Clara walked confidently ahead, occasionally glancing at the directions Aaron had given her earlier. "It's this way."
Eris followed without complaint, at first. After the third turn, she started looking around. "Are you sure?"
"Of course."
They turned left. Then right. Then left again. Eris's suspicion grew with every corner until she finally stopped walking. "Clara."
"Hmm?"
"Are you sure we're even in the right area?"
Clara stopped and looked at the street around them. The shops. The road ahead. "Aaron said it was somewhere around here."
"That's not an answer."
"It is if you believe in the general concept of an area."
Eris stared at her. "That's not how directions work."
Clara ignored the comment and continued walking.
A few minutes later, Eris stopped again. "Wait. Didn't we pass that pharmacy already?"
Clara looked at the pharmacy. Then behind them. "Did we?"
"Yes."
"I think that was a different pharmacy."
"There's only one pharmacy."
Clara looked at the sign again. "It looks different from this direction."
Eris turned to face her fully. "How can a pharmacy look different just because we're walking toward it from another direction?"
Clara opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
She thought for a moment. "I don't know."
"Fantastic."
"Look," Clara said, crossing her arms, "Aaron's directions weren't exactly a detailed map."
"You said you remembered the route."
"I remember the general route."
"We've walked in a circle."
"We were exploring."
"We were lost."
"We were temporarily exploring."
Eris gave her a flat look. "Lost."
Clara sighed. "Fine. Maybe slightly lost."
They kept walking anyway, until Clara stopped beneath a shop sign and tilted her head. "Aaron said to turn somewhere around here."
"Somewhere?"
"Left or right. I don't remember which." She pointed confidently down the left street. "This way."
"Why?"
"Aaron mentioned a narrow street."
"This one isn't narrow."
"It becomes narrow farther ahead."
"How do you know?"
Clara hesitated. "It feels like the kind of street that becomes narrow."
Eris sighed and followed her.
Several storefronts later, Clara stopped again. "That sign looks familiar."
"You said the last one looked familiar too."
"This one looks more familiar." She stepped closer and squinted. "Aaron mentioned a shop with a red sign."
"That sign is blue."
"Maybe he said blue."
"You just said red."
"I might have remembered the color incorrectly." She turned away from it. "Nothing important."
"Clara."
"Fine." She turned around properly. "I don't remember much beyond the café being somewhere in this area."
Eris looked at her in silence.
Clara smiled, awkward. "But we're close."
"Based on what?"
Clara pointed down another street. "Instinct."
"Your instinct walked us past the same pharmacy twice."
"That pharmacy is very easy to confuse."
"It has the same sign."
"From this direction, it looks different."
Eris rubbed her forehead. "We already established that it doesn't."
They tried the next street. And the one after that. Eventually Clara stopped, pointed ahead, and said, "There!" with the confidence of someone who had found exactly what they were looking for.
Eris looked. "That's a bakery."
Clara froze. "Oh."
"You were guessing."
"I was making an educated guess."
"Based on?"
Clara looked at the bakery window for a long moment. "The general appearance."
Eris said nothing, turned around, and started retracing their steps. Clara followed without argument this time.
Another street. Another corner. Another row of shops. And then, without any fanfare at all, Clara stopped.
"Wait."
Eris looked at her. "What now?"
"Look." Clara pointed toward a narrow storefront tucked between two larger buildings.
A simple sign hung above the entrance.
Maccha Café.
"I found it!" Clara said.
Eris looked at the sign.
Then at Clara. "We walked past this place twice."
Clara's triumphant expression froze. "Details."
Eris ignored her because her eyes remained fixed on the sign.
Maccha Café.
For a moment, a strange thought crossed her mind.
So it really exists.
Her expression shifted slightly.
Two days ago, Tyler had somehow known that their farewell party would be held here.
But at that time, nobody had even decided on a location.
Eris had found it strange then.
And now Aaron had mentioned the exact same café.
She looked at the sign again.
That's too much of a coincidence.
The thought lingered, but Eris kept it to herself.
Instead, she followed Clara toward the entrance.
---
A small bell rang as Clara pushed the door open. The atmosphere inside immediately felt different from the street. Warm wooden furniture, small decorative plants, and wide windows that let the afternoon light spread naturally across the room. It had a modern Eastern countries influence blended with a traditional café aesthetic, comfortable without trying too hard.
Eris looked around slowly. "It's nicer than I expected."
Clara nodded. "Yeah."
An attendant approached with a polite smile. "Welcome." He gestured toward a nearby table. "This way, please."
Eris spoke before he could lead them there. "Excuse me. One more person will be joining us. Could we have a table for three?"
"Of course." He led them to a slightly larger table and set down the menu cards. "Take your time. Orders can be placed at the counter whenever you're ready."
"Thank you." They both settled into their seats.
For approximately three seconds, Clara remained still. Then her eyes went wide and she leaned forward. "Eris. Look over there."
Eris turned. At the back of the café, behind the regular seating area, was a lounge. Even from their table, it was clearly larger than expected.
Clara sat up straighter. "That's huge."
Eris studied it from where she sat. The lounge was set slightly apart from the main café, separated by a low partition. Several tables were arranged along its walls, leaving a wide open area in the center. Comfortable seating lined the edges of the space, and at the far end, a modest stage or raised platform held what appeared to be a piano and a couple of microphones. Guitars and other instruments were arranged along the adjacent wall.
"There's an open area in the middle," Clara said.
"I see it."
"That could be used for dancing."
"Probably."
"Or singing. Or games."
"Hmm."
Clara pressed her hands together. "And there's a piano. And microphones. And guitars."
"Clara."
"And string instruments. And..."
"Stop listing everything."
She dropped her hands. "Sorry." She kept staring, though. "This is exactly what I was hoping for."
Eris couldn't help a slight smile. "It's looking promising."
Clara immediately turned toward her. "Right?" She gestured toward the lounge. "Imagine everyone here. Thirty-two students."
Eris was already thinking through it, watching the space without moving from her seat. The tables along the walls looked movable, but she had no way to know whether the staff allowed rearrangements, and the lounge itself was clearly a reserved area. Whatever she worked out, she'd have to work out from here.
She counted the tables she could see. Seven along the walls, each capable of seating four, maybe five if people moved together. That was roughly twenty-eight, plus the chairs already placed between them. If a portion of the class stayed in the main seating area and the rest used the lounge, the numbers might balance out. There were also stacked chairs visible near one wall, which meant the café could accommodate more than was immediately obvious.
The open space in the center was the more important question. If it stayed clear, it would give the class room to move without crowding the seated areas. If someone decided to drag chairs into the middle, that would disappear fast.
"How many people does the lounge hold, do you think?" Clara asked.
"Based on what I can see from here, around Thirty comfortably. More if people are willing to stand for parts of it." Eris looked at the entrance to the lounge, which was open but clearly designated. "That's a reserved area."
"Can we reserve it?"
"That's what we'd need to find out."
Clara looked at the lounge again. "If we could use both the lounge and part of the main café, we'd have more than enough room."
Eris nodded slowly. "And if the instruments are available to guests, that handles the entertainment question without us having to bring anything."
"Exactly." Clara turned back to her. "So what do you think? Can it work?"
Eris was quiet for a moment. She looked at the afternoon light crossing the lounge floor, the comfortable chairs, the piano sitting undisturbed at the back. She thought about thirty students filling the space, the noise that would come with them, the conversations and arguments and someone inevitably mishandling something they'd been told not to touch.
Then she thought about what the alternative looked like, and set that aside.
"If the lounge can be reserved and the staff are willing to work with a larger group," Eris said, "then yes. It could work."
Clara's face lit up. "Then we found the place."
"We found a possibility."
"A very good possibility."
Eris didn't disagree.
The menu was better organized than either of them expected not just a list, but sections: spicy dishes, quick bites, mains, sweets, drinks, café specials, each with a line or two describing what was in it.
"They have a lot," Clara said.
"That's what happens when a café tries to cover half the continent."
"Not a bad thing."
"Didn't say it was."
The spicy section came first, and Clara slowed down immediately.
"Mapo Tofu with Rice." She read the description under it. "Sanxian-style. Tofu, minced meat, fermented bean paste, chili oil."
"V₣42."
Clara looked up. "You're checking the price before the food?"
"Of course."
"We're not buying a house."
"Doesn't mean I stop looking at prices."
Clara laughed and kept reading spicy Sanxian fried chicken for V₣46, kimchi fried rice for V₣39, tantan ramen for V₣44.
"That ramen sounds good too."
Eris gave her a look and turned back to her own card.
Quick bites came next gyoza, spring rolls, Sanxian corn dogs, karaage, vegetable bao.
"Gyoza, V₣28."
"Good for sharing."
"Karaage, V₣32."
"Also good for sharing."
"Are you planning to order the whole menu?" Eris asked.
"I'm observing."
"Enthusiastically."
"It's a skill."
They moved through the mains teriyaki chicken rice, ramen, bibimbap, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, a handful of rice bowls until Eris stopped on one line.
"Chicken Katsu Don." She read the description. "Breaded cutlet, rice, egg, onion, savory sauce. V₣45."
"That sounds good."
The sweets section pulled Clara in fast maccha cheesecake, maccha mochi, dorayaki, red bean pancakes. Every section carried the same thread: dishes pulled from across Sanxian culture, some with clear roots in the regions next door.
Then she reached the drinks, and her whole expression shifted.
"Oh."
"What?"
"They have exclusive maccha drinks."
"Exclusive, that's something new."
"No look." She turned the card toward Eris. Hot maccha latte, iced maccha latte, maccha frappe, maccha matcha tea, Borean honey citron tea, lychee iced tea. At the bottom, under Café Specials, a signature maccha cream latte for V₣32.
Clara's eyes didn't move off it. "That one."
"You don't even know what it tastes like."
"That's the point of trying it."
"There's a maccha dessert set too," Eris said, scanning further down.
Clara's eyes went wide.
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking about it."
"Considering the possibility."
"We are not ordering a dessert set before lunch."
Clara slumped back. "Fine." Then, after a beat: "I like this place."
"The variety's useful."
"Useful how?"
"Think about the class."
Clara understood immediately thirty-two students with thirty-two different opinions on spice, on price, on what counted as a proper meal. A menu this wide meant nobody had to fight over one fixed set of options.
"Drinks, desserts, quick bites, real meals," Clara said.
"And the room."
"And the instruments."
"And apparently enough food to survive an argument about food."
Clara grinned. "We're getting closer."
"We still need to ask about the reservation. The price for a group this size. Whether we can touch the instruments. How long we're allowed to stay. Whether the tables can be moved."
"You're already making a checklist, aren't you?"
Eris didn't answer, which was answer enough.
Clara laughed. "Of course you are." She looked back down at the menu. "Let's order."
"All right."
Clara tapped the spicy section. "This one, Mapo tofu"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You can actually eat that? It's the spicy one."
"We have to try," Clara said, with the confidence of someone about to make a mistake.
"That's not an answer."
"It's been a long time since I had food from Sanxia."
"That doesn't mean your tolerance improved."
"I'll survive."
"That's what people say right before they don't."
Clara laughed. "I'll be fine."
Eris sighed. "Okay. But don't regret it."
She tapped her own choice. "Chicken katsu don."
"Oh, those are good."
"You've had it?"
"No. But I've had something close." Clara scanned the description again. "This place looks like it does it right, though."
"That's why I ordered it."
"Fair enough." Clara tapped the drinks section. "And let's get the specials."
"The matcha ones?"
"Yes."
"Which?"
"The signature."
Eris considered it, then nodded. "Fine."
"Good."
They closed their menus.