"Emi! Hurry up, how are you not ready yet?"
Hana, bag already shouldered, looked over at Emi, who was still painstakingly applying eyeliner at her desk.
Emi leaned into the mirror, focused and unblinking. "Wait! Almost done!"
Hana and Aki exchanged a look of shared exasperation.
Akane, watching them, smiled and stepped in. "It's fine, Hana. We still have a few minutes. Let her finish... but Emi, actually hurry."
On the surface, she was the calm one. But underneath, she was feeling the tick of the clock. She'd told Aoyama she'd meet him at the west gate at 9:50, and she genuinely hated keeping him waiting. She wasn't the kind of person who used "being a girl" as an excuse for lateness.
Aki checked the time on her flip phone. "We said we'd leave at 10:00 together. It's already 9:45..."
Emi, still focused on the mirror: "Oh, relax, Aki. Yuto and the guys are men. What's wrong with making men wait a few minutes?"
Akane shook her head. "It's not about gender, Emi. Just hurry. They aren't obligated to wait for us."
"Besides," Akane added with a small smile at Aki, "aren't we supposed to be setting Aki up today?"
Aki's face went crimson instantly. The end-of-term dinner had been Emi's idea, but they'd all agreed to it because they knew Aki had a crush on Seino Gakuji, a senior who happened to share a dorm with Yuto.
Yuto was the one who'd been pursuing Akane for two terms now, with exactly zero progress to show for it. Akane didn't dislike him, but she didn't feel anything either. She'd only agreed to the dinner for Aki's sake, a chance to bridge the gap between their social circles.
It was a classic Emi move: lazy, a little disorganized, but otherwise perfectly fine to be around.
...
But now, they were on the verge of being late because Emi couldn't get out of bed on time.
"It's getting close," Hana said, sounding genuinely worried. "Should we call Yuto's dorm? I don't want Aki to leave a bad first impression with Seino-senpai."
Aki bit her lip, the anxiety visible.
"Don't worry," Emi said, finally putting the liner down. "They're probably already waiting at the bottom of the building. It won't take long."
That was true. They were all in the same university. The walk wasn't far. But...
"Akane," Aki asked quietly, "where did you say you were meeting Aoyama?"
"The west gate."
Akane thought about it for a second. "Actually... Hana, Aki -- you two wait for Emi. I'm going to go ahead and meet Aoyama."
"What?" Aki and Hana looked at her in surprise.
"Akane, can't we all go together?" Emi called out from the room.
"No," Akane said, already heading for the door. "I don't want him waiting too long. I'll see you there."
She didn't wait for an answer. She was already out the door and running down the stairs.
Hana exhaled. "I genuinely don't know what's gotten into her. Is it really just because he saved her that one time? She's actually... fallen for him?"
"Maybe," Aki said softly. "I mean, he's not bad-looking. And Akane says he's a published mangaka now. That's a real achievement."
"He's a mangaka, so what?" Emi's voice came from inside, sharp and dismissive. "He still isn't in Akane's league. Someone like her... she shouldn't settle for just anyone."
---
Outside the women's dormitory, Metropolitan Institute of Technology.
Four tall, athletic students were standing near the entrance, clearly waiting.
"Yuto," one of them said, checking his watch with a frown. "Where are they? We said ten sharp at the gate. It's already 9:49."
"Relax, Haru," Yuto said with a calm smile. "Girls need time for makeup. It always takes longer than they say."
Yuto was a head taller than most of the crowd, easily hitting 185cm. He was handsome in a clean, athletic way: sun-kissed skin, short-cropped hair, and the kind of lean muscle that came from consistent training.
He looked like the poster boy for the management academy.
"Senpai, sorry for the trouble," Yuto said, turning to Seino Gakuji. "Using your name to organize this..."
Seino laughed it off. "It's fine. I'm single. Meeting a junior doesn't hurt."
In reality, the dinner wasn't just about Seino and Aki. It was Yuto's way of creating a recurring excuse to be near Akane, the "Computer Science Goddess" whose reputation preceded her across the entire campus.
If Seino and Aki hit it off, the two dorms would have an excuse to meet constantly.
Yuto was a patient man. He knew better than to rush a confession. To him, a confession wasn't the opening charge of a knight; it was the victory march.
You only did it when you already knew the answer was yes.
He was prepared to wait.
But then, the doors opened.
A single familiar figure ran out, alone and in a hurry.
"Akane!" Yuto stepped forward, hand raised to wave.
"Yuto, Seino-senpai, hi!"
Akane didn't even slow down. She gave them a quick, distracted wave. "I have to meet a friend at the gate. Emi and the others are still coming down, so just wait for them, okay?
See you at the restaurant!"
She was gone before he could even register a response, her ponytail swinging as she sprinted toward the west gate.
Yuto stood there, hand half-raised, staring at the empty air she'd been in.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]