Chihiro’s reply seemed reasonable enough to Haruto.
Then the big day arrived. After he waited a bit at Tokyo Station, Chihiro came slightly later than scheduled.
“Sorry I’m late…”
“Oh, it’s fine. Thanks for inviting me today.”
“No, no, thank you!” Chihiro seemed unusually tense.
“…? Are you feeling okay, Chihiro?”
“Ah, um, no, it’s just, the idea of staying with you at a hotel got me kind of nervous…so my stomach is bothering me a bit…”
“Well, I mean, it’s not a vacation, is it? I’m here for my book work, and you’re going for research! We have separate hotel rooms anyway!”
Haruto made sure a few points were emphasized in his reply. Four years since he first said no to her, Chihiro still hadn’t given up at all; she kept finding little opportunities to make her approach, so he couldn’t let his guard down.
“Oh, I know,” replied Chihiro with a wry grin. “Here’s your train ticket.” She handed over a ticket with receipt.
“Thanks. Um, the cost…”
Haruto was about to pay Chihiro the cost of two tickets before she hurriedly stopped him. “Oh, the university’s paying for my ticket, so that’s okay.”
So she only accepted the money for Haruto’s ticket.
“Okay—we don’t have much time left, so let’s get going.”
“Right.”
Haruto ran the ticket through the turnstile to the Shinkansen platforms, Chihiro following behind him. Checking the ticket and the electronic board above them, they made it to the platform they were due to embark from. It was ten minutes before departure, but this was the first trip from Tokyo to Hokkaido for the day, so the train was already standing by on the tracks. They chatted for a bit, waiting until they could enter the car they’d be riding on, way up at the front. After a few minutes, the PA squawked to life and the entrance doors opened.
“Oh, sorry—I’m gonna go buy something to drink from the machine, so you go in first.”
Before Haruto could say anything else, Chihiro left the line and headed for the vending machines. Doesn’t Gran Class give you free drinks? Haruto thought as he boarded alone and sat down. He had a luxurious-looking leather seat with so much legroom that he didn’t even need to put his wheeled suitcase up on the luggage rack. The tray table was just as well-made and easy to place a laptop on for work purposes.
He was still sitting there, quietly impressed with his first Gran Class experience, when the announcement came that they’d be departing soon. Chihiro wasn’t back yet, which worried Haruto, so he took out his phone—only to find that she had just texted him I’m in the bathroom.
Yeah, she said her stomach was upset…
He sent her a “take your time” sticker, and in another little bit, the train glided away from the platform. In the meantime, he took out his tablet PC and began looking at the materials he was asked to approve for the anime series. Five minutes later, the Shinkansen train arrived at Ueno Station. Chihiro still wasn’t around.
The door opened, new passengers filing in.
“Ah… Haruto?”
Haruto looked up toward the confused-sounding voice. He saw Miyako there.
“Miyako?! Why are you here?!”
Miyako looked at her ticket, then the seat adjacent to Haruto. “This is my seat, but…”
“Huh? I think this is Chihiro’s…”
“Chi? Oh, you’re with Chi today?”
“Yeah… We’re going to Hokkaido. Chihiro was introducing me to this college professor who does work in agricultural robotics. I think I could use his stuff in my novels.” He hurriedly set out to explain, lest he be misunderstood.
“I was going to Hakodate with Itsuki so he could research his novel, too.”
“Where’s Itsuki?”
“He said he was going to buy a drink before we left.”
“Really? Chihiro said the same thing earlier—”
As they spoke, growing more and more confused, the train doors closed and they left Ueno Station.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” asked the attendant working the Gran Class car.
“N-no, we’re fine,” Miyako replied, sliding into her seat. Then Haruto received another sticker from Chihiro—this one featuring Gundam’s Char Aznable bowing with the word “Sorry…” above him. She could have chosen any of a million “apology” stickers, but she chose the one that suggested she was pretending to be a friend, only to secretly be plotting his murder. That couldn’t have been an accident.
At just about the same time, Miyako’s phone vibrated. She looked at the phone and yelped. “What?!”
“What’s wrong?” Haruto asked. Miyako responded by showing him the message from Itsuki on her phone.
Sorry, but something urgent came up so I have to bail. Go check out Hakodate for me with the guy seated next to you.