Tuesday nights where the only thing that could be considered her free night. She always took weekend duty when the residency director wrote the schedule and had labs or her own homework to do. Not to mention Mina deciding to cut into what little time off she had as well. That was why Tuesday nights where when she met her Engineering Society requirement to assist the freshmen who wanted help. If she wasn’t treasurer she could probably talk her way out of it, with her RA duties and all, but Haruka didn’t want to make it look like the exec staff didn’t care.
So every Tuesday at seven o’clock Haruka would set up camp with the log book on the back table, next to the outdated cabinet of index cards, and wait for those who needed help to arrive until it was ten and she could go back to her dorm. Some days it was boring, with no one coming, and some days were busy.
That had been her Tuesday night routine since the second week of the fall semester.
But Haruka was not the only one that had a Tuesday night routine, she learned. Haruka didn’t remember when the green haired girl started to show up, maybe she had been there from the start of the semester, but once Haruka did notice her she couldn’t stop seeing her around.
The girl would come in just after eight o’clock, carrying sketch books and her bag, and would sit at the table across from Haruka’s. She would then go get a thick book from the art history section (Haruka happened to be “stretching her legs” around the library one night to find out) and would set to work, swapping her attention between her laptop and the book. At nine, just before the beverage cart outside would close she would get up and buy herself a tea, then head back to work.
Haruka passed off knowing all this as just a consequence of seeing her weekly. Mina would write it off as obsession and being close to a stalker. That’s why Haruka has never mentioned this routine to her friend. That and the fact that Mina would create some elaborate and loud way to tell her to talk to the girl, and Haruka didn’t put it past her to do it during her Tuesday night library hours, possibly ruining any chance that she would have.
Tonight was going to be different. Tonight was the night to put Operation Hello into effect.
At eight o’clock, like clockwork, the girl walked into the library and took her regular spot across from Haruka. She retrieved a book from the shelves and started her work for the night. Now all Haruka had to do was wait.
At eight forty-five Haruka excused herself from the freshman she was helping, promising to be back momentarily. The girl at the other table was still deep into her work as Haruka stepped out of the library and headed to the beverage cart. Taking out her food card from her Engineering Society hoodie’s front pocket Haruka bought a bottle of the tea that she had seen the other girl drink often.
Walking back to her table in the library Haruka deposited the tea next to the green haired girl’s book. The other girl looked up confused, having caught the placement in the corner of her eye. Haruka just smirked. “This one’s on me.” And then went back to helping the freshmen.
Yesss I love this so much
SittingOverHereDreaming 