After leaving school.
Yukimura Suzune and Natsume Chikage rode the train alone together.
Natsume Chikage asked, "So where are we going now?"
A faint blush appeared on Yukimura Suzune's cool face as she hesitantly said, "There's an old bookstore in Shimokitazawa with quite a few books I like."
"I heard it's going out of business soon, so all the books are being sold cheaply."
"So I planned to go there and stock up."
"But I can't carry that many books by myself, and making several trips would be inefficient."
"At school, you're the only boy I know—so I thought I'd ask you to come help me carry the books home or something."
"Of course, I won't make you help for nothing. I'll treat you to the Coffee Shop afterward."
When Natsume Chikage heard that he was the only boy she knew, waves stirred in his heart.
The way she put it made it sound as though he was the only boy she could rely on—
But thinking about it, Yukimura Suzune really did rarely pay attention to other boys at school.
No, rather than boys, she did not pay much attention to girls either.
At school, aside from Saionji Nanase and Fujiwara Aoi, she rarely chatted with anyone else.
Most of the time, she was reading.
So she truly did not know many people.
As for helping carry some books, he did not mind.
He could treat it as a chance to wander around and see if there was any special equipment nearby.
Come to think of it.
Natsume Chikage realized that because he was often busy with school and making money, he had not had much time to search for special equipment.
He smiled helplessly.
Even if he went looking, there was no guarantee he would find anything.
After