There wasn't a day I consciously decided to spend more time with Saki.
If there had been, I probably would've remembered it.
Instead, it happened quietly.
One afternoon at a time.
By then, meeting after lectures had become almost routine.
Sometimes we'd grab juice.
Sometimes we'd wander around the shopping street outside the station.
Sometimes we'd simply walk until the evening swallowed the last traces of sunlight.
There was never a destination.
The walk itself was enough.
That afternoon, I was getting ready to leave the dorm when the opening theme of some old romance film drifted out from the room down the hall.
That usually meant only one thing.
Riku Sano was awake.
Riku lived somewhere between movies and reality. His desk was a permanent mess of DVDs, paperbacks, earphones and empty coffee cans. There was always a film paused halfway through on his laptop, as if he expected life to wait while he caught up with fiction.
Yet somehow, despite always looking distracted, he noticed everything.
The moment I reached for my wallet, he paused the movie.
"Going somewhere?"
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"Meeting a guy from high school."
He leaned back in his chair.
"...A guy?"
"Yeah."
He looked at me for a second longer than usual.
"I see."
"What?"
"Nothing."
I had already reached the door when he spoke again.
"That changes the probability."
I turned around.
"Of?"
"You coming back before dinner."
I frowned.
"I'm meeting a guy."
"I know."
"...Then why?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know."
A small pause.
"It just does."
I stared at him for another second.
"You're weird."
"I've heard worse."
I laughed and walked out.
Saki was already waiting near the library.
"There you are."
"I was only two minutes late."
"So..."
She folded her arms.
"...late."
"You counted?"
"I had nothing better to do."
"Liar."
She smiled.
"Maybe."
Without deciding where to go, we started walking.
That had somehow become our habit.
We passed cafés we'd never entered.
A bookstore we always promised to visit "next time."
Street musicians playing songs neither of us knew.
She spent almost five minutes deciding which fruit juice to buy.
"You chose my glasses faster."
"Because this decision actually matters."
"Oh?"
"If I choose the wrong juice, I have to drink it."
"So my face mattered less?"
She looked at me for a moment.
"...Your face survived."
"I don't know if that's a compliment."
"It isn't."
She laughed.
I did too.
Our conversations wandered as much as we did.
Assignments became professors.
Professors became movies.
Movies somehow became whether pineapple belonged on pizza.
Then we'd fall silent for a while.
The strange thing was...
Silence around Saki never felt like the end of a conversation.
It simply felt like another way of continuing it.
My phone vibrated.
Riku Calling...
I glanced at the screen.
"Aren't you answering?" Saki asked.
"I'll call him later."
"You sure?"
"They're probably deciding where to eat."
The ringing stopped.
A few minutes later...
It started again.
Riku Calling...
This time I looked at the screen for a little longer.
Then I pressed the side button.
"You ignored him."
"I know."
"What if it's important?"
I smiled.
"If it were important, he'd send a message."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then it definitely wasn't."
She shook her head.
"I feel bad for your friends."
"You shouldn't."
"Why?"
"They're probably having fun with this already."
Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed again.
Not a call.
A LINE notification.
From Riku.
I opened it.
A picture of my student ID lying on his desk.
Across the image, in giant white letters, was written—
🚨 MISSING 🚨
Below it,
Last seen leaving with a "guy from high school." If found, please return to the second floor.
For a moment, all I could think was "What the hell!!!!!"
"What?"
Saki leaned closer.
I handed her my phone.
She read it.
Then covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
"Your friends are ridiculous."
"They are your classmates, you should know better than me"
"You should probably go back."
"Why?"
"They're going to start printing them and paste on the walls"
"I wouldn't even be surprised."
We laughed all the way back.
When I returned to the dorm, my student ID was exactly where I'd left it.
Riku didn't even look away from his laptop.
"So..."
"So?"
"Found?"
Before I could answer, Ryota appeared in the doorway.
"The missing person has returned!"
Someone farther down the corridor shouted,
"Cancel the search party!"
Another pillow flew across the room.
Riku finally looked up.
"Took longer than expected."
"You called twice."
"I know."
"You knew I wouldn't answer?"
"You said you were meeting a guy."
"...Yeah."
"So I called twice."
"...Why?"
He looked back at the movie.
"I wanted to see if the probability changed."
For a moment, the room went quiet.
Then everyone burst into laughter.
I picked up my ID card and shook my head.
"You people seriously need hobbies."
"We have one," Ryota said.
"What?"
He pointed at me.
"You."
The corridor erupted again.
At the time, I thought they were teasing me because I'd disappeared for an afternoon.
Looking back...
Maybe they were the first people to notice something I hadn't.
Somewhere along the way...
I had stopped wondering where everyone else was.
Without realizing it...
I had started wondering where Saki was.
I never made that decision.
It had simply become the easiest way home.