After slipping off my shoes, I head to the living room, accompanied by the host who waited for me.
"Hey, everyone."
I step into the room and greet the people there.
There's a total of five others, not counting me and the host.
"You're late again, Hasebe-chan."
The one who responds to my warm greeting with a harsh accusation is Miyake Akito.
He's a black-haired guy with a decent build.
"I'm no math whiz, but I'm pretty sure 6:13 p.m. is less than 6:15, right?"
I take a seat on a pouf next to the host, not forgetting to clap back at my accuser.
"And I'm no genius, but I know 6:00 isn't 6:13, right?"
That jerk dares to fire back.
I'm about to retort when someone else in the group beats me to it.
"If we're going by your logic, Miyake-kun, you're just as late as Hasebe-chan. 6:03 isn't 6:00, last I checked."
The one who said that is Satō Maya.
She's got dark brown hair and purplish eyes.
Miyake doesn't dare say another word.
Satō shoots me a subtle wink, which I return just as discreetly.
'I owe you one, May!'
"Alright, if the side chatter's done, can we start the session?"
With a serious tone and a face screaming "I'm a nerd," our study group leader, Yukimura Teruhiko, speaks up.
The rest of us just nod in agreement.
It wasn't really an open-ended question anyway.
With that, the session begins… or was about to, when the doorbell suddenly rings.
"Expecting someone, Ayanokōji-kun?"
A glasses-wearing guy with spiky black hair and green eyes asks.
His name's Sotomura Hideo.
"Nope. I'll go check, sorry."
With that, Ayanokōji, the host, gets up and heads to the door.
"Haha, looks like our Ayanokōji forgot to tell his girlfriend he's busy today."
Sotomura tosses out, chuckling, clearly trying to tease his buddy.
"Can you shut it, Sotomura-kun?"
Satō says, glaring darkly at poor Sotomura, who looks like he's about to wet himself.
Those of us left in the room hear the door open and some noise at the entrance.
Among the two voices talking, besides Ayanokōji's, the other is definitely a girl's.
'Oh! Was Sotomura-kun right?'
I can see him holding back from speaking, scared of Satō's still-lingering glare.
Finally, the suspense ends.
Ayanokōji returns to the room, but this time, he's not alone.
'Talk about a surprise.'
That's my thought when I see who's with him.
"Horikita-chan?"
Unable to contain her shock, unlike the rest of us, Satō blurts out.
"Good evening."
Acting like it's no big deal, Horikita takes a seat among us.
Since we weren't expecting her, she takes Ayanokōji's spot, and the poor guy has to grab another pouf, looking like a stranger in his own apartment.
You might wonder why we're so shocked.
Well, first off, Horikita's part of our study group, so it's not like she crashed the session.
Is it because she's late?
That could be a reason, but it wouldn't explain our level of surprise. At most, we'd have greeted her like Miyake did me.
So what's the deal?
Since these study sessions started, Horikita has never graced us with her presence. Not once.
At first, her absence pissed Yukimura off, but eventually, he started ignoring it, and so did we.
Personally, it didn't surprise me that she skipped. I'm no people-reader like Kōenji, but you don't need to be an expert to see Horikita's the type who's full of herself, viewing others as beneath her. Joining these sessions would be like slumming it for her.
But now she shows up?
"You're late, Horikita-san."
Yukimura addresses her.
His tone's as serious as ever, like he's not as shocked as we are by her presence.
"It won't happen again."
Horikita gives a curt reply.
'Huh?!'
Hold on a second.
What's going on?
I'm not the only one stunned—even Ayanokōji, who's usually expressionless, shoots her a quick glance.
"Alright. Let's start the session."
Without checking in with us, Yukimura kicks off the session, no more interruptions.
About two hours later.
"That's it for today."
Yukimura's words hit me like a splash of cold water.
I slump my head onto the table, my brain fried.
"Yukimura-kun, you didn't go easy on us, as usual, huh?"
Miyake says.
He sounds just as relieved as I am that this ordeal's over.
"Looks like it's straight-to-bed mode for me again."
Satō speaks up, stretching.
While everyone catches their breath before leaving, one person seems unfazed.
Packing her things and standing to leave, Horikita exits as abruptly as she arrived.
"What's her deal?"
Now that it's just us, Satō asks.
"At least she was pretty well-behaved during the session, right?"
Sotomura says.
He's not wrong.
Against all odds, Horikita was super compliant, not once undermining Yukimura's authority.
"You think she'll start showing up to sessions?"
The one asking is a girl with long chestnut hair and hazel eyes.
She's sitting to my left, with Satō on my right.
Her name's Kikuchi Rina. If I had to describe her in one word, it'd be "introverted." Coming from me, someone who's supposedly reserved, calling someone else introverted means it's serious.
"Who knows? We'll save a spot for her at the next session. We'll see if she comes back. Hope that's okay with you, Ayanokōji-san."
Yukimura suggests, packing his stuff.
"No problem."
With his usual flat tone, Ayanokōji agrees.
With the Horikita topic settled, we hang out a bit longer before everyone heads out.
'All this studying's got me starving.'
Hoping to fill my stomach, drained by the study session, I decide to grab some snacks at the Keyaki Center's supermarket.
It's 8:22 p.m., and curfew's at 10:00, so I've got time.
At the store, I head straight for the candy aisle.
What's better than sweets to cool your brain and fill your stomach at the same time?
Not my first rodeo, so I quickly find what I need: a pancake, a caramel chocolate bar, and a fruit juice.
'Perfect.'
I head to the checkout.
"Oh, isn't that Hasebe-san?"
A voice calls out to me.
I turn, surprised.
"Karuizawa-san?"
I say, seeing who it is.
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