Saying only that, I walked away. I knew that it was cowardly to leave it up to Mizuki. And knowing that, I still forced that decision onto her.

     I was truly hopeless.

     I turned to look back, but Mizuki was no longer there. I buried my face in my scarf and left the house. It no longer smelled of lemon tea. I still had no clue why Mizuki had sprayed perfume on my clothes and scarf.

     Something in her must have changed, since she had recently stopped doing that.

     Despite having once been so close, the distance between us had now considerably widened. I thought I knew, but now, I felt like I didn’t understand anything about Mizuki. And I wanted her to tell me more, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask — possibly because of how I saw her smiling at our parents. That moment remained a thorn in my heart.

     I started off towards the station. Winter was now in full swing, and the wind was both stronger and colder than it had been a while ago.

     My nose hurt.

     I took the train over to where Sorahashi-san had specified, and she was already waiting for me at the ticket gate. Just like before, she stood out, even among all the people in the crowded station. An idea suddenly occurred to me, and I snuck out of the ticket gate as if hiding from her.

     And then, I tried to approach her from behind to catch her unaware.

     I’d never been much of a prankster, but I just felt like doing this for whatever reason. I was sure it was because she had rubbed off on me.

     I wasn’t sure what to do, though. It didn’t seem right to startle her from behind, and neither did covering her eyes. While thinking over what to do, she seemed to notice my presence and turned around.

     「Kurumi.」

     Her voice rang clear.

     And then, she smiled at me.

     「Aren’t you going to prank me?」

     「Huh?」

     「I thought you were going to, since you went around to approach me from behind. But you weren’t doing anything, so I got curious.」

     So she had noticed. Suddenly filling with embarrassment, I could only let out some awkward mumbles. She smiled, walking towards me.

      Then, she covered up my eyes while standing directly in front of me.

     「Guess who?」

     There was no longer any meaning in asking that question, and it didn’t even count as a prank. She was as unpredictable as ever.

     「It’s Sorahashi-san.」

     「Who’s Sorahashi?」

     「…You’re Sera.」

     「That’s right, Kurumi.」

     I could faintly make out her scent.

     And then, I felt something soft meet my lips. As that feeling faded, my vision returned. She was looking at me with a much happier expression than before.

     It was the first time that looking into someone’s eyes gave such a sweet feeling — but certainly, her eyes radiated that sweetness. I brought my hand to my lips. A faint, orange color that shouldn’t have been there stained my fingers.

     「Hehe. Did you think I wasn’t going to prank you? How naive.」

     「Don’t do that right after we meet up.」

     「Do what?」

     「…Kiss me.」

     「…Aha. So you could tell what it was.」

     Lately, she’d been kissing me quite a lot. I knew it wasn’t simply a dog’s way of showing affection, but still. Why was she kissing me so much?

     Maybe it was because I’d recently gotten used to it, but it had stopped making me anxious.

     But, whenever I felt her touch, my pulse still raced. Even more so when she kissed me. We’d done so many strange things already, so why did a single kiss make my heart flutter so?

     My heart wasn’t anxious, but my body was. I was a mess.

     「Say, Kurumi. You look even cuter than usual today. Your clothes, your makeup, your hair… Did you perhaps put in some extra effort for our date?」

     This time, what leaped wasn’t my body, but my heart.

     As my pulse synchronized with my emotions, I felt my cheeks get hot. I was left speechless for a moment, only able to respond with a slight nod.

     She giggled.

     「I see. It makes me a little happy to know that you were looking forward to our date as well.」

     「…Yeah. You’re as cute as always, Sorahashi-san.」

     「But this isn’t a date outfit. If I knew you were going to invite me out on a date, I would have worn something cuter.」

     「You’re plenty cute already, though…」

     Like usual, she was wearing cutesy, girly clothes. It was similar to what she had worn on our previous date, but I wondered if she thought they were totally different. I was far from a fashion expert, so I couldn’t tell.

     「Well, if you’re happy with it, Kurumi, then I suppose it’s fine. …By the way, where are we going today?」

     「Huh? Um… I kinda haven’t decided on it yet, I think.」

     「I see. Hmm… Well, since you don’t seem like the type to enjoy too much hustle and bustle… Oh, I know!」

     She smiled, taking my hand.

     「Would you like to go pick out some mugs?」

     「Mugs?」

     「Yes. I was thinking that I’d like to get one for you soon. So why not get matching ones?」

     「…Sure.」

     「Then it’s decided! Let’s head over to the general store first.」

     Seemingly unable to contain her excitement, she looped her arm around mine. She seemed to be in even higher spirits than usual.

     As we walked, the feeling of her warmth made me forget both my worries over my skirt and the coldness of winter.

     We walked over to the general store and began to look at some mugs. She seemed to be deep in thought as she browsed, but because we didn’t find anything she liked, we quickly left the store. We went to another general store next, and then a furniture store after that.

     Things were getting pretty hectic, but Sorahashi-san seemed to be getting strangely serious about this, so I kept my mouth shut.

     These days, furniture stores were like general stores in that they both carried a variety of miscellaneous goods. The section for it was quite small, but there was a wide selection of cups and plates. Picking up one of those cups, Sorahashi-san smiled.

     「This might be the one! It’s just like you!」

     「What?」

     The cup had a picture of a dog that seemed to be a Golden Retriever on it. It was sitting with its tongue stuck out, and it looked both cute and a little silly.

     That was like me? Exactly what did I look like in her eyes?

     I wryly smiled.

     「Do I really look like this?」

     「You do. You’re like a Golden Retriever!」

     「Huh…」

     「What sort of dog am I like, do you think? Could we find it somewhere on these cups?」

     「Hmm… This one, maybe?」

     I picked up a cup with a picture of a large, fluffy dog on it. It seemed like this was an establishment that loved dogs, seeing as there was so much tableware with dog designs on them.

     Sorahashi-san took a closer look at the cup I’d chosen and then smiled.

     「Is this a Rough Collie? Why do you think it seems like me?」

     「Because it looks big and friendly.」

     「I see. …Let’s buy both of these, then. The Retriever can be mine and the Collie can be yours.」

     「Shouldn’t it be the other way around?」

     「No, it’s absolutely better this way. …Hehe, I can’t wait to use this!」

     She smiled, putting the cups into her shopping basket.

     「Since we’re here already, we might as well buy some plates and other things for you!」

     「You don’t have to get that much…」

     「It’s your house too, Kurumi. We ought to have some things for you too. Right?」

     My house.

     When she said that, it made my heart feel a little lighter. It made me feel like I had a place to belong. She always expressed her affection so earnestly, whether or not she knew what feelings were in my heart. Was I giving her anything in return? That thought bothered me, but seeing her happily pick out tableware washed away all my worries.

     「The cups aren’t matching, so we should have matching plates. …No, maybe matching chopsticks. I have so many pairs with different colors.」

     She smiled.

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