Staring at the enlarged news headline on the front cover, Miyahito stood frozen for a few seconds.
Then, he casually looked away, his expression unchanged, and walked toward the aisle with the refrigerators.
He grabbed two neatly packaged teriyaki chicken sandwiches and one seaweed rice ball.
Holding his food, he passed the magazine rack again and approached the cashier, quietly placing his items on the counter.
The female cashier in the convenience store uniform looked up. When her eyes met Miyahito's silent expression, she instinctively paused.
A minute later, snapping out of her daze, she blushed slightly and averted her gaze. Keeping her head down, she began scanning the man's items and spoke softly.
"Welcome. Is that all for today, sir?"
"Ah, yes. Just these."
Still slightly dazed, Miyahito nodded after refocusing.
As she scanned the items, the man took out his wallet and casually asked,
"How much is it?"
"That'll be 350 yen, sir."
Hearing her unusually gentle voice, Miyahito frowned slightly. Was she deliberately speaking so softly?
But he didn't press the matter. He simply placed four coins on the counter.
Taking the bag with the sandwiches and rice ball from him, she turned and left casually.
However, just as his left foot crossed the threshold,
For some reason, Miyahito suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked back into the store.
Reaching for the magazine on the display rack, he grabbed it, returned to the counter... and under the cashier's unexplainably hopeful gaze,
He paid immediately and left without saying a single word.
Why was she looking at me like that?
As he stepped out again, Miyahito recalled the strange, almost hopeful look the slightly older cashier had given him during payment.
Instinctively, he stopped and turned to look at his reflection in a nearby shop window.
Hmm. Nothing unusual on my face.
Dismissing the thought, he looked down at the magazine in his hand.
After thinking for a moment, realizing he still had time before the mandatory arrival time, he turned toward a small park in the neighborhood.
After finding an empty bench, he sat down, unwrapped the sandwich, and ate it absentmindedly, the coldness of the bread barely registering.
His eyes focused on the magazine article—an interview, or rather, a feature piece about Love's Metronome Vol. 3 by Kasumi Utako.
The sandwich was small, gone in three bites.
The article wasn't long either. Just as he swallowed the last bite, his eyes caught the final line.
"Haa..."
Closing the magazine resting on his lap, Miyahito leaned back against the bench, lifting his gaze to the vast blue sky above.
As expected... Senpai still needs Taki's help, huh.
The quiet murmur in his mind slowly overlapped with the quote from the interview, spoken by Kasumi Utako herself: 「Yes, thanks to that person's advice, I finally realized what readers truly wanted to see in volume three.」
Two different sentences, perfectly harmonized in this moment.
He wasn't sure why, but Miyahito's thoughts suddenly drifted to the morning before school started—yesterday morning—when he had accidentally fallen asleep from exhaustion.
And the beautiful dream he had created for himself.
He couldn't recall the details clearly now.
The only thing remaining in his memory was that fleeting gentle smile... Senpai's smile. Kasumigaoka Utaha's smile.
Slap!
Raising both hands, he firmly patted his own cheeks. His expression returning to normal, Miyahito stood up from the bench.
Muttering softly, "Gotta hurry, or I'll be late," he quickly stuffed the magazine, the remaining rice ball, and the last sandwich into his backpack.
Without hesitation, he began walking briskly toward Toyogasaki Academy.
Hurry, Miyahito.
If you're late, you'll make a bad first impression on the teachers and classmates.
.....
Although her gaze remained fixed on the thin book in her hand, Utaha could still feel the faint, lingering stares from the students around campus.
Just like in middle school.
A flicker of disappointment dimmed her earlier hope that "high school might be different." Kasumigaoka Utaha quickened her pace slightly.
I should check the class assignments first.
With that thought, she walked briskly toward the bulletin board where a crowd was beginning to gather. But when she arrived, the board was already surrounded by students.
So... many people.
Observing the somewhat dense crowd, Utaha slightly lifted her school bag to shield her chest, carefully slipping between the students. Her eyes quickly scanned the posted class list, searching for her name.
However, as she was looking, a name near the top of Class 1-B's list accidentally caught her attention.
"Class 1-B..." Captivated by that name, a whisper unconsciously escaped Kasumigaoka Utaha's slightly parted lips.
"Ara... ga... ki... Miya... hi... to..."
Could it really be him? So Aragaki-kun is also a Toyogasaki freshman?
A flicker of surprise crossed her wine-red eyes. Unaware that the corners of her lips had lifted, Utaha thought to herself:
Are we classmates?
Her fingers tightened slightly on the edge of her bag. Her fangs unconsciously bit her lower lip as she took a short breath to calm herself.
Holding back her quickening heartbeat, she used her bag to partially cover her face. Afraid of dwelling too long on that name, her gaze quickly swept over the rest of the list.
"Class 1-C..."
She murmured the name of her assigned class out loud. Her mind couldn't stop imagining him in the room next door. Lowering her gaze, Utaha quietly turned and walked away from the bulletin board.
Even after changing into indoor shoes and stepping into the school building, she still hadn't lifted her eyes.
Carefully avoiding the crowded hallways, she reached an empty corner on the first-year floor. Leaning her back against the slightly cold wall, her bangs covering her increasingly reddened pupils, Utaha's lips moved slightly.
Yet no sound came out.
As if she had said something. Or perhaps, as if nothing had been said at all.
....
Ten minutes after the girl left, Aragaki Miyahito arrived at the bulletin board, his backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Oh, so I'm in Class 1-B?"
As he murmured his class name, a vague memory surfaced—a young girl with twin tails was also in Class 1-B. Instinctively, he examined the list further.
Hmm? Strange, why can't I find Eriri's name?
Wondering why neither Eriri's name nor that certain influencer's name appeared, his gaze naturally shifted to the class list beside it.
However, as his eyes landed on the Class 1-C roster,
A highly familiar name struck his dark eyes like lightning.
「Class 1-C」
「Kasumigaoka Utaha」
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