Chapter 73: Volume 1, - 73: Haruka’s Quiet Question
Haruka Sato smoothed her linen skirt beneath the table at Gusto, letting her shoulders settle for the first time since morning.
Her shift at the Omiya nursery school had stretched nearly an hour beyond its scheduled end. A single mother working at a regional logistics hub had been forced into overtime by an unexpected delivery backlog, leaving five-year-old Kenji waiting by the window with his drawing pad. Haruka had stayed with him until the late-shift supervisor arrived, completed the handover log, and hurried to the station.
Beyond her affection for Suzune, Haruka’s mind still drifted back to her classroom. Next week, the city was reviewing weekend holiday-care staffing for municipal nursery schools, and her supervisor had already hinted that weekend shifts might be trimmed to control the municipal budget. She worried about families like Kenji’s, who had nowhere else to turn on Sundays.
Across the booth, Ren Kisaragi was carefully wiping the condensation from his water glass with a paper napkin. He was quieter than Haruka had expected from Suzune’s description of a rising business consultant, but his attention was entirely present.
"Suzune told us you help businesses organise their schedules," Haruka said gently, leaning forward. Her voice was soft, but her eyes held a steady, observant focus. "May I ask you a personal question, Ren-san?"
"Of course," Ren said, placing his napkin down evenly.
"What is Suzune like when the two of you are alone together?"
Ren paused, a subtle shift crossing his expression.
"I don’t mean anything improper," Haruka added quickly with a faint, reassuring smile. "Suzune has spent her entire life taking care of her family’s bakery and everyone around her. She carries other people’s worries without complaining. I want to know... when she is with you, does she actually rest? Does she laugh differently? Or does she still spend all her energy protecting everyone else?"
Aya glanced between them over her empty doria dish, her expression bright with amused interest, while Suzune looked down at her lap, her cheeks warming slightly.
Ren did not reach for an easy answer like kind or sweet. He considered the question with the careful precision Aya had already teased him about.
"Yesterday in Kawagoe, we stopped near the river after eating at a noodle shop neither of us liked," Ren said. "She had spent most of the day checking whether I needed water or a break. But once we sat down, she stopped talking about the bakery. She told me stories about you and Aya, then started laughing about how the nicest thing we could say about the restaurant was that the water had been cold. For a while, she looked like she had nowhere else she needed to be."
Suzune covered her face with one hand, a soft smile breaking across her features. "The noodles really were terrible, Ren."
"She laughs differently when she forgets she has to be the responsible one," Ren continued, meeting Haruka’s eyes. "When she’s tired, she gets stubborn about finishing tasks herself, but she lets me carry the heavy trays now. She rests when she trusts that things won’t fall apart if she stops moving."
Haruka’s expression softened into a genuine, warm smile. "Thank you. That’s what I hoped to hear." She paused, her gaze searching his face. "And what about you, Ren-san? Do you tell her when you’re frightened?"
Ren went still. His fingers tightened once around the edge of his napkin before he answered. "Not soon enough," he admitted. "I usually try to solve the problem before I tell her there is one."
"He’s working on that," Suzune said, placing her hand gently over his wrist. Her voice was light, but her touch was firm. "He still tries to solve three problems in his head before admitting he has one, but he’s getting better."
"Good," Haruka said quietly. "Suzune shouldn’t have to guess when something is wrong."
"Alright, that’s enough deep soul-searching for a Sunday afternoon tea," Aya interjected, lifting one hand in a wide arc. "Haruka, you’re turning a simple friend introduction into a performance review. Look at him, he stood at the drink bar counting exactly two ice cubes into his glass, then worked out everyone’s share before we had finished ordering!"
Suzune laughed out loud. "He really did. He said too much ice would dilute the tea."
"It’s simple fluid efficiency," Ren said defensively, though a rare, relaxed glint appeared in his eyes.
"You speak like a corporate operating manual, Kisaragi-san," Aya teased, grinning. "Next time, I’m timing how long it takes you to order French fries."
"Please don’t give him ideas," Suzune begged playfully. "He’d actually make a spreadsheet for the potato-to-salt ratio."
As the laughter settled, Ren leaned forward slightly, shifting the focus toward Haruka. "Sato-san, you mentioned earlier that you were covering holiday care today. How difficult is it to manage weekend staffing when municipal schedules change?"
Haruka blinked, visibly surprised by the question. "It’s... quite difficult, actually. Parents’ work hours don’t neatly align with standard city office times, so we’re constantly juggling shift handovers."
Ren listened attentively as Haruka explained the balance between child safety regulations and budget constraints, asking two precise, respectful follow-up questions about how her nursery school organised its parent communication logs.
By four o’clock, they split the bill down to the exact yen and walked out together toward Omiya Station. Aya and Haruka waved goodbye before heading toward the Saikyo Line platform.
The late-afternoon breeze was cool as Ren and Suzune walked towards the parking lot where the Crown was parked.
"Thank you for today, Ren," Suzune said softly, sliding her fingers into his hand. "I know meeting my friends wasn’t easy for you. Aya can be overwhelming, and Haruka asks heavy questions when she cares."
"I was more nervous sitting in that booth than I’ve been meeting some clients," Ren admitted, a dry, self-deprecating smile touching his lips.
Suzune let out a bright, melodic laugh that echoed softly beneath the station’s glass canopy. "See? You’re human after all." She checked her phone clock and bumped her shoulder gently against his arm. "Well, Mr. Consultant, you told me your office calendar is clear until Tuesday afternoon."
Ren paused, reflecting on his upcoming week. "That’s true."
"So," Suzune said, her eyes warm and light in the late afternoon sun, "you’re late for nothing tomorrow. Get a full night’s sleep for once."
Ren looked at her, feeling an unfamiliar sense of quiet settle over his chest.
"I will," Ren said softly.
After dropping Suzune off at the bakery and driving back to his apartment building, Ren parked the Crown, killed the engine, and stepped out into the quiet evening air. Only when he was standing alone under the faint amber glow of the apartment entrance light did the familiar pale interface shimmer into view before his eyes.
[OPTIONAL SOCIAL OBJECTIVE COMPLETE.]
[SINCERE RECIPROCAL INTEREST VERIFIED.]
[SOCIAL CIRCLE RECORD: AYA NISHINO AND HARUKA SATO — ESTABLISHED ACQUAINTANCES.]
[REWARD: +8 LEGACY POINTS.]
[CURRENT LEGACY POINT BALANCE: 73 LP.]
Ren closed the System window with a quiet flick of his mind and went upstairs.
Later that night, after showering, eating a light dinner, and answering only the messages that could not wait, he turned off his phone notifications and pulled back the futon.