Hina leads a quiet, solitary life—gaming marathons, school, and the familiar four walls of Nitta Yoshifumi's apartment. She doesn't care about much. She definitely doesn't care that Nitta won't stop talking about Anzu, the former assassin-turned-waitress who smiles too brightly and makes gyoza that are apparently "on another level."
...Except she does. And she has absolutely no idea why.
When the culture festival approaches and her class decides to recruit Anzu for their café, Hina's carefully
Hina and Anzu's Great Misunderstanding Operation - Shopping Trip Gone Astray ~Hearts Still Lost in a Maze of Misunderstanding~
The classroom after school was a whirlwind of activity, everyone scrambling to prepare for tomorrow's culture festival. Desks had been shoved to the edges, and the blackboard bore the words "Café" alongside a hand-drawn menu. Outside the window, the evening light was staining the trees in the schoolyard a deep orange.
Hina sat at her usual seat by the window, gazing out at nothing in particular. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, bangs falling over her eyes. Her dark brown eyes stared absently toward a corner of the schoolyard.
"Hina-san."
A voice came from behind her. She turned to find Mishima Hitomi standing there. Her sleek black bob was, as always, perfectly neat, and her sharp dark eyes looked directly at Hina. She was small, yet somehow she commanded the space around her.
"The shopping team's been decided. You and one other person."
Hina said nothing, just looked back at her.
"Anzu-chan from Rairaiken. I already asked her. You can pick her brain about serving customers, too—works out nicely, doesn't it?"
Hina's brow moved. Just barely—a few millimeters. So slight she herself might not have noticed.
"...Whatever."
"'Whatever'—you always say that, Hina-san. Anyway. I'll get in touch with Anzu-chan myself. Meet at the school gate after class tomorrow."
With that, Hitomi waved the handout in her hand and walked toward the teacher's podium. Hina turned her gaze back out the window.
(With Anzu. Just the two of us.)
Something stirred deep in her chest. She didn't know why. She didn't know why, but she couldn't settle down.
Out in the schoolyard, the soccer club's shouts echoed in the distance.
──
The next day, after school.
When Hina headed for the main gate, Anzu was already there. Her chestnut ponytail swayed in the autumn breeze. Today she wasn't in her Rairaiken uniform but a pale pink cardigan and a white skirt. No bandana. Her amber eyes lit up the moment she spotted Hina.
"Hina-chan!"
Anzu came running over. The force of it made Hina take a step back.
"Thanks for today! Where are we going for the shopping? The supermarket in the shopping arcade okay? I know that place inside and out. I might even get the old lady to give us a discount."
Anzu rattled it all off at top speed. She talked fast when she was embarrassed. Maybe being alone with Hina was what embarrassed her. Hina couldn't quite work out the reason.
"...Let's go."
Hina answered briefly and started walking. Anzu fell into step beside her. How much distance was there between them? Hina tried not to care. But every time Anzu's arm came close to brushing hers, something squirmed near her heart.
The walk to the shopping arcade took about ten minutes from school.
As they reached the entrance to the covered street, it was bustling with evening shoppers. A greengrocer's stand displayed daikon and napa cabbage, and the smell of grilled fish drifted from the fishmonger's. Somewhere, a hearty voice called out, "Welcome in!"
"Hey, Hina-chan."
Anzu lowered her voice a little.
"...What."
"There's something I've wanted to ask you for a while."
Anzu stopped walking. Hina stopped too, pulled up short. The clamor of the arcade wrapped around them both.
"Do you... hate me?"
Hina looked at Anzu's face. Anzu's amber eyes were fixed straight on her. They looked a little wet.
"...Whatever."
Hina answered instantly. She said nothing more. Couldn't.
Anzu's expression clouded over in an instant.
"I see... whatever, huh."
Anzu murmured it under her breath and forced a smile.
"Ahaha, sorry—that was a weird thing to ask. Come on, let's go shopping!"
With that, Anzu walked on ahead. Her back looked smaller than usual.
Hina watched her go.
(That's not it.)
In her heart, she thought it.
(It's not that I hate you.)
But the words wouldn't come out. She couldn't let them.
It was just that Nitta going on and on about Anzu got under her skin. That was all. It wasn't that she hated Anzu herself. And yet she couldn't explain it properly.
Hina followed Anzu's back, her face as blank as ever.
──
The supermarket "Midoriya" sat in the middle of the arcade. The store was fairly crowded with evening shoppers. The white fluorescent lights shone down on the shelves of goods.
"Cookies, tea, coffee. Plus paper cups and plates. And we need ribbon for decorations too."
Anzu checked her shopping list and efficiently filled the basket. Hina stood beside her, silently holding it.
"Hina-chan, which cookies do you think are best? Chocolate chip, butter... oh, there's matcha too."
"...Whatever."
"Whatever again. Honestly, Hina-chan, it's nothing but 'whatever' with you."
Anzu laughed. The downcast look from before had already vanished. But that smile only pricked at Hina's chest.
"Then I'll pick. Chocolate chip and butter—two kinds should be plenty, right?"
Anzu said so and dropped the boxes of cookies into the basket.
That was when it happened.
"Oh, Hina-san and Anzu-chan."
A familiar voice made Hina turn. There stood Mishima Hitomi—black bob, still in her school uniform on the way home, a small shopping basket in her hand.
"Are you two shopping for the festival? Thanks for the hard work. I'm doing the household shopping. My mom roped me into it."
"Hitomi-chan! What a coincidence!"
Anzu ran over, delighted. Hina just stood frozen in place.
"Oh, that's right, Anzu-chan. Tomorrow at the culture festival, let's go around together. Once we're done helping at the café, the two of us can tour the exhibits. I can't wait."
"Yeah, me neither! Going around with you, Hitomi-chan."
The two chatted happily. Hina tightened her grip on the basket.
(Why.)
She didn't understand it herself. Her chest just churned with frustration.
"Hina-san, you too—looking forward to tomorrow. With that blank face of yours at customer service, you might startle the guests. Well, I suppose that's part of the charm."
Hitomi said it without any malice. Hina looked at her in silence.
"...Whatever."
"See, there it is again. Hina-san, do you have any words besides that?"
Hitomi giggled. Anzu laughed along with her.
Hina hitched the basket up and turned her back on them.
"...I'm going home."
"Wait, Hina-chan, we still have things to buy!"
"...Hina will buy them alone."
Leaving those words behind, Hina walked off toward the back of the store. From behind her came Anzu's bewildered voice.
"Hina-chan, what's gotten into her...?"
"Who knows? Maybe she's hungry? Hina-san's the type who gets cranky when she's hungry, right?"
Hitomi's voice was as carefree as ever.
──
By the time they finished shopping and headed back through the arcade, the sky had turned a deep madder red. Hina carried paper bags in both arms, Anzu walking beside her. Hitomi had said she had household shopping to do and gone home first.
There was no conversation between them.
The awkwardness from earlier still hung in the air.
"Hina-chan."
Anzu spoke up.
"Sorry about earlier. Asking you that weird thing."
"...Whatever."
That word again. Hina was disgusted with herself.
"Yeah... I guess so. Whatever, huh."
Anzu gave a small laugh. The sound of it melted into the twilight arcade.
They reached the front of Rairaiken. Standing outside the shop was a familiar blond man—Nitta Yoshifumi. In his suit, holding a Rairaiken ramen container.
"Oh, Anzu-chan. Perfect timing. The ramen was great today, too. Anzu-chan's ramen really is the best."
Nitta spoke to Anzu with a goofy grin, his sharp dark eyes softening as they rested on her.
"Nitta-san, thank you as always."
Anzu bowed her head.
"Hina, good work on the shopping. You went with Anzu-chan, just the two of you? Man, I'm jealous. I'd love to go shopping with Anzu-chan."
Nitta said it lightly. Hina stared at him, expressionless.
"...Nitta, you're annoying."
"Huh? Why? I didn't do anything."
"...It's all Anzu this, Anzu that."
Her voice came out lower than even she expected.
"Huh? About Anzu-chan? Well, her ramen's delicious. What's wrong with praising her?"
Nitta meant no harm at all. And that only stirred up Hina's chest all the more.
"...Never mind."
Hina shoved the paper bags into Nitta's arms and walked off alone.
"Hey, Hina! What's with you!"
Nitta's voice chased after her. But Hina didn't turn around.
"Hina-chan..."
Anzu's small voice reached Hina's back too. But still, she couldn't turn around.
──
Night.
Hina sat by the window of her apartment, hugging her knees. The room light was off. The city lights outside the window filtered faintly into the dark room.
(Why did I say that?)
The day's events spun round and round in her head.
Saying "whatever" to Anzu. Hitomi and Anzu chatting happily. Nitta fawning over Anzu.
(It's not that I hate her.)
She thought it, but she couldn't put it into words.
(It's because Nitta talks about nothing but Anzu.)
It got under her skin. That was all. It wasn't Anzu's fault. She knew that. She knew it, and yet.
Hina tightened her arms around her knees.
(Did I hurt Anzu?)
She remembered Anzu's face from earlier. "I see... whatever, huh." Anzu's voice from that moment stuck to her ears and wouldn't let go.
Hina looked out the window. Toward the arcade. Toward where Rairaiken was.
Just then, she thought she saw a small figure on the roof of Rairaiken.
(Anzu?)
Hina moved closer to the window. But the figure vanished in an instant.
Maybe she'd imagined it. But her chest began to stir restlessly again.
──
Around that time, Anzu was on the roof of Rairaiken.
She sat by the water tower, gazing up at the starry sky. The autumn night wind swayed her chestnut ponytail.
"Hina-chan... I guess she really does hate me after all."
Anzu murmured to no one.
"'Whatever.' That really does mean she hates me, doesn't it. Yeah. I mean, I tried to kill Hina-chan in the first place. Of course she'd hate me."
Anzu hugged her knees. The stars twinkled in the autumn sky.
"But I... I don't hate Hina-chan, and yet..."
The words were swept away by the night wind and vanished.
A single tear spilled from Anzu's eye.
"Why am I crying?"
Anzu wiped it away with the back of her hand. But the tears wouldn't stop.
──
The next morning.
The day of the culture festival.
Before heading to school, Hina ran into Anzu in front of Nitta's apartment building.
Anzu was in her Rairaiken apron, a paper bag in her arms. She'd come to help with the festival today.
"Hina-chan, good morning. I'm coming to help again today."
Anzu smiled at her. The smile looked as though she'd put yesterday behind her. But her eyes were a little red.
Hina looked at Anzu's face.
(No. That's not it.)
Inside her heart, she was screaming it. But what came out of her mouth was something else entirely.
"...You don't have to come anymore."
Even she didn't know why she'd said it.
Anzu's smile froze.
"...Huh?"
Anzu's voice trembled.
The instant the words left her mouth, Hina regretted them. No. That's not it. I don't think that. I don't think you shouldn't come.
But the words to fix it wouldn't come. Something was caught in the back of her throat.
"...Okay. I understand."
Anzu answered quietly. Her voice sounded like it might fade away entirely.
Anzu turned on her heel and started walking toward Rairaiken.
Hina just watched her back.
The morning light shone white between them.
(No.)
She repeated it over and over in her heart.
(No. I want you to come. I don't think you shouldn't come.)
But those words could no longer reach Anzu's back.
Hina stood rooted to the spot, watching Anzu's figure grow smaller and smaller.
The autumn wind swayed Hina's black hair.
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