The taxi stopped in front of a café.
Kurosawa Hoshino and Ran got out. Looking at the quiet, serene interior, he asked,
"This is the place?"
"Yes, let's go in."
Ran walked behind him and pushed him inside.
As soon as they entered, a waitress came to greet them.
"Thank you, we're fine—a friend is waiting for us," Ran said, and the waitress smiled before withdrawing.
There weren't many customers inside. Their gazes swept casually across the room before spotting Sonoko sitting at a table not far away, engrossed in her phone. Their arrival caused a slight stir.
Sonoko looked up, saw them, smiled, and waved vigorously:
"Over here!"
"Coming!"
Ran ran to sit next to her best friend, followed by Kurosawa Hoshino, who took the seat opposite them.
Kurosawa Hoshino looked around and casually asked, "Sonoko, why did you suddenly invite us here?"
"Guess," Sonoko winked playfully.
"Could it be our one-month friendship anniversary? But that's been over a month now. It's not a birthday either, so it must be a holiday."
Kurosawa Hoshino spoke while pulling out his phone to check the date—February 14th.
Now he finally understood:
"Oh, it's Valentine's Day. Are you going to give me chocolates?"
"Ew~"
Both Ran and Sonoko made funny noises, looking at him as if he were being narcissistic.
"No? I thought you had a surprise for me."
"Dream on." Sonoko's pretty eyes darted around, clearly brewing a mischievous idea.
"Wait, I need to send a message to a friend."
Kurosawa Hoshino remembered [I Don't Drink Sherry] and sent her a "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Who is it?" the two girls asked curiously.
"A friend I met online."
"An online friend." Ran nodded in understanding.
"Okay, you two chat first. I'm going to the restroom."
Kurosawa Hoshino, having come up with a mischievous plan, placed his phone on the table, said a word, and left.
As soon as he was gone, the two girls' eyes fixed on the lit-up phone.
Sonoko, eager and whispering, said, "Ran, what should we do? I'm starting to lose control. I suspect he's lying—that it's not an online friend but a female student from his school. How about we take a peek?"
Ran looked conflicted. "Isn't that a bad thing to do?"
"It's fine, we'll just take a look. See, the screen's already on. We don't even need to touch it—just a glance."
"Just a glance? Really not touching it?"
"Of course, whoever touches it is a dog."
"You..."
"Come on." Sonoko pulled her along, and they both leaned close to the lit phone.
When they saw their own faces reflected on the screen, they realized the front camera was recording. They immediately knew they'd been tricked and blushed as they quickly sat back down.
Ran patted her burning cheeks with both hands, shyly saying, "Oh no, when Hoshino comes back, he'll see the video and know we were trying to peek at his phone."
"That darn Hoshino!"
Sonoko's face was flushed too. "That jerk, he doesn't trust us at all, thinking we'd peek at his phone. He doesn't consider us real friends."
Ran weakly said, "Sonoko, but you were trying to peek just now."
"..."
Sonoko was speechless, feeling both embarrassed and angry, staring intently at the phone on the table.
Just then, Shiho Miyano, with her short brown hair, and Akemi Miyano, with her gentle expression, entered the café.
Coincidentally, the seats they chose were right next to Ran's.
"Shiho, your phone just rang." Akemi Miyano looked at her sister across from her, her eyes full of affection.
"It must be that boring guy again."
Shiho Miyano pouted, took out her phone, and sure enough, it was a message from him.
[I Really Didn't Cheat]: Happy Valentine's Day.
Shiho Miyano glanced at it and typed a reply.
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "What, no one gave you chocolates, so you came to me for comfort?"
The message had barely been sent when a ding-dong sounded behind her.
"Hmm?"
Shiho Miyano turned around, glanced at Ran and the others, then fixed her gaze on the phone in front of the empty seat opposite them.
"Probably a coincidence."
She shook her head, looked away, and sent another message.
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "Do you need me to bring you a special chocolate?"
Another ding-dong sounded behind her.
"Hmm?"
Shiho Miyano narrowed her eyes, turned back to look at the phone, and thought to herself, Another coincidence?
"Shiho, what's wrong?" Akemi Miyano asked.
"Sister, wait a moment," Shiho Miyano replied, deciding to test it once more, and sent a question mark.
Then the phone on the other end rang again.
Unconvinced, Shiho Miyano waited a few seconds and sent another message.
Unsurprisingly, the crisp notification sounded again.
This time, Shiho was finally certain: the owner of that phone was the online friend she knew.
"Hoshino, you're back!"
Suddenly, Shiho heard a girl's voice from the table behind her.
She turned sharply and saw a smiling boy walking quickly in her direction—she recognized him from online news.
"It's him, Kurosawa Hoshino."
Shiho never imagined that the online friend she'd been bickering with these past few days was the very person she'd seen in the news.
"Hehe, you two didn't peek at my phone, did you?"
Kurosawa Hoshino said with a mischievous grin, already at the table and picking up his phone. He was so eager to see if his prank had worked that he hadn't noticed the two new female customers next to him.
But before he could check the recording, he saw four new messages at the top and opened them.
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "What, no one gave you chocolates, so you came here for comfort?"
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "Do you need me to bring you a special chocolate?"
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "?"
[I Don't Drink Sherry]: "What are you barking about?"
After reading this, Kurosawa Hoshino's forehead was covered in black lines. He muttered, "Did she eat gunpowder? So irritable."
Annoyed, he prepared to retort.
Shiho Miyano, standing beside him, heard his muttering. The slight smile she'd worn from finding the coincidence froze on her face.
Ding-dong—her phone notification sounded.
Shiho Miyano opened it, and her slightly frozen expression turned dark.
[I Really Didn't Cheat]: "What are you barking about again?"
She turned her head and found Kurosawa Hoshino staring straight at her. Their eyes met instantly.
Oh no, the notification must have drawn his attention.
Shiho Miyano immediately understood why Kurosawa Hoshino had suddenly noticed her.
"What a coincidence?"
Kurosawa Hoshino had indeed turned his gaze because of the notification sound. He then saw Akemi Miyano opposite him and a short-haired, brown-haired girl sitting with her back to him. She looked familiar.
When she turned her head, he took in her cool, composed face—and recognized her.