The distinctive sound came from a stray spoon that had slipped from the hand of a guest sitting at the neighboring table and landed on the floor. While there was nothing particularly remarkable about that in itself, Ryūta stared in the direction of the clatter as if he had just seen a ghost.
"It's just a spoon," Shinji confirmed, yet his friend couldn't let it go.
"What was that just now? It felt like my sight and hearing weren't in sync. No, that's impossible... I must be imagining things. Maybe it's just the concussion messing with me," he tried to reassure himself, although even he found his only plausible theory far-fetched.
Still, he couldn't shake the thought. After a long pause, he picked up his fork and began tapping it rhythmically against his plate.
"Ryūta?" Shinji looked at him, confused behind his glasses, but got no reply.
His friend continued his strange behavior, alternately closing one eye and then the other.
"Yes, my right eye…"
"Can I bring you anything else?" asked a passing waitress as she cleared away the plate Sanae had left behind.
She had brown eyes and long chestnut hair tied back in a low ponytail. She seemed only four or five years older than the boys. With her slender figure, gentle yet commanding feminine voice, and radiant, kind smile, she could have easily flustered just about any boy, provided they were actually paying attention.
Since Shinji was beginning to feel awkward about his friend's behavior, he spoke up for both of them.
"Two coffees, please."
"I'll bring them right away," the waitress replied cheerfully, then turned toward the counter. To everyone's surprise, she suddenly tripped and fell flat on the floor.
Despite the burst of laughter and a few concerned glances from nearby tables, she jumped back to her feet as if nothing had happened and continued on her way.
It took no more than two minutes for her to return, carrying a tray with their order.
"Here you go!" she said cheerfully as she placed the cups on the table. "Would you like some milk or sugar?"
Ryūta still didn't respond. He kept staring at his fork and plate, though by then, he had at least stopped tapping them. The girl looked increasingly unsure, and to Shinji's dismay, even the smile faded from her face.
"Yes, please!" he answered for both of them once again, which brought back a bit of her enthusiasm. But just a few steps later, as she turned to head back to the counter, she stumbled and fell to the floor again.
"Good grief..." the boy sighed under his breath with mild concern before turning his gaze to his friend, who suddenly lifted his head.
"Shinji! Let's play rock-paper-scissors!"
"Let's do what?" Shinji froze, confused.
"I need to confirm something," Ryūta replied, visibly excited.
"Confirm what?"
"I'll explain afterward!"
"You haven't forgotten why we're here, have you?" Shinji asked firmly, but when the other boy met his gaze with equal resolve, he gave in. "Fine, but just one round."
Both of them raised their hands, signaling they were ready.
"Rock, paper, scissors!" they called out in unison, revealing their chosen shapes.
Ryūta threw paper, while his friend showed scissors, winning the match.
They sat in silence for a moment. Shinji remained puzzled, while Ryūta drifted back into his thoughts. When he couldn't make sense of things, he suddenly said:
"One more time!"
"I said just one round!"
"Please!"
Although Shinji was growing increasingly irritated, he knew his friend well enough to recognize when he was being serious. There was a firmness in Ryūta's eyes, but also a hint of uncertainty that convinced him.
Thanks to the mutual and unconditional trust between them, they ended up playing not just one more round, but three, and Ryūta actually won the last one.
"Happy now?" Shinji asked as his friend's eyes lit up, unaware of how far they still were from the end.
"Ten more!"
Shinji couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"You're not just wasting our time, are you?"
"I hope not..." Ryūta replied, sounding a bit unsure. Shinji sighed.
"All right, let's keep going then."
As they started playing again, everything unfolded almost exactly as before, with only two differences. The first was that Ryūta kept his left eye shut the entire time. The second was that he won all ten rounds.
"How is that even possible?" Shinji asked in disbelief.
The victorious glow in Ryūta's eyes faded. He leaned forward, both excited and resolute.
"Hold on tight. I think I can see the future."
Shinji's skepticism was obvious, but he couldn't come up with any "logical" explanation for Ryūta's winning streak. So, for once, he willingly gave his friend a chance to prove it.
He pulled a black marker from his backpack, grabbed a sugar cube from one of the boxes on the table, and began drawing dots on its sides.
"What's that? A die?" Ryūta raised an eyebrow but got no response until the object was finished.
"Yeah. I'll roll it, and you try to guess what number it'll land on before it stops. If you can do that ten times, I'll believe you."
"Uh, okay…" Ryūta said, still a bit hesitant, but his focus sharpened almost instantly.
"Ready?" Shinji asked, already tossing the makeshift die into the air.
The boy didn't take his eyes off the die. At least not the right one. His left remained shut. Just moments before it came to a stop, Ryūta spoke.
"Four."
The die landed with four dots facing up. Neither of them looked particularly surprised by the outcome.
"That doesn't prove anything. Could just be luck," Shinji muttered, unconvinced. His friend, on the other hand, already knew exactly what was happening.
"Let's keep going," Ryūta replied firmly. The boy with glasses rolled the die again.
"Three," he predicted.
And once again, he was right.
They didn't bother arguing about odds anymore. They continued the game all the way to the tenth round.
"Five. One. Three. Six. Four. Two. Five. One," Ryūta recited each number with perfect accuracy.
By then, Shinji's eyes were wide with disbelief. Within just a few rounds, their roles had almost completely reversed. Ryūta no longer had any doubts, while his friend grew more and more excited.
"Let's make this a bit harder," he said as he pulled out another sugar cube and began marking it like the first. "From now on, I'll roll two dice. You'll have to guess the total."
He didn't wait for a response before starting.
"Four. Eight. Five. Ten. Six. Three. Eleven. Seven. Two. Nine," Ryūta called out the sums, each one spot on. He hoped this would finally satisfy Shinji, but to his dismay, they soon moved on to three dice.
"This is... unbelievable! If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it!" Shinji's gaze sparkled with amazement, while Ryūta's was nearly lifeless from exhaustion.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he muttered, squinting.
"Think you could handle four?"
Even before the words had fully left Shinji's mouth, Ryūta's face filled with dread. It only deepened as he watched his friend reach for another die. But he didn't have to stop him, because the waitress who had served their coffee earlier stepped in and did it for him.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. May I kindly ask you not to play with the sugar? Please use it as intended," she said with a pleasant smile, even closing her eyes for a brief moment as if to overlook the matter entirely. And yet, something in her tone sent a chill down the boys' spines.
"Of course..." Shinji replied a bit sheepishly, quickly submerging the already crumbling dice in his drink.
"Thank you very much," the girl said, turning on her heel. She was about to walk away when Ryūta suddenly reached out and caught her hand.
"Yes? Is there something else you need?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise and a hint of unease.
Ryūta wanted to put her at ease, but knew that any attempt at explanation would only make things worse. He let it go, both the matter and her hand.
"No, nothing," he muttered, clearly embarrassed. As soon as his savior walked away, he turned toward the boy seated at the neighboring table just behind them.
"Having fun?"
The boy looked fairly average in build and wore the typical attire of a Japanese high school student. At first, he pretended not to hear the question, but after a brief pause, he offered a half-smile.
"Are you talking to me? Yes, I'm having a rather nice time. The coffee and cake are excellent."
"Cut the act. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Oh, really? Do I?"
"Ryūta, what's gotten into you?" Shinji interjected, puzzled.
"This jerk tripped that poor girl twice for no reason and was about to do it a third time. Now he's sitting here smirking like nothing happened," Ryūta explained, his anger quickly rising.
"So that's why you grabbed her hand out of nowhere?"
"Yeah. If I hadn't, she would've fallen again and this time badly enough to get hurt."
Hearing this, even Shinji turned to the stranger with a look of disapproval. The boy, however, only responded with a smug grin.
"My, that wouldn't have been very nice of me. But I assume you have proof to back that up."
Although Ryūta didn't want to make a scene, it wouldn't have taken much for him to throw a punch. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he struggled to keep his cool, until he sensed someone behind him who seemed even more furious than he was.
The man looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a white short-sleeved T-shirt, long blue jeans, and bright red sneakers. He stood about half a head taller than the three boys, with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and short black hair. Veins bulged across his forehead and neck, and his bloodshot eyes were locked onto the troublemaker, whose smirk was quickly fading.
"So I hear you dared to lay a hand on my angel?" he said at last.
Sensing what was coming, Ryūta and Shinji quickly stepped aside. The man reached between them, grabbed the third boy by the collar, and yanked him up from where he sat.
"Now get lost while I'm still asking nicely. And don't ever let me see you here again."
The boy was too stunned to respond. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he burst into tears and bolted out of the teahouse.
The man turned toward the remaining two. After what they had just witnessed, even the air around them seemed to drop a few degrees. He said nothing at first, simply stared them down as if taking their measure. Then, breaking the silence, he stepped between them, laid a hand on each of their shoulders, and broke into a wide grin.
"Hey, thanks for the backup, boys! I don't know what I would've done without you."
The two teens exchanged modest, slightly bewildered glances.
"We didn't really do anything," Ryūta said, but the man wouldn't hear it.
"Sure you did! You stood up for my sweetheart!"
"Your sweetheart?" Shinji asked, surprised. "You mean… you're a couple?"
"Well, not quite yet," the man replied. "But whenever it's just the two of us, the air gets hot, like a volcano about to erupt."
"Daigorō-san! I believe I already asked you not to bother our guests," the waitress appeared again, her ominous glare once more sending a chill down the boys' spines.
"And when it's not, she's colder than an iceberg," the man added with a smirk, just before the girl stepped over, pinched his left cheek between her fingers, and began to tug on it.
"Oh dear, I didn't quite catch that. Would you mind repeating it?"
"Would you say this is the volcano or the iceberg?" Ryūta asked his friend, who answered with a crooked grin.
"Pretty sure it's a volcano under an iceberg."
"Yeah… I guess you're right."
Once the waitress had concluded her not entirely justified scolding, she returned to her duties. Daigorō turned back to the boys.
"Anyway, thanks again, uh…" He trailed off, realizing with a start that introductions hadn't actually been made yet.
"Shinji. And this here's Ryūta," the boy with glasses offered, but Daigorō barely acknowledged him. His gaze immediately locked onto his friend.
"Ryūta?" he repeated, leaning in, scanning him from head to toe. After a tense pause, he recoiled in shock and shouted, "Oh no, it's you!"
Ryūta instinctively jerked back, but as recognition dawned, he mirrored the man's reaction.
"You're one of those guys!"
"Shit!"
To everyone's surprise, Daigorō bolted out the door.
"Wait!" Ryūta yelled after him, dashing into the street, but the moment he crossed the threshold, he lost sight of him. "Damn it, he got away!"
"Ryūta? What's going on?"
As the boy turned toward the voice, he saw Sanae standing there with a book in her hands.
"Did you happen to see a big guy in a white T-shirt run past here?" he asked.
"I just fell in love with this so much, I could barely take my eyes off it," the girl replied, glancing at her new purchase.
Seeing the mix of post-shopping excitement and frustration at having been so 'useless' on Sanae's face, Ryūta didn't want to dampen her mood any further. He was about to change the subject when Shinji finally stormed out of the building.
"Ryūta! What the hell was that?" he asked.
"What? Did something happen?" the girl looked at them, puzzled.
"Just a dissatisfied customer. Nothing serious," the boy smiled, though in truth he was feeling more and more confused. "That was the guy who beat me up today. I'm sure of it. And yet, not only his appearance, but his behavior was completely changed. And why did he run away?"
As Ryūta tried to make sense of everything, he found it harder and harder to focus because of Sanae's stifled giggling, tears forming in her eyes.
"What's so funny?"
"You should see your face when you furrow your brows!" the girl said, attempting to imitate him.
Although the boy tried to put on a sulky expression, his lips trembled as he nearly burst out laughing too.
"I paid the bill," Shinji returned, surprising the other two, who hadn't even noticed he'd left. "What's so funny?" he asked as well.
"We're not telling!" Sanae teased, prompting the boy with glasses to look confused for a moment. Then he smiled and said:
"Before we were interrupted, Ryūta and I were just about to exchange phone numbers. Now that you're here too, we could go ahead with that."
The girl's eyes lit up.
"You mean I can exchange numbers with you too?"
"Sure! If you'd like to," Shinji nodded, pulling out his phone.
As the other two followed his lead, all eyes turned to Ryūta's device. He was the only one still using an older push-button model, while his friends already had much more modern touch-screen ones.
Moments passed in silence, and the boy felt increasingly awkward, eventually giving voice to his discomfort.
"I already told you, I can't afford it. And honestly, I don't think I'd even know how to use it..."
"I'm sorry! We didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. We're just still not used to it," Sanae pleaded, reaching out her right hand to take the boy's phone.
As the devices began making their way around the group, a growing sadness appeared on their faces. The reason was the wallpaper on Ryūta's phone, which showed him and Himeko happily eating ice cream in front of a fountain at the amusement park.
It was then that Shinji and Sanae realized just how close the two of them had really been. Seeing Ryūta try to force a smile, they finally decided not to bring up the subject. When they finished typing in their numbers and everyone had put their phones away, it was the boy with glasses who broke the silence.
"Shall we get going?" he asked.
"Yes," the other two replied almost in unison, then left the teahouse behind.
They didn't speak for a while. Each of them walked in silence, lost in their own thoughts, moving from street to street until they reached the intersection where they usually went their separate ways.
The atmosphere between the two boys suddenly grew tense, and it was clear Sanae felt it too.
"I'll go this way. You two are heading toward the station, right?" Shinji spoke up again.
"Yeah..." Ryūta answered, locking eyes with his friend, his determined gaze reminding him of what they'd agreed on.
"Alright... Then... I'll see you tomorrow," the boy said as he forced a slight smile, which slowly spread to the other two as well.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
Ryūta and Sanae continued on in silence, just as they had started. But this time, it didn't last as long, as the boy began to grow uneasy when he realized that the girl walking beside him was starting to look at him more than at the road ahead, and doing so more and more noticeably.
"What is it?" he asked, but Sanae turned her head away.
"N-Nothing…"
"You've been staring for a while now. Pretty much since we left the teahouse. Is there something you want to ask?" he pressed, but the girl still didn't offer a clear explanation for her strange behavior.
"I don't want to ask something you're not comfortable talking about…" she finally began, hesitantly, but the boy made it easier for her:
"You're thinking about Hime?"
Sanae nodded, then lowered her gaze and continued:
"Yes. About how close you two were…"
"Pretty close," Ryūta said, unlike his classmate, holding his head high and smiling.
"Did you love her?"
That question caught him much more off guard.
"In what way?" he looked at her, flustered, his face slowly turning red.
"Like… romantically," Sanae clarified, growing increasingly eager at her friend's reaction, but ended up disappointed.
"I'm not really sure."
"You're not sure?" the girl asked in surprise.
"She was always there for me these past two years, and that alone meant the world to me. I didn't dare wish for more," Ryūta answered with firmness in his voice, though deep regret showed in his eyes.
"Were you afraid she'd reject you?"
"No. When we found out she was sick, we already knew it was incurable. I knew that I would lose her one day not so far off, and I was afraid if I got any closer to her, I wouldn't be able to cope with it. I put my own feelings first, even though she was the one who was truly suffering," he went on, clenching his fist, his face contorted with disgust for himself.
"I'm sorry! Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up after all," Sanae said bitterly, but in the end, the boy still smiled.
"Don't worry... It's something I have to face anyway. It doesn't matter whether I talk about it or not. So? Is there anything else you want to know?"
The girl didn't answer for a while. She was completely lost in thought, and before they knew it, they had already reached the train station.
As they looked at the schedule board, they realized Ryūta's train would depart a few minutes later than his classmate's. That gave him plenty of time to cross over to the other platform, so he decided to stay with her until it was time for her to board.
"If you really don't mind..." Sanae broke the silence. "Would you tell me more about Aizawa-san? She always seemed like a kind and helpful girl, but also quiet and hard to approach. I'd love to know how the two of you met and how it all started."
"Well, in that regard, she's always been that way. But then, somehow, she let me into her heart. No, wait, that's not it..." he corrected himself, suddenly going pale. "She practically dragged me in by the ear..."
"I'm having a hard time picturing that..." Sanae grimaced in disbelief.
"I'm telling the truth! I've never met a more quarrelsome drama queen than she was!"
"Okay, now I really want to know what was going on between you two!" the girl said, growing more and more serious, whereupon Ryūta gave her a wide smile and spoke with a hint of playful warning:
"All right then. I'll tell you what Aizawa Himeko was like when I first met her."