Kitagawa Kai was on his way to the convenience store.
"Ding!"
"Ding! Ding, ding, ding-!"
The Personal Terminal he held casually in his hand suddenly began chiming incessantly.
Kitagawa Kai did not even pause, only raising an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. Everything was as expected.
Sure enough, the messages were all from Horikita Suzune.
Horikita: Why do you have my brother's phone?
Horikita: Answer me.
Horikita: [knife.jpg]
Horikita: ?
Horikita: Where are you?
Horikita: Never mind, I'll come straight to your dorm.
Kitagawa Kai looked at the messages and chuckled softly.
Kitagawa: I'm about to go to the convenience store. Just meet me there.
The convenience store was brightly lit, its shelves neatly arranged.
Pushing a small shopping cart, Kitagawa Kai was intently comparing the quality of two packages of chicken.
"Tap, tap, tap-!"
Footsteps approached the convenience store's automatic doors at a somewhat hurried rhythm.
It was Horikita Suzune.
She was panting slightly, her fair face flushed from walking briskly, and a few strands of blue-black hair at her forehead were slightly disheveled.
Her normally calm eyes swept rapidly through every corner like searchlights.
Horikita Suzune steadied her breathing, slowed her steps, and headed toward Kitagawa Kai.
She walked straight up beside him, her gaze falling openly on his sharply defined profile and the packet of seaweed snacks he had yet to put in the basket.
"Kitagawa-kun, can you tell me now?"
Before this, she had usually called him simply "Kitagawa," or, more simply still, referred to him as "you."
Now, this slightly more familiar form of address sounded awkward and stiff coming from her.
She did not understand.
Why could Kitagawa Kai approach her brother so easily, when he was someone distant and beyond reach even to her?
Since enrolling, she had formally met and spoken with her