The girl on the right also looked familiar; I'd seen her so many times in the library. It was Tsukiyomi.
She wore a dark gray turtleneck sweater, her hands almost buried in the sleeves, along with a black skirt that reached past her knees, and tights to keep her legs from freezing. Her shoes were black and rather generic, qualities she shared with her handbag.
Otsuki is a forehead taller than her, so her height would be around 1.57 meters. Her figure was broader than her friends'. I'm not saying she's chubby, but she's not as thin as Otsuki either, much less as thin as Hina, who was slender.
Her face was what he recognized most, having glanced at her out of the corner of his eye many times, and directly without meaning to a few.
She had long, slightly wavy black hair, with her bangs covering most of her forehead. The rest of her hair was braided, and the braid reached down to her stomach.
Her eyes were also black and round, and I couldn't imagine them giving anyone a dirty look. Finally, her nose and mouth were both small compared to average.
I assumed the girl sitting on the left was Hina. I only saw her when the 'accident' happened, and I didn't pay any attention to her at all.
She wore a pale yellow sweater with no opening, fastened with brown buttons, the same color as her scarf, only one end of which peeked out, and her skirt, so long it covered her entire legs. Her beige shoes were uncovered. Her handbag, made of thick fabric with intricate embroidery, was the same color.
Taller than Otsuki, but not by much, so I'd be about 1.68 meters tall. I'm just a hair shorter than him.
Her striking feature was her blonde hair, a soft, not golden, shade similar to the yellow of her sweater, but much more prominent. Judging by her face, she didn't appear to be a foreigner.
Her eyes were droopy and hooded, appearing closed at first glance. They were brown. She was the only one of the three wearing earrings, which were rather large, resembling light blue tears with gold bases. The last thing to note was the shape of her head, which was noticeably round.
As for Otsuki, he was wearing clothes I hadn't seen before.
She wore an unbuttoned but closed black jacket, revealing a thin sliver of a light pink t-shirt that appeared somewhat thick. Unlike her friends, she wore black jeans, the same color as her sneakers.
Excluding his clothing, the rest was the same as always.
I walked through the glass door that opened automatically to where they were standing, at a rather slow pace. I wasn't at all prepared to run there with my head held high, and the topic we were going to discuss didn't help.
Having moved a little closer, Otsuki spotted me. I could see her alert Tsukiyomi and Hina before getting up and coming towards me.
My heart began to race, and my breathing grew heavier, all at a level imperceptible to others. I'm not some pervert licking his lips.
When both sides had come closer,
"Hey, Riku! I thought you were going to be late."
Damn, thanks for your good faith.
"Well no."
The first to greet me was Otsuki, who seemed mildly happy, both in her expression and in her ability to crack a joke the moment she saw me. It's the first time I've seen and heard Otsuki like this. It's normal for her to be different with her friends.
My habit was not to say hello to anyone who joked with me as soon as they saw me.
Hey, what if it wasn't a joke? Anyway, the next one to greet was Hina, with a calm and warm voice.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Hina Kawada, though I prefer you call me Hina. And I see you get along well with Atsumi," she said, covering her mouth with her hand as she finished her sentence.
Another one like that… but I just met you!
"Likewise."
Her overly open attitude threw me off; I didn't know how to react. I was even a little embarrassed. So much so that I avoided looking into her eyes, glancing at her nose instead. It's dangerous to look at a girl under her shoulders.
Tsukiyomi was the only one left to greet, but she didn't seem like she was going to speak. Finally, she waved to me, and just like with Hina, I didn't know what to do, so I mimicked her wave.
I suppose no introduction is needed; I've seen you many times at the library.
This girl wasn't as mysterious and distant as before. Our 'relationship' of being complete strangers who see each other almost daily ends here. It feels much stranger than I thought, being face to face with someone I thought I'd never talk to.
"I'm sorry Natsuki is acting like this, she's a little shy around people she doesn't know."
"And a little bit with us too."
"…"
'A little' falls short; she looks like she couldn't even run errands. That reminds me of someone… Wait, is Tsukiyomi's name Natsuki? Don't they have a fourth friend? It's true I haven't heard Otsuki mention a third person… okay, that makes sense.
Ignoring my astonishment, Tsukiyomi kept looking to the side from the moment I arrived, and to greet me she had to look over my shoulder. I don't blame her; I was doing something similar. I was pouting, I don't know if because she actually hates me or because Otsuki and Hina were pointing out how shy she is.
Having already gone through the introductions, I was strangely composed. I was certainly nervous, but I could speak normally. Still in my usual tone, that is.
The fact that we've finished introducing ourselves indicates that now comes the big part.
I've never had the misfortune of going through something like this, so I didn't know how to proceed. Should we jump straight to apologies? Should we try to talk things out first?
I would apologize as soon as possible, but that might be very strange. I'll wait to see what they say.
I said I would wait, but Hina started talking just as I finished thinking.