Chapter XXII - Like I Was Never Born (VI)

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then, summoning every ounce of professionalism I possessed, I stepped behind the register and offered a customer service smile.

A customer service smile was a little bit different from the class representative smile I usually gave. It was meant to be bright, welcoming, and just a little bit fake. The latter was supposed to give off a little tired energy but not enough that it was apparent.

"Did you find everything you were looking for today?"

Minazuki-san nodded, still not looking up. She seemed to be studying the counter so intensely that for a good ten seconds or so, I thought there were ants on the counter or something.

"Ah! These are good cookies. We just started selling them and they've been quite the hot commodity." I scanned the items in her basket, making polite small talk mostly to cover my own growing discomfort. I couldn't believe I was talking about cookies to the very girl who had become a recurring character in my thoughts.

"..."

She didn't respond.

I mentally sighed.

"Your total comes to ¥1280." I gave up on the small talk and focused on the transaction.

She fumbled in her pocket and produced the exact change, placing it carefully on the counter rather than directly into my hand. Our fingers didn't touch, but I felt something like an electric current pass between us anyway.

"Please come again, and thank you for shopping with us, Minazuki-sa—"

Crap.

I slapped my mouth shut.

I spoke without thinking.

I was going to die.

I was going to die on the spot.

But—

"EEP!"

Minazuki Serena squeaked—actually squeaked—and froze like a deer caught in headlights.

It was the most unguarded sound I'd ever heard her make, and it was so at odds with her usual icy demeanor that I nearly dropped her change.

From somewhere behind the snack aisle, I distinctly heard Mio-san’s muffled giggle.

Serena remained motionless for a solid five seconds, as if processing the complete failure of her disguise. Then, slowly, she reached up and removed the sunglasses, revealing those familiar ice-blue eyes, now narrowed in a mixture of embarrassment and accusation.

"How did you know it was me?" she demanded, voice low.

I vaguely gestured to the strand of red hair that had escaped her cap.

"...I thought I was being clever." She groaned softly, quickly tucking the errant curl back into place.

"Very clever," I agreed, trying and failing to suppress a smile. "The sunglasses were a nice touch. Very... inconspicuous."

"Are you making fun of me?" The accusation lacked any real heat. I don't think she actually believed I was capable of teasing her.

"I would never."

"Liar."

"Only on weekdays. Today is Sunday, so I'm off from lying."

"...What kind of logic is that?"

A strange expression crossed her face then, softer than her usual scowl, but not quite a smile. It reminded me of the look she'd given me on the rooftop, that moment of recognition between two people who understand each other's pain without having to explain it.

She tilted her head a bit.

"When does your shift end?" she asked abruptly.

The question caught me so off guard that I actually checked my watch, as if I might have forgotten the schedule I'd worked every Sunday for the past six months.

"6:00 PM," I answered automatically.

She nodded, gathered her bag of purchases, and walked to the small seating area outside the front of the store. Through the large windows, I watched as she settled at one of the tables, removed a book from her bag, and began to read, occasionally reaching for one of the cookies.

Had she... had she just asked when my shift ended?

Was she waiting for me?

"Oh. My. God." Mio-san materialized beside me, practically vibrating. "Did you see that? Did you see how she blushed? And she's waiting for you! This is straight out of a drama!"

"She's just sitting there. It, quite literally, doesn't mean anything."

"Shou-chan, I love you, but you are the most oblivious person I have ever met. That girl is clearly interested in you. You're clearly interested in her. So why are you still standing here when you should be on your break?"

"My break isn't until—"

"Your break is right now," she announced, already untying my apron. "In fact, Mizushima-san just told me to tell you to take an extra-long break because you've been working so hard today."

I highly doubted Mizushima-san had said any such thing, but before I could argue, Mio-san had whisked my apron away and was physically pushing me toward the door.

I swear, if the genders were reversed, this would be abuse!

"Go! Sit with her! Talk about normal teenage things! Live a little! Don't be a weirdo though~" she hissed, giving me one final shove that nearly sent me sprawling onto the sidewalk.

'What the hell do I even talk about with her?'

The automatic doors closed behind me. Outside, the evening air was pleasantly warm, as if contrasting the approaching winter, and I could hear the distant hum of traffic and the rustle of leaves on the trees lining the street. It was an ordinary evening, a quiet evening.

Except for the fact that Minazuki Serena, the girl who had occupied a disconcerting number of my thoughts for the past I don't know even how long, decided to lounge on Sunrise Mart's tables. The small seating area consisted of three round tables, each with its own striped umbrella, arranged on a patch of concrete that had been designated as the outdoor café section of Sunrise Mart in a rather optimistic assessment of the store's ambiance.

Serena sat at the farthest table, hood now pushed back and baseball cap discarded beside her. Her hair caught the late afternoon sunlight, turning from scarlet to burnished copper where the rays touched it. She was so absorbed in her book that she didn't notice me approaching until I was standing directly across from her.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked, gesturing to the empty chair.

She looked up, those deep optics registering first surprise, then a flicker of something else... something I couldn't quite name.

"You're supposed to be working," she began, though she made no move to stop me as I sat down.

"I'm on..."

Mio-san was not-so-subtly watching us through the window.

"A... mandatory break." I sighed.

Serena followed my gaze and rolled her eyes.

"Your coworker isn't very subtle."

"Subtlety isn't really in her vocabulary."

A moment of silence stretched between us.

School and rooftops had their own rules and their own context.

This—sitting at a convenience store table on a Sunday evening—felt like uncharted territory, and I think she understood that as well.

"Good cookies?" I asked, eyeing the half-empty packet on the table.

She blinked, surprised I'd spoken, then gave a curt nod.

"They remind me of home."

"We got them in last week. Special order."

"Did you order them?" As always, her eyes narrowed at me.

I shrugged, suddenly finding the pattern of the tabletop extremely interesting. "I might have mentioned to Mizushima-san that we have an international student from Milan at school who might appreciate some familiar snacks. She's the one who found the supplier."

It wasn't quite a lie. Mizushima-san had indeed been the one to track down the Italian imports after I'd casually (or so I thought) mentioned Serena's first visit, which Mio-san had informed me about.

"You... remembered where I was from. Back when... Fujimiya-sensei announced it on the first day."

"I remember everything you've told me."

It was true. Even the smallest details she'd shared—the way her voice softened when she spoke of her home, the specific shade of blue in her eyes, the way her lips curled into that rare, half-smile—had etched themselves into my memory.

The name of the song she sang that day.

Echi Perduti.

And the way she tensed up about her mother: Violetta Minazuki.

I remembered all of it, and if I was honest, I thought about all of it too often.