As nice as the bath is, I don’t stay in too long—I get why Shizuka-nee was given last place in line, but it still feels bad to imagine her being stuck in the entryway alone while I’m soaking in the tub.
But—
There’s someone I want to keep waiting even less.
Once I’m out, I do a quick towel-off and throw some clean clothes on before almost running back to my room.
“Sakuragi-kun!” I call as I slide open the door—
—to an empty room.
The light’s still on.
My bag’s where I left it.
Everything’s exactly the same as before.
Just…
No Sakuragi-kun.
I blink, like I somehow missed him.
“…Sakuragi-kun?”
Nothing.
I step inside anyway, glance toward the corner, the closet, like maybe he’s waiting to pop out and scare me.
But nope.
Still nothing.
…
Huh.
That’s…
Weird.
I told him to wait right here.
Did I take too long?
He wouldn’t just… leave, would he?
I back out into the hall, frowning.
Hmm.
The kitchen counters host platter after platter— cabbage, tofu cubes, mushrooms—and the steaming, bubbling pot on the stove reveals their purpose: hot-pot night. Steam and smell both hit me as I step into the room.
Mama is in the midst of it slicing vegetables.
“Oh, perfect timing,” she says when she sees me. “Did you tell your sister to get in the bath?”
“Not yet,” I say. “I was looking for Sakuragi-kun.”
“I think he’s in the entryway,” she says, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
…He’s still here.
But…
“…With Shizuka-nee?”
“Yeah,” she says, like that’s normal. “Tell her the bath is ready and then you and Sakuragi-kun can set the table.”
“Oh—okay.”
Why is Sakuragi-kun in the hallway?
Even from halfway down the hallway, I can hear two voices perfectly.
I stop just out of sight.
“…Ren-kun dragged you all the way out there for that?” Shizuka-nee is saying.
“He didn’t drag me!” Sakuragi-kun balks.
Wait—
They’re talking about me?
“No? So he wasn’t literally leading you around by the hand earlier?”
“Um… he was holding my wrist, actually,” Sakuragi-kun says, and I cringe.
Shizuka-nee always was good at getting information out of people.
“Not helping your case, baseball boy,” she says, and I imagine her rolling her eyes.
“I didn’t realize I was in court,” he says, but his tone is amused.
“Well, you are! The Court of Shizuka. Judge Shizuka presiding.”
“And my crime is?”
“You’re charged… with being a loser.”
“Oh god, not this again,” Sakuragi-kun says. “Wasn’t me catching the frog enough?”
He sounds…
Like he does at baseball.
Like he did at the pond.
Like—
Like when he’s with me.
My chest tightens.
Shizuka-nee pffts. “You caught it for, like, two seconds. And you were complaining the whole time.”
“I was not!”
Shizuka-nee drops into a fake boy voice lower than Sakuragi-kun’s actual voice. “‘We should only hang out after baseball practice because I’m the baseball boy. Baseball baseball baseball.’ Sound familiar?”
“Are you asking if ‘baseball baseball baseball’ sounds familiar?”
Shizuka-nee laughs. “You know what I mean, dork!”
“I really don’t.”
“When we were at the pond, you told Ren-kun—and I quote—‘We should only hang out after baseball practice’!”
“What I said was that we do hang out after practice, which is true. I never said that was the only time we could hang out.”
“But you haven’t, right? Hung out outside practice?”
“…Not yet.”
…Yet?
Something in my chest twists.
I shouldn’t be listening to this.
I shouldn’t be—
“Why no—”
“Shizuka-nee,” I call, stepping around the corner.
She and Sakuragi-kun both look up.
I freeze for a second before remembering I’m supposed to be here.
“The bath’s open,” I mutter.
Shizuka-nee straightens.
“Finally,” she says, pushing off the wall. “Took you long enough.”
“I wasn’t that long—” I protest, but she’s already gone.
The hallway goes quiet.
I don’t know what he’s thinking—I can’t even bring myself to look at his face.
“…Hey,” I say when I glance up eventually. “I thought you’d be in my room.”
“Thought I’d keep your sister company,” he shrugs.
“…Ah.”
Of course.
…
“…What were you guys talking about?” I ask.
“She was just giving me a hard time,” he says.
“About the pond?”
“That and baseball. Mostly baseball. Apparently I’m very one-note.”
“Anything else?”
He glances at me.
“…What do you mean?”
“Like—Shizuka-nee does that thing where she asks a bunch of questions, right?”
A beat.
“…She does,” he says.
“So. What else was she asking?”
He watches me for a second, then huffs out a laugh.
“Man, you Fujimura kids are kinda nosy, huh?”
My stomach drops.
“What? I don’t do that.”
“You are doing it right this very second,” Sakuragi-kun laughs again.
“…Oh.”
Crap.
I’m way worse at this than Shizuka-nee.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“It’s fine,” he shrugs.
I stare at the floor, tracing the seam between the boards with my eyes.
That’s not what I was trying to ask.
Ugggh why is this so hard to just ask?
It’s like… talking to Papa times a million.
“…So,” he says after a second, easy as ever, “what do you want to do now?”
My head jerks up.
Oh.
Right.
This is—
This is it.
I just have to—
“…Mama asked us to set the table,” I say.
Double crap.
Way to go, Ren.
“Lead the way,” he says, and we start back down the hall.
I keep my eyes forward.
I had it.
He literally just asked me.
And I—
Ugh.
If we’re setting the table, then it’s practically dinner time.
And after that…
He’ll probably go home.
So that was…
That was my one chance.
That was my one chance, and I blew it!