F City.
Night had just fallen.
Neon lights flickered along the streets. After a busy day, some people hurried home, while others stretched and turned into roadside restaurants and izakayas to fill their bellies. Still others, with shapely, slender-waisted young women on either arm, headed into nightclubs that were still warming up.
Whatever people chose to do, the city's nightlife had only just begun.
Yoshino Diner was a long-established restaurant near a residential neighborhood.
At mealtimes, it was always bustling with voices, the steady stream of diners filling every seat.
Today was no exception.
Amid the crowd, a slender young man wearing a baseball cap and an open-front hoodie entered the restaurant, his head lowered so that his face was hidden.
A closer look would have revealed that this young man, with his sharp, defiant jawline, seemed to have a full head of white hair.
He sat down in a relatively quiet corner by the window without taking off his cap.
Before long, a busy young waitress hurried over with complimentary tea.
The young man in the baseball cap glanced at the menu on the wall, then ordered five set meals in a row, startling the waitress taking his order.
Looking at the customer's slender build, she could not help offering a well-meaning reminder. "Sir, is this your first time here? You might not know, but our set meals come in large portions. Even the workers from the nearby construction site leave full. If you order five at once..."
"..."
The young man in the baseball cap fell silent for a moment, then said without looking up, "It's fine. I won't waste any."
The waitress, who wore her hair in a ponytail beneath a cook's cap, looked thoroughly efficient. Seeing that her efforts had failed, she stopped trying to persuade