It was the same old, same old.

A gaze lingered on the steady movement of the passing crowd, clearly uninterested about the whole ordeal that was taking place behind him. By now, it hardly consumed an ounce of energy to tune out Mabo's pleads for a number, or even Tomio's backfiring pick up lines. All he was requested of the duo was to tag along for the time being until Joji swung by to pick the trio up. As usual, he was invited to come along so that the girls from the neighbouring school would be more willing join. However, those ugly faces bore no interest to the blonde. No, he decided to skip out tonight. Instead, he'd spend another hour sipping away at his nearly empty cup of soda.

"Ah, Yamaken,"

The squabbling paused for a brief moment before all eyes turned to a familiar stale expression. In the middle of the sidewalk stood a girl with an unfashionable outfit that pained every young man's eyes. Her hair was divided up into two identical side ponytails that rested on a filthy fleece coat. Warm and cozy in her arms, a bag of groceries was held tightly to her chest. The contents of the bag varied, but the corner of a book was seen poking out from a cluster of tomatoes.

Her eyes were even more expressionless than the blonde's which seemed to be a near impossible task, but somehow she managed to pull it off. Her gaze slowly shifted to the smirking girls who were not so discreet about their muffled giggling. However, their snide comments changed tune when Yamaken turned to face the newcomer straight on with the actual intention of communicating with her.

"Yo," he responded flatly. "Mizutani."

"Hey, Study Bug!" The two idiots chorused together, offering an enthused wave before returning their attention back to the disgusted pair of victims.

Yamaken's brow twitched of irritation when he glanced over at the two and how short their attention span had been. Opening his mouth to ask Shizuku what she had been up to, he was almost startled to see that she was already departing when he had turned to speak. Almost. Nothing was unusual about this girl when it related to any social norms. Her complete ignorance on the subject was almost inhuman.

"Hey!" He called out, resting his cup on the table before rising to his feet. Shizuku paused and glanced over her shoulder with her usual blank stare. It was creepy how consistently stone-faced she was—as though she was void of emotion. "What are you doing here? This isn't around your area." In fact, it was fairly distant from where she usually hung out with the two others and... Haru. This territory was polluted by the prestigious students of Kamei Academy.

"I'm here to buy something," she replied, as though it wasn't obvious enough already.

Clicking his tongue with annoyance, Yamaken stuffed his fists into his coat pocket and sped up to Shizuku's side before falling back to her pace. She glanced up at him for a quick glimpse before averting her eyes to the intersection ahead of her.

"Was there something you needed? Oh, perhaps that study aid I promised to give you..." she thoughtfully guessed, but Yamaken was not interested in homework talk. Regardless of the fact that that had been what the study bug associated him with.

"No," he muttered. "I spend too much time with those guys... I might as well waste my time elsewhere."

"I see."

They continued walking in silence; Yamaken's mind raced on things to talk about, while Shizuku's processed trigonometric formulas. Every now and again, Yamaken would have to divert Shizuku onto a safer side of the sidewalk to avoid collisions with any cyclists, carts, produce crates, or even trees. He could tell that her thoughts had been clouded by other things, but he was only praying that they weren't thoughts about that violent idiot.

"Haru."

The sound of her voice mentioning that name snapped him out of his own distracting concerns to scan the vicinity for that fool's face. Nowhere in the crowd did he spot that stupid boy, which left him quite perplexed. It took him only a moment to realize that Shizuku had stopped once again to hold up her vibrating phone. It quivered in her palm with Haru's face blinking on and off in the square screen. Just as she was about to flip it open, Yamaken reached over thoughtlessly and snatched the device from her hand. He declined the call and tucked it deep into her bag of groceries without even realizing.

When it finally registered what he had done, Yamaken found himself staring at Shizuku who simply looked puzzled. She opened her mouth to prod him with a question, but he quickly interjected.

"You don't need any more distractions. You'll get yourself killed if you don't pay attention," he muttered stiffly, to which she paused and nodded her head.

"Yes, you're right. Haru will just ask me where I am and demand that I go him now. I don't understand why he can't be a little more patient... it is beyond my comprehension."

Yamaken paused, his eyes narrowing distantly when she spoke.

He was reluctant to ask, but she had been the first to bring it up. "Patient... do you mean to say you are going to see him now?"

Shizuku nodded and tightened her grasp on the grocery bag. "Mm, yes. Yuzan called and told me he was been visiting," she stated, her eyes glimmering with...excitement? In the meantime, a horrible shock sent a tremor down Yamaken's spine at the mention of the name. A tiny bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head as he wondered what scheme that monster had been concocting in his head which involved Shizuku.

That's when she said it. "He told me he had books for university preparation that I could have if I wanted. I'll be picking them up."

Of course she wouldn't go to see him without bait.

"And what about Haru?"

"Misawa told him that if he ran away, he wouldn't foot the bill for the field trip our classes are taking," she muttered, her disgusted face hinting that she had been peeved.

"Ah." He raised a hand and pressed the cuff of his jacket to the side of his head, wiping away the cold sweat that overcame him. His eyes shifted around the scenery before falling on the pathway ahead of them. "This isn't the way to batting cage."

"It isn't, I'm aware. I need to pick up one more thing before I go." Although she didn't mention it out loud, Shizuku wasn't planning on listening to Yamaken if he attempted to give her directions. More often than not, he seemed to be popping out of alleyways, thickets, and even out of forests with a dazed expression. She didn't believe in his sense of direction.

After walking alongside one another for two more blocks, Shizuku made an abrupt turn into a quaint little bakery that was no bigger than a corner pawn shop. He sighed, the corner of his lips pulling down into a crooked frown as he reluctantly followed after the girl. Stepping inside, he was quite surprised to see that it was well lit and clean, and provided a spacious seating area.

Shizuku was already at the counter, studious eyes scanning the glass case with her groceries sitting on the floor between her legs. Yamaken approached from behind, peering over her shoulder to see the rather cute array of desserts that stood on display. Shizuku pointed to a tray of delectable cakes that were no bigger than small saucers.

Were they for Haru?

"Thank you," she murmured when handed the box. The girl peeked inside before retrieving a cake from the foursome. She turned to Yamaken and extended it to him, gesturing for him to take it.

"What is this?" He asked, confused as to why she—out of all people—would give something away.

"It's a cake. It's for you. It has a vanilla filling, but two of the others have chocolate. Do you want to switch?"

Yamaken reddened slightly, his cheeks tinted a soft pink. He slowly raised his hands so that she could place it into his palms. "No, vanilla is good," he muttered, casting his glance elsewhere from the two maroon gems that stared up at him. Normally, she was never this generous...

"A girl paid me three times what my father earns in an hour for your phone number. I used the rest to buy myself a new study guide." Deadpan as always.

Yamaken almost dropped the cake from how shamelessly she had stated the truth. "Then I'm the one who's actually paying for this!"

"No, she gave me the money because you didn't give it to her." The way she had spoken in such a monotone voice fueled his irritation. That would explain all the phone calls he was receiving the night before. He answered one but the caller had hung up the moment he did. For some odd reason, he had been expecting Shizuku to be the mystery dialer.

After balancing the box carefully on top of her groceries, she swept up the bag and glanced over at the blonde with her usual vacant expression. "I have to go now, Yamaken. Haru is waiting. See you later," she called before swiveling around and stepping out.

That name. That heart squeezing name.

"Oi, Mizutani," he called, just before she exited the store.

She paused at the doors as they slid open, awaiting her next move. She peeked over her shoulder and asked, "What is it?"

In all honesty, he had no idea why he had called out to her. Perhaps it was to somehow stall her, or to just grasp her attention for a moment longer. Either way, the end result would be the same. In the few seconds that she waited, Yamaken desperately thought up of a random question.

"Which cake do you like more?"

He was flustered and unsure of what to say. It was the first time in a long while someone had made him this muddled. He waited patiently, attempting his hide his blushing cheeks while she pondered the thought.

"Ah, I love vanilla cakes," she said thoughtfully. Somehow that comment managed to curl his lips into a smile.

Suddenly, Shizuku raised a hand to her mouth and glanced away toward the ground, a smile scarcely peeking through before she spoke. "But... chocolate is my favourite."

And just like that, his smile faltered as quick as it had come.

"I'm very late, Yamaken. I have to go. Goodbye." She turned and walked out of the store, her footsteps disappearing into the sounds of the late city.

"Chocolate, eh?" He sighed, as he took a seat by the window and raised the cake to his lips.