Amane returned to the apartments, and met the man he had just passed by, looking up at it.

He never expected the man to be looking at his own apartment, and stood there, waiting.

The hair color remained familiar.

However, Amane saw nothing of him other than his back. He was not too big, and was probably of the same size as Amane, probably a little shorter.

The man continued to look at the apartment.

Amane could not see the expression from this angle, but he understood the man was just looking up.

Curious he was, Amane was uncomfortable with the idea of talking to a stranger, and merely passed by. He might be suspected if he went forward and suddenly turned his head around, so he probably would be unable to affirm the man’s appearance.

Nevertheless, he remained curious, so he checked the grocery bag, before continuing.

Amane felt apologetic as he passed the man by, bumping the spoils from the supermarket into him, and accidentally dropped it.

On a side note, the contents were snacks and emergency food supplies he had put separately, and thus would not inconvenience Mahiru even though they were dropped.

Amane bumped into the man and dropped the items, and the man’s attention was directed towards Amane.

He picked up the grocery bag, dusted it off, and looked up at the man.

As I expected, such was the feeling Amane had, since he really did.

The man was very handsome, one who garnered much attention. He lowered his eyebrows apologetically once he saw Amane, and an obvious look of guilt was in his clear brown eyes.

However, Amane was the one who felt guilty, as he was the one who bumped into the man.

“Sorry for being careless.”

“Ah, no, I should be the one apologizing. I should not be stopping here and blocking you.”

His voice was poised, calm, gentle and deep. Amane heard the earnest apology, lowered his head once again, “No, my bad.” and muttered so.

He was sure of what he wanted to ascertain. There was no concrete proof, but he probably was the person Amane assumed.

Amane then nonchalantly passed the man by as though nothing happened.

The man probably did not know who Amane was, and probably had no suspicion.

It happened in a mere ten seconds or so, but Amane was strangely tense, for it involved the girl he loved.

Relieved, he went to the apartment entrance..and it was at this moment that the girl he loved appeared.

“Welcome back, Amane-kun.”

Amane never expected her to welcome him at the entrance, and was flabbergasted. Mahiru stood there, stunned, giving him a skeptical look.

“What is with that expression?”

“N-nothing..just that you just showed up,,,:

“You did send a message stating that you will be home, no? I want to help since you bought a lot.”

“I-I see.”

It seemed Mahiru merely intended to help collect the items. Amane’s heart was heavily burdened when he recognized the man, and his heart raced faster.

He worried what would happen if Mahiru noticed that man, and instinctively turned back, only to find that the man, who was standing 10 meters or so away, had disappeared.

..He’s not here to see Mahiru? He’s just going back once he sees Mahiru.

The latter was definitely impossible given Mahiru’s expression; if he was here to see Mahiru, he would would have approached them once she appeared, and had no reason to leave.

So, why did he show up?

For what reason did he approach Mahiru’s apartment, and looked up at the level she was living at.

“What is it?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Luckily or not, it seemed Mahiru did not notice the man. Amane was a little relieved, handed over the bag of snacks to Mahiru, who wanted to carry them, and took the elevator with her.

Hikaru Mikado, is that you?