Date?

Friday night.

Uesugi Hara lay flat on his back, his fingertip sliding across the screen. A message just received from Karuizawa Kei read: Kushida is asking Ayanokouji to act as an intermediary, wanting to befriend Horikita. The meeting is set for 3:00 PM Saturday at Palette cafe.

He stared at the message for a few seconds, tapped "Keep it up" into the input box, and after sending it, long-pressed the conversation to cleanly delete the entire chat history.

Finally, some decent intel. Uesugi Hara sighed silently to himself. The previous reports had been trivial or inconsequential, but this one finally touched on something worth noting.

Before the terminal screen went dark, he opened another conversation thread, the recipient being Sakura Airi. After a moment of hesitation, he typed: "Free tomorrow? Want to go out and look around?"

For the few minutes after sending, the screen remained silent. Just as Uesugi Hara was about to assume she wouldn't reply, a new message popped up, the text laced with obvious hesitation: "Are... are you asking me?"

Uesugi Hara's fingertip hovered over the screen, pausing as he suddenly found Sakura Airi's cautious demeanor somewhat amusing. He typed a line and sent it: "Who else? I'm hardly asking a virtual character from a game."

Less than ten seconds after the message went out, she replied. This time, it was a string of ellipses followed by an even quieter defense: "But, but no one has ever asked me out before..."

"Well, now someone has." Uesugi Hara was blunt. "Tomorrow at 1:00 PM, I'll wait for you at the entrance of the commercial district. If you dare to be late, I'll print out your gravure photos and cover my room with them, so the first thing I see when I wake up every day is the cute Sakura Airi."

The other end of the terminal remained silent for even longer, so long that Uesugi Hara wondered if she had thrown her device away.

Just as he was about to send another message, the screen finally lit up: "I, I won't be late! So... see you tomorrow?" A cute emoticon followed at the end, as if she had mustered all her courage to add it.

Uesugi Hara curled the corner of his mouth. He didn't reply, instead scrolling through previous messages, most of which were photos of Sakura Airi.

Uesugi Hara clicked his tongue and simply tossed the terminal aside to get up. Only when the cold water in the shower washed over his head did he calm down slightly. As the water streamed down his jawline, he stared at the water marks on the tiles, lost in thought—he hadn't expected to feel so restless just from reading a few messages.

An hour later, Uesugi Hara returned to bed, grabbed his terminal for a glance, and seeing no new messages from Sakura Airi, he turned the device off.

The moonlight outside the window spilled just over the nightstand. He stared at the ceiling and blinked—the 3:00 PM meeting at Palette cafe and the 1:00 PM meeting at the commercial district entrance felt like splitting the entire day in two.

Saturday, 12:30 PM. As the automatic doors at the entrance of the commercial district slid open, Uesugi Hara saw Sakura Airi standing by the fountain, clutching the straps of her canvas bag.

She wore a light blue dress, and her hair was fluffier than usual, likely styled secretly with a curling iron before she left. A stray lock of hair was still tucked behind her ear—she looked like a small animal that had just poked its head out of its burrow, wanting to hide yet unable to suppress its curiosity.

Although she was dressed beautifully, she was still wearing her "beauty-sealing" glasses, which ruined the overall aesthetic.

"Half an hour early. And you aren't allowed to wear those while you're with me today." Uesugi Hara walked over, removed the glasses that sealed away her beauty, and tucked them into his pocket.

Sakura Airi shrank back half a step toward the fountain, not daring to protest his actions. The cat charm hanging from her canvas bag swayed. "Looks like you really were afraid I'd cover my room in your photos."

Without her glasses, Sakura Airi looked exceptionally shy.

"I, I wasn't!" She waved her hands in a panic, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the bag straps. "It's just that the commercial district is far away, so I left early."

Uesugi Hara glanced at her reddened earlobes but didn't call out her lie.

"Haven't eaten yet, have you?" Uesugi Hara asked suddenly, his gaze falling on her slightly tightened canvas bag—the shape didn't look like it held a bento.

Sakura Airi was indeed stunned, her fingers subconsciously pressing against the bottom of the bag. "I, I ate some bread before I left..."

"Bread doesn't count as a proper meal." Uesugi Hara turned and walked into the commercial district, giving her no chance to argue. "There's an omurice place over there; the sauce is ten times better than the school cafeteria. If we dawdle any longer, there won't even be a window seat left."

Sakura Airi trotted to keep up, her white sneakers making soft sounds on the marble floor. "But, but wouldn't that be too much trouble for you? Besides, I still have points, I can pay for myself..."

"Are those few points of yours enough to buy half an omurice?" Uesugi Hara tilted his head to look at her, catching her fingers frozen on the zipper of her canvas bag, her earlobes turning red enough to bleed. "Or do you want me to watch you gnaw on dry bread later?"

She shook her head immediately, her ponytail swinging behind her. "No, that's not it!"

The restaurant area was past the lunch rush, so it wasn't too crowded. Uesugi Hara walked straight to the omurice counter, ordered two signature sets, and turned to ask Sakura Airi, "What do you want to drink? Cola or orange juice?"

Sakura Airi stared at the menu board behind the counter, her voice as small as a mosquito's hum. "Co, cold water is fine..."

"Order orange juice." Uesugi Hara made the decision for her, turning to the clerk to add, "No ice."

While waiting for the food, Sakura Airi sat by the window, her fingers repeatedly rubbing the cat charm on her canvas bag. Uesugi Hara noticed that the tabletop in front of her had been wiped exceptionally clean, without a single water stain—she was likely afraid of dirtying the table.

When the omurice was served, the golden egg skin wrapped around the rice, and the sauce formed a semi-circular arc on the plate. Sakura Airi's fingers trembled as she held the spoon, and she nearly splashed sauce on her dress when taking the first bite, hurriedly reaching for a napkin to wipe it away.

"Eat slowly." Uesugi Hara pushed the orange juice toward her. "No one is going to steal it from you."

She murmured an "um," chewing in small bites, but couldn't help stealing glances at him. Sunlight filtered through the glass window onto her hair, making that stray lock of hair glow as if dusted with gold powder.

Halfway through the meal, Sakura Airi suddenly stopped and asked in a low voice, "Hara... Hara-kun... why did you suddenly ask me out?"

Uesugi Hara was scooping up a spoonful of omurice. He paused at the question. "Because I saw you always hiding in the corner, like a stray cat with no one to look after it."

Sakura Airi's spoon hit the plate with a "clink," and she whispered a rebuttal: "I, I'm not a stray cat..."

"Oh?" Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow. "Then you're a precious cat hidden away by its owner."

As soon as he said this, he saw Sakura Airi's ears turn bright red, the color spreading to her cheeks. She lowered her head and shoveled a large bite of rice into her mouth, not even noticing the sauce on the corner of her lips.

Watching her like this, Uesugi Hara suddenly felt his decision hadn't been wrong. At the very least, at this moment, this small animal that always hid in its burrow finally had a spark of life in its eyes.

When they finished paying, Sakura Airi was still wiping the edge of the plate with a napkin, as if trying to erase every last trace of sauce. Uesugi Hara picked up her canvas bag and handed it to her. "Let's go, I'm taking you somewhere."

Sakura Airi looked up, bewildered. "Go, go where?"

"You'll see when we get there." Uesugi Hara didn't elaborate, only slowing his pace as she caught up—without her glasses, she subconsciously stared at the ground, as if afraid of tripping, though the real reason was that she didn't dare make eye contact with others. Her white sneakers made soft, rhythmic sounds on the tiles.

They arrived at the electronics section, and as soon as they reached the entrance, they heard the voice of a promoter.

Uesugi Hara walked into a high-end appliance store and headed straight for the camera counter. Various models were displayed in the glass case, and one pink camera had its screen lit up, showing a blurred cherry blossom background.

"I'll take this one." He pointed at the camera, but when he turned around, he found Sakura Airi staring blankly at the display unit in the case, her eyes wide, her fingertips nearly pressed against the glass.

"Th, this is..." Sakura Airi snapped back to reality, her cheeks flushing instantly. "Hara... Hara-kun, you don't mean to..."

"The first time we met, I saw how much you liked this camera; you were completely mesmerized by it." Uesugi Hara took the new camera box from the clerk, broke the seal, and took the camera out. He tested the buttons before pressing it into her hands. "I figured you didn't have enough points to buy one yourself. Here, take it; it'll be easier for you to take photos."

The camera body was very light, yet it made Airi's arm tremble violently. She gripped the camera strap so hard her knuckles turned white. "Th-this is too expensive! I can't accept this..."

"It's my property now, I'm just letting you hold onto it." Uesugi Hara snapped the box shut and shoved it into her canvas bag. He stopped halfway through zipping it up—the bag was too small, and a corner of the camera box poked out like an untucked tail. He simply snatched the bag and slung it over his own shoulder. "Just carry your precious cat charm."

Airi looked at the canvas bag swaying on his shoulder, then looked down at the camera in her hands, and suddenly, her eyes turned red with a "waa."

She wasn't crying; the tears were just swirling in her eyes, but she bit her lip to keep them from falling. She looked like a little kitten that had been suddenly gifted a dried fish, so touched she didn't know what to do.

"If you keep crying, I'm taking the camera back. If you're touched, just take more good photos for me." Uesugi Hara flicked her forehead, though he didn't use any real force. "I have things to do this afternoon, so I'll see you home first."

Airi sniffled and hugged the camera tightly to her chest, walking with extreme caution as if afraid of breaking it.

Passing a mirror by the escalator, she snuck a glance at her reflection—her face, back in her glasses, looked a bit dowdy and didn't quite match her outfit, but she could clearly see the corners of her mouth curling upward against her will.

Before reaching the exit, Uesugi Hara handed her the canvas bag. He had tucked the camera box at the very bottom, with her terminal pressed on top of it. "Remember to keep the camera safe." He paused, then added, "Next time I ask you out, I want to see the photos you've taken with it."

Airi nodded while clutching the bag, her voice sounding a bit nasal. "I-I will take good photos!"

As she tucked her things away and turned to leave, she suddenly remembered something. She stood on her tiptoes to slip something into his pocket, then ran off with a blushing face. Uesugi Hara felt his pocket; it was a strawberry candy wrapped in a candy wrapper, the edges crumpled as if it had been carried for a long time.

He watched Airi's back disappear behind the automatic doors before peeling the candy and popping it into his mouth. As the sweetness spread across his tongue, he glanced at his watch—two-twenty-four. He had twenty-six minutes until his appointment at Palette. That was plenty of time to walk there slowly.