Author Note: Time for something lighter. With this chapter TsuguSayo will be present in this fic, though it is a side ship.
The weather had warmed considerably since the start of the school year. That was good, since Sayo's school was fairly large. She spent a lot of time each day walking around it.
Crossing campus with her guitar slung over one shoulder was a pleasant affair. She didn't even need to wear a coat now, especially on sunny days like today. A knee length skirt and short sleeved top were perfect for this weather.
Most of Sayo's classes were near each other, but her ensemble class was on the opposite end of campus. It was pretty close to where Rinko's were held, though not in the same building.
She had just left that class and was walking back towards the other side of campus. It was her last one for the day, ending around 3:00, so she was headed to the subway that would take her home. A large number of other students walked around her, all headed in different directions.
This afternoon and evening were earmarked for personal practice. Sayo planned to spend a couple hours on her composition work, then on practicing for Roselia. She had missed a couple practices recently due to her ensemble class demanding so much time, so she needed to put in extra practice time.
Sayo had almost reached the edge of campus, and was looking both ways to cross one of the last streets, when she spotted a familiar flash of brown hair in the distance. It belonged to a young woman, who was too far away to see properly. Another person stood next to her, with much lighter hair and a large piece of paper in their hands. They stood on a street corner, standing still as students moved around them.
That almost looked like, no, it couldn't be. What could they possibly be doing here? Sayo squinted to try and see them better. It was no good, she was too far away.
Sayo quickly checked again for cars before crossing the street. She turned towards the two figures when she reached the other side, having to cross another street to even get close to them.
As Sayo neared, her suspicions were confirmed. The two teens wore very familiar uniforms, ones Sayo had seen every day on her sister and at Roselia practice. Now she could identify them as two members of Afterglow, Tsugumi and Moca.
Sayo wondered why they were here; when she last talked to Tsugumi, she hadn't said anything about coming to campus. She hadn't been to Hazawa café in a while, due to how busy her schedule had become.
Tsugumi had a hand over her eyes, likely to keep the sun out of them, as she looked towards the center of campus. Moca had her head down, eyes locked onto the paper she was holding.
When Sayo reached the final street between them, one of them finally noticed her. Moca's eyes flicked up from the map, landing on Sayo when she was waiting to cross. A smirk grew on her face as she lightly elbowed Tsugumi, taking one hand off her paper to point in Sayo's direction.
Tsugumi followed her finger, beaming as her eyes landed on Sayo. She raised one hand to wave, an overly enthusiastic gesture. Sayo lifted her hand slightly to return it.
Moca leaned over and said something to Tsugumi, which Sayo was too far away to hear. Tsugumi's cheeks flushed pink as she turned towards Moca, her reply also inaudible.
The cars finally cleared, and Sayo was able to cross the street. "Hazawa-san, Aoba-san," she greeted them as she approached.
"Hi Sayo-san!"
"Fancy seeing you here." Moca said as she raised her eyebrows, as smug as ever. They both had their schoolbags with them, which made sense considering the time of day.
"That should be my line." Sayo countered, looking between the pair. "What brings you to the university?"
Tsugumi was still smiling brightly. "We're looking at schools for next year."
That was a surprise; Sayo hadn't thought Tsugumi would study music in college. It wasn't something they had talked about though, so perhaps she was wrong. "Do you want to study piano?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"I'm not sure yet, I'm keeping my options open." A frank and honest answer, the kind Sayo expected from Tsugumi.
"Moca-chan's too lazy for studying." Moca drawled, chuckling at the end.
Tsugumi quickly turned towards her. "That's not true!" She insisted, crossing her arms. "And you know it!" Sayo was inclined to agree with her; she had heard Moca play guitar and knew the other teen was quite talented.
"I mean…" Moca shifted her weight, bringing the paper up in front of her face. From this distance, Sayo could now see that it was a map. Moca appeared to be holding it upside down. "Didn't we come here to see where Sayo-san goes to school?"
"Moca-chan!" Tsugumi's face grew red as she snatched the map from the snickering teen. Her voice came down to a quiet level, but Sayo could still hear her. "You said you wouldn't." Her eyes flicked once towards Sayo, then back to Moca. Moca just shrugged, her grin larger than before.
Sayo wasn't sure why Tsugumi seemed embarrassed; she was happy that others wanted to see her school. Especially Tsugumi, whose opinion she held in high regard.
University hadn't all been smooth sailing, but Sayo was enjoying her time there so far. "I can show you around, if you'd like." The words came out before Sayo could truly comprehend what she was suggesting. It was on impulse, a rash desire to help.
Tsugumi, who looked like she was about to strangle Moca a moment before, now turned back to Sayo with a completely different demeanor. Her eyes practically glimmered with excitement, an infectious eagerness that gave Sayo a funny feeling in her chest. "That would be amazing!" This meant that Sayo would be delaying her practice time, but when Tsugumi looked at her like that it didn't matter. Practice could wait.
"We were lost anyway." Moca admitted casually, taking the map back from Tsugumi and folding it up.
Tsugumi relinquished it without a fight. "Just a little."
"We can start here then, if you're ready." The other two nodded that they were. Sayo looked around, to make sure she knew where she was. This street corner was near the edge of campus, close to where Sayo had most of her classes. "There are about thirty buildings on campus, which includes classrooms and dormitories." Sayo picked a direction, back towards the center of campus, to start walking.
Tsugumi walked next to her with Moca trailing behind, listening as she talked about the structures. "These two buildings are for guitar students." Sayo pointed out where her classes were held as they passed by. "I spend most of my time here."
"What other kinds of classes do you take?" Tsugumi asked. The trio continued to walk as they talked.
"General requirements and ensemble." Sayo enjoyed ensemble, but the opposite was true of her general requirements class. There was one a semester in traditional school topics, with math being her current class. It was her least favorite class by far.
"Can you learn how to become bread here?" Moca asked a follow up question, though Sayo doubted its sincerity.
"No, you can't." She replied in a flat tone. "This is a music school, not a bakery."
Tsugumi giggled at that, while Moca rolled her eyes and said, "Riiiight."
"I'm thinking about studying baking, after high school I mean." Tsugumi brought the topic back on track. "Or training to be a chef."
"That's a good goal." Sayo replied, seeing that as a logical career path for Tsugumi. Those skills couldn't be studied at this university, but there were plenty of excellent culinary schools in Tokyo. She'd be well equipped to take over the family business, or maybe even open her own. "I'm confident that you'd be great at both." Sayo said that from a point of personal belief, from her own experiences with Tsugumi's excellent baked goods.
Tsugumi smiled softly, a small but impactful expression. "Thank you, Sayo-san. That means a lot to me."
Sayo couldn't help but smile back, her chest warm from something that wasn't the spring air. This had been happening more and more often, when she spent time with Tsugumi. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she welcomed the feeling.
"Ahem." Moca cleared her throat, snapping Sayo out of her thoughts. "What's that building for?" She pointed towards one of the taller buildings, that had a large number of cars parked in front of it.
"One of the dormitories." Sayo said after checking the name of the building. "The cafeteria is located here as well."
The tour continued with scattered conversation, as they passed other buildings. Sayo tried to share interesting information, while Tsugumi hung on to every word. Moca was a less attentive participant, but she at least didn't get lost. Sayo made sure to point out where Rinko's classes were when they passed by.
It was good to catch up with Tsugumi, to talk about the café, the strains of being a third year, and what university was like. Moca contributed a little to the conversation, mostly with quips and one liners.
After about an hour, they had finished the tour. They had made a loop of campus, walking in a large square around the edges of it.
When the reached the street corner that they started on, they got ready to part ways.
"Thank you so much!" Tsugumi said enthusiastically. "This was a great tour!" She sounded sincere, and Sayo believed her.
"You're welcome." It was getting close to 5:00 now, but Sayo didn't regret staying. She had enjoyed the tour as well. "Come visit anytime."
"Careful~" Moca smirked. "She might take you up on that."
Tsugumi ignored her, choosing to instead reply to Sayo. "Will I be seeing you at the café?"
That was a good question. "I'd like to, but it's been tough getting away."
Tsugumi's expression fell, sending a wave of guilt through Sayo. "I understand, let me know if you're in the area." She glanced down, breaking eye contact. "It would be nice to see you." Her last words were quieter, softer than the ones before.
"I'll try my best." Sayo knew she couldn't commit to a certain day or time, but she hated seeing that discouraged look on Tsugumi's face. "And I'll let you know."
This brought a small smile back to Tsugumi's lips. "Looking forward to it!" She stepped back, waving with one hand. "See you around!"
"Bye bye." Moca turned to walk away as well, calling her goodbye over her shoulder.
Sayo waved back as the pair retreated, watching them leave campus. She had to leave soon too, to go home and rehearse. She walked towards the subway station, with the conversation she just had stuck in her mind.
Once on the subway, she looked at her calendar. There had to be a good time slot next week to visit the Hazawa café.
Even if there wasn't, Sayo was going to make one.