They left the high school at 3:42 and took the direct route to the sanctuary.
The afternoon sky was clear, and the streets were less crowded than they had been that morning. Ophélia walked with the same pace as always, upright and unhurried, but Takeshi noticed she wasn't looking at the buildings with the same intensity she had during the trip there. She was calmer now. Not uncomfortably silent, but the silence of someone focused on processing what they were seeing.
Takeshi didn't interrupt that.
After several minutes, Ophélia spoke.
"Is the cafeteria always that loud?"
"Yeah."
"And people don't find it annoying?"
"I guess they get used to it, since most of them have been going there for years."
Ophélia nodded, and they kept walking.
Two blocks before reaching the sanctuary, Takeshi spotted a small ice cream shop on the right side of the sidewalk. It was open, and there weren't many people inside, so he stopped.
"Have you ever had ice cream before?"
he asked.
