My feet felt heavy as I dragged them toward the train station.

          The reason for that was simple—it was where I was supposed to meet Maika.

          Hoping to distract myself from my thoughts, I looked around for the calico cat, but it was nowhere to be seen.

          I hadn’t meant to walk so quickly, but before I realized it, I’d already arrived at the station. I waited around aimlessly for a while, unsure of what to do, until I heard Maika’s voice.

          「Sorry, Shiori. Did you wait long?」

          「No, I just got here.」

          「You didn’t have to come pick me up, you know.」

          「The station’s close enough anyway, so it’s fine.」

          The apartment wasn’t so far from the station that she’d get lost on her own, but I felt more at ease picking her up myself.

          「Shall we go?」

          I said, and we started walking together.

          「Are you feeling alright?」

          I’d been nodding along as Maika talked when she suddenly asked in a worried tone.

          「Yeah, it’s just a little hot today.」

          I couldn’t tell her the real reason, so I went with an excuse.

          The thought of Maika coming to the apartment I shared with Sendai-san made me uneasy and weighed heavily on my chest.

          「Sendai-san’s going to be there today too, right?」

          Maika asked as we walked together under the shade.

          「Yeah. She seemed really excited to make pancakes for us.」

          Since Maika had said she wanted to see Sendai-san, she was waiting for us at home.

          「She’s making us pancakes? Is Sendai-san a good cook?」

          「I think she is.」

          I always found Sendai-san’s cooking delicious, so other people probably would too.

          Still, a small part of me didn’t want Maika to taste it. I knew I was being narrow-minded, but I didn’t know how to handle those feelings quietly. Maika was an important friend, someone I wanted to stay close with for a long time, which made me hate myself even more for thinking that way.

          「Having you guys go out of your way to make something for me makes me feel excited, like I’m a proper guest in your home.」

          Maika said cheerfully.

          I should have felt just as happy as she did, but I couldn’t. All I could do was force a smile and try to sound cheerful in return.

          「You’re not like a proper guest—you actually are one. So let us treat you well today.」

          「Okay, sounds good!」

          Maika replied brightly.

          Even as we chatted about trivial things, my feet kept moving, and step by step, we drew closer to my apartment.

          Since we were walking toward the apartment, it was only natural that we were getting closer to it, but I would’ve much rather had us walking away instead. There was a certain heaviness in my feet, as if they were being weighed down by something.

          Sendai-san had sworn on my earrings earlier that she wouldn’t say anything strange in front of Maika, so I shouldn’t have to worry about her. Maika wasn’t usually the type to say anything meddlesome either, so there was no real reason to be uneasy—yet I couldn’t help it. She was oddly sharp when it came to things involving Sendai-san, and that made me nervous.

          No, it’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.

          I kept repeating the words in my head like a spell when Maika suddenly stopped and said, “Oh, a cat.”

          「Huh? A cat?」

          「Look, over there.」

          She pointed ahead, toward a shaded spot along the street. When I followed her gaze, I saw it—a cat with a coat of three colors.

          「Oh, so there really was a cat…」

          「Huh? What do you mean?」

          「Sendai-san told me there was a cat that liked to hang around this neighborhood, but I’d never seen it before. It wasn’t there when we went out looking for it the other day either.」

          「You and Sendai-san went out searching for a cat together?」

          Maika’s question made me realize I’d said something I probably shouldn’t have.

          Sendai-san didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d go out of her way to look for a cat, but that was what happened. It wasn’t strange, and there was nothing wrong with telling Maika about it.

          Conversations like this were normal—I knew that.

          Still, talking to Maika about something I’d done with Sendai-san made my thoughts start to come apart.

          It wasn’t like going out to look for a cat together was anything unusual, yet for some reason, it felt like something I needed to keep to myself.

          「Yeah. Sendai-san suddenly suggested it last Sunday, so we went.」

          I tried to say as casually as possible.

          「Do you and Sendai-san usually do things like that together?」

          Before I could answer, Maika crouched down and called softly to the cat, but it didn’t move. It stayed sprawled under the shade, ignoring her.

          As I watched the cat, I dragged out the pointless conversation we were having.

          「No, we just went out on a whim. It was only because I’d said I’d never seen the cat before.」

          The cat’s ears flinched, though it probably wasn’t reacting to me.

          「You two get along pretty well, huh. I mean, that practically counts as a date, doesn’t it?」

          「It’s not like I’d ever end up on a date with Sendai-san. And searching for a cat doesn’t count as a date anyway.」

          I raised my voice a little without meaning to, and as if reacting to it, the cat suddenly stood up and bolted away.

          「Aww, it ran off.」

          Maika said as the cat darted past us.

          「And I wanted to pet it too.」

          Maika sounded disappointed as we started walking again.

          Even though the cat sometimes let Sendai-san pet it, it wouldn’t let us do the same.

          What a stingy cat. How unfriendly.

          As I was thinking this, Maika turned to me.

          「Oh yeah, about what we were talking about earlier… Going out to look for a cat on your day off kind of sounds like something a couple living together would do for fun, doesn’t it?」

          After the cat ran away and we got closer to home, I had thought we could move on to another topic, but Maika deliberately brought it back. I didn’t really feel like continuing it, but if I tried to change the subject, it would seem like I had something to hide, so I answered her.

          「I don’t think so. If the person you lived with asked to go look for a cat together, would you really call that a date? I would just think we were looking for a cat, not going on a date.」

          「If two people who live together go out together, even if it’s just to look for a cat, it can count as a date, you know.」

          Maika replied, then immediately added, “Well, not that I’d know, since I don’t have anyone like that.”

          「Oh, right—speaking of dates. Remember Ami? Apparently she and her boyfriend broke up.」

          That brought the topic of Sendai-san to an end, and we started talking about Ami, who’d stayed back in our hometown. We reached my apartment in less than five minutes, and after taking off our shoes, Maika and I stepped into the shared living space, where Sendai-san stood holding a bowl.

          「We’re back.」

          「Oh, welcome back.」

          「You’re just starting on the pancakes now?」

          「Yeah. They taste better when they’re freshly made, so I was waiting for you two to get here.」

          Sendai-san cracked an egg as she turned to greet Maika.

          「It’s been a while.」

          「Yeah, last time we saw each other was during the runaway incident.」

          Maika said fondly, and Sendai-san laughed.

          「You really helped me out back then. If something like that happens again, I’ll be counting on you.」

          「I wasn’t running away from anything. I just stayed at Maika’s place for a while, so stop calling it an incident.」

          How rude.

          It hadn’t been anything dramatic—just me taking shelter at a friend’s house for a little while. I’d intended to return soon, but those two had a habit of blowing small things out of proportion.

          「Oh, right. I brought you two something.」

          After the greetings, Maika handed Sendai-san a small bag.

          「Thank you. You didn’t have to bring us anything.」

          「Don’t worry, it’s nothing special. Just some cookies, so you two can eat them together.」

          Maika said, shooting a smile at me.

          I wanted to correct her and say I was going to eat them by myself, but there was no point in doing so.

          「Thanks.」

          Instead, I simply thanked her without saying more than I needed to.

          「Okay, I’m going to make the pancakes now, so you two can feel free to head to another room and talk among yourselves.」

          「Oh, let us help you with that.」

          Maika said, as we watched Sendai-san mix the contents in the bowl.

          「Don’t worry, I’ll be fine on my own. You wanted to see Miyagi’s new room, right? Besides, I feel like Miyagi would just get in the way if she helped, so take her away somewhere else with you.」

          Sendai-san said something so rude, I wanted to kick her, but I held back. Back in high school, I might’ve gotten in the way, but now I was actually somewhat useful in the kitchen.

          「Okay, I’ll take Shiori away then. Which room are we going to?」

          I wanted to protest, but Maika pulled me by the arm, and I led her to my room.

          I didn’t stand a chance against the two of them.

          Somehow, they seemed perfectly in sync—not that they’d planned this or anything, but they just bounced off each other smoothly.

          「Your room’s a little smaller than before, but it feels exactly like I remember.」

          Maika said as soon as we entered.

          「Well, I brought just about everything with me besides the large furniture.」

          「Oh, even the crocodile tissue box is here!」

          「Yep. Why don’t you take a seat over there for now?」

          I said to Maika, who was checking out my slightly smaller room, and she sat across from me.

          We’d already talked plenty about what it was like to live with someone, and aside from Sendai-san, there wasn’t much else to pique Maika’s curiosity. So without her around, our conversations were basically the same as whenever we were in class together.

          I wish those pancakes never end up being ready, I thought to myself.

          But of course, that wasn’t going to happen.

          Knock, knock.

          Somewhere in the middle of chatting with Maika, there were two knocks at the door.

          It was Sendai-san, and I stepped outside.

          「The pancakes are done now… What do you want to do?」

          Sendai-san asked in a gentle tone as a sweet smell filled the air.

          I didn’t want to let Sendai-san into my room.

          I just didn’t want today to be the first time. She’d never been in there before, and if I was going to let her in, I wanted it to be on some other day—when Maika wasn’t around.

          Ideally, I’d have preferred to eat the pancakes in the shared living space, but I was worried Maika might find that strange.

          As I hesitated, Maika opened my bedroom door and peeked her head out.

          「Is something wrong?」

          「The pancakes are ready.」

          I replied, still unsure, and she said, “I’ll help you bring the plates over,” as if assuming we’d be eating in my room.

          What should I do?

          I couldn’t bring myself to tell her not to help.

          I looked over at Sendai-san, lost for words.

          「Oh, right.」

          She said, as if something had suddenly come to mind.

          「Do you want to see my room too, Utsunomiya?」

          「If that’s okay with you, then of course!」

          「Sure, then why don’t we eat in my room instead?」

          Sendai-san said with a smile.

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