Hori and Her Friends

I took the first bus to Miyagi Shopping Mall along with my backpack after ending the call with Hori on the phone. I was lucky that the bus was calm and somewhat peaceful, probably because it was evening. The bus started moving, and after about ten minutes, I got off right in front of Miyagi Shopping Mall.

At this point, I started looking for the library Hori had mentioned, but since I couldn't find it, I opened my phone and called Hori.

"Hori-nee, I've arrived at Miyagi Shopping Mall, but I couldn't find the library you mentioned."

"Where exactly are you, Finn-kun? If you're close to where we are, we can come pick you up. We're taking a break to grab a bite to eat."

I started scanning around for anything recognizable.

"I'm at the main entrance of Miyagi Shopping Mall."

"Really? We're heading there now."

After ending my phone call with Hori, I heard her call out to me from behind. She was accompanied by two other girls wearing the same school uniform. The first girl, whose arms were hidden inside her baggy sweater, approached with short, yellow hair that reached her ears, and monotone expression.

The last girl, apart from Hori, had green hair. Like the blonde girl, her hair was also short, and she wore black stockings under her skirt.

When they approached me, Hori greeted me. As she took out the key from her pocket and handed it to me, the blonde-haired girl immediately joined in the conversation.

"Kyouko-chan! Finn's cousin has gone through the trouble of coming all the way here. Can't he join us for a meal?"

"But... I don't know, we're going to continue studying after dinner. Besides, Finn might get bored."

"Please, please, please..." The blonde girl continued to plead and wore a sad expression, holding Hori's hand with unseen hands.

"I'm sorry, Finn-kun..."

"No problem, and I'm sure it'll be good for me too. I got quite tired at school today." As I finished my sentence, we all started walking towards the front entrance of the shopping mall.

As we passed through the checkpoint, we continued chatting in the middle of the mall.

"If I'm not mistaken, today was your club registrations, right?"

"How do you know, nee-san?"

"When I was in first year of high school, club applications started on the second day. Which club did you join, Finn-kun?"

"The Volleyball Club."

"Wow, do you enjoy playing volleyball?" The green-haired girl named Sakura Kauno, who acted as if she wouldn't speak at all, joined our conversation.

"Well, I guess it's fun... Even though I don't show it much, the feeling of that hit I made today was really amazing. It's the first time I've felt this way."

"Congratulations," Hori congratulated me for joining a great club. Meanwhile, my stomach growls were starting to get louder. Thanks to Rika, I could only eat half of the lunch I prepared today. So, I'm really hungry.

Hori and her friends were also hungry like me, so I pressed the button to call the elevator that leads to the terrace of the shopping mall. After a short wait, the elevator reached the ground floor and its sliding door opened. We all got into the cabin together.

The elevator was for six people, but fortunately, with four people, we managed to fit in, and it started ascending towards the terrace. After a few seconds, the elevator slowed down and reached the terrace, coming to a stop. When the sliding doors opened again, we all got out of the elevator and started looking at the restaurants on the terrace.

"What would you like to eat?"

"It doesn't matter, we can have sushi, what do you think?"

"Sure, that works for me."

"Me too."

We entered the first sushi restaurant we saw on the terrace, and once we spotted a nice table available, we left our belongings there. Hori and I approached the counter to place our order. We started examining the menu and offered suggestions to decide what to eat.

"How about some Nigiri?"

"Chirashizushi could also be good."

Choosing from the various types of sushi was difficult. Eventually, we settled on Nigiri. We returned to our table and awaited the arrival of the sushi we had ordered. Meanwhile, Sakura and Yuki started asking more questions about me.

I answered all their questions calmly and politely. I could feel Yuki occasionally locking eyes with mine.

After a few minutes of waiting, our meals arrived at the table. While continuing to eat, we didn't stop chatting. I asked Hori about which university she was considering.

"Maybe I'll consider Tokyo for university. It's a big and advanced place, you know it better, Finn-kun."

"Right, your cousin came from Tokyo, didn't she, Hori-san?" Sakura spoke after Hori and said these things.

This way, as we approached the end of our conversation over a meal for about an hour, it was almost getting dark. The reddish-orange color of the sky was visible behind the clouds. Hori and the others returned to the library to study. Before leaving, Hori handed me the house key and then she left.

I stood up from my seat and was about to leave the restaurant. It was fun spending time with Hori and her friends, but I want to sleep as soon as I get home. I walked over to the bus stop and sat down, starting to fiddle with my phone.

While waiting for the bus, I received an email from an unknown number. To see what the email was about, I clicked and opened it.

"Hello Finn-kun, I'm Daichi, the Captain of the Volleyball Club, and I'm sending this email to welcome you to the team. Starting from tomorrow, you can join our volleyball training sessions. The attached PDF contains the training schedule, feel free to review it as you like."

To see what the training schedule was like, I clicked on the attached PDF file and waited for it to open. The loaded page had a weekly planner. The hours of the training were marked in red. It seemed like I had an intense and rigorous training ahead because almost every moment of the week was occupied with club activities.

As I continued to fiddle with my phone, the bus arrived, and I got on, heading home. After a ten-minute ride, I got off the bus and walked for a few minutes until I reached the front of the house.

Before entering the door, I noticed I was starting to yawn. So, I hurriedly inserted the keys into the lock and, once inside the house, I quickly undressed to take a warm bath without wasting any time.

I bathed thoroughly with warm water and then returned to my room immediately to sleep. The alarm on my phone was set. I closed my eyes, rested my head on the pillow, and drifted into sleep.

...

When I woke up in the morning to the sound of the alarm, I slowly opened my eyes and saw Hori's sleeping face in front of me.

"Wait a minute, what?" Seeing Hori's sleeping face was definitely not normal. What is Hori doing in my room? Did something happen last night? I don't remember anything.

"Good morning, Finn."

Moreover, she wasn't using the suffixes she used to add to names anymore. Something definitely happened last night that I'm not aware of.