Chapter 1

Kanade, Mafuyu!

Oh, Ena.

I know I just mentioned it on Nightcord, but I think there’s another place Mizuki might go.

So I’m gonna go there now. I’ll leave the school to you two!

Got it.

Thank you!

I hope she finds Mizuki…

Me too.

…Oh, what’ll we do if she comes in through the school entrance…?

We’d have to tell Ena first. But as for Mizuki…

…It’d be best if she didn’t even know we were here.

Since she’s avoiding Ena, if she sees us, she might think Ena is here too.

So I guess we’d better hide…?

Uh…where should we hide…?

The road leading up to the school is rather open, so I think the only option we have is to enter the school grounds and hide in the bushes.

Ah… …

…I think it should be difficult to see us from the building or the road here.

Squatting is kind of hard for me but…I’ll do my best…

… …

If Mizuki notices us, it might be better for us to say that we came here to see Ena.

Uh, why?

Like I said earlier, if she notices us, she might think that Ena is here too.

So…it’d be better if we acted like we’re looking for Ena instead.

Mizuki hasn’t logged into Nightcord for a while, so she wouldn’t know about this.

So… …we can act as if Ena stopped logging in after Mizuki stopped.

I wonder if she’ll worry about Ena and talk to us…?

We’d have to lie…but it’d be better than her running away.

I see…

But…what if she runs away before we can even talk to her…?

Well…

We’d have to catch her. We’d need to chase her with all our might.

Ugh…

And Mizuki is pretty athletic…

Mm.

When we were playing tag in Sekai once, Mizuki was the last one to be caught.

She’s not in any sports clubs, but she seems to have quite a bit of stamina.

Yeah…

…Sorry… I probably won’t be of any help if we have to chase her.

I already know that.

As long as she stays on the road, it should be fine.

When I came here to look for her, I committed a few of the side roads and back alley paths to memory.

Eh? You mean…you memorized them…?

Yes. Things like where the roads connect and what could be a shortcut.

Mizuki plays hooky frequently, but she’s still a student of Kamiyama High. Since she’s at an advantage in that regard, I figured I should at least do this much.

It’s incredible that you went that far…

…I only did what I thought was necessary.

Please, I’m counting on you two.

…So, if Mizuki does come here…

Right.

Mizuki…we’ll be waiting for you.