Fourth Period Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

Time that made me feel like I was sitting on pins and needles ticked by, second by second.

About thirty minutes had passed since Haruno called Yukino.

It would probably take her a while to get here from that building. The person who called someone out couldn't just leave first. Hurry up—! Goku—! Otherwise, I can't go home—!

The coffee I'd been sipping was long gone, and the whole pot of tea that had been steaming before had gone cold.

Yuihama looked a little anxious too, repeatedly glancing toward the café entrance in agitation.

Only the two people sitting across from us remained completely composed.

Haruno seemed to be looking something up on her phone. Every time she opened a new page, she showed it to Hayama beside her.

"Ah, what about this one?"

"Not bad, right? It's pretty cute."

He answered with a cheerful smile, and Haruno snorted.

"That answer is so like you."

Hayama gave a slight shrug, looking troubled. I had no idea what Haruno was asking his opinion about, but I thought that was a very safe answer. Still, yeah, it really was very Hayama-like.

Even though she was the one who had asked, Haruno lost interest in Hayama's answer and leaned over to hold her phone in front of me.

Displayed on the screen was a set of pajamas. The soft pink color scheme and fluffy, dessert-like texture made it undeniably cute. Yuihama, who caught a glimpse of the screen from beside me, murmured, "Ah, so cute..."

So that was what Haruno had been looking up all this time. Judging from what she'd said earlier, it was probably a gift for Yukino.

"Hey, Hikigaya, what do you think?"

She stood up, rested her elbows on the table, gently swayed her upper body, and stared at