The classroom was loud.

  Too loud for eight in the morning.

  Chairs scraping. Someone laughing like an idiot in the back. Sunlight pouring through the windows like everything in the world was perfectly normal.

  Which was exactly why it bothered me.

  I rested my chin on my hand and stared at the seat in front of me.

  Empty.

  Aiko’s seat.

  “…Late?” I muttered.

  That wasn’t like her.

  She was the type who showed up early just to mentally prepare herself to talk to people. Being late didn’t fit her at all.

  So why do I feel nervous?

  The door suddenly slid open.

  “I?I’m sorry I’m late!”

  There she was.

  Hair messy. Cheeks red. Out of breath.

  Like she’d sprinted the whole way.

  The class laughed softly as she bowed over and over before rushing to her seat.

  Cute.

  …Annoyingly cute.

  I looked away before she noticed me staring.

  Bad habit. Very dangerous habit.

  “You overslept?” I asked quietly.

  She jumped like I’d fired a gun.

  “Ah—M?Matsuda-kun! No—I mean—yes. Maybe. A little…”

  “You stayed up late again, didn’t you?”

  “…maybe.”

  “You’re terrible at lying.”

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  “S?shut up…”

  She puffed her cheeks.

  That fake angry face again.

  Critical damage.

  I sighed and opened my book.

  Yeah.

  Today’s going to be rough.

  ---

  Lunch break meant one thing.

  Yuto dragging his chair over like an idiot.

  “So,” he said, dropping down beside me, “group study today?”

  “We studied yesterday.”

  “Yeah, but today we’ll actually study.”

  “That’s what you said yesterday too.”

  Aiko giggled.

  A small, quiet sound.

  But for some reason, my brain decided to replay it three times.

  Stop. Focus.

  “Library?” Yuto asked. “After school?”

  “O?okay…” she nodded.

  Then she looked at me.

  Just a small glance.

  Waiting.

  Like she wouldn’t go if I didn’t.

  …Why do you look at me like that?

  “…Fine,” I said. “But we’re actually studying this time.”

  “Yes, mom.”

  “Shut up.”

  ---

  The library was warm and quiet.

  Sunlight slanted through the tall windows, turning everything gold.

  Aiko sat between us.

  Which meant her shoulder kept brushing mine.

  Every.

  Single.

  Time.

  I couldn’t focus on a single number.

  Why am I this aware of her?

  “…Matsuda-kun?”

  “Hm?”

  “I don’t understand this question…”

  She turned her notebook toward me and leaned closer.

  Way too close.

  I could smell her shampoo.

  Strawberry.

  Wait.

  Why do I know that?

  “When you substitute here,” I said, pointing at the page, “it becomes like this.”

  Our fingers touched for half a second.

  Just skin.

  Nothing special.

  So why did my heart just try to escape my chest?

  She pulled back fast.

  “S?sorry!”

  “It’s fine.”

  Totally not fine.

  Not fine at all.

  Please sit normally before I die.

  ---

  “…Hey, Aiko,” Yuto said casually.

  “Y?yes?”

  “You’re kinda nervous today. Something up?”

  She froze.

  My pen stopped moving too.

  “…N?nothing.”

  “You sure?”

  “…Yeah.”

  But she kept glancing sideways.

  Not at him.

  At me.

  And that scared me more than anything.

  Don’t look at me like that.

  Please don’t.

  You’re looking at the wrong guy.

  ---

  On the way home, Yuto walked ahead kicking an empty can like a kid.

  Clang. Clang. Clang.

  Aiko slowed down.

  Until she was walking beside me.

  Just the two of us.

  Quiet street. Orange sky.

  Dangerous atmosphere.

  “…Matsuda-kun,” she said softly.

  “Yeah?”

  “…Can I ask you something?”

  My chest tightened.

  I already know what this is.

  “…Sure.”

  She fidgeted with her sleeves.

  “If… if someone liked your best friend… what should they do?”

  There it is.

  Direct hit.

  Of course it’s about him.

  Why did I expect anything else?

  “…Confess,” I said.

  Too fast.

  Even I was surprised.

  “So easily?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But what if it ruins everything?”

  “It won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  Because Yuto’s not me.

  Because he can actually make you happy.

  Because if anyone deserves you, it’s him.

  “…He’s an idiot,” I said. “But he’s not cruel. He’d never hurt you.”

  She stared at me.

  Longer than usual.

  Like she wanted to say something else.

  “…You’re really kind, Matsuda-kun.”

  I laughed.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “You are.”

  No.

  If I were kind, this wouldn’t hurt so much.

  “…I’m just tired of watching you hesitate,” I said.

  “…Still… thank you.”

  She smiled.

  Not shy.

  Not tsundere.

  Just warm.

  The kind of smile that makes you want to protect someone forever.

  And for one selfish second…

  I wished that smile was for me.

  …Idiot.

  Don’t think that.

  ---

  That night, I dreamed again.

  Same street.

  Same sky.

  Same strange feeling.

  Like the world folding.

  Like memories stacking on top of each other.

  A voice echoed somewhere far away.

  “…not yet…”

  “…still not enough…”

  “…try again…”

  I woke up sweating.

  Heart racing.

  “…Again…?”

  I checked the calendar.

  Same date.

  Nothing reset.

  So what was that?

  A warning?

  A reminder?

  Or…

  A countdown?

  I stared at the ceiling until morning came.

  And for the first time since these weird dreams started…

  I felt something new.

  Not fear.

  Not confusion.

  Just certainty.

  Something big is coming.

  And whatever it is—

  It’s going to hurt.