Chapter 3: Stranger Danger
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"Thank you for your hard work, Takahashi-chan! See you tomorrow!"
Misaki looked over shoulder, smiling and waving goodbye to her coworkers as the doors of Marukawa closed behind her.
It was currently Friday. She'd been dropping off a stack of paperwork that she'd taken home to properly arrange before she went to her classes at Mitsuhashi University. The university and Marukawa were a train's ride apart, so she'd gone early as to have ample time to get there.
She glanced down at her watch. Good, she still had a little over an hour.
Misaki wasn't particularly excited for the first class of the day. It was Literature—taught by a demon of a professor that actually threw books at students—but she needed the course to graduate, so she wouldn't complain. Literature wasn't her strong point, either. She liked manga better, but novels were alright.
Still, she might've been more enthusiastic if it had not been that particular class she was going to first thing in the morning.
Misaki made her way into the train station and headed to the ticket machines. The platform was brightly lit, and she noticed that she could hear her shoes tapping against the concrete as she walked. Surprisingly, it was rather quiet; usually, the station was noisily bustling with daily commuters. Today, however, there were only a few people walking about. She thought it was odd, but didn't mind the least.
Even though the area was relatively empty, there was still a line for tickets. Misaki fell into the queue and adjusted her shoulder bag unconsciously as she patiently waited her turn. Her mind began to wander as she stared at the person in front of her's back in contemplation.
Maybe I should go visit Usagi-san after school, she thought. I haven't been over to see how he's been doing in a while.
So far, her friend had been faring well since Takahiro's marriage. Usagi-san seemed to be fine, continuing to smile and write and collect his bears without price restrictions as he usually did. Misaki figured that he was either truly fine or a much better actor than she originally thought. She really hoped that it was the former; she cared for him and didn't want Usagi-san to hide whatever he was feeling from her. It was more of a therapist's job to sort out such things, but Misaki felt it was her duty to help him. She wanted to help.
She just hoped that he would be able to move on someday. Perhaps not in the near future, but someday.
He deserved to be loved, too.
The sudden sound of several pairs of feet rushing about snapped her out of her thoughts. At the familiar clamor of people finally filing in and bustling through the station, Misaki suddenly realized that she'd been standing in the same place for quite some time.
It's gonna get crowded soon, she thought. I better hurry up.
Misaki blinked and saw that she was still standing behind the same person as before, who was looking up at the map and prices posted above the machine in silence. She then noticed the loops of eyeglasses curled behind the man's ears, watching as he pushed up his glasses and continued to stare at the map.
Maybe he had bad eyesight and couldn't see the sign properly?
"Excuse me?" Misaki inquired as she leaned forward to tap him politely on the shoulder. "If it's alright with you, I could help you see how much your ticket costs."
At the sound of her voice, the man turned around and Misaki was met with a shockingly familiar face.
Shit! her internal voice cried out as she felt the telltale hotness of a blush bloom on her face. It's the guy from that one time at Marukawa!
