"You're telling me you literally crashed into Haruki Sato, and he showed you a secret passage?" Hana's eyes were wide with disbelief as she set down her lunch tray across from Yuki. "The guy who sits in the back row and never talks to anyone?"
Yuki poked at her curry rice, trying to appear casual. "It wasn't a big deal. I was going to be late, and he happened to know a shortcut."
"Not a big deal?" Mei slid onto the bench beside Hana. "Yuki, half the girls in my dorm would trade places with you in a heartbeat."
"He nodded at me in the library yesterday," Yuki said without thinking, then immediately regretted it when both her friends gasped.
"Twice? In two days?" Hana leaned forward, lowering her voice. "That can't be random."
Yuki sighed. She should have known better than to mention it. "It's nothing. Just coincidence."
Mei raised an eyebrow. "With him? I doubt it."
"What do you mean?" Yuki asked, her curiosity piqued despite herself.
Mei glanced around before leaning in closer. "Rin's brother works at that factory with him. Says the managers treat him differently. He redesigned their entire inventory system as a part-timer."
"So he's good with computers," Yuki shrugged. "Lots of people here are."
"Good enough to barely show up to class and still keep his scholarship," Hana added. "Plus all the other stuff people say."
Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"That his family owns some tech company he refused to join. That he lives alone in those old apartments by the station." Hana hesitated. "And something about a girl who transferred last year. Mika something."
Yuki frowned. "I thought you said he keeps to himself."
"He does," Hana confirmed. "That's why everyone talks. Nobody actually knows him."
Yuki thought about the boy she'd encountered twice now. The shadows under his eyes. The precise handwriting on his notes. The way he'd helped her without hesitation, then disappeared before she could properly thank him.
"Maybe there's a reason he stays private," she said quietly.
"Obviously," Mei nodded. "But what reason? Family drama? Secret past? Broken heart?"
"Or maybe he just doesn't like gossip," Yuki suggested, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation. It felt wrong somehow, speculating about someone who wasn't there to defend himself.
"Come on," Hana pouted. "Aren't you even a little curious why Mr. Invisible suddenly appeared in your life twice?"
Before Yuki could answer, a hush fell over their section of the cafeteria. She followed her friends' gazes to see the subject of their conversation walking through the double doors.
Haruki rarely came to the main cafeteria. But what caught Yuki's attention was how differently he carried himself here. His shoulders were tense, his gaze fixed on the floor as he made his way to the vending machines. Gone was the confident stride from earlier that morning.
He felt the stares, she realized. And they bothered him.
"He looks tired," Yuki murmured, more to herself than her friends.
"Twelve-hour night shifts will do that," Hana replied, watching him. "At least that's what I heard."
Haruki bought something from the vending machine, then turned to leave. As he did, his eyes swept across the room, pausing briefly when they met Yuki's. For a moment, she thought he might nod again, but his expression remained unreadable as he continued toward the exit.
"He totally saw you," Mei whispered excitedly.
"He looked at everyone," Yuki corrected, though she wasn't entirely convinced. There had been something in that brief glance.
"You should go talk to him," Hana suggested. "You're the only one who's had an actual conversation with him this term."
"Two sentences isn't a conversation," Yuki protested. "And he clearly wants to be left alone."
But even as she said it, Yuki found herself rising from her seat. "I'll be right back. I forgot napkins."
She ignored her friends' knowing smiles as she made her way toward the exit Haruki had just used. She told herself she just wanted to properly thank him for his help that morning. That was all.
The hallway outside the cafeteria was empty when she stepped through the doors. Yuki looked both ways, disappointed but not surprised. He moved quickly, and she'd hesitated too long.
She was about to return to her friends when she noticed a folded piece of paper on the floor near the wall. Curious, she picked it up. It was a receipt from the campus bookstore, dated that morning. On the back, written in now-familiar precise handwriting, was a single line:
Roof access, science building. Door code: 4721.
Yuki stared at the numbers, her heart beating faster. Was this meant for her? Had he dropped it accidentally? Or was it completely unrelated to her at all?
She carefully folded the receipt and slipped it into her pocket, unsure what to do with this potential invitation. The science building was on the other side of campus. She had a class in twenty minutes, and another right after that.
But as she returned to her lunch table, Yuki found herself calculating how quickly she could reach the science building if she skipped her afternoon study session in the library.
"Find him?" Mei asked with a knowing smile as Yuki sat back down.
"No," Yuki replied, touching the folded paper in her pocket. "But I might know where to look."