"Out shopping for groceries alone again?"
It was early evening, and most of the shops along the shopping street were winding down for the day. As fresh goods neared the end of their shelf life, many vendors began offering discounts. Haruto, having just returned from school, decided to stop by for a look—and unexpectedly ran into a familiar girl.
She was clearly surprised to see Haruto in his school uniform, not expecting to bump into him here and now.
"Who's this? Someone you know, Sis?"
Standing next to her was a small-framed kid in a red hoodie with short hair and a boyish vibe—not just in appearance but in voice as well, which was a little deeper.
"Someone I kind of know, yeah. A bit of an accident, followed by a coincidence—and now here we are. You are her..."
"I'm Nishimiya Yuzuru. Her little sister."
Yuzuru eyed Haruto suspiciously, while Haruto kept his usual gentle smile. But when he heard the name, his eyes betrayed a hint of surprise. The person in front of him looked every bit a boy. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he said:
"Nishimiya's little sister, huh? Nice to meet you—I'm Miyamizu Haruto."
"Mm."
Yuzuru stared at him. This guy was way too handsome—not at all the same type as her quiet, modest sister. And she had no idea why someone like this would be acquainted with her sister. His earlier explanation had provided zero useful information. It sounded like a brush-off, and she remained on guard.
"Grocery shopping?"
The girl standing behind Yuzuru, just like usual, took out her notebook, scribbled a short line, and held it up for Haruto to read.
"I stayed at school a little longer than usual. Saw that there were sales going on at the shopping street when I came back, so I thought I'd take a look. Didn't expect to run into you—kind of a surprise. Your little sister... pleased to meet you."
He answered Shouko's question, then turned to the boyish younger sister at her side with a smile. Shouko's cheeks suddenly flushed red, while Yuzuru's eyes only narrowed further.
"Did you finish that book from last time?"
Haruto clearly noticed Yuzuru's wary stare. But he didn't mind—it was natural for a younger sibling to be cautious when a stranger started getting close to her sister. Given Shouko's circumstances, her family's concern was entirely reasonable.
"Almost done."
"Great. Then let's go to the bookstore together next time. I'm going to check out the produce shop up ahead—see you next time."
Without trying to continue the conversation, Haruto gave Shouko a small wave, then walked off under Yuzuru's watchful gaze.
Watching Haruto disappear into the crowd, Yuzuru turned toward her sister.
"From his uniform, he goes to Toyosaki, right? How do you know him?"
Shouko put her notebook away and started signing. Since they had grown up together, Yuzuru had learned sign language from a young age and had no trouble following along.
'Met him while grocery shopping.'
"Isn't that the guy who made you scrape your knee that time?"
After hearing her sister's explanation, Yuzuru paused to think. Half a month ago, Shouko had come home with an injured knee after going out for groceries. The memory soured her expression.
Shouko noticed the change in her sister's mood and quickly began signing, hands flying in explanation:
'It was an accident. He didn't mean it. I didn't notice someone behind me either. It was my fault—not his.'
Yuzuru, who'd been about to get angry, watched her sister's serious explanation. Thinking back to how the guy had acted just now, he didn't seem like a bad person. Their relationship seemed purely friendly. She pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
Shouko's face reddened slightly with a mix of guilt and embarrassment.
"Anyway, let's head home after we finish shopping. Grandma and Mom are probably waiting."
Shouko nodded and followed Yuzuru. As they walked home, Shouko briefly turned back to look—Haruto was standing further down the street, carefully picking vegetables.
Yuzuru, walking slightly ahead but always keeping an eye on her sister, noticed the glance. Her heart tightened. She followed Shouko's gaze to the boy and narrowed her eyes.
She made a mental note of his face.
"Uncle Ren, is this meat fresh?"
"Would I be selling it if it wasn't?"
"I'll take two kilos, then."
Noticing something odd, Haruto glanced in the sisters' direction—but their silhouettes had already disappeared into the crowd. Nothing to see. With a slightly puzzled expression, he turned back to his shopping.
After picking up some meat and discounted vegetables, he returned to his apartment with bags in both hands.
"Now I'm suddenly in the mood for grilled meat."
At dinner, Haruto looked across the table at Mai.
"We don't have a grill at home."
Mai looked up and answered plainly, and Haruto nodded.
"I know. That's why I was thinking... how about going out for grilled meat together?"
Off to the side, Setsuna's ears perked up. She looked up slowly, clearly intrigued by the idea.
"This weekend?"
"You'll be off work. Setsuna and I don't have anything planned either. Setsuna, that okay with you?"
Haruto looked to Setsuna for her input. Quietly seated, she nodded her approval.
With plans for the weekend outing settled, the conversation turned to everyday life. Haruto had no particular news. Mai didn't think her work topics would interest either Haruto or Setsuna, so she kept quiet. And Setsuna, naturally reserved, was extra quiet at the dinner table.
"How's the taste?"
"A little bland. I think I prefer stronger flavors."
"Say, Haruto —you're pretty good with Chinese cuisine, right?"
"Xiaolongbao."
Setsuna suddenly looked up and tilted her head at Haruto. Her knowledge of Chinese cuisine was limited to "xiaolongbao" and "tenshinhan," thanks mostly to popular manga.
Haruto was used to this reaction. Nearly everyone he met brought up xiaolongbao first when Chinese food came up. Only those who lived near a Chinese restaurant ever knew more.
"It's just a hobby—I wouldn't say I'm great at it. Anyway, since we're going out this weekend, why not make it a full day out? Like a date. With Setsuna. Or with you, Mai. Or both. Honestly, that sounds kind of exciting."
A three-person date—straight out of manga. The idea made Haruto secretly a little giddy.
Mai glanced at Setsuna, slightly tempted.
Setsuna glanced back at Mai. She had no objections. If it helped Mai relax and have fun, she was all for it.
"where are we going Haruto, do you have a plan?"
"There's still time before the weekend. We can think about it. If nothing comes to mind, we can choose from the usual: amusement park, zoo, aquarium."
"The zoo and aquarium, huh... I don't think Setsuna's ever been to an aquarium. She's been to a zoo, but that was ages ago."
Mai tried to remember their past outings. Most of their travels had been to more extravagant destinations. They rarely went to typical tourist spots like the zoo.
"Then let Setsuna decide. We can make a final decision by Friday or Saturday."
"Okay."
Setsuna nodded in agreement.
Back at his apartment, fresh from a shower, Haruto sat on the edge of his bed and checked his phone. There were a few unread emails in his inbox.
He usually set his phone to silent at school and didn't get many messages anyway, so email was his main form of communication. But most of the time, his inbox was full of spam.
'Mother: I'm your mom. What are you doing on this website?'
He blinked.
It was a scam email, clearly. The text was followed by a sketchy-looking link.
"..."
Haruto stared blankly, not remembering signing up for anything suspicious.
(Delete)
'Hello, my name is Sayaka Watanabe. My husband was killed by an African porcupine one year ago. In the long months since, I've slowly begun to recover from the grief of losing him. But now I feel deeply lonely. I never know what to do alone at night. If you can satisfy my needs, I'll reward you generously.'
"..."
After a brief silence, Haruto stared at the story on his screen. It was… mildly interesting. At the very least, it showed more effort than the last one—mostly because it had more words.
(Delete)
The remaining emails were all promotional messages from various websites. Nothing too crazy—at least, compared to the scammy ones above, these seemed marginally more sincere.
(Delete)
Casually tossing his phone aside, he suddenly remembered the battery was running low. Glancing at where it had landed beside his pillow, he reached over, picked it up, and plugged it in.
_ _ _ _
As he walked to school, his gaze inevitably drifted ahead—right to the back of a bright, attractive high school girl. His eyes naturally dropped a little lower.
Black stockings and a short skirt. That was about the only redeeming scenery on the otherwise monotonous walk to school each day.
Unfortunately, nice legs were rare. Most of them were evenly thick all the way down—like walking pillars. Nothing about them sparked his interest.
"Morning, Haruto."
"Ah, it's Hideyoshi. You're actually wearing the boys' uniform today, huh?"
"I always wear the boys' uniform properly!"
"So, ever considered trying on the girls' uniform for a change?"
"Nope. Not unless there's an actual reason, I'm not putting on girls' clothes."
"Alright then. But if our class does a maid café for the school festival, would you wear a maid outfit?"
"..."
Hideyoshi shot him a glance, not particularly in the mood to humor him. But then an amusing idea popped into his head, and he smiled slyly.
"If you wear the maid outfit with me, Haruto, I might consider it. Compared to Yuuji and Akihisa, you're probably the one who'd enjoy it most."
If those two ever found out about this conversation, they'd absolutely pressure him into actually doing it.
"It's my fault. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I'll do it again next time."
Haruto apologized without hesitation. He really didn't want Yuuji or Yoshii catching wind of this.
As Haruto bowed his head, Hideyoshi couldn't shake the feeling that something about his apology was off.
Once they got to class, Haruto immediately headed to his seat and sat down. Ever since the incident with Yoshida Saki, he'd developed a new daily routine: checking inside his desk before doing anything else. One can never be too careful when it comes to avoiding social suicide.
Lowering his head, he took a quick glance into the desk. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary—a flash of white, probably a sheet of paper or something.
He almost looked away, but then his brain kicked in with a delayed reaction.
Wait—white?
He looked again.
Inside his desk was a pair of pure white stockings—soft, cottony, and just lying there quietly in his desk...