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The school hallway was mostly empty during lunch break, with most students either in the cafeteria or out on the grounds. An had stayed behind to organize some sheet music for their practice later, and Touya had volunteered to help—though "volunteered" might be too strong a word. He'd simply appeared at her classroom door, taken half the stack of papers without asking, and started sorting.
An glanced at him as they worked side by side at her desk. He moved with his usual quiet efficiency, his expression calm and focused. Sometimes she wondered what went on in that head of his—he always seemed so thoughtful, so measured in everything he did.
"Hey, Touya," she said suddenly, setting down a stack of lyrics.
Touya looked up from the papers he was organizing. "Hm?"
An paused, looking up from the stack. "Can I ask you something?"
Touya turned his head slightly to look at her. "Of course."
An fiddled with a loose thread on her sleeve, trying to figure out how to word this without sounding weird. "How come you still call me and Kohane by our last names? I mean, we've known each other for a while now." She tilted her head curiously. "But you call Akito just… Akito."
Touya blinked seeming to consider this. His gray eyes drifted forward again as he thought. "…I suppose it's habit," he said after a moment. "My mother raised me to address people formally unless we've known each other for a very long time." He paused. "Akito and I are always together. It feels natural with him."
"Ah, that makes sense." An nodded slowly. She'd noticed before how polite Touya always was—the way he spoke, the way he carried himself. It was just part of who he was. Even his own mother called him "Touya-san," which had surprised her the first time she'd heard it.
Still…
"But hey, we're friends too, right? You even know me before we went to high school. Though not as close as now." An said, grinning at him. "You could call me An if you want. I mean, Kohane does. Akito does. It'd be kinda weird if you're the only one still being all formal with me."
Touya was quiet for a moment, setting down the papers in his hands. He looked at her, his gray eyes thoughtful. An felt her heart beat a little faster under his gaze, though she wasn't sure why.
"Alright," he said finally, his voice calm and measured. "…An."
The sound of her name in his voice—low, unhurried, careful, like he was tasting the shape of it—made something flutter unexpectedly in her chest. Her breath caught for just a second, and she had to remind herself that this was normal. People said her name all the time. So why did it sound so different coming from him?
"A-ah yeah! That's—that's good!" An quickly looked away, feeling warmth creep up her cheeks. She cleared her throat, trying to sound casual. "See? Not so hard, right?"
"…No," Touya agreed quietly. "Not hard at all."
An risked a glance back at him and caught the faintest hint of something in his expression—not quite a smile, but something softer around the edges. It made her heart do another weird little flip.
'Get it together, An,' she told herself firmly. 'It's just your name. He's just saying your name. Why are you being weird about this?'
But somehow, hearing it from Touya felt… different.
They continued organizing the music in silence and An focused very hard on the papers in front of her, trying to ignore the way her face still felt warm.
When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch break, they'd finished sorting everything. An gathered the stacks carefully while Touya stood, brushing off his uniform.
"Thank you for helping," An said, still not quite meeting his eyes.
"You're welcome, An."
There it was again. That flutter in her chest.
She watched him leave the classroom, and only when he was gone did she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
A few days later, the practice had just wrapped up at Weekend Garage. An was packing up her things, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a small towel. It had been a good session—everyone's energy had been high, and their harmonies were really starting to come together for their next performance.
"Nice work today, everyone!" She called out cheerfully.
"Yeah, yeah," Akito muttered, already heading toward the door. "I'm grabbing something from the convenience store. Anyone want something?"
"Ooh, get me a melon soda!" Kohane piped up.
"Me too!" An added.
Akito waved dismissively. "Got it. Touya?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Suit yourself." The door chimed as Akito left, and Kohane followed shortly after, saying something about helping him carry the drinks.
An was zipping up her bag when she heard Touya's voice from behind her.
"You sang well today, An."
She nearly dropped her water bottle. The way he said it—so casual, so effortless, like her name belonged in his mouth—sent a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.
Slowly, she turned to look at him, her cheeks already warming. Touya stood a few feet away, his expression perfectly neutral, hands tucked into his pockets. He looked completely unbothered, like he hadn't just made her heart jump into her throat.
"Y-yeah? Thanks…" An managed, trying to sound normal and failing miserably.
Touya's gaze didn't waver. "Your control on the high notes in the bridge has improved significantly."
"Oh. Uh. I've been practicing that part a lot, so…" She trailed off, acutely aware of how flustered she sounded.
There was the faintest glimmer of something in Touya's eyes—amusement, maybe? Satisfaction? It was hard to tell with him, but An had the distinct impression that he knew exactly what he was doing.
"…You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" She accused, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Doing what?" Touya tilted his head slightly, the picture of innocence.
"You—!" An sputtered, pointing at him. "You know what! The whole… the name thing!"
"You asked me to call you An." Touya said calmly. "I'm simply respecting your request."
"Yeah, but you don't have to sound so—" She gestured vaguely at him. "—so smooth about it!"
"I wasn't aware there was a particular way I was supposed to say it."
An bit her lower lip, desperately looking for any distraction in the room to hide the undeniable crimson flooding her cheeks. "Ugh, never mind!" She grabbed her bag and stood abruptly. "I need to go to the bathroom!"
"Alright, An."
She froze mid-step, her shoulders tensing. Without turning around, she muttered, "…Yeah. Be right back."
As she hurried toward the bathroom in the back of the café, she could swear she heard the softest hint of laugh from where Touya was still sitting.
An locked herself in the bathroom and pressed her hands to her still-warm cheeks, staring at her flustered reflection in the mirror.
'This is going to be a problem,' she thought.
It became a pattern after that.
Touya would use her first name at the most unexpected moments—when they were reviewing lyrics together, when he handed her a water bottle after practice, when they happened to run into each other near school. Each time, An told herself she'd gotten used to it, that it didn't affect her anymore.
And each time, her traitorous heart proved her wrong.
One afternoon, they were at a music store together, browsing through sheet music for potential new songs. An was flipping through a book of jazz standards when Touya appeared beside her, holding up a different collection.
"An, what do you think of this one?"
His voice was quiet, meant only for her in the hushed atmosphere of the store. Somehow that made it worse—or better? She couldn't tell anymore.
She jumped slightly, nearly dropping the book in her hands. "W-what?"
"This arrangement." He showed her the page, pointing to a particular section. "The harmony here would suit your range well."
An tried to focus on the music, she really did. But Touya was standing close enough that she could smell the faint scent of his cologne—something subtle and understated, and he'd said her name again in that careful, deliberate way, and her brain was having trouble processing anything else.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, that looks… good." She had no idea what she was agreeing to.
Touya studied her face for a moment, and An swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch upward. "You didn't even look at it."
"I did!"
"You're still looking at me, not the music."
An's eyes snapped to the sheet music, her face burning. "I was just—I was about to—shut up!"
This time, Touya didn't bother hiding his smile. It was small, barely there, but definitely real. An caught sight of it, her grip on the sheet music tightened, her knuckles turning white as she tried to ignore the chaotic rhythm in her chest.
"You're enjoying this way too much," she muttered, turning back to the shelf to hide her embarrassment.
"I don't know what you mean," Touya said, but his tone was just a fraction warmer than usual. "I'm simply calling you by your name, An."
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"That! The thing you're doing!"
"Using your name?"
"Yes! No! I mean—" An groaned, covering her face with her hands. "You're impossible."
"So I've been told."
An peeked at him through her fingers and found him watching her with that same soft, now with visible smile. Despite her embarrassment, she couldn't help smiling back.
"…Fine," she said finally, dropping her hands. "You win this round."
"I wasn't aware we were competing."
"We're always competing. That's how partnerships work."
Touya's expression shifted into something An couldn't quite read. "Is that what we are?" He asked quietly. "Partners?"
The question hung in the air between them, suddenly weighted with something An didn't know how to name. Her heart was beating too fast again, and the music store felt too warm, too small, too—
"Yeah," she said, meeting his gaze. "I mean we're all teamates, right? All four of us."
"Right," Touya agreed, but something in his tone suggested he was thinking of a different kind of partnership entirely. "All four of us."
They stood there for a moment longer, sheet music forgotten, just looking at each other in the quiet corner of the store. Then An cleared her throat and turned back to the shelf, desperately trying to calm her racing pulse.
"So, um. About that arrangement you wanted to show me…"
"Of course." Touya stepped closer again, and An had to remind herself very firmly to focus on the music this time.
Even if his proximity made that nearly impossible.
Even if the way he said her name kept echoing in her mind.
Even if she was starting to realize that maybe—just maybe—this strange, fluttery feeling whenever Touya was around meant something more than simple friendship.
But that was a problem for Future An to figure out.
Right now, she just needed to survive the way Aoyagi Touya said her name like it was something precious.
And judging by the soft look in his eyes when he glanced at her over the sheet music, he had no intention of stopping anytime soon.