day or two to arrive."
Haruno picked up the cardboard box placed beside Takashima's leg, showing a polite, apologetic smile.
In most Japanese apartment buildings, parcels were usually left near the shared mailboxes. But delivery workers often didn't handle packages gently. Because Takashima knew Haruno well, he'd deliberately kept it somewhere safer this time.
"Oh, it's nothing," Takashima waved it off.
Then he leaned closer, lowering his voice and glancing at Maki with a teasing grin.
"So what's with the girl? She's really pretty. New girlfriend?"
"No. Just… a friend."
"Man, I'm jealous of you kids," Takashima sighed dramatically.
"Freshman in college and already living with a cute girl. When I was young, my first love dumped me because I couldn't afford a decent place."
"…She's a friend."
"Living together is great, sure—but be careful, yeah?" Takashima winked.
"You don't want to get married and raising kids at this age, do you? Marriage is a battlefield!"
"…She's. A. Friend."
Haruno finally gave up.
Mr. Takashima was a good person—he just had selective hearing.
Explaining further would only waste energy.
But then Haruno realized something odd.
Maki hadn't reacted at all.
She was standing a little farther away, but close enough to hear everything. The lobby was quiet—there was no way she hadn't caught it.
Curious, Haruno subtly turned his body and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
He froze.
Maki's cheeks were faintly red.
"All right, all right," Takashima laughed knowingly.
"No matter what, this is young people's business."
With the insight of someone who'd lived a long life, he gave Haruno a pat on the shoulder and leaned in to whisper one last piece of advice:
"Sawamura—remember, this is Japan."
Haruno stood there, stunned.
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