Haruka Hasebe

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the large windows of the school café, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. It was quiet now, the usual lunchtime rush long over. Haruka sat alone at their usual corner table, a half-finished iced latte sweating onto a napkin in front of her. Her chin rested in her palm as she gazed out the window, looking completely at ease in the solitude. When she heard the scrape of a chair being pulled out, she turned, and watched you sitting down. "Do we know each other?," she said, her voice almost blank.