02 – Didn’t you say you know a place with delicious apple pies?

“Come on, you know a place with delicious apple pie, right?—You’re going to take responsibility for this, okay?” she whispered to me.

“H-Hey! Wait, why are you going with that gloomy guy—”

“Let’s run,” the silver-haired girl said, grabbing my hand—

“Wha?!”

—and suddenly, we took off running.

“Ah!”

“Sorry!”

We pushed through the crowd of students heading home, sometimes bumping into people, but we kept running.

Finally, we stopped at an empty bench in a deserted park.

“Phew… We managed to get away,” the silver-haired girl said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

It was the peak of summer in July, and after sprinting at full speed, both of us had sweat dripping down our faces.

“Huff, huff… W-Why?” I asked, looking up at her while catching my breath.

She placed a hand on her chin, as if in thought, and then—

“I got tired of him,” she said coldly.

It was as if it didn’t matter at all to her.

“What? That’s it?”

“Yes, is there a problem with that?” she replied, tilting her head in confusion.

I couldn’t believe it.

“Wait, no, that’s a problem! Weren’t you dating him because you liked him? Isn’t it bad to just break up so easily?”

“…Are you misunderstanding something?”

Her words were chilling.

“What?”

“I never liked him. I was just going out with him because I had to, but that reason disappeared a month ago… I just dumped him because the timing was right.”

“No way…”

I didn’t know what to say. The delinquent guy was a jerk, but didn’t he genuinely care about her? Is it really okay to dismiss someone’s feelings so easily?

As I was lost in thought, she spoke again, as if reading my mind.

“That guy was only interested in my body. And to make someone else hit on me just so he could swoop in and look good? That’s the lowest of the low. I have no reason to care about his feelings.”

“Y-You knew?”

“Well, it was just a guess… but from your reaction, it seems I was right. All the more reason I’m glad I broke up with him.”

I was set up…

But judging by her tone, it seemed she not only didn’t like the delinquent, she downright disliked him. Still, why had she been dating him in the first place?

I wondered about it, but it didn’t feel like something I should ask.

“Um, it’s really hot out here. Why don’t we go somewhere cooler to talk?” she suggested.

Sweat was beading on her forehead. Even in the shade, the late July heat was intense.

“You’re right… but where should we go?”

“Oh? I thought you knew a place with delicious apple pie?” she said with a mischievous smile, looking up at me with those eyes.

I couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt.

“Um, well…”

“I’m just kidding. Besides, if we ate apple pie before lunch, we wouldn’t have room for a proper meal.”

“Then… how about a family restaurant?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

With that, we quickly headed to the family restaurant, trying not to get spotted by the delinquent and his friends.

“………”

An awkward silence hung between us.

I glanced sideways at her. Come to think of it, I didn’t even know her name. Oh, wait—wasn’t the delinquent calling her Sena? Still, it’d be weird for me, a stranger, to suddenly call her by her first name.

Alright, I should just ask for her name.

“Um!”

“Um…”

We ended up speaking at the exact same time.

“Uh, you first.”

“No, you were a bit quicker, so go ahead.”

“No, I really think you were first.”

The silence returned, but it was different from before.

“Hehe.”

“Pfft.”

We both started laughing together, even though nothing particularly funny had happened.

“Maybe we should just say it at the same time.”