Friday arrived, the last school day of the week.
Perhaps because the weekend was so close, even the sunlight outside the window seemed a little warmer.
The school bell rang right on time, as it always did.
Kazehara Tetsu wasn't part of any group heading home.
After gathering his things, he left the Teaching Building alone and made his way to a café on the second floor of Keyaki Mall.
He pushed open the café's glass door, and the rich aroma of coffee washed over him.
He chose a corner table by the window. The light was good there, and he could watch the pedestrians coming and going outside.
He pulled a Mystery Novel from his schoolbag, ordered an Iced Americano, and immersed himself in the book.
The minutes passed. People came and went in the café.
Outside, the sky gradually shifted from pale blue to orange.
Just then, the bell above the door gave a clear chime.
Kazehara Tetsu didn't stop turning the page, but from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone approaching.
Ichinose Honami.
She seemed to be pretending she'd simply happened to pass by and been drawn in by the café's atmosphere.
But her gaze had already settled on the quiet figure reading in the corner.
She started toward Kazehara Tetsu.
Her footsteps stopped beside his table, and her shadow fell across his book.
Only then did Kazehara Tetsu slowly lift his head, as though he'd just been disturbed.
He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the girl with the radiant smile before him. His face showed confusion, as though he were trying to identify a stranger.
"Hello. Um... can I help you? If you're looking for a seat, no one's sitting beside me."
The smile on Ichinose Honami's face stiffened for a moment.
She blinked her bright eyes and looked at Kazehara Tetsu in disbelief.
"Huh? Um... don't you remember me?"
She pointed at her own face, sounding uncertain.
Kazehara Tetsu furrowed his brow slightly and studied Ichinose carefully.
In the end, he shook his head and gave her an apologetic look.
"I'm really sorry. My memory might not be very good. Have we... met before? You're very cute, so I'm sure I'd remember you if we had."
His words were polite, but there was a certain distance in them. At the same time, that "very cute" sounded like a sugar-coated bullet, making it hard to get angry.
Ichinose was completely stunned.
Over the past few days, she'd often found herself thinking about the boy she'd knocked down at the school gate on the first day. He'd been a little frivolous in the way he spoke and acted, but also rather amusing.
She'd even been wondering when she ought to make good on her promise to "compensate" him.
And now he'd forgotten her completely?
After a brief moment of shock, Ichinose's cheeks puffed up, making her look like an annoyed little hamster.
She put her hands on her hips, leaned toward Kazehara Tetsu, and said in a tone that was half exasperated and half amused, "Kagihara, you're awful! On the first day of school, at the gate, a 'dangerous' girl knocked you down. You said you'd almost suffered 'internal bleeding,' forced her to give you her contact information, and even demanded she treat you to coffee to settle the 'accident'... You've forgotten all of that?!"
She'd practically repeated Kazehara Tetsu's exact words from that day. She was too embarrassed to say "Moon Weapon," but her pointed emphasis on "dangerous" made the implication clear enough.
At the sight of her adorable, puffed-up expression, Kazehara Tetsu finally couldn't keep up his "confused" act. He burst out laughing.
"Ah, now I remember. So you're that 'Moon Weapon' girl. Sorry, sorry. I've had a lot on my mind lately, so it took me a moment."
He set down his book and leaned back in his chair with a teasing smile. His gaze swept over her ample figure again, wholly undisguised. "Still, it seems your 'dangerous' side has gotten even more dangerous since I last saw you, Honami."
"You... You're such a jerk! You remembered the whole time!"
Ichinose's face turned bright red in an instant, the color spreading from her cheeks down her slender neck.
She instinctively straightened up and folded her arms across her chest, as if protesting his shameless stare.
This guy was just as blunt and improper as he'd been when they first met!
"All right, all right. Don't be mad. I was joking." Kazehara Tetsu gestured to the seat across from him. "Since we've run into each other, don't just stand there. It's about time this 'victim' had a proper 'reckoning' with the 'perpetrator' over compensation."
His words successfully made Ichinose forget her embarrassment.
She took the opportunity to sit down across from Kazehara Tetsu.
"I haven't forgotten! You're the one who said you'd settle the compensation, Kagihara, but you haven't come to find me once." She muttered under her breath.
"Looks like you really can't stop thinking about our first meeting."
His voice carried a hint of laughter, and he deliberately stressed the words "first meeting." "Since you've been so eager to remind me, wouldn't it be rude of me not to do something about it?"
"I—I haven't been thinking about it!"
Ichinose almost denied it by reflex, but even she could hear how unconvincing she sounded.
"Sure, sure. You haven't."
Kazehara Tetsu went along with her.
He nodded toward the counter. "So, shouldn't you make good on your promise? I've been waiting for you to pay for this, and I haven't even dared try their specialty."
That shameless remark left Ichinose completely at a loss.
She could only sigh helplessly and rise from her seat. "All right, all right! Wait here. I'll get it for you!"
"I want the most expensive specialty drink,"
Kazehara Tetsu instructed from his seat, leaning back like an old man. "My 'internal injuries' are pretty serious, after all."
"You're impossible..."
Ichinose shot him a glare over her shoulder, but there wasn't a hint of menace in it. She looked more like a girl pouting.
She went to the counter and studied the menu carefully. The sight of her fretting over what to order made Kazehara Tetsu's smile deepen.
Soon, Ichinose came back with two drinks.
One was the Caramel Macchiato she'd ordered for Kazehara Tetsu, steaming hot with a lovely heart drawn in the milk foam.
The other was the Strawberry Smoothie she'd ordered for herself.
She set the Caramel Macchiato down in front of Kazehara Tetsu with a small, pointed thump, making the heart in the foam wobble.
"Here, Kagihara. Your most expensive specialty! Once you finish it, we'll be even over the 'accident'!"
Kazehara Tetsu picked up the cup and looked at the delicate foam art, then glanced at Ichinose across from him. She was scooping up her smoothie a little at a time, but kept sneaking glances his way.
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