4.
She still looks like Rin.
Though she insisted her name was pronounced Kou, he insisted on thinking of her as Gou. And so did Nagisa, which was why they had spent most of the time bickering and Makoto had given up on trying to mediate. Relief was only found when he had told Nagisa he could go ahead to Haruka's, and that he would catch up. Gou seemed okay with being asked to wait, and was looking up at him expectantly.
He smiled, taking his phone out of his pocket. "Do you think you could give me Rin's number? If it's not too much trouble."
Her eyes widened, and her hands fumbled with her bag. "Of course! He might not answer but… maybe you'll have a better chance than me."
She was still small, as small as Nagisa actually, and still wore her hair in a ponytail. He looked at it for a moment, and marveled at how long it had gotten. Now that he had placed a name to the face, he could remember the much tinier ponytail he had spotted back in middle school. Maybe she had never cut it; her hair probably reached the middle of her back by now.
It must be heavy.
Her phone was pink, which didn't surprise him in the least. "You used to have a dress that color, didn't you?"
"Ah, well," she hesitated, and Makoto regretted that he had spoken without thinking. She looked uncomfortable. "You remember that kind of stuff?"
He laughed, desperately hoping he could backpedal. "Well, maybe I'm remembering wrong. We didn't see each other that often."
She nodded, and he was grateful that they could focus on their phones instead of each other. Her voice didn't sound different when she recited Rin's number.
He smiled, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Thank you. I hope he answers."
She sighed, clutching her phone in her hand. "So do I."
The waves below crashed against the rocks, and they both glanced over though neither of them could see the rocks below. He wasn't sure how to best end the meeting; it seemed like it would be too abrupt to just say goodbye and walk away, especially after he had made their conversation so awkward.
"About before—"
"No! I mean, it's okay! You're right, I did have a dress that color. I just didn't realize… because we didn't see each other often…" she trailed off and he didn't know what else to do but nod. Then she smiled and met his eyes. "Is it okay if I ask for your number too?"