The library's old window-side seat sat beneath the slanting afternoon sun pouring in through the high windows, laying a warm strip of light across the tabletop. Even the dust floating in the air drifted lazily through it.
She set her schoolbag on the chair beside her, sat down, and opened the book she had brought. After reading half a page, she closed it again.
Her gaze drifted toward the entrance, then quickly pulled back, settling on her neatly pressed fingertips.
The midterms had only just passed, yet she felt as though she had not seen him in ages.
Everyone had been studying before the exams, and he had suddenly started coming to the library much less often.
Sitting in her usual spot, she would occasionally look up out of habit and glance at the chair opposite her. Only after looking would she realize that she had no idea whether he would come today.
She lowered her gaze back to the page and stared at the dense lines of text for quite a while. When she finally came back to herself, she realized she could not remember a single word from the pages she had just read.
She had grown used to the chair across from her not being empty.
But she had been too embarrassed to message him and ask, "When are you coming to the library?"
She always felt that asking such a question would be like admitting to some soft, muddled feelings she had not even sorted out herself. So when she saw the three words "Finished reading it" from him that night, she stared at her screen blankly for nearly five seconds before replying with nothing more than a light, casual "Okay."
Footsteps sounded from the entrance.
Shiina Hiyori did not look up, but the fingers resting