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It was a quiet afternoon at Shuchiin Academy, the large halls of the middle school building already abandoned as the fading sunlight turned the luxurious corridors a warm orange. Ishigami Yu lingered at that place far longer than any student should after school hours.
He had no club activities, no detentions—nothing to keep him there except one thing. Or rather, one person.
Iino Miko.
As he stepped into their homeroom, the scene was depressingly familiar. Miko’s desk was once again overturned, her belongings scattered in disarray, and vicious scribbles marked the surface. Ishigami sighed, rolling up his sleeves as if on autopilot, righting the desk before crouching to gather her belongings. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“At least it’s just pencil this time,” he muttered, reaching into his own bag for an eraser. The words weren’t creative—just cruel. The latest gem: “Iino is a rules whore!”
The world loved to pick on people like her, the kind who spoke up in a crowd that was all too happy to crush them to bits. He made a habit of alternating between staying late or arriving early to clean up her desk, as if that would somehow shield her from the reality of what people thought. She never seemed to notice him, and he never spoke directly of it either.
Why did he bother? Kindness? Compassion? Maybe those were part of it. But the truth was more complicated.
He had noticed Iino long before they had ever talked to eachother. He couldn’t tell how much of the rumors about her were true, but her reputation as a tyrant had followed her for years. Her strict, unyielding nature and constant rule enforcement had made her both feared and ridiculed by most of the student body.
At first, he thought she enjoyed it—the power, the ability to control others. It was easy to believe she reveled in it, punishing students with a cold stare and no room for leniency. But there was something about her that Ishigami couldn’t quite shake off, something that didn’t fit the image everyone else had of her.He noticed how often she stayed late, cleaning up after others, picking up discarded paper or straightening chairs in empty classrooms. One time, he had even seen her watering a flowerbed that no one else cared about, hidden away from most foot traffic. She was diligent, to a fault, but there was no audience for these actions—no one to reward her or even acknowledge it.
That’s when he started watching her more closely.
Ishigami had always been an observant kid, the kind of person who could see the cracks in the world that most people preferred to ignore. People were selfish, content to protect their own little bubbles while the weak got crushed. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.
Trying to stand up for what’s right didn’t get you praised, it got you alone. It made you a target. Miko probably understood that better than anyone. It wasn’t like he followed her ideals, per se - Ishigami considered himself a skeptical person. Most of them were overly idealistic, laughably naïve, even. Still, there was something else about her.
As he wiped away the final slur from her desk, he paused, staring at the now-clean surface. It wasn’t that he felt pity for her. It was more like...an inevitable pull to how driven she was in the face of absurdities. To someone tired and apathetic like Ishigami, seeing someone's eyes sparkle so brightly made them unbelievably...
Cute. The sort that made you feel like protecting them.
She knew what people said about her, and she pushed forward anyway, stubborn and unyielding in the face of it all. Miko wasn’t oblivious to the hate, but she fought anyway. She tried her best to endure it all despite the glares and the whispered insults, not out of ignorance, but out of defiance. She was hated, and she was aware. And still, she kept going.
Ishigami knew better than to believe the "nerves of steel" mask that made people feel like taunting her, as if she were not human. He'd seen it all - the slight sniffles when she thought no one was watching. How she'd look slightly flushed while watering the flowers, tears still threatening to fall out of the corner of her eyes. It couldn't be so bad to have someone take care of her, right...?
Gathering his things, Ishigami took one last glance at the desk. “That should do it,” he mumbled, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he left the classroom. He wandered down the quiet halls, absentmindedly considering what he'd do with the rest of the afternoon.
It was then that he heard it—a slow, heavy melody drifting from one of the music rooms. Ishigami paused, narrowing his eyes as the tune sent a shiver down his spine. There was something eerie about it, something that made him think of cemeteries or ghost stories. A bad omen? He wasn’t sure where he had heard it before, but the melody felt oddly familiar.
Instinctively, he was about to move on, brush it off as something unsettling, maybe not worth getting involved in—but curiosity got the better of him. Who could even be practicing at this hour?
As he leaned casually against the window outside the room, he peeked in and saw a petite, brown haired girl sat by the piano, her fingers gliding over the keys with practiced precision. Her face was focused, almost serene.
Of course. Deep down, he knew (or hoped?) it was an Iino thing to do.
The impulse to watch and take in the details about her - the delicate curve of her fingers, the focused expression that shifted into a peaceful gaze as she danced her fingers along the sonata - made him stay in place to listen to the music a little more closely, calculating just the right distance to stay out of sight.
Sure the melody was slow and foreboding, but there were softer, more tender parts as it progressed, like an ebb and flow of emotion hidden in the notes. He could pick up on that, even if he didn't fully get it. It barely felt like the same song that sent a shiver down his spine moments ago.
Ishigami closed his eyes for a minute, leaning against the wall in reflection. He pondered if he should leave already, or stop his inverventions altogether.
He wasn’t an idiot; he could tell that Miko was going through one of the toughest periods of her life. Her student council election losses, the constant mockery she faced, her struggles to uphold what she believed in—it was a bad time for him to play the hero from the shadows, and he knew it. He wished he could say something cooler of himself, like he would have helped anyone who was suffering to the extent that he has for her, but he knows in his heart it's not true. He did yearn for something like romance.
Despite the fear of rejection, despite the obvious red flags that this wasn’t the time for anything resembling love, the bravado of a middle school boy who had never experienced these feelings before, mixed with his unstoppable curiosity for love, kept him hovering around her, supporting her from the shadows. Maybe someday, when the time was right, she could swoon over when she finally realized how much he’d done for her. But he didn’t want to come off as selfish or vain, so he kept his distance, quietly stepping in whenever she needed it, making sure no one saw.
And today was no different.
As the final notes echoed through the empty hall, Miko let out a soft sigh and began gathering her things. Ishigami's eyes fluttered open, breaking him from his negativity trance. He quickly straightened up, realizing he'd been standing there longer than he intended. As he turned to leave, of course his luck was as bad as usual.
Miko used the opposite door that he had expected her to— leading to her running right into him the moment she stepped out of the room.
“Ah!” she yelped softly, her arms occupied with a tall stack of papers. She peeked from behind it with a surprised expression, clearly not expecting anyone "Ishigami-kun?"
“H...Hey, Iino-san.” he said, trying to play it cool. “What a coicidence meeting you here."
"Indeed. What are you still doing at school? Have you joined a new club?" she asked curiously, struggling with the weight of the pile she carried.
“Oh, nothing much. I forgot my pencil case in the classroom, so I ended up taking a detour to get it back” He shrugged casually, though inwardly he winced at how flimsy his lie was.
“I see...” Miko replied, her voice a little more nervous than usual. He suspected she was gauging whether he was around for her piano practice. "I have to take these applications to our teacher's office."
Ishigami figured that if his bad timing pushed him out of his safety zone in the shadows already, he might as well make something good out of it. He stepped forward, holding out his hands. “Let me help with that, then.”
Miko hesitated to accept his offer right away. "Are you sure? Won't you be going home too late?"
"Well, that's alright. I'm here anyway, I don't mind staying a little longer." He said curtly.
"If you insist...” she finally muttered, handing him half of the pile.
They walked side by side wordlessly, the awkwardness thick between them. As the weight of the papers shifted in his arms, Ishigami tried to think of something—anything—to break the tension. Before he realized it, as he drifted deep in thought, he started unconciously started humming to fill in the silence.
It was slightly offtune, but it certainly was the song Miko'd been playing moments ago.
She glanced at him, her brow raised. Then, her eyes narrowed slightly, she spoke up.
"Ishigami-kun, you....listened to me play the piano, didn't you?”
Caught off guard, Ishigami hesitated to answer. He cringed inwardly for the slip-up, realizing there was no way out of that one.
“Yeah, sorry for not mentioning it sooner.” he admitted, feeling a sweatdrop roll down his neck “I wasn't really tailing you or anything. I just happened to be passing by.”
That was a half truth, at least.
Instead of scolding him, like he feared, Miko asked him tentatively: "Do you recognize it?"
“Uh, sorta? I mean, it sounded familiar, but I don’t actually know what it is.” He replied timidly, feeling self conscious of his ignorance.
“It’s Chopin’s Piano Sonata no 2, the "Funeral March". I’m practicing it for a recital.”
"I see." Ishigami nodded thoughtfully.
It's not like he was well versed in classical music, as he did not play any instrument himself, but he's heard some of it before in television and games. He lacked the understanding to properly respond to her in the topic, but since he was caught listening, he felt compelled to at least say something about her performance.
“It suits you.”
The moment the words left his mouth, panic flooded through him.
Oh shit, you idiot. Ishigami mentally scolded himself.
What did I just say? Funerals suits her? Ishigami felt the color drain from his face as braced himself for the inevitable backlash. It wasn't unusual for him to blurt out his thoughts in a way that people couldn't really follow and cause big misunderstandings. Quickly glacing at Miko, he realized she hung her head lower than before. He had to do something to make this less bad! Perhaps elaborating about it?
"Because, even though it's a somber melody that sounds too serious when you first hear it, it's actually quite complex and peaceful when you take the time to appreciate it. That must have taken a lot of effort to play smoothly, so it certainly suits your skills." he added, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking.
To Ishigami's surprise, rather than snapping at him, Miko gave him a quiet “thank you.” as she hid her face behind the paper pile.
He glanced at her again more carefully, noticing a faint pink hue to her cheeks. She began to speak again, her voice speeding up in a nervous babble. “You know, a lot of people misunderstand that piece. They think it's too foreboding to even bother with, but it's one of Chopin's most famous compositions, and not written for anyone's specific funeral. Rather than morbid, to me it's more like... reflective and unfairly stigmatized.” She glanced at him, gauging his reaction before continuing.
"Yeah. I think I get it." Ishigami said softly, taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. Iino Miko was a girl that had a serious or scowling expression most of the time, like she was constantly exhasperated about something. So to see her wholeheartedly excited or relaxed about something was...unusual, to say the least.
She was talking faster now, her eyes lighting up.
“Chopin was revolutionary! People overlook how he pushed the boundaries of form. The "Funeral March" is way more than just this one sad melody. There’s a lullaby hidden in there, like a moment of peace amidst the heaviness…which must be what death feels like, don't you think? It's not really such a bad thing.”
She kept going, passionately explaining the nuances of the piece. Ishigami didn't know the first thing about music theory, but he couldn’t help but listen, drawn in by her excitement. It was clear she really cared about this, and seeing her like this—cheerful, alive—warmed something inside him. Even if the current topic was basically, well, "death sounds nice".
A weird girl, for sure. But profoundly interesting. To someone like him who often gloated he could easily figure people out by observing them closely enough, or felt like he was bored of the world, she made a strong impression. One that made him yearn for seeing more.
“Sorry,” Miko said suddenly, cutting herself off and Ishigami's thoughts as well. She bit her lower lip, clearly embarrassed by her own rambling. “I've studied it a lot, so I get carried away talking about it... what I meant to say is, I’m glad you took the time to listen. Most people just hear the first notes and run away thinking something bad is about to happen.”
Well, Ishigami thought with a pang of guilt, it's not like I'm not one of those people too. It sure seemed creepy at first.
But, he supposed the details did not matter. She was pleased that he stayed and listened earnestly anyway, wasn't she?
“It wasn't a problem at all. I guess I’m just good at noticing things.” He spoke up calmy, in spite of his tumultous feelings.
Miko glanced up at him, and for a second, their eyes met. There was something soft in her gaze, a vulnerability he wasn’t used to seeing. Ishigami hesitated for a moment, feeling like he should say something more. He wasn’t used to moments like this, nor did he tend to give encouragement lightly, but... maybe just this once, he could be more direct.
“Your recital... it’ll definitely go well." he said confidently.
Miko blinked, her expression softening even more. “You think so?”
“Yeah. You’ve got this.”
Neither of them were corageous enough at the time to look at each other's faces again as they exchanged the timid words, nor did they say anything else besides exchanging polite goodbyes once the paper delivery task was over.
However, after that moment, Ishigami felt like he understood a little better what he wanted to convey, in case he ever worked up the nerve to tell her about what he has been doing in these afterschool hours. Or maybe he could use safer, more indirect means...a letter, perhaps? Who knows.
He'd worry about it when the timing was right.