By the second week, we had started pretending the semester was under control.
The timetable said otherwise.
Monday began with a lecture at eight-thirty. Tuesday had two classes in buildings that were far enough apart to make the ten-minute break feel like a personal insult. Wednesday looked manageable until someone pointed out the assignment due on Friday.
Ryota said the university had designed the timetable specifically to test our loyalty.
Haruto said he had accepted his fate.
Nobody asked what fate he meant this time.
I was late on Monday.
Not dramatically late. Just late enough that the lecture hall doors had already closed and I had to slip in while the professor was writing on the board.
I found a seat near the back.
My phone vibrated.
you're late
how do you know?
you're not here
that's usually how it works
i saved your seat
I looked at the message.
Then I looked around.
She was two rows ahead, sitting near the window. The empty seat beside her had her bag on it.
I moved down the aisle.
She lifted the bag before I reached her.
"You're welcome," she whispered.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was going to ask why you saved it."
"That's what I said."
I sat down.
The professor turned from the board.
Both of us faced forward immediately.
For the next forty minutes, I tried to concentrate on the lecture.
I managed perhaps twelve.
The rest of my attention was occupied by the fact that Saki had saved me a seat.
It wasn't the first time she'd done something like that. We'd sat together before, shared notes, and walked to class after meeting near the entrance.
There was nothing unusual about it.
I knew that.
I wrote the date at the top of my notebook and underlined it twice.
When the lecture ended, Saki looked at my notes.
"You missed that entire diagram."
"I was listening."
"To what?"
"The professor."
She pointed at the empty space between my second and third paragraphs.
"Then I hope the professor was interesting."
I closed the notebook.
"Can I borrow yours?"
"No."
"You have a photograph of the board, don't you?"
She smiled.
"Maybe."
"You're a terrible person."
"And yet you keep sitting next to me."
She packed her things before I could answer.
I followed her out.
◇◇◇
The next day, she wasn't in the seat by the window.
I arrived early and found the lecture hall almost empty.
For some reason, I checked the door twice.
Then I chose a seat in the same row as the previous day.
I took out my notebook, opened it, and wrote the date.
A few minutes later, Saki walked in.
She looked around, found me, and came over.
"You got here early."
"Trying something new."
"How's it going?"
"Terrible. Nobody's here."
She put her bag down beside mine.
"That's because you're twenty minutes early."
"I was told punctuality was important."
"By whom?"
"People."
"Name one."
I couldn't.
She laughed and sat down.
There were plenty of empty seats around us. She could have chosen any of them.
Instead, she took out her notebook and started copying something from her phone.
I went back to my own notes.
A few minutes later, she leaned towards me.
"Did you understand yesterday's assignment?"
"Mostly."
"Can you explain the last part?"
I turned my notebook around.
She moved her chair a little closer to see.
We spent the next ten minutes arguing about a line of code that neither of us had written correctly.
When the professor arrived, we were still arguing.
Saki looked at the board.
"We should probably stop."
"Probably."
Neither of us moved for another few seconds.
◇◇◇
By Thursday, sitting together had become an arrangement nobody needed to discuss.
If I arrived first, I kept the seat beside me empty.
If Saki arrived first, she did the same.
Sometimes one of us was late. Sometimes the lecture hall was crowded, and we ended up sitting somewhere else.
It wasn't a rule.
That was probably why I liked it.
There was no conversation in which we had decided to do this. No message confirming that we would meet before every class.
It simply happened often enough that I began expecting it.
On Thursday afternoon, I arrived at the lecture hall to find Saki sitting beside the window.
She had her notebook open and was eating a piece of chocolate.
"Is that breakfast?" I asked.
"It's four in the afternoon."
"That didn't answer my question."
She broke off a piece and held it out.
I took it.
"Thank you."
"Don't make it weird."
"I said thank you."
"You said it like I gave you a kidney."
I ate the chocolate.
It was slightly bitter, with something sweet in the middle.
"Is it good?" she asked.
"Yeah."
She nodded solemnly.
"That's unfortunate."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"It's terrible chocolate. I was hoping you'd notice."
I looked at the piece in my hand, then at the wrapper.
"Wait. Seriously?"
She held her expression for another second.
Then she burst out laughing.
"I can't believe you actually believed me."
"You sounded convincing!"
"I was talking about chocolate I was eating myself."
"People eat terrible things all the time."
She laughed harder.
I took another piece.
"Well, it's good. So your experiment failed."
She watched me chew, still smiling.
"You're so easy to fool."
"Only when I trust the source."
That made her pause.
Just for a moment.
Then she reached for the packet.
"Give that back."
"You offered it to me."
"I've changed my mind."
"You can't take back chocolate after it's been distributed."
"Watch me."
She pulled the packet towards herself. I held on to the other end for a second before letting go.
She looked ridiculously pleased with herself.
I put the empty wrapper inside my notebook.
I didn't throw it away until I got back to the dorm that evening.
I couldn't have explained why.
◇◇◇
Friday was the first day we had to stay late for an assignment.
The computer lab smelled faintly of dust and warm plastic. Someone had left an empty coffee can beside a monitor, and the air conditioner was making a noise that suggested it had been struggling since the previous century.
Saki sat at the computer next to mine.
We were supposed to finish a small programming task before leaving.
By seven, she had completed most of it.
I was still trying to understand why my code worked for the first test case and failed for the second.
"Show me," she said.
I moved my chair aside.
She leaned towards the screen.
"You're checking the wrong condition."
"I'm checking the condition."
"You're checking the wrong one."
"That's a very different accusation."
She pointed at the line.
I stared at it.
Then I fixed it.
The test passed.
I leaned back.
"See? I knew what I was doing."
"You were one minute away from asking the computer for emotional support."
"I still might."
She saved her work and began packing.
"Are you coming?"
"Where?"
"Back to the dorm."
"I need to clean this up."
"You've been cleaning it up for twenty minutes."
"I like to be thorough."
"You like to suffer."
She waited beside the door while I saved the final version.
We walked back together.
The evening air was cold enough that I kept my hands in my pockets. Saki walked beside me, talking about a girl in her class who had submitted the wrong file for an assignment.
She imitated the girl's expression when the professor pointed it out.
I laughed.
She laughed because I was laughing.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Then she asked, "Are you going home this weekend?"
"No. You?"
"No. My roommate's going to her parents' place, though."
"So you'll have the room to yourself."
"Three bags of sweets and nobody to help me eat them."
"I thought you said they weren't a problem."
"They aren't."
"Then why do you need help?"
She looked at me.
"Do you want some or not?"
"Obviously."
"Then stop asking questions."
We reached the point where our paths separated.
She waved and turned towards her dormitory.
I stood there for a moment.
"Tomorrow?" I called.
She turned around.
"What?"
"The sweets."
"Oh." She smiled. "Come by after lunch. I'll save you the good ones."
"How will I know which ones those are?"
"You won't."
"That's reassuring."
She laughed and disappeared around the corner.
◇◇◇
I went over a little after two the next afternoon.
Saki opened the door with a packet of sweets in one hand.
"You're late."
"It's two-oh-three."
"I've been waiting for three minutes."
"You invited me yesterday."
"And you accepted yesterday. That means I get to complain today."
I took off my shoes and stepped inside.
Her roommate was gone, and the room looked different without another person's belongings scattered around. There were books stacked beside the desk, a jacket hanging from the back of a chair, and the three bags of sweets occupying most of the space on a small shelf.
Saki pointed towards the chair.
"Sit."
I sat.
She opened one of the bags and tipped its contents onto the desk.
"Choose."
"How am I supposed to choose?"
"With your eyes."
"You're being very helpful today."
"I know."
I picked something at random.
She immediately shook her head.
"Not that one."
"Why?"
"Because I like that one."
"Then why did you put it in front of me?"
"I wanted to see if you'd take it."
I put it back.
She laughed.
"You can have it."
"I don't want it anymore."
"Your loss."
We ate sweets and talked about the week.
She told me about a lecture she'd nearly fallen asleep in. I told her about Ryota knocking over his water bottle when he saw me return to Room 123.
She asked whether Haruto had accepted his fate yet.
"He's accepted it for the entire semester."
"Efficient."
"He's trying to get ahead."
At some point, Saki put on a playlist. The music played quietly in the background while she sorted through the sweets, keeping a few aside and pushing the rest towards me.
I stayed longer than I'd planned.
When I finally stood up, she looked at the time.
"Already?"
"You said I could come after lunch."
"It is after lunch."
"Exactly."
She shook her head.
"Take some with you."
She filled a small bag and handed it over.
"Don't eat all of them at once."
"I have self-control."
She looked at me.
"Right."
I left with the sweets in my bag and a new reason to avoid buying snacks at the conbini.
On the way back, I checked my phone.
There was a message from Ryota asking whether I was coming to play a game that evening.
I replied that I'd be back soon.
Then I put my phone away and continued walking.
It had been an ordinary afternoon.
I didn't think much about it.
Not then.
◇◇◇
The next week, I arrived early again.
Saki was already there.
She glanced at my face as I sat down.
"Your glasses are crooked."
I adjusted them.
"They're fine."
"They weren't fine yesterday, either."
"You've been keeping track?"
"No. They're just noticeable."
I looked at her, but she had already opened her notebook.
I never found out whether she meant the glasses or something else.
She pushed a small packet across the desk.
"What is this?"
"Chocolate."
"More?"
"There's still plenty."
"Does your roommate have a chocolate factory?"
"Probably."
I looked at the packet.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
The professor began setting up the slides.
Saki opened her notebook, and I did the same.
Outside, students were hurrying across the courtyard. Someone ran past the window with a piece of toast in their mouth. The lecture hall slowly filled with the sound of chairs moving and bags being dropped onto desks.
Nothing happened that morning.
We listened to the lecture. She borrowed my pen. I asked to see her notes. At the end, we walked out together and argued about where to have lunch.
On the way down the stairs, Saki remembered something.
"Hey. We still have to celebrate passing."
"We do."
"When are we doing that?"
I thought about the assignments due that week.
"Maybe after Friday?"
"Maybe," she said.
Neither of us checked our calendars.
By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were arguing about lunch instead.
I think that was how most of it happened.
Not all at once.
Just one seat, then another. A piece of chocolate. An afternoon in her room. A walk back from the computer lab. Messages that didn't need a reason.
Eventually, I stopped asking whether she would be there.
I just looked for her when I arrived.