Haruto ended up buying the sakura stone. It was a bit pricey, but he didn't mind.
The shop attendant, warm and courteous, carefully wrapped the stone for him—placing it in a soft, cherry-blossom-colored box, then sliding it into a neatly folded paper bag.
With both hands, the attendant offered it to him with a smile.
As he stepped out of the store, he glanced down the sidewalk but still saw no sign of Itsuki. He began to wonder if she had only just left her house when they were messaging earlier.
But then, just beyond the sidewalk, a familiar figure caught his eye.
That unmistakable strand of ahoge standing up in her hair made her stand out even in a crowd. The twin star-shaped hairpins were enough to make Haruto lock onto her instantly.
Wearing an off-shoulder white shirt paired with a lake-blue skirt, Itsuki was a picturesque sight walking among the crowd. Meanwhile, his casual outfit didn't attract any attention—quite standard for somewhere like Shinjuku.
At their meeting point, Itsuki scanned the crowd for Haruto but didn't spot him. She frowned slightly and reached for her phone, intending to send a message: "Where are you right n—" but before she could finish typing, she noticed someone step into view.
She instinctively looked up, her eyes traveling up from a pair of familiar legs, until they met Haruto's face.
"How long have you been here?" she asked, a little surprised.
"For a bit. I was just browsing a shop nearby. Today's goal is to check out the bookstore and look through some study guides, right?"
Haruto's gaze paused on her face for only a moment before returning to its usual calm, nonchalant look. His question, so casually delivered, made Itsuki inwardly bite her lip. She had taken time to carefully dress up for this outing, but it seemed he hadn't even noticed.
Did he not see anything different?
She thought back to their school days—Haruto got along reasonably well with the girls in class, but she couldn't recall him ever complimenting any of them.
The sting of disappointment faded somewhat. Meeting his eyes, she gave a small nod.
"Besides the study guides, I need to buy some pens and refills. I've almost run out. And maybe some manuscript paper too."
"Sounds like a solid list. I'm planning to buy a pen as well—mine's on its last leg. And maybe check out any new book releases."
As they made their way toward the elevator, Haruto led the way without hesitation. Itsuki quietly followed behind. The elevator was shared with a few others, so she held back from speaking until they reached their floor and stepped out.
"Hey," she began, "the other day, I heard people talking about your book in class. I haven't read it yet, though. Can we find it here?"
"My book?" Haruto glanced over, a bit surprised by the question. He'd thought talk about it had already faded away.
"It probably wasn't available at first, but it should be now. We can check the popular literature section later. Let's get the study stuff out of the way first."
"Okay."
Though her curiosity burned, Itsuki nodded obediently. Their relationship wasn't the kind where she could act spoiled, so she kept her excitement in check and followed him into the reference books section.
"Have you thought about your future goals?" Haruto asked as they browsed. "Even if it's not urgent now, choosing the right study guides depends a lot on what you want to pursue."
His question caught her off guard. She had been distracted, thinking about how to react when she finally saw his book.
"Sorry, I was zoning out. What were you saying—about the future?"
"By second year, we'll have to decide on career paths. University majors, jobs, that sort of thing. Have you thought about yours?"
Itsuki fell silent. Her brows furrowed slightly as she stared at Haruto's back. Then she looked down and bit her lip.
"If I tell you, will you laugh at me?"
"What?"
"My future goal…"
"Why would I laugh?"
"Because it might sound like I'm just daydreaming. Like it's unrealistic or silly..."
"So what is it?"
She hesitated for a moment longer, cheeks tinged with pink. The whole situation felt like something out of a school-life romance manga. Finally, she whispered:
"A teacher…"
"Hm?"
Haruto leaned closer, his expression soft as he tried to catch her quiet voice.
Avoiding his gaze, Itsuki took a deep breath and said louder, "I want to become a teacher."
"A teacher?" Haruto echoed, visibly surprised. Itsuki, expecting mockery, braced herself and stared at him, eyes wide and defiant.
"Got a problem with that?"
"Not really. Just... unexpected. I thought you'd go for something like a food critic. If you become a teacher, you won't be able to travel the world and taste all kinds of dishes anymore, right?"
Itsuki's face turned red as she puffed her cheeks in protest.
"I never said I wanted to become a food critic!"
Her pouting expression made her look adorably flustered. Haruto's eyes lingered for a second longer before he turned back toward the bookshelves.
"Since you've decided on becoming a teacher, we should focus on education departments at universities. For example, Tokyo Gakugei University has a pretty strong program. The middle school education and social sciences track has a deviation value of of around 65."
"How do you even know all this?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"I considered teaching once. It's a stable career. Government job. But I ended up going for a liberal arts path instead. Hokkaido University of Education has one of the lowest deviation—around 43—for music education."
He didn't clearly remember all the other university departments—only the top choice and the lowest-ranking one stuck in his mind. But now that he knew which university Itsuki wanted to attend and her preferred department, they had a clear direction to work toward.
After wandering through the bookstore for a while, Haruto began picking out reference books that might be useful for her.
"Some of these are more for early prep, but most are just to help you catch up on what we're already covering. You haven't fully mastered the current material, right? Your mock exam results last time weren't exactly satisfactory."
"I didn't expect that… But next time will definitely be better!"
"Then let's start with this one. Finish this first."
He picked up a thick question book and casually dropped it into her arms. Then he turned and continued walking ahead.
Itsuki looked down at the heavy book in her arms and frowned, biting her lip before following him with a slight pout.
They spent nearly an hour in total. By the end, Haruto had selected around ten books for her. Knowing she wasn't struggling financially, he didn't bother limiting the choices based on cost.
Just as they were heading toward a different section of the store, Itsuki finally asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.
"Hey, I've been wondering… what's in that paper bag you're carrying?"
He glanced down at the bag in his hand.
"Oh? You noticed?"
"It's pretty hard not to notice. That bag is huge."
His response made her pause. She looked again at the very obvious bag and then back at Haruto, realizing that he genuinely hadn't thought it was noticeable at all. She felt like she'd gained a new understanding of him.
"I bought a stone from the fossil shop downstairs earlier—before you arrived. It's called a sakura stone. The cut surface looks kind of like a cherry blossom. It's a specialty from Kameoka, in Kyoto Prefecture."
"A sakura stone?"
"Yeah. Can't really show it to you right now, but it's about this thick—" He made a ring with his thumb and index finger. "And the pattern on the surface looks like five flower petals. The pink coloration really resembles a blooming cherry blossom."
He gestured toward her with his hand, and Itsuki tilted her head, trying to picture it, her expression a mix of curiosity and mild confusion.
Haruto didn't mind showing it to her, but there weren't any seats nearby. Besides, this was a bookstore, and other people were around. Pulling the stone out here would feel a bit awkward. So he held off.
"Sakura stone, huh?" she murmured.
"There's more at the fossil shop on the sidewalk downstairs."
"I see. Maybe I'll check it out later. A stone that looks like a cherry blossom… sounds kind of interesting."
"Let's take a look together later, then. But first, let's finish up the rest of our shopping."
"We're done with the reference books. All that's left is pens and refills."
"Right. Let's head over."
Compared to picking out study guides, buying pens was much simpler. They just glanced through the options, tested a few, and picked what they liked. It didn't take them more than ten minutes. He picked a simple black-and-white pen with a clean design. Itsuki's choice, on the other hand, was bright and full of personality—very much a "girl's pen."
Once that was done, they headed over to the popular literature section.
Haruto's goal was to see if any new titles were worth picking up—something to take home and analyze for inspiration. Meanwhile, Itsuki had a very different, much simpler purpose: she just wanted to see his book.
She'd occasionally heard classmates whisper that they had bought it, but no one ever talked much about it in class. That only made her more curious. What kind of story had he written?
"Is it this one?" she asked suddenly.
While he was browsing the shelves, still undecided, Itsuki—who had come with a clear goal—spotted the book right away.
"Angle…" she read. "Yeah, this is it, right?"
Haruto turned to her and saw the book in her hands. His expression shifted into a thoughtful silence.
That was the book he'd sent back to Itomori. He wasn't sure if his mother had finished reading it, or how she would feel once she did. Looking at it now, standing here next to Itsuki, a realization hit him like a quiet wave.
He hadn't thought much when he mailed it. But now…
Now he remembered the scenes in that story involving compensated dating—an ugly, painful part of the narrative.
Would his mother misunderstand?
Would she think he had been involved in something like that?
For the first time in a long while, he wondered whether sending that book home had been a mistake.