When I stepped into the living room, after a short while, Nanami-san arrived. She offered to make tea, so I watched how she prepared it.
“You could have just sat down, you know.”
“Nanami-san, you seem pretty skilled at making tea.”
“I just learned it as part of etiquette training. But it turned out to be useful.”
Hinata’s words came back to me: “If you’re Nanami.”
I remembered a classmate once referring to Hinata as part of one of the “Three Great Families.” Perhaps Hinata’s attempt to recruit Nanami-san had something to do with her family’s background.
We moved to the table in the living room and sat on the sofa. Nanami-san sat next to me, watching as I took a sip of the tea.
“How is it?”
“Wow, it’s delicious. This is the first time I’ve thought tea could taste this good.”
“I can also make coffee. Akizuki-senpai said I could drink whatever I want.”
Nanami-san calls Akizuki-san by her first name—and she calls her “senpai,” which means…
“So, have you known Akizuki-san for a long time?”
“Yes, because of our families’ connections.”
“Families’ connections… are you childhood friends?”
“No, just conversations here and there at gatherings. Senpai used to talk to me a lot.”
Knowing how friendly Akizuki-san is, I could imagine her approaching Nanami-san often.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was just trying to imagine what the two of you were like back then.”
“My height shot up during middle school. Before that is a secret.”
Nanami-san showed me a photo on her phone—Akizuki-san in a school uniform, and a slightly younger-looking Nanami-san standing beside her.
“You’re staring too much.”
“Oh… s-sorry, I couldn’t help but look closely.”
“You shouldn’t look at Senpai that much. She’s been like that since forever…”
Even without asking what “since forever” means, I could tell from the picture. Akizuki-senpai had her arm around Nanami-san’s shoulder for the selfie, and both of them, with their impressive figures, made the photo look pretty… dense.
(Nanami-san was in middle school in this picture… I shouldn’t think about this.)
“Oh.”
Suddenly, Nanami-san looked down at her feet, where the cat Rin was rubbing up against her.
“If they take magic from their owner, they don’t get hungry. Not that they don’t eat at all, though.”
“Should I give her some magic too?”
“Yes. Do you like cats, Fujiwara-kun?”
“I like all animals, I guess.”
“…I love cats the most.”
With that, Nanami-san picked up Rin—the cat’s kneading paws pressing into her chest, as only a cat could get away with.
“She’s so cute. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to keep her.”
“Well, I guess it was meant to be… What do the others think about you having a cat?”
“There are some second-year students here, but the third-years are away on a ‘Dungeon Camp.'”
“A dungeon camp… So that’s a thing.”
“I don’t know much about it, but I think I’ll get to go when I’m in my third year.”
Nanami-san brought her tea cup to her lips, gently brushing her hair aside, a gesture that captivated me for a moment.
“I want to go together. I hope we stay close until then.”
“Eh… n-no, as far as I’m concerned, I’d get on my knees if that’s what it takes to maintain this friendship…”
“I think as long as we can take it easy like this sometimes, it’ll be fine.”
Though I was the one panicking, time seemed to flow gently for Nanami-san. I wished I could become as calm as she was.
As I pondered this, Nanami-san suddenly looked at me with serious eyes.
“When something like today happens again, I want to be able to protect you, Fujiwara-kun. For the entire time until we’re third-years.”
“…Thank you. Let’s work together to make that happen.”
It wasn’t about who would protect whom.
We’d challenge the dungeon together. What that meant was—
“Will you make me your companion, Fujiwara-kun?”
We hadn’t formalized anything before now, and I found her sense of propriety endearing.
“Of course. Let’s form a party together.”
Instead of a toast, we sipped our tea. Rin looked up at us curiously, and we exchanged a smile.
