The Sato Bookshop, or as his father intended it to be, the Village of Books, was up bright and early before all the other shops. Morning light filtered through the windows and hit the counter, dust motes floating in the lit-up space. The ancient computer, used for organization, hadn't been opened yet, and the curtains were just lifted.

  From the way he sat at the counter, putting his weight on the wood, it was apparent that Raichi wasn't quite in the working mood, despite being in uniform. Unlike his father, who went over to the computer to turn it on, his face full of cheer and his stomach full of morning coffee before breakfast.

  Most shocking of all, however, Raichi and his friends had taken being punctual to a whole other level. Hiroshi and Nao decided to meet up so early in the morning that they were there for the shop's opening.

  Nao was perched on a stool nearby, her legs swinging, her hands full with a book. Hiroshi, stood beside her with his one elbow on the counter, the other arm holding the edge of Nao's stool.

  Out of all the possible scenarios he predicted happening on an uneventful Saturday, having to eat breakfast soon with his friends wasn't among the list, not by a long shot.

  From the side, Nao craned her neck to peer at him, grinning. "Hey, Raicchi. When are you actually gonna get paid?"

  "...When I do this job for real." Raichi didn't look up, jerking his head toward the blond instead. "Like that doofus over there and his father's tires."

  "Oh, Raichi-kun, I am so honored that you would say that about—" Hiroshi then paused, realizing. "Wait a minute, was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"

  "Choose whichever one fits your liking, dude."

  "I pick the insult, then. Screw you, Raichi."

  Following the nonchalant exchange between the two boys, a giggle escaped from Nao's mouth. And hers wasn't the only one; his father, too, was laughing from over at the computer.

  She closed the book in her hands. "You know, Raicchi, must be nice, doesn't it? Free books, labour, and friends too."

  "Compliments won't earn you staff discounts, Nao-chan."

  That was when the morning quiet was cut by the first customer of the day entering. The bell ringing above the door prompted the three friends and Tetsuya to glance.

  Raichi left the counter upon the customer's entry, standing beside his two friends.

  The customer, a woman, brushed off the cold from her shoulders as she closed the door behind her.

  Her presence demanded attention, with her unnatural yet practiced elegance, heightened by her lush chestnut-colored hair falling down her back. Appearance-wise, she seemed to be in her early twenties.

  Right off the bat, Tetsuya straightened himself and got into customer service mode. Judging by his expression, the woman wasn't a one-timer.

  "Ah—Ayaka-san! Welcome in!" He chuckled. "Been a while since you last visited this shop of mine, hasn't it?"

  The name scratched a surface in Raichi's brain, one that had recently been scratched. He labeled it as a coincidence for the time being and stashed the thought away.

  Ayaka, the customer, put on an easy smile. "It has been, Tetsuya-san. Sorry for disappearing like that."

  The three friends watching this unfold couldn't take their eyes off her. Nao, for one, leaned closer to Hiroshi, whispering in his ear, loud enough to reach Raichi's.

  "She's pretty."

  Hiroshi, though, didn't react one bit, stiff as stone. He was staring, almost.

  "Don't be, don't be." Tetsuya clapped his hands together. "Now, how have you been? What brings you here today?"

  Ayaka took a glance around the shop, inclining her head as she returned to Tetsuya. She seemed like she had more on her mind than a simple book request.

  "I've… seen better days. I don't want to take too much of your time, but I have a favor to ask. For tomorrow."

  "For tomorrow?" Tetsuya's service voice faded away in an instant. "I'm listening."

  Ayaka let out a frustrated sigh. "Tomorrow, I will be visiting my mother at the hospital. As the hospital and her place of residence are rather far, I will be gone for most of the day."

  "...I see." Tetsuya nodded. "I hope she gets well soon. Is she okay?"

  "That, I'm hoping to find out once I get there." Ayaka scratched her cheek. "Not exactly why I came here, though."

  Ayaka's eyes wandered to the side, meeting Raichi's. Despite Ayaka being the uneasy one, the three friends were the first to turn away, being treated like mere decorations for the shop.

  She cleared her throat. "My sister. She, um, certainly is at an age where she can afford being alone. But I don't want her to. Would it be a problem if… she spent the day here? I'll pick her up at the end of the day."

  Asking his father, Tetsuya, to treat her sister like family was comparable to asking a dog to bark. In Raichi's mind, his father was one of a kind, filled with unattainable kindness and warmth. His answer was most obvious.

  "Why, of course. We don't mind at all, you know that. We'll keep little Miss company."

  Relief softened the young woman's expression. "Thank you, Tetsuya-san. I was hoping you would say that. Makes me feel much better."

  "I guess that's settled, then."

  Raichi thought it wasn't his place to witness this conversation, and as such, was about to return to his business. His father, though, jumped as if he was reminded of something.

  "Oh, right!" Tetsuya walked over to the computer as he talked. "By the by, Ayaka-san. Your tab. Some of the books on it have reached their time."

  "Oh, that," Ayaka brushed through her pockets, and without fuss, brought out her credit card. "I expected that, and so I came strapped."

  From the way she carried herself, Raichi had already surmised that Ayaka might be a regular. Once Tetsuya booted up the old pc and opened up her tab, even from half a room away, Raichi could see the length of her tab, taking more than a few scrolls just to reach the end.

  The trio of friends kept themselves busy with their phones afterward. Ayaka paid off some of her tab with a beep, made a few more pleasantries, and left the shop, bell ringing behind her.

  Tetsuya paid no mind to the small shock of the kids, moving over to the library side of the shop for some cleaning, a cleaner and a duster in hand.

  For a moment, none of them uttered a word. It took Hiroshi the blabbermouth's talking to knock sense back into them.

  He brought his hand up to his chin, staring into the spot Ayaka was at as if she were still there.

  "You gonna say something, Hiroshi?"

  "I'm… thinking about it."

  "Ehhh??" Nao said. "C'mon, you never once stop to think about the things you say. What's making it so difficult now?"

  Raichi put a hand over Nao's mouth. "Wait."

  The impulse-driven blond halting operations were like the biggest sign that the apocalypse was approaching, or so Raichi thought. Although he believed that Hiroshi was sometimes entirely fueled by pure instinct, that intuition of his had a long-running streak.

  "That woman, she looked… familiar. Like I'd seen her before."

  "S-Seen her before? Like, on the street?"

  Hiroshi shook his head. "No. I think… I saw someone who looked just like her in the student council room, among the memorabilia. Maybe a portrait?"

  His hand soon turned into a finger, pointing straight at his brain, now on his forehead.

  "Continue."

  "...One of the old portraits in the back." Hiroshi imitated the shape of a portrait as he explained. "Portraits of students way before us."

  "Before us?"

  "Like, alums?"

  Raichi's impression of Suiho High wasn't the same as it was days ago when he first joined. He thought it was another average high school with an average cast. It wasn't.

  Even in his first week, he had met faces with a billion other sides to them that he didn't even know.

  One of them was Miss Nishikigi Miyako, his homeroom teacher. He learned from her that the school valued its students dearly. One other student dear to Nishikigi was a girl of the same name as the customer from earlier.

  Though he considered this fact, as well as this coincidental recognition coming from Hiroshi, as mere coincidences and nothing more than that, it was interesting to hear.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "I assume you know this because…" Nao didn't finish her sentence.

  "It's part of the job. Student council biz."

  "How on earth do you have enough time for that, and your father's tire shop?"

  "I don't. That's why I only vaguely remember the portrait's appearance and nothing else."

  Raichi's gaze landed on the door from where the woman came from, as if she would still be present, as if he could ask Hiroshi to point out the differences and similarities.

  To the two of them, this conversation was nothing more than small chat, words to forget by the end of the day, a freeway ticket to gossip, knowing no harm would come from it.

  "You're oddly uninterested, Raicchi."

  "...Why would I be?" His brows spiked up. "It's probably nothing, is it not?"

  "Still, it wouldn't hurt to share your opinion…" Her voice trailed off.

  Hiroshi put his arm around Raichi, making him grunt.

  "Don't worry about him, Suzuki." Hiroshi pointed at his friend. "He's just going through his cranky morning mood."

  Hiroshi's arm lingered there longer than it needed to. He didn't appreciate being patronized, so Raichi nudged Hiroshi off with his shoulder, more habit than irritation.

  "I'm not being cranky," He grimaced.

  Hiroshi scratched his chin with his finger. "Says the cranky guy."

  The joke tickled Nao's funny bone. Her laughter was swift and light, over within seconds.

  Raichi thought Hiroshi's broken memory card would make for a longer topic of conversation, but no. To them, and as it should have been to him, the woman, was just another brief profile to talk about and then forget.

  His wish wasn't to continue the topic, but neither did Raichi see the point in dwelling on thoughts further. For once, he treated this happenstance as something ephemeral.

  He looked through his uniform's pockets to see if his packet of sticky notes and pen were there. Once he was certain, he made a rush for the Editor's Picks section by the door, telling his friends,

  "I'll be busy working. You can join me over there if you'd like."

  "H-Hey, wait for us, dangit!"

  "Who's not so cranky now?"

  Raichi responded from over his shoulder, back facing Hiroshi. "Still not me."

  As his mind wandered over to what kind of notes he could write on some of the books in his personalized basket, his friends followed behind him. Hopefully, his anxiety, too, didn't trace the same steps.

  ??????

  Having just changed into casual clothes after his father ordered him to, Raichi headed downstairs from their home to the Sato bookshop. Tetsuya had told him, quote, that his duty was to keep a girl company and that he must dress accordingly, end quote.

  When leaving the house, Raichi saw that Emiko had been preparing bentos for the day, which meant that Emiko, his mother, was also preparing to look after the customer's little sister.

  The shop had already gone through its opening routine by the time he had woken up, and his father had taken position on the counter.

  "Father? I thought we'd get up at the same time." Raichi greeted Tetsuya.

  "Oh, good morning, son!" He pointed for him to get over. "I thought I should open shop early today. I even called the staff to come 30 minutes earlier, too."

  "...Let me guess, did you also tell them they could clock out 30 minutes earlier?"

  "Why, yes, I did. You know me."

  Classic father move, Raichi thought.

  As he walked over to the counter, he spotted a tilted book on the nearby shelf. He first approached it and fixed it back into position.

  "Oh, bet the little miss would love that book."

  "That book?" Raichi prodded at the book he just fixed. "You mean this one?"

  "Yes. The one we have the responsibility of looking after today. Ayaka-san had previously told me about her dust allergy, so I wanted to get up bright and early to take care of problems such as those."

  "Wow," Raichi was being genuine. "You weren't this well-prepared when Mother and I were returning, haha."

  "Hahaha, well, it was a sight y'all were used to, was it not?"

  Raichi, too, eventually took his seat behind the counter, scrolling through the old dusty computer.

  His phone rested by his side as he waited for news from Hiroshi. His assistance would be quite helpful considering the circumstances. Tetsuya would still be occupied with his job regardless of his caretaker duty. And so, it would be up to Raichi to stand by the girl's side.

  He knew he wasn't good with children, and he figured someone like Hiroshi, who dealt with a little sibling of his own every single day, would be considered high-caliber and fit for the job.

  Speak of the devil, his phone vibrated soundly on the hard counter. The picture in the middle was one of Hiroshi, rather intimate with the camera in which he took the picture.

  Raichi snickered as he picked up the call.

  "Yes?"

  "Yo, good morning. Did I wake you up perhaps?"

  "Morning. And no, you did not."

  Hiroshi's laugh came clearly through the phone. "Good to know I didn't disturb your beauty sleep."

  "...We literally agreed to meet up, dude. Why would I—"

  "I kid, Raichi. I kid."

  Raichi rolled his eyes, rubbing them the next second. He moved the wheelchair from in front of the computer to a wall where he could rest his back.

  The blond cleared his throat.

  "So, uhh, I'm done with dressing, and I'll leave the house in a minute. I'll be bored on the way, so, mind keeping the call running?"

  "...Sure, why not?"

  The call was on speaker, and it didn't take long for Tetsuya to notice the familiar voice. He leaned over the counter as he greeted Hiroshi.

  Raichi's father and his best friend kept the small chat going, and when they were done, Raichi used the chance to mute the noise.

  The time for the girl's arrival was fast-approaching, a stark contrast to just how laid-back Hiroshi was on his way over.

  "C'mon, son, wait with me at the door!"

  "Coming!"

  It was a wonder whether Raichi had been waiting for the girl with his father or for Hiroshi.

  Some time had passed, and there was still no word of the girl. Hiroshi, too, wasn't present, but he was narrating everything he was doing, so it wouldn't apply to him.

  Father and son patiently stood by their front door outside. Raichi held his phone horizontally in front of his chest, Hiroshi's volume at a measly forty percent.

  Hiroshi's voice went silent for a little while, and that was when Tetsuya's anxious tone took over in its stead.

  "Weird. Poor Yamada-chan. I wonder whether she lost her way."

  "Wh-What?" The name didn't register properly. "Y-Yamada…-chan?"

  "Yamada-chan, yes. Ayaka-san's little sister."

  The name bounced back and forth in the edges and grooves of his brain. Another coincidence lined up into the pile. Doubts gnawed at him as to whether he would be ignoring it or disassociating his mind from the foregone conclusion.

  One more coincidence, and it would slowly make a pattern, one that had already popped up in his head once before. But for once, he decided to prioritize the moment, put it aside, reality or not.

  The patience of father and son hadn't borne fruit yet. The light wind carried no weight, the only upside being that it made Hiroshi's random blubbering bearable.

  "Hey, dude, I know you're muted, so listen up for a sec." He paused. "I'm passing by the park right about now."

  Raichi pressed the unmute button. "...Seriously? You're barely there? You're lucky the guest hasn't arrived yet."

  "That's not why I called for you, though!'

  "What is it then?"

  "Because… in the park, I can see someone. I know you aren't into the gossip Suzuki keeps spouting, but…" His footsteps faded. "At the bench. It's… Yamada-san. I wonder why she's here so early."

  "Wh-What'd you say?"

  Raichi's reaction was a lot more over the top than he would have imagined, even for him, causing his father to turn in his direction. Perhaps it was because fate itself hit the nail on the head, trying its best not let him forget.

  It hadn't been ten minutes, and yet, the name Yamada, coincidentally, had been spoken of in two different instances.

  At the same time they were waiting for a late "Yamada-chan", another Yamada Yaori was at the park, sitting by herself. And the previous coincidences soon made the festering pattern.

  While there wasn't time to think over the facts and deduce them like a detective, there was now one thing for certain.

  True or not, there was a chance that the girl they were waiting for might never arrive.

  The bridge they, he, and Yaori had built was burned by accident, at the drop of a torch onto the thin, intricately placed wooden fiber. If he went, he could patch things up and perhaps heal.

  His instinct and logic conflicted with one another in control of his body. One, brief and gutsy, and the other, in this context, based merely on what-ifs, and what they meant. The latter didn't matter anymore.

  "Hiroshi… get out of there." He paused. "Go home. I got it covered."

  "H-Huh?"

  Raichi's feet felt like they were moving on their own in that moment. They jumped a step forward, one, two, then another, eventually turning into a jog.

  "S-Son!? Where are you going?"

  "I'll be back soon, father!"

  "B-But what about—"

  "I'll be right back, okay!? See you soon!"

  His arms and legs sprang back and forth. With his phone in hand, he put an end to the call.

  The suburban walls and backstreets, the heart of his home of Uji, surrounded him like he was inside a snowglobe. His gut moved him forward, and his wishes to sew back his ties with another bookworm fueled every inch of his body.