The class meeting settled the general direction.
The details still needed work—who would go first, who would go after—but the hardest knot had been untied.
After school, it was still early.
Kazehara Tetsu packed his bag and headed for the cafeteria as agreed.
Horikita Suzune was already waiting at the entrance. She nodded when she saw him, and they went in together.
The cafeteria wasn't crowded at that hour. As usual, they found a corner by the window.
They each ordered a set meal. Kazehara Tetsu got pork cutlet, while Horikita chose simmered fish and added two bowls of soup.
When their trays arrived, Horikita Suzune picked up her chopsticks but didn't start eating.
She looked up at Kazehara Tetsu. Her lips parted as if she were about to speak.
"Eat first. We can talk afterward."
Her words died on her lips.
She glanced at him and thought it over. That was fine, too... Talking business over a meal was rude, and it wasn't good for digestion.
She nodded, lowered her head, and ate quietly.
Neither of them spoke. The meal passed in silence.
A little over ten minutes later, their plates were empty.
Horikita Suzune set down her chopsticks, wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and looked up again.
"About the student council inviting two people to join, I'd like to discuss it with you. I was thinking—"
"Let's go shopping."
Kazehara Tetsu stood and picked up his empty tray.
Horikita Suzune froze in her seat, the rest of her sentence stuck in her throat.
She watched him carry his tray toward the return counter, her brows slowly drawing together.
She stayed where she was, her mind racing.
She wasn't stupid.
The last two times, she had been the one to stop him and invite him