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On an early December winter night in Tokyo, the temperature was bitterly low. The air held a crisp transparency, making the sky exceptionally clear, a bright, deep indigo.
Having just left the library, Sakurada Nene was driven by the biting cold outside to push open the door of a convenience store. The moment she stepped in, the cozy warmth made the cheeks half-buried in her scarf turn slightly damp.
Walking between the aisles, gazing at the neatly arranged, vividly colored goods was one of Nene's simple pleasures. She was suddenly struck by a wave of nostalgia, remembering how as a child she could only see the bottom one or two shelves, while now she had to bend down to meet the eye level of the items on the highest tier.
After checking out, Nene sat on a high stool by the convenience store window. She slowly savored the warm, rich cocoa sliding down her throat, her gaze vacant as she stared at the fog-frosted glass.
Knock knock knock—
Suddenly, three soft taps landed on the glass in front of her.
Nene jumped slightly, but the corners of her mouth curled up as she caught sight of the blurry silhouette outside the store.
With a mischievous glint in her eye, she wrote stroke by stroke on the glass: かざまくん、おおばか！(Kazama-kun, you big idiot!)
As she finished writing, Kazama's face came into clear view. Just like Nene had been moments before, his scarf was wrapped around nearly half his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. Those eyes had followed the stroke of her finger earnestly, only to freeze for a split second once the full sentence was complete.
Seeing Kazama's handsome face lined up perfectly with the insult scrawled on the glass, Nene couldn't resist pulling out her phone to capture the moment.
The sound of the phone's shutter clicked, and at the same time, Kazama's expression finally shifted.
While she was doubled over the table laughing uncontrollably, the convenience store door slid open, and a gust of cold air swept in with Kazama. He pulled his scarf down slightly, revealing his full face, his cheeks flushed pink—whether from the cold or from Nene's antics, it was impossible to tell.
Kazama sat down on the stool beside her, untied his scarf and set it down next to hers, then fell silent for a full five seconds before speaking in a sullen mumble: "...Why did you call me that?"
"Because you knocking on the glass scared me," Nene said righteously. "This is justifiable self-defense. You're planning to enter the Faculty of Law in your third year, aren't you? How do you not know this?"
"I knocked to say hello."
"I wrote to say hello too."
"What you wrote was—"
"What did I write?" Nene pressed.
Kazama fell silent again.
Nene turned her head to look at him. The convenience store lights spilled down from above, casting soft shadows across his face. His eyelashes were long, and he was staring down at the table in front of him, his eyes cast down, lost in thought.
She suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. Had she gone too far?
"Kazama-kun."
"...Hmm."
"Are you mad?"
Kazama didn't answer.
Nene pushed her hot cocoa toward him. "Here, have a sip."
"That's the one you drank from," he said.
"I don't mind," Nene said.
Kazama finally turned to look at her, his expression conflicted. "...It's not that you don't mind, it's that I—"
He got halfway through the sentence, met Nene's bright, sparkling eyes, and suddenly couldn't finish.
"What about you?" Nene pressed.
"...Nothing."
He sighed, reached out, took the bottle, and actually took a sip.
Nene watched him, the corners of her mouth curling up again.
The night outside the window was quiet. The convenience store lights cast their two shadows onto the glass, overlapping with the scattered lights of the distant street. A soft song played over the speakers, the cashier was boiling a fresh pot of oden, and the familiar, comforting scent hung in the air.
Kazama took another sip of cocoa, stared at the bottle's rim for two seconds, then pushed it back in front of Nene with a subtle, flustered look on his face.
"Back to you."
Nene took it back, and without the slightest hesitation, took a sip from the exact same spot, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "So sweet," she said.
"...Of course it's sweet. You definitely bought the full-sugar version," Kazama said.
"How did you know that?"
"Because Nene has loved sweet things since we were kids," he said, not looking at her. His gaze was fixed on the line of writing on the window glass, where the characters "Kazama-kun" had already started to drip with condensation, looking like a melting, pitiful pout.
Nene followed his gaze, then said suddenly: "Kazama, just now I was thinking about how fast time flies, and then you showed up right in front of me, exactly the same as you've always been."
Kazama tilted his head slightly, his gaze shifting from the writing on the glass to Nene's face, only to meet her eyes, shimmering with amusement.
He looked away again, flustered. "What do you mean exactly the same as before... I'm way more mature now than I used to be."
"Oh really?" Nene rested her chin on her hand, appraising him. "Then let me ask you, has Kazama-kun become the kind of mature adult he wanted to be when he was little?"
Kazama was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he answered honestly.
Nene nodded, and didn't press the matter further.
The conversation lapsed into silence, but it wasn't unbearable. Instead, it held a relaxed, comfortable warmth.
After a while, Kazama said suddenly: "You know, sometimes I think it's pretty amazing."
"What is?"
"We actually grew up," he said. "Back in kindergarten, growing up always felt like something so far away. Now when I walk around campus, sometimes I zone out and think I should be wearing my yellow kindergarten uniform, carrying my backpack, lining up waiting for Yoshinaga-sensei to call the roll."
Nene burst out laughing. "See, Kazama? You really haven't changed at all, still thinking about this silly stuff."
"This is called contemplating life," Kazama corrected her.
"Okay, okay, contemplating life," Nene said, finishing the last sip of cocoa and tossing the bottle into the nearby trash can. "So, Mr. Life-Contemplator Kazama, what are you doing wandering around so late? I remember you had an evening class in the West Academic Building today, right? That's not exactly close to the library."
Kazama's expression froze for a second.
"...I was passing by."
"Passing by?" Nene raised an eyebrow. "Passing by from the West Academic Building all the way to a convenience store on the East Campus? That's quite a detour across most of the university, Kazama-kun."
The convenience store lights were still bright, but Kazama's ears had turned an even deeper shade of pink than before.
"I... I was out for an evening run."
"Running in an overcoat and scarf?"
"..."
Nene looked at him, then suddenly leaned in closer.
Kazama flinched back instinctively, but the back of the high stool blocked his retreat. Nene's face was inches from his, her eyes bright and sparkling with a mischievous grin. "Kazama-kun, don't tell me you—"
"No," he cut her off quickly.
"I didn't even finish what I was going to say."
"Whatever you were going to say, it's not that."
Nene laughed out loud, sitting back up straight and re-wrapping her scarf around her neck. "Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. I need to head back, it's already really late."
She hopped down from the high stool, took a couple of steps, then turned back to look at him. "Aren't you coming?"
Kazama was silent for two seconds, then grabbed his scarf and followed her out.
The two walked side by side down the quiet campus path, the streetlights stretching their shadows long across the ground.
"Kazama isn't a big idiot," Nene said suddenly.
"Hmm?"
"He's a coward."
Kazama's steps faltered for a moment, but he didn't answer.
After saying it, Nene looked like she was in an excellent mood. She hopped forward in a big playful stride, then turned around and walked backward, facing him. "Kazama, do you want to go to Ichiban Street with me tomorrow?"
"What for?"
"I heard a new dessert shop opened up there, I want to try it."
Kazama looked at her face, only her eyes visible above the scarf wrapped around her, those eyes shining impossibly bright in the dark night.
"...Alright."
"Great!" Nene spun back around, her steps even lighter than before. "And you're treating!"
"Why me?"
"Because you drank my cocoa earlier."
"You were the one who told me to drink it!"
"But I never said it was free."
"Nene!"
Nene's laughter echoed through the cold winter night air, bright and twinkling like a sky full of stars.
Kazama followed behind her, watching her cheerful back, the corners of his mouth curving up before he even realized it.
As they passed under a streetlight, Nene stopped suddenly, pointing at the ground. "Kazama, look!"
Kazama looked down. Their two shadows, stretched long by the streetlight, overlapped on the ground, as if they were embracing.
"...Look at what?" he asked, knowing full well what she meant.
Nene tilted her head, studying the shadows on the ground, then suddenly reached out and made a quirky gesture towards the air. In the shadow on the ground, her hand rested perfectly on the shoulder of Kazama's shadow.
"See? It looks like I'm putting my arm around you!"
Watching her childish antics, Kazama sighed, but he too reached out and made the same gesture towards the air.
Their two shadows on the ground stood side by side, hands on each other's shoulders, looking incredibly close.
In that moment, Nene suddenly thought: So I'm a coward too.