...

Suddenly, while I was thinking about all that stuff, the policeman turned his head and looked in our direction. His face was round and pale. He frowned when he saw us and started approaching Murakami and me.

Once again, I felt an urge to run away.

It wasn't easy to endure.

When he approached us, the man said in a very rough voice:

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

While I was trying to come us with an answer, Murakami said:

"No one! And we aren't doing anything suspicious!"

"…"

The frown on the man's face became even deeper. Yeah, that sounded suspiciously as hell. No way he's letting us go after that.

The police officer took out a notepad and said:

"Tell me your names…"

I was about to get worried when suddenly, the elderly man in a samurai suit had also walked toward us.

"Oh, don't be so hard on them," he said. "They are just children. I'm sure they were just passing by," he said while looking at Murakami and me and caressing his beard. His actions were looking a bit ridiculous while in this costume.

I was about to agree with his words, but suddenly, I came up with a better play:

"…No, not really. Actually, we are studying in the same school as your granddaughter, Aoi, does… We are her neighbors from the dorm. She run away early in the morning today, so we came to check on her."

The elderly man's eyes opened a little bit more and glittered with black shine. Soon, a shiny smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, so you are the friends of Aoi?"

I swiftly nodded.

Actually, according to the magazine we had yet to become friends. We were simply [Good Acquaintances] as of now, but there's no point in mentioning it, right?

I said:

"Yes. Yes, we are."

"Best friends!" nodded Murakami.

"That's good!" the elder's smile became even brighter. "Then let's go in, I'm sure, she will be happy to see you…" he said, nodded the policeman, who was still frowning at all this situation, and lead us into the restaurant.

Inside, this building turned out to be quite comfortable. The chairs and tables were placed in three rows, with short folding screens, painted with cherry-blossom trees separating them. At the other end of the hall stood a cardboard samurai. A katana was hanging on the wall in the corner, and just to the left of it, there was a large picture of mountain Fujiyama.

If I didn't know that it was a Chinese restaurant, I would have thought that it was Japanese. Not an authentic one, but some very tasteless place from Texas.

There was only one person inside. Aoi was sitting nearby the left wall. A cup full of tea, very cold by the look of it, was standing in front of her. The black-haired girl had a worried expression on her pale face. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice our appearance.

"Aoi… Look, your friends have come!"

Said the elderly man with a smile on his face.

The girl shivered and turned to face us. Then, she looked at Murakami and me with great surprise.

"What… What are you doing eyes?" she asked with her eyes wide.

"Just wished to visit you!" answered Murakami and sat down before the same table. I followed the suit. Aoi became tense. She was looking at us carefully, like a beast caught in a trap.

"Don't pay me attention… I will bring you something to eat. Not every day Aoi is visited by her friends… Shall we postpone our talk for some time, officer?" said the elderly man and went into the kitchen, leaving us and Aoi alone in the room.

For about of minute, the girl was simply looking at Murakami and me carefully. Then, she frowned and asked:

"What… What are you doing here?.."

"Wanted to visit you!" answered Murakami.

I nodded.

"You ran away so suddenly… We were afraid that something has happened to you…"

Aoi opened her eyes wide.

To be honest, I was about 50% sure that she will think that we are insane after hearing that. I could not blame her, really… It was really strange for us to go to her home… However, the way Aoi actually reacted was surprising. She didn't try to make up an excuse to leave us here and then call the police. Instead, the girl lowered her head, and I saw a flush appear on her cheeks.

"I… I mean, you shouldn't have to… Everything is okay, there's nothing…"

She was blabbering excuses…

I, meanwhile, was very confused. It took me some time to understand exactly what was going on there.

Lu was blaming herself.

She was blaming herself because she thought it was the way she had been acting that made us made us follow her… Oh, I see.

Seems like Aoi is the kind of person that has so little confidence in herself, that if some bad stuff happens, she always tries to find the fault in herself and not in the people around. I have met this kind of people before. When they see an obvious mistake in someone else's calculation, for example, they will check it ten, maybe twenty times before voicing aloud.

I mean, it's good to be careful and a little bit unsure of yourself, but some people… Well. They take it a little too far.

However, looking at the girl who was avoiding my eyes, I suddenly thought that it was good that Aoi was unsure of herself. That was my chance. While she was in that state of mind, I could attempt to influence her.

To play my act…

Of the main character.

"…"

I clicked my tongue, once again, step by step, thought about what I was about to do, and started speaking…