Thank you so much to you guys who've reviewed and favorited this story recently (as in the past two months haha)! I just haven't had much time (or motivation) to write these days, but since I've already written five chapters ahead, I thought I might as well post this… L-Long time no see, I guess…? :)

Twenty-Twenty Hindsight

"-sst. Psst," someone hisses in his ear. "Shintaro, wake up."

Shintaro cracks an eye open, and immediately regrets it when the sun's rays mercilessly attack through the window. His brain slowly connects the voice to Kano, and it slowly registers that the longer strands of Kano's fringe are tickling his cheek. Shintaro wants to swat them away, but he also wants to hide under the covers and sleep forever; and as much as he wants to do both, multitasking isn't his thing.

"I don't have work until the afternoon," Shintaro mumbles instead.

"Sorry to shine on your dark parade," Kano says, pushing himself off the edge of Shintaro's bed. "It's already past noon."

Shintaro bolts up and squints at the clock on his desk. 12:28 PM. He also checks his phone – Friday, 12:27 PM – and still no Ene.

"I'm so used to being woken up by you being woken up by Ene," Kano tells him. "It's scary how quiet it was this morning."

"When I don't need her, she's everywhere I look, talking non-stop," Shintaro sighs. "When I do need her, she's gone without even saying anything."

He's surprised when Kano doesn't ask about Ene, instead giving Shintaro a knowing smile and telling him to hurry up or he'll be late.

He carelessly picks the first of each pile from his clothes drawers, and heads to the common bathroom to try to freshen up. Shintaro slaps himself, and pats his hair down in an attempt to tame his bedhead. But he notices his eyebags that managed to become even darker overnight, and Shintaro deems himself a lost cause.

When he returns to their room, Kano looks him up and down, and grins. "You look quite dead today. Say hi to Seto for me!"

"Screw off," Shintaro mutters, slamming the door behind him.

The hot sun beats down at him on the way, and he's never been happier to enter the cool air-conditioned Starbucks café. Seto's the only one behind the counter, and he tells Shintaro that Professor Azami is at a lecture, so they're the only ones manning the café for a few hours. Shintaro briefly wonders how many shifts Seto actually takes in a week, since the boy seems to always be manning the café.

There are barely any customers – only three students on their laptops, and the girl in the corner – so Shintaro allows himself a short break. He uses the chance to finally check the chalkboard on the wall, and as Shintaro walks towards it, he can feel the gaze of the girl in the corner. He almost freezes up – the girl isn't glaring at him, really, but Shintaro feels uncomfortably like an animal in a zoo. He tries his best to block her out and focus instead on the chalkboard filled with messages.

Amidst the initials within hearts, the names under umbrellas, and quick doodles, Shintaro sees 'LIES' written in deep red chalk, with too many arrows pointing to it.

"Interesting, isn't it?" someone says to his right. Shintaro turns and is surprised to see Ayano, who gives him a small smile. "My dad used to have all his lectures at the Hexagon, and he says if he walked there at night he's sure he would be possessed."

Shintaro doesn't know why she's telling him that, and he doesn't ask. Some people just like hearing their own voices, he reasons.

"Anyway, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Ayano asks him. "How's Tono?"

"He's better now," Shintaro answers. He has a momentary stroke of genius, and he turns to Ayano so quickly that he almost gets whiplash. Ayano flinches.

"W-What is it?" she asks.

"For… For that time with Tono, free drink," he stutters. Good going, Shintaro, he chides himself. Very eloquent. "I mean, i-if you're buying a drink, it'll be on me. For that time you drove me to your mom's clinic."

"It's okay, you don't have to!" Ayano is quick to refuse. But Shintaro insists, because it'll eat away at his guilt if he lets this one go, and Ayano finally – thankfully – agrees.

She picks a caramel frappuccino, far too sweet and exactly the type of drink Shintaro expected her to get. In the trade-off, he also manages to exchange numbers with Ayano. He's not exactly sure how it happened, but he's sure he heard Seto whistle; and when he checks his phone after his shift, her number is in his contact list, right under Tateyama Ayaka.

Ene would be proud if she saw him now.