Saturday was uneventful, aside from Haruna and her family going out to eat at their favorite restaurant. On a Sunday afternoon, Haruna lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling, contemplating what she should do that didn't involve spending the rest of the day indoors. She settled on stopping by the local bookstore. With that in mind, she tied on her favorite red ribbon before leaving and heading downstairs.

Her mom was on the couch watching t. v while her dad sat by the table reading a newspaper with a cup of tea in one hand.

''I'm going to the bookstore,'' Haruna announced.

''Okay. Be safe, dear.'' Kaori said.

Shinjiro looked up from his paper and offered, ''I can drive you there if you want,''

''It's fine, Dad. I'll walk,'' She declined. The bookstore wasn't far, and besides, she felt like stretching her legs. ''Anything good in the paper?''

''Our team lost. Again.''

''Not good?''

''Not good at all.''

Haruna put on her shoes and left. She arrived at her destination after a five-minute walk. Haruna inquired of the middle-aged lady behind the counter whether they have a certain book in stock that she was eager to get. They did, fortunately. She left the store after a few minutes of browsing the shelves and could not find any other books that really piqued her interest.

Well, at least I got the one I wanted.

Wanting to make the most of what was a nice and warm day, Haruna figured a stroll through the park would do her some good. The sound of children yelling and laughing flooded her ears as she went through the park's entrance gates and continued up the pathway. Haruna stopped to browse and settled for a bag of strawberry-flavored jelly sweets.

There were many people in the park, not surprising given the day and time. Children flooded the playground equipment. Adults sat and watched over their kids while others walked their dogs.

As she continued walking, Haruna noticed a girl sitting on a nearby bench reading a book. At first glance, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the girl, save for the strange object sticking out of her back.

Haruna stopped dead in her tracks. ''Shinonome?''

She could hardly recognize her classmate. Her usual school uniform was replaced with a lavender-colored T-shirt and a long beige skirt. Not only that but her hair was tied into a short ponytail. Haruna thought Nano's new appearance made her look very mature.

Smiling slightly, she went over to greet her, but Nano seemed so engrossed in her reading that she did not even look up when Haruna was standing right next to her, something she found very amusing.

''Good book?''

''Ahh!'' The sudden sound of Haruna's voice made Nano squeal and jump slightly, causing the book to slip out of her hands and land between her feet. She looked up and saw Haruna standing before her, eyes suddenly filled with recognition. ''Annaka-san?''

Despite being taken aback by her reaction, Haruna raised her hands a bit and said,

''I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.''

''It… it's fine,'' Nano said as Haruna picked up the book and handed it to her.'' Thank you. I guess I was so into my reading, I sort of blocked everything else out.''

Haruna smiled at that. ''Yeah, I do that too sometimes. Do you come here often?''

Nano nodded. ''Sometimes, when the weather's nice like today. I thought I would catch up on some reading. And you?''

''I was at the local bookstore earlier to get a novel, then took a stroll through the park. That's when I noticed you sitting here.''

''Oh? What kind of novel?'' Nano asked, interested.

''The Poet's Plight by Oliver Stein, it's the third in a trilogy.'' Haruna said and showed her the book.

Nano's eyes widened. She turned her book and showed its cover title to Haruna. ''I'm reading it right now!''

The coincidence pleasantly surprised Haruna, and she laughed. ''Really? That's great!.''

''Have you read the first two?'' Nano asked.

''Yep. I love his first book, and his second, though I don't think the ending was very good.''

Nano nodded in agreement. ''Me too. I always thought it felt a bit rushed.''

''Have you read his other book, 'The Honest Heart'?''

''No. Is it good?'' Nano asked.

Haruna smiled. ''Yeah, you read it if you get the chance to. I even heard he's planning to make that a trilogy too!''

Nano patted the space next to her and Haruna sat down. The girls discussed their favorite books, writers, and which ones they recommended the others should read. They turned out to have similar tastes in genres. Haruna enjoyed talking with another book aficionado.

She took the bag of sweets from her satchel, opened and handed it to Nano, ''Want some?''

''Oh, thank you!'' Nano graciously accepted a handful and popped one into her mouth.

''I just realized something,'' Nano said. ''I think this might be the first time we've seen each other outside of school.''

Haruna thought about it for a moment and realized she was correct. ''You're right. I didn't even recognize you without the uniform until I saw your…, uh, you know.''

Nano looked confused for a moment, then caught on to what she was referring to and her cheeks slightly reddened, probably feeling self-conscious.

Haruna felt awful for bringing it up, so she smiled and added, "I really shouldn't be the one to say anything like that while I have this on my head." She showed her ribbon. "Doesn't it make me stick out like a sore thumb?"

Nano let out a pleasant giggle.''Kind of, but I think it looks nice on you.''

''Oh, um, thanks. Well, since we're on the topic, I like what you did with your hair.''

''Really?'' Nano raised her hand to her hair. "I don't normally wear it this way, but I'm growing fond of it."

"Hey, I'm a member of the school's book club. We have meetings every Monday after school. If you're interested, you should stop by." Haruna proposed it.

Nano's eyes widened. ''The school has a book club? That's fantastic! I'll definitely look into it!"

Haruna was delighted to hear the girl's excitement in her voice. The book club wasn't particularly popular at school, with only five members. Six if you count Ms. Sakurai, their club advisor. Another member would undoubtedly be a nice and refreshing change, especially someone with a strong interest in literature like Nano.

With that, the girl said goodbye to each other and before going their separate ways, Nano promised to visit the club the next day.