After waiting a few minutes, Suzuki Sonoko was starting to get impatient.
She walked into the restroom and looked at the row of stall doors. "Ran?"
No one answered. Some stall doors were closed, others open. The place was dead silent.
Suzuki Sonoko's heart sank even further. She walked over and pushed open each of the closed doors one by one, but every stall was empty, with no sign that anyone had been there.
"She's not here?" Suzuki Sonoko froze. She turned and left, took out her phone, and dialed Mouri Ran's number.
The ringtone played, but no one answered. Suzuki Sonoko went to ask the old woman behind the counter, "Did you see where my friend went?"
The old woman had been dozing against a recliner. Hearing a voice beside her, she startled awake, rubbed her eyes, and sat up. "I didn't notice."
Just then, since no one had answered on the other end, the call automatically disconnected with a beep.
"!" Suzuki Sonoko panicked even more. Looking at the now-empty table, she muttered, "Nothing could've happened to her, could it..."
As she was thinking that, her phone suddenly buzzed with a text message.
Suzuki Sonoko hurriedly looked down and saw that it was from Mouri Ran, who knew where she had gone.
She opened the message and read:
[Sonoko, I just saw a star athlete passing by. I wanted to go to the players' lounge with him and ask for a signed photo. It's a little noisy in there, so I might not hear my ring tone. If anything comes up, don't call me—send me a message.]
Suzuki Sonoko: "..."
So she had gone chasing celebrities. That scared the life out of her!
"But this is more normal." Suzuki Sonoko nodded, finally relaxing. "There were so many tennis