I should have expected the Omotesando area to be crowded on the weekend.
The sidewalks were overflowing with people, and I couldn’t see in front of me. Even the cars on the road were moving along at a snail’s pace. On top of that, it was lunchtime, and people were out on the streets in search of food.
I looked down at my phone and checked the map. I was supposed to be going to a café right in front of a prep school, but I was having a hard time finding the right place.
Wait a minute. Isn’t this prep school…?
I recognized the name.
“Saki! Over here!” a voice called out to me, and I looked up.
A girl was jumping up and down amid the crowd at the end of the street, waving her hands in the air. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t seen her, but I rushed over all the same.
“Hey, Maaya,” I said. “Aren’t you embarrassed, jumping around like that?”
“What do you mean?”
She looked back at me with a straight face, and for a moment, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Was I the one acting weird?
“Hah. Forget it,” I grumbled, getting in line behind her.
We were waiting to enter a café with terrace seating. Three tables for four sat outside. It was a bit chilly out, but all the seats were taken. We were standing next to the café’s sign. Is that French? Italian, maybe? I couldn’t read it. The wind was cold, and I wanted to go inside. Soon, a waitress came out and asked everyone if we had reservations.
When she got to us, Maaya said, “Narasaka, party of two.”
“Yes, Ms. Narasaka. I see you have a reservation for twelve thirty.” She took us out of the queue and led us inside.
The café was meant to be an “urban oasis,” and they had set bright green houseplants all over the place. There was even a small fountain in the back, and we could hear the sound of running water.
I could see a placard with the word RESERVED set atop a table by the window overlooking the street. It was a lovely wooden table set for two.
As I took a seat, I saw the sign for the prep school I’d seen on the map across the road. Aha, I thought. No wonder it had sounded familiar. It was the one Asamura attended.
I checked the time on my cell phone. It was 12:32. His morning classes had probably just finished.
“What is it?” asked Maaya. “Do you see something?”
I panicked and pulled my gaze away from the window to face her.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Hmm.”
“Oh, here’s the menu.” I tried to hand Maaya the folded menu, but she held up a palm.
“It’s okay. This is my treat, and I ordered when I made the reservation.”
“You did?”
“I can hardly wait to sample their pancakes… So what did you see?”
“…I said it was noth—”
“Hey, there’s Asamura!”
I couldn’t stop myself from glancing out the window. Oh, crap. Was this a trick? But by the time that thought occurred to me, I’d already spotted him outside.
He’d dashed out of the prep school and taken off in a hurry. It was probably his lunch break, so maybe he was going out to eat. I quickly lost him in the crowd.
“Is that a prep school? Hmm. So that’s where he goes to study.”
“He’s been going there since summer break.”
“Oh, I see, I see. You have a good grasp of your brother’s schedule. Come to think of it, haven’t his exam scores been improving?”
Where on earth had she gotten that information? She was right, though, so I nodded. We were siblings, so it made sense for me to know stuff like that.
“I guess prep school paid off. But I wonder where he’s going in such a hurry? I was waving like crazy, and he didn’t even notice.”
“You…were waving?”
Through the window? Wasn’t that super embarrassing? I looked around, but fortunately, the other patrons were engrossed in their meals and paying us no mind.
“Yeah, but he didn’t notice me at all.”
“Well, of course he didn’t.”
The Omotesando area was a large four-lane street with extra space for parking. Not only did it have a median, but there were also trees lining it, making it hard to see. Maaya had been waving from inside a café on the other side of the street. Even if he’d spotted her, he’d never guess she was waving at him.
I was glad—I didn’t want him to notice me. If he did, he’d probably get the wrong idea and think I’d come here to see him.
“But, Saki, you noticed him right away.”
“Urk! W-well, we…we are siblings.”
“Heh-heh.” Maaya put on a big grin. As usual, she’d already taken the reins of the conversation.
“As I keep saying, it isn’t like tha—”
“Here you are.”
At the sound of the waitress’s voice, I looked up. When I saw what she’d brought to our table, I yelped.
The previous day, Maaya had suggested we go to a famous pancake shop to celebrate my birthday. She’d wanted to go on Sunday, but I asked her to go today instead. That meant she’d only made the reservation on Friday, so I’d assumed it would just be a casual meal.
“Happy birthday, Saki!”
The pancake the waitress had brought over wasn’t just any pancake. The words “Happy Birthday” were written on top in chocolate, and there was a cute candle, too. The waitress took a lighter out of her apron and lit the candle, then she started singing “Happy Birthday.” Maaya joined in. Her voice was pretty loud, and people at other tables turned to look.
“Okay, blow out the candle!”
At Maaya’s urging, I quickly blew it out. I could hear applause coming from all around us.
P-people were watching…
The other patrons were smiling and clapping. It was nice, but I was pretty embarrassed. I’d never had anyone celebrate my birthday like this before.
“This is what I meant by a surprise! Did you like it? Huh?” Maaya stuck her chest out proudly and put her hands on her hips.
“I think you overdid it with the pose.”
“You loved it!”
“Did I say that?”
“Hee-hee. But you are happy, aren’t you?”
“W-well. Uh… I guess so.”
“And here’s your present.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have. You’re already paying for the meal.”
“It’s no big deal. Come on, open it.”
Maaya pulled out a palm-sized package, catching me off guard. When I peeled back the wrapping paper, I found a tube of lipstick.
“A girl can never have too many lipstick colors, right?!”
“Uh…right.”
I was impressed by her good taste. She’d picked a cute design. Instead of something flashy, it had a clean, cylindrical shape that curved in slightly at the middle. The design as well as the colors of the cap and tube were perfectly suited to my tastes.
I twisted it and looked at the color of the lipstick. It wasn’t too gaudy—perfect for a high school student to use day-to-day.
“I chose one that’s good for keeping in moisture since it gets dry in the winter.”
“…Thanks.”
I could tell she’d put a lot of thought into the gift.
Back when it was just Mom and me, I’d always requested practical presents. Money wasn’t tight exactly, but our priority was to make ends meet.