Koharu Miura’s fingers stiffened slightly.
Almost instantly, the sense of incongruity she had been feeling materialized into a tangible alarm. Cold sweat beaded on Koharu’s forehead.
‘Why did she suddenly mention Arisa Kiyono?’
It was true that she and Arisa had crossed paths because of their shared circumstances, but… was it okay? Wasn’t it strange? Was she just being sensitive? She couldn’t help it; she had to be sensitive.
Koharu carefully glanced at Nao Yamazaki, whose name she had only just learned.
The girl with the straight bangs was looking at her with an innocent expression.
It seemed as if she were truly just curious.
‘But that gaze makes my skin crawl,’ Koharu thought from the bottom of her heart.
“Arisa?” Her mother stopped her fork and looked at Koharu and Nao with curiosity. “Koharu, is she also a friend of yours from school?”
“Um… sort of.”
“We haven’t heard you mention these things at home.”
Coping with her mother’s questioning, Koharu lowered her head and took a sip of red tea, her mind frantically weaving an explanation.
“It’s because we aren’t actually that close.”
“Oh, Arisa is quite the mysterious figure in our class,” Nao Yamazaki said, looking from Koharu to her mother before quickly chiming in.
She looked like someone afraid of a lull in conversation, rushing to pick up the thread.
“She is incredibly beautiful. Just her presence in the classroom makes people unable to help but steal a few glances — it’s just that she doesn’t come to school often, so we rarely get the chance to see her.”
“Is that so? Does that child skip class often?” her mother asked curiously.
“Well… it doesn’t feel like she skips without a reason, though I’m not sure why.” Nao Yamazaki gave a sheepish smile.
“I feel like someone as beautiful as her wouldn’t do anything against the School Rules for no reason, haha. Even though she seems a bit hard to approach, she’s very popular in our class.”
After saying that, as if showing off her social grace, Nao added a couple of conciliatory remarks for Arisa. “Right, Miura?”
“Ah, that… yes.” Koharu forced herself to respond despite the growing unease. “Arisa is indeed very beautiful.”
“However, she hasn’t seemed to be in a very good state lately. Sigh.” Nao looked at her. “Since you’re such good friends, Miura, do you know what’s going on?”
“That’s why I said we aren’t actually that close…” Koharu replied.
She couldn’t help but look into Nao Yamazaki’s eyes.
The girl with the straight bangs was staring directly at her.
Those eyes were so clear they seemed to lack any impurity, but in this moment, they felt like they were hiding deep, unfathomable meanings.
Koharu immediately braced herself.
‘I can’t probe her purpose!’
‘What is the point of saying all this? Even if I view her as one of the people behind Post 49, why appear at a dinner with my parents? What is she trying to say to me?’
‘Is it a warning?’
‘Does she know I’ve already learned so much, so she’s using this method to warn me not to interfere anymore?’
‘If that’s the case, I can only let them down.’
‘I have no way out. If I retreat here, no matter whose needs I satisfy, they won’t be the ones to pay for my disappearance.’
“I’m not too sure myself,” Koharu said, putting on a slightly confused and innocent expression.
‘Since you, with your obvious ulterior motives, can use such an innocent gaze to pressure me in front of my parents, then I can pay you back in kind.’
‘I will not respond to anything you say, nor will I show a single shred of fear.’
Hearing the unexpected response, Nao Yamazaki blinked.
“Arisa might just be tired lately. After talking to her, I felt like she was in a fairly good state. I didn’t think…” Koharu threw Nao’s own words back at her. “I didn’t think she seemed unwell in any way.”
It was both a statement of her own stance and a way to protect Arisa.
“I suppose so. Maybe I was just overthinking it.” Nao Yamazaki smiled and lowered her head to take a sip of soup, as if that sharp question had truly been a casual remark.
The illusion that she intended to drop the matter only lasted 2 minutes.
“But Miura, you really are very kind,” Nao said after a few more bites.
“I even heard from some classmates that they saw you and Kanzaki from the Student Council discussing things.”
“Oh, that Kanzaki again.”
With a playful tone, the girl easily dropped a remark that made the situation even more sensitive.
“You two became quite famous during the last Sports Day!”
Those words were like a heavy bomb dropped directly onto Koharu’s most sensitive nerve.
‘It’s not even just Arisa.’
‘She’s mentioning Sou Kanzaki too?’
“Oh? What’s this? How were they famous?”
Her mother’s curiosity was instantly piqued, causing her father, sitting beside her, to shake his head helplessly.
Nao Yamazaki began explaining the events of the Sports Day to Koharu’s mother.
Koharu didn’t even have the strength to argue.
Her mind was so occupied with thinking of a Strategy that she was on the verge of overload.
She could feel her palms starting to sweat.
The direction of this conversation was, in an extremely subtle way, pulling out every single thread she was currently involved in.
“Collaboration Group.”
Those two words flashed frantically through Koharu’s mind.
‘Nao Yamazaki really is a link in that network.’
‘Is she the lookout responsible for monitoring Arisa at school?’
‘Then her appearance here today is no coincidence.’
“Koharu, you’re about to poke your steak into mincemeat,” her father teased.
“Ah… sorry. I was thinking about what Nao just said.” Koharu snapped back to her senses, forcing a bashful smile.
……
“I really enjoyed dinner today. Thank you for the hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Miura.”
Finally, the meal drew to a close. Nao Yamazaki elegantly wiped her mouth, stood up, and bowed again in thanks.
“I should get going. I originally just meant to buy a salad, but I ended up crashing a feast. Miura, see you at school tomorrow, okay? I have a feeling we’re going to be very good friends.”
She emphasized the words “very good friends” with a heavy tone.
The flash of deep meaning in her eyes sent another chill down Koharu’s spine.
As they watched Nao Yamazaki’s back as she walked out of the restaurant, the Miura couple was still immersed in the gratification of their daughter making such a bright friend.
“Koharu, that Nao girl is quite nice. Very talkative,” her father commented.
“Yes, she seems like a very sensible child. Having a friend like that by your side, I feel much more relieved, Koharu.”
Koharu sat in her seat, watching the camel-colored figure quickly disappear into the crowd outside the window.
Her fingers gripped the zipper of her handbag tightly.
‘Much more relieved?’
No. It was completely the opposite.
The sense of incongruity that had been lingering in her heart didn’t dissipate with Nao Yamazaki’s departure.
Instead, it felt like a triggered marker, ringing frantically in the depths of her consciousness.