"She seems to be heading into that building. She went up to the third floor, where there's a bar."
"Thank you."
At last, Doctor found the bar.
When she went inside, she saw that most of the people there were couples drinking together or groups of friends gathered around. Quite a few people looked her way when she entered.
She instinctively lowered her head and hunched her shoulders a little.
But after searching for a while, she still couldn't find Lily.
"..."
Doctor took out her phone to text Haihara. Just then, a voice she hadn't heard in a long time came from behind her:
"...Kougami?"
She turned around and saw Haihara standing there.
Today, she was wearing a beige shirt and jeans, dressed in the same androgynous style as before. Her hair was tied into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck, and she was looking at Doctor with some curiosity.
After a while, the two of them didn't leave right away. Instead, they sat down together at the bar again.
Seeing Haihara put Doctor somewhat at ease.
"Th-that female colleague?"
"We just finished. I was about to leave, too. What are you doing here?"
The two of them sat at a table in the bar. Haihara ordered another drink and sipped it on her own.
"Did anything happen?"
"What would happen?" Haihara asked, taking a sip of her drink, a little confused.
"But..."
Doctor lowered her head, looking a little aggrieved.
That female colleague had kissed Haihara. Doctor herself had only kissed Haihara when they were children.
"Did that female colleague do anything else to you?"
"No. She just kissed me. Didn't we kiss when we were kids, too?"
Haihara looked completely unconcerned.
She gently swirled the glass in her hand, watching the bubbles suspended in the clear liquor slowly rise, disappear, and bob on the surface.
Kougami Kage opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
But she was the sort of person who neither understood what others were thinking nor knew what to say.
"Um... are you in a bad mood?"
Haihara had always been a little cold in the way she spoke, but Kougami Kage felt that something seemed different today.
"...How should I put it? I'm not drunk, but I drank enough to give me a bit of a headache. I guess I'm a little dizzy?"
Haihara's expression was still cool, but her face was a little redder than usual.
Kougami Kage looked at her.
"Then... I'll take you home today."
In the end, Haihara got into Kougami Kage's car.
They didn't talk much during the drive. That was normal, since their lives rarely intersected and they didn't have much in common to talk about.
Haihara wasn't sure what was going on. Her head was still a little dizzy, but it wasn't the kind of dizziness that came from being drunk. It was more like the unpleasant feeling you got after drinking counterfeit liquor.
Sitting in the passenger seat, she glanced at Kougami Kage, who wasn't even touching the steering wheel.
The woman in the white lab coat was just as she remembered: disheveled and languid, yet strikingly beautiful. Both her figure and her face were incredibly attractive.
Even so...
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed like they hadn't seen each other in a long time.
If Kougami Kage hadn't worn the same style of clothes for years, Haihara might not have recognized her at a glance.
"..."
To be honest, Haihara had felt a little awkward when she saw Kougami Kage.
They might have been childhood friends, but their lives had taken completely different paths.
Kougami Kage was now the sort of important figure who wouldn't look out of place on the cover of an international magazine. She seemed to have been a young heiress of a powerful family from the beginning, and on top of that, she was a rare beauty.
There were probably people surrounding her every day, and quite a few who were pursuing her, too.
Meanwhile, Haihara was just a high school teacher.
She couldn't even manage to land a minor position at the school. Just getting through work without being criticized was an achievement.
Haihara couldn't understand why Kougami Kage still had time to spend chatting with her all day.
After a while of silence in the car, Kougami Kage seemed to think for a long time before finally speaking.
"Have you been busy with work lately?"
"Pretty busy, I guess."
Her class had just finished its midterms, and the school had been organizing all sorts of events lately. As the homeroom teacher, she was naturally busy.
But there was no need to say the rest.
"Has it been hard?"
Kougami Kage reached over slightly and took Haihara's hand. Haihara found it a little strange, but didn't pull away.
"It has been hard, but why do you care?"
When she was with Haihara, Kougami Kage seemed to show a little of the way she had been as a child.
She was a little awkward and clumsy, and seemed somewhat timid.
"Lately... you haven't come to see me, so..."
As she spoke, she looked a little lonely.
Haihara looked at her calmly.
She remembered Kougami Kage wearing a similar expression the last time they met.
Sometimes, it made Haihara wonder if the other woman liked her.
But perhaps Kougami Kage simply wasn't good at expressing her feelings, and so occasionally wore an expression that was easy to misunderstand.
To be honest, Haihara hated that feeling of misunderstanding.
It gave her false hope, making her think that the two of them might still have a chance.
"..."
That was right.
Sometimes, Haihara fantasized about dating Kougami Kage.
Every now and then, when Haihara saw her, she would feel a little flutter in her heart.
After all, Haihara liked women, and Kougami Kage was exactly her type: intelligent and perceptive, a beautiful woman, and very kind.
A long time ago, the first person Haihara had ever felt the stirrings of love for was Kougami Kage.
But later, during high school, Kougami Kage went abroad to study. The internet wasn't very well developed back then.
On top of that, Haihara's parents died around that time, and she had to devote all her energy to supporting herself and studying. Gradually, she lost touch with Kougami Kage.
They got back in touch later, after Kougami Kage had made a name for herself as a scientist and reached out to Haihara.
By then, Haihara had finished university and even had a daughter.
One was a gifted, beautiful young scientist; the other was an ordinary high school teacher.
Haihara still had a vague affection for Kougami Kage, but faced with such a gulf between them, she could only give up on that unrealistic idea and offer the other woman her sincere best wishes.
"My place is just up ahead. Want to come in for a while?"
Tonight, the little idol was out working and wouldn't be back until sometime tomorrow morning.
If Kougami Kage was interested, they could have a long-overdue chat.
If she wasn't, there was nothing Haihara could do about that.
Kougami Kage was taken aback at first, then her face turned slightly red.
"...Would that be okay?"
The car slowly drew closer to Haihara's home, while the moonlight in the night sky remained bright, as if to say that the night was still young.
Eat Her Up and Leave Nothing
Tonight, only Kougami Kage and Haihara were at Haihara's home. The little idol was still out working, and when they first entered the house, they hadn't even turned on the lights.
Kougami Kage sat alone at the table, where two unopened bottles of shochu stood.
They were planning to have a drink together in a little while.
Kougami Kage was a little nervous. It seemed to be her first time at Haihara's home, so she had been careful ever since she arrived, afraid she might do something wrong and make Haihara hate her.
But after a while, she couldn't spare a thought for that anymore.
"Splash..."
Kougami Kage could hear water running in the bathroom.
At some point, her heart had started beating a little faster.
She took a sip of ice water to calm herself down.
After they got home, Haihara had taken her usual cold shower. Kougami Kage was waiting for her in the living room, and the whole thing would only take a few minutes. Normally, there wasn't anything to feel awkward about.
But...
They were two grown women, alone together at night in the same house.
Come to think of it, the two of them had taken baths together when they were little.
She should think about something else instead of focusing on what was happening in the bathroom.
Well, Haihara was already her fiancée, after all.
Things like this would happen often from now on. She couldn't make a fuss about it.
Kougami Kage cradled the glass in her hands, then lifted it gently to her lips, lowering her eyes slightly to look at the clear water.
Through the watery distortion, she could see her reflection in the glass, and her eyes were reflected there, too.
After Kougami Kage had waited in the living room for a while, Haihara came out of the shower wearing a cropped tank top she used as loungewear.
Not long after Haihara came out, she spotted Kougami Kage sitting there, lost in thought.
Kougami Kage stood up as soon as she saw her.
"What's wrong?"
Haihara had just showered and hadn't put on the glasses she usually wore, so she felt a little out of sorts.
She saw Kougami Kage walk over.
Then she suddenly hugged her.
The unexpected embrace caught Haihara by surprise, though she didn't dislike it.
They were about the same height, and their heads rested gently together. Their hair tangled with each other's. Haihara had only given her hair a quick blow-dry, so it was still a little damp. The slightly wet strands brushed against Kougami Kage's hair, probably making her feel a little ticklish.
And her childhood friend had a much better figure than she did.
Her body was soft, too.
"Just like when we were kids," Haihara said calmly, looking at Kougami Kage.
When they were little, they used to hug each other like this all the time.
Before you continue