Archive of Our Own

It was the second day of the festival, and the hallways and courtyards of Chidori were packed with students and visitors. The atmosphere was festive and noisy, colorful and messy.

Natsusawa, meanwhile, was inside the makeshift escape room their classroom had set up. It was his turn to babysit a group of students, making sure they did not get too stuck on any particular puzzle and did not break anything that was not meant to be broken in the process. That allowed him to lean against the wall and let people come to their own solutions most of the time. It was a little stuffy, but he preferred this to Rintaro and Shohei’s role of preparing the next group and keeping the queue under control. That sounded exhausting for his introverted soul.

He chaperoned the group out of the escape room as soon as they managed to find the solution and clear the game. Then he stepped outside, joining Rintaro,Shohei, and Ayato, and he got hit again by the noise all around him.

He looked longingly at the other classrooms down the hallway, wishing he would soon get his own break to explore the festival on his own. As he thought about it, he recognized familiar faces among the crowd in the distance. His eyes widened in surprise.

Wait… is that Yuzuhara and Waguri…?

The two girls walked briskly side by side until they reached the boys. Yuzuhara was smiling, already full of energy, while Waguri seemed to be taking in everything about the school Rintaro spent every day in.

“Found you!” Yuzuhara exclaimed.

“Surprise,” Waguri added. Rintaro looked completely at a loss for words. It was clear he had not expected this visit.

“Yuzuhara! Waguri! You’re here,” Shohei said, patting the back of one of the students in the next group to usher him inside.

The student had paused to watch the interaction with wide eyes, but now reluctantly followed Ayato inside. Even so, there was no shortage of stares from the queue and the surrounding crowd, all curious about who these girls that their seniors seemed to know were.

“Are you sure you can be here?” Rintaro asked, clearly nervous. Even with the conflict resolved, stepping inside Chidori like this felt like going too far. “Are you sure you are not going to get in trouble?”

“Don’t worry, we came disguised,” Yuzuhara said. By disguised, she only meant comfortable clothes and baseball caps, but still. “You see, I wanted to see Chigusa-sensei, and Kaoruko was too jealous of the idea of other girls visiting the festival and not her.”

“Madoka!” Waguri scolded her friend, blushing deeply. The two of them kept chatting with Rintaro and Shohei. Saku, on the other hand, watched the interaction with mild amusement.

It was clear to him that someone was missing. Hoshina, who had been by her friend’s side from the beginning, was not with them today. And while a part of him would have liked to see her, he was deeply relieved she was not being exposed to something that could be quite triggering for her.

“Oh, by the way,” Yuzuhara said, suddenly changing the topic as she glanced at her phone. “Subaru is at the gate. We were going to arrive together, but she missed her train and told us not to wait.”

“What?!” Saku could not help but exclaim, losing his composure for a second. “I mean, why would she come here of all places?”

Yuzuhara and Waguri exchanged a look none of the boys could decipher, and Saku still seemed restless.

“I just sent her a message that we are on the third floor, but Natsusawa, why don’t you go and get her?” Yuzuhara asked innocently, though there was a knowing smile on her face. “That way she won’t get lost.”

After a couple of encouraging nods from Rintaro and Waguri, while Shohei was busy talking to people in the queue, Saku turned on his heel and started walking away, quickly.

But Subaru was not at the entrance when he got there.

Instead, Subaru had already entered the school, following the flow of people and trying to find her way through. She had not seen Madoka’s message about them being inside, so she started her search in the courtyard.

The crowds were overwhelming as she scanned the sea of faces for any sign of her friends, without success. At the same time, she was drawing a lot of stares, and the unwanted attention was starting to get on her nerves. 

She was already regretting not being a little more selfish earlier and asking Kaoruko and Madoka to wait for her. She just did not want to be in their way. How hard could it be to enter a school and find her friends? 

She was finding out in real time that it was actually quite hard.

“Hey, are you here alone?”

Someone approached her. She tried her best to contain her flinch of surprise and act somewhat normal. It was a boy, probably a student. She was much better with boys now compared to before, but she still was not looking forward to interacting with a stranger.

“No, I’m looking for my friends. They are from class 3-1,” she explained, already turning slightly to the side, ready to end the interaction and move on.

“I can show you the way, if you don’t mind,” he offered, a wide smile on his face.

She weighed her options. Getting directions was something she really needed, and he seemed friendly enough.

“I’d appreciate that. Thank you,” she said. 

He looked a little amused at her formality.

They started walking, the boy guiding her through the courtyard. Meanwhile, he tried to ask a stream of questions, which Subaru avoided by giving short answers or simple yes or no replies, making him struggle to keep the conversation going. She kept her distance from her overly friendly guide, wishing they would arrive soon. But they had been walking for quite a while, and she started to feel uneasy.

“Didn’t we go through here already?” she asked. An uncomfortable feeling was growing in her gut, her instinct to leave starting to push at the back of her mind.

“Are you in a hurry?” he deflected, answering her question with another. He stopped in front of a stall. It looked like one of the school cafés, decorated with handmade signs and props. “I thought we could eat something together, get to know each other, then I can take you to your friends.”

Subaru stepped back, bumping into people gathered around the entrance of the café. A sharp sense of dread settled in. She was in unfamiliar territory, with a guy who had just lied to her, and she was just as lost as before, maybe even more. She cursed her own naivety.

“Wait, don’t go. If you don’t want to eat, then let’s just get a drink,” the guy insisted, reaching out to grab her wrist.

“Keep your fucking hands to yourself.” 

Saku’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and cold, startling them both. The boy immediately pulled his hand back.

Subaru turned, and relief washed over her at the sight of him. She was a little surprised too, seeing this side of him again, the one that turned harsh when he was defending someone. She had been on the receiving end of it, once, a long time ago. But now the difference was clear. He had stepped in for her. She was someone important enough to him to provoke that reaction.

That realization made her heart flutter in a way she did not expect.

The boy mumbled some kind of excuse, and Saku looked ready to fire back with another sharp remark, when he felt a small tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Subaru holding onto it with two fingers, her eyes lowered, her cheeks flushed.

“Let’s just go,” she said quietly. 

He noticed the attention they were drawing.

“Yeah, let’s.”

They started walking in the opposite direction from where Subaru and that guy had been heading, leaving it all behind. They made their way through the courtyard, where food stalls were lined up side by side. Yakisoba, takoyaki, sweets, mochi, and more, all with long queues they had to weave around.

“You can hold onto this if you need,” Saku said, hesitating for a moment before offering his sleeve, the same one she had been holding earlier, since he had noticed she was struggling to keep up.

She grabbed it again, this time clutching the fabric with her whole hand. She did not want to get separated in the crowd. Saku was her safe place.

Saku swallowed and tried to keep his heart rate steady. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as he guided them through the less crowded paths. When he had decided to keep a lid on his feelings, he had not expected it to be this difficult, or this painful.

“You didn’t have to come at all,” he said, sounding a little annoyed.

“I know. I wanted to.”

He glanced back at her, clearly confused.

“Why?”

Because of you, she thought, tightening her grip on his sleeve as she followed his lead through the crowd.

Some time had passed since that day at the beach, and since Kaoruko had asked her to think about her feelings. To be honest, she was still a little lost.

He was special to her in a way the others, Tsumugi, Yorita, or Usami, were not. That had been easy to understand. There was something about the two of them. It felt like they could see through each other, understand what went unsaid, like they were on the same wavelength, apart from everyone else.

That made them kindred souls.

But was that enough to call it love?

Scratch that, could that love be deemed romantic?

That was the question she had been trying to answer, and no matter how much she turned it over in her head, she could not find a clear answer. 

Even if she was on the brink of discovery, she was incapable of finding the answer on her own. 

So she had decided she needed to see him. 

Their brief meeting during the national mock exam, even though it stirred her emotions, had not been enough.

She hoped that spending time with him, especially now that the tension between the schools had settled, might bring some clarity to her feelings.

And oh boy had she been on the right track.

Hearing Saku’s voice, seeing him appear at her side, stepping in without hesitation, his presence protective toward her and hostile toward that guy, it had made her heart react in a way she could not ignore. It scattered all her overthinking like a fragile house of cards.

It was more than just relief at being helped, more than just being saved, if that was even the right word. She knew that much.

Even if she could not name it yet, she knew it was something new, something raw, and a little unsettling.

“Is this part of your aggressive therapy method?” he added when she stayed quiet.

“Hm, something like that,” she replied with a small grin.

He sighed. They had reached the entrance of the building, and the crowd had thinned out, but Subaru still held onto his sleeve.

“Why were you there anyway? And who was that guy?”

“He offered to take me to class 3-1, but he lied.”

“Wait, so you just followed a complete stranger?” he asked, sounding more annoyed now.

“You’re making it sound worse than it was,” she said with a pout. “But thanks for helping me back there. Were you checking out the stalls?”

“No. I was looking for you.”

Oh

Again, her heart skipped a beat, and she could feel her ears growing warm. This mission to understand her feelings was going to be the death of her.

“There are a lot of people here, and we need to get to the staircase,” Saku said once they were inside the building, surrounded by the busy hallways.

“Keep holding on so we don’t get separated.”

At his words, she swallowed and decided to try something she had seen many times before, with Kaoruko and with other people at the festival. 

She loosened her grip on his sleeve and slowly slid her hand down until her closed fist rested in his palm.

Her fingers stayed curled tightly inward. She still couldn’t quite bring herself to hold his hand properly. But this much she could do. 

For a second, doubt crept in. Maybe he would not like it. It was a bold move, after all. She had held hands with her friends before, but they were girls. He was not, and that made a difference.

Saku froze for a couple of seconds. Then he gently closed his hand around hers.

Relief washed over her.

They walked slowly, the crowd making it difficult to move any faster, and for a while neither of them spoke. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

His hand was warm. His grip was gentle, but there was a firmness to it too, something rough and distinctly his, in a way she could not quite explain or fully understand.

It made her feel safe. And strangely unsteady at the same time. 

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized she liked it more than she should have, as if this small point of contact was ticking boxes in her mission to understand her feelings, boxes she did not even know were part of it. 

Saku, on the other hand, felt pulled in two opposite directions. One part of him wanted to give in to it, to feel happy, almost giddy. But the rational part of his mind kept dragging him back. Do not assume. Do not read too much into it. Do not let yourself hope and end up getting hurt (more). She could be like this, unaware of how her actions affected others. This might mean nothing. He should not get ahead of himself. 

They kept their slow pace without realizing it, even after the crowd thinned out, both of them unwilling to reach their destination too quickly. 

She suddenly stopped in front of a board covered with photos. Saku stopped with her, still holding her hand, even though they no longer needed to in their now stationary position.

“It’s probably the photography club,” Saku said, while Subaru looked through the photos.

There was a wide variety of subjects. Some showed landscapes around the school and nearby streets, focusing on composition and light, sometimes in color. 

A good number were sports scenes, focusing on team members, their poses, the angles of the shots, and trying to capture movement, the dynamism inherent of sports activities. Subaru recognized a photo of her Chidori friends, smiling and celebrating after a baseball match, and she couldn't help but smile as well.

The rest, also a large portion, were candid photos of people, capturing emotion: a natural smile while joking with friends, two classmates enraptured in a paper-plane competition at the back of a classroom, someone eating ice cream under the shade of a tree, a celebration beside an arcade machine, a bored student staring out the window on a hot summer day.

Subaru was fascinated. Whoever had taken these photos had real talent, she could tell.

“They are amazing,” she said, her eyes fixed on the board.

“Yeah…” he replied, his eyes fixed on her. He could not look away when she showed this kind of passion.

“A photography club sounds really fun,” she added, a little wistful. She did not have that option back at Kikyo, which was a shame.

“They have a photo booth,” he said, glancing toward the classroom entrance. “But the others are waiting for us. Maybe we can come back later, if you want.”

She turned to look at him, and their eyes met for a moment, hers shining with excitement.

And that excitement was not only about the idea of taking photos.

The real reason was his offer to go together.

The image that formed in her mind of them exploring the festival, stopping at different stalls and classrooms that caught their attention, sharing food, maybe still holding hands like they were now, made her heart flutter.

And then she realized that maybe the answer had been simple all along.

She had been overcomplicating everything in her head.

But now, standing next to him, feeling this excited at the thought of spending time together, she could not ignore how much it resembled a date.

Could this still fit within the bounds of friendship?

“I’d love that,” she said with a soft smile.

He smiled back at her.

Click.

The sudden sound broke the moment. They let go of each other’s hands and turned back, confused about where it had come from.

“Sorry, I just took a candid photo. Hope you don’t mind,” a boy with glasses said, standing a short distance away. A camera hung from his neck by a strap, resting in his hands. “It’ll take me a bit to develop it since this is an old-school camera, but if you come back in an hour or so, I’d be happy to give it to you for free.”

“You should have asked,” Saku admonished.

“Where’s the fun in that?” the boy replied with a shrug, and Saku’s glare only sharpened. 

“Did you take these?” Subaru asked, her voice still a little nervous as she gestured toward the photos on the board.

“A good part of them, yeah,” he said, clearly proud. “You can check your photo later and decide if you want it or not. I won’t publish it or anything, but it was such a good shot, I couldn’t help myself.”

“They’re really good, these ones,” Subaru said, her gaze lowered, though the boy correctly assumed she was still talking about the board. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.”

They said their goodbyes and continued toward the third floor. There were fewer people now, not enough to justify holding hands again, so they walked side by side, an unusual closeness lingering about them.

“There you are,” Yuzuhara said, the first to spot them when they arrived at the 3-1 classroom. 

Both girls quickly moved over to check on their friend and started asking what had taken them so long, and the two of them managed to answer without going into details. 

Saku quickly made himself scarce, using the excuse of picking up some materials elsewhere. He was too unsettled to hide his distress, so he wanted to be alone for a while.

The girls stayed for some time, keeping the boys company while it was their turn to manage their class game. They also tried to solve the puzzles themselves, and Madoka’s love for games quickly became clear as she was carrying their team to victory. Kaoruko, always sharp and also familiar with games thanks to her brother, played a strong supporting role for Madoka. 

Subaru, on the other hand, was noticeably distracted the whole time. Part of it was that she was not familiar with these kinds of games, but more than that, the time she had spent with Saku lingered heavily in her thoughts. 

She had felt so comfortable in his presence. Holding his hand felt like the most natural thing in the world. The way her heart had pounded at his suggestion of spending more time together at the festival had made her pause, surprised by her own reaction. 

She had been on the brink of self-discovery, but fear still kept her from admitting a truth she already knew. 

What if the answer was yes? That her feelings were romantic? 

She felt unable to live up to what that might require. 

She was not like the others.

Until now, she had lived vicariously through her friends, watching them talk about the people they loved. Watching their faces light up, their soft blushes, their embarrassed smiles, their eyes shining with a new kind of energy. 

She believed, or at least assumed, that she was not capable of that. 

And there was something else weighing on her mind. The way Saku had practically run off after they rejoined the others. When he came back, it felt like he was deliberately keeping his distance. 

He wouldn’t actually avoid her, would he? 

Madoka and Kaoruko were now working through what seemed to be the final puzzle, close to solving it. Subaru, whose thoughts were making her a poor teammate anyway, excused herself and headed out of the room early. 

Madoka complained in a playful tone that Subaru was abandoning her and leaving her as the third wheel, but Tsumugi, who was there to help in case they got stuck, simply nodded and told her not to worry. 

So Subaru made her way toward the exit through the small maze they had set up.  

“Did something happen earlier?”

The door was halfway open, but she stopped in her tracks as soon as she heard Yorita’s voice. 

“Not sure what you’re talking about,” Saku said, avoiding his gaze. 

The two boys were sitting at the table in the front, waiting for new players. It was lunchtime, and most students had gone off in search of something to eat, so they had a rare moment of quiet. 

“You know, you can tell me things if you need to. I won’t tell the others or tease you,” Yorita insisted, and Saku seemed to consider his words. 

Subaru hesitated. She was unsure what to do. She was curious and worried about Saku, but she knew she should not be listening in, so she stepped forward.

“Is just… Hoshina can be a lot sometimes.” 

She froze again, stunned. Her eyes widened in shock. 

“Yeah, I probably get where you are coming from,” Yorita said, sympathetic, which only added to Subaru’s bewilderment.

Saku looked troubled, about to continue, when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned and saw Subaru standing by the doorframe. 

His expression shifted to horror as he realized she had heard him. Whatever she had understood from his words had clearly hurt her. 

“I… I need to go,” she said quickly, then turned and walked swiftly down the hallway, drawing attention from people at the nearby classrooms. 

“W-wait!” Saku jumped to his feet, startling Yorita, who had only just noticed Subaru. Saku rushed after her. 

She did not stop. For a moment, he considered grabbing her wrist, but immediately stopped himself. That would make him no better than the guy from earlier. Instead, he ran ahead of her and stepped in front of her path. 

She stopped as well, mostly to avoid crashing into him. Her gaze stayed fixed on the ground, her face tense as she tried to hold back tears. 

“Please” he said under his breath. “It’s a misunderstanding”

If they usually drew attention to themselves, now there was a whole crowd with their eyes fixed on them. They were both clearly uncomfortable with it, so they decided to find somewhere to talk, away from the inquisitive eyes of strangers, which was not easy in the middle of a school festival. 

Subaru followed Saku, keeping the most neutral expression she could manage, until he eventually found an empty classroom they could use, currently serving as storage for materials. 

“I’m sorry for what I said,” he said at last when they were alone. 

She remained silent, but her thoughts were loud enough. 

During their walk, she had already started spiraling around his words. What did he mean? Was she really that difficult to be around? Why had he not said anything before? Did other people feel the same and just stayed silent? 

She had accepted his small actions, like looking for her and guiding her back, without a second thought, trusting his kind nature. But now she was second guessing everything. 

“I know I’m not the easiest person to deal with…” she started. 

“This is a misunderstanding,” he interrupted, his lips pressed into a thin line. 

“But you said I was a lot… ”

“...it’s not what you think.” 

“Am I a burden?” she mumbled.

“No, you’re not.” 

“You don’t need to spare my feelings. Just tell me so I can improve and not be a burden to people… or to you.” 

Saku groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. He wanted to shake that idea out of her head. It was his fault for saying something so careless. He wanted to explain that it was all a misunderstanding, but every explanation he could think of would reveal too much, would lay his one sided feelings bare in front of her. 

“I’m really sorry if I caused you trouble earlier today. Maybe you were right and I should have just stayed home.” 

“Look, Hoshina,” he said, leaning against some boxes. “You are taking it the wrong way. I didn’t mind that at all. And even if I still think it was a bad idea, I’m glad you decided to come today.” 

It had taken a lot for him to get those words out. It felt pointless: her face was still filled with pain. 

She did not believe him at all. 

He sighed deeply. 

His desire to ease her pain overrode his other fears and doubts. 

“I love spending time with you,” he said, his voice low and deliberate.

That caught her attention. She looked up at him, locking eyes, slightly surprised by his choice of words.

His expression was serious, determined. 

“It’s just that sometimes you say something so candid, or do something so forward, that it can be misunderstood…” 

“Like… at the beach?” she asked. 

He nodded. 

They both knew exactly which moment she meant, and both of them blushed. He grew flustered, realizing she might already be connecting the meaning behind his words. She, on the other hand, remembered what Kaoruko had told her, about interpretations she had completely missed at the time.

“Or suddenly holding hands,” he added, his ears turning even redder as he remembered walking across the school like that, in the middle of the festival no less. 

“Oh… oh… ” 

The pieces in her mind started to fall into place. So that was what he meant. He was talking about her tendency to say, and apparently do, the wrong things. She already knew about that, and she had been trying to be more careful. But now she realized she had done it again. 

Part of her felt guilty for making the same misstep, but she could not bring herself to regret it. 

Not this time.

She had enjoyed the sensation of his hand in hers far too much to see it as a mistake. 

“But what is so wrong about it?” she asked, sounding a little defensive.

He sighed again, a hint of frustration slipping through. To him, the truth was already out, so he might as well be honest. 

“Well, it gives me false hope, and I then have a harder time putting a lid on things”

Subaru took a moment to process his words. 

“Wait, what?”

“Please don’t make me say it again.”

“No, wait, putting a lid on what exactly?” Her pulse started to race. 

It’s not what I think it is…

…is it?

… oh my god.

Saku could feel his pulse hammering at his temples. He had thought the conclusion was easier to reach, but she needed to hear the words. She needed that final confirmation, the last nail in the coffin. Now he was backed into a corner, with no way out. 

“I’ve fallen for you, Hoshina,” he said, the words echoing in the otherwise silent classroom. 

“So when I said you were a lot, it’s because when you say those things, it makes it very difficult for me, since I already know you don’t feel the same way.” 

All thoughts in Subaru’s overthinking mind scattered, then came rushing back louder and stronger. 

So many things were starting to make sense now. 

His earlier conversation with Yorita.

His pained expression at the beach.

Kaoruko’s words after that. 

She covered her open mouth with her hands, eyes wide in shock. 

“But you don’t have to answer me or act differently around me,” he quickly added. “I’m happy to be friends. I don’t need more.” 

She remained silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

“I’m really sorry I hurt you earlier with what I said,” he added, his gaze averted now, clearly fidgety under the heavy silence between them. 

She was still too stunned to speak. Completely blindsided, to say the least. To think he had feelings for her. She had been so focused on understanding her own feelings that all her careful progress over the past months felt like it had been bulldozed by this revelation. 

It did strange things to her heart. It made her even more scared of ruining things, of hurting him, but at the same time there was elation and embarrassment in equal measure. 

And it also raised the pressure to find an answer of her own. She could not afford to lose him or hurt him any further. 

“Okay, okay, what’s happening here?” 

Chigusa-sensei had just slid the door open and looked a little surprised to find Natsusawa of all people with a Kikyo girl. Both of them flinched at the same time, as if they had been caught doing something wrong. 

“No PDA on school grounds, Natsusawa. You should know better.” 

“It’s nothing like that!” Saku exclaimed, beet red. “We were just talking.” 

Subaru covered her face with her hands, equally embarrassed. 

“Oh, you must be Madoka’s friend,” Chigusa said, taking a closer look at Subaru. “I spoke with her and the other girl already. You shouldn’t be here. The relationship between the schools has only just improved and it’s still on thin ice. What you three did today could undo the little progress that’s been made, okay?” 

Her tone was a little stern, but still friendly. 

“I’m sorry… it wasn’t my intention,” Subaru mumbled, eyes still fixed on the floor. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. But you need to go. Let’s meet up with the others, okay?” 

They followed Chigusa back to the classroom 3-1, where Madoka and Kaoruko were already waiting. They had decided to call it a day and said their goodbyes. 

Madoka wished the boys good luck with the rest of the festival, while Kaoruko waved to everyone, taking a little longer to say goodbye to Rintaro. 

Subaru, on the other hand, stood stiffly and only gave a small wave in their general direction, unable to look at Saku’s face. 

And with that, the four boys watched their Kikyo friends leave with Chigusa-sensei.

Ayato glanced at Saku for a moment and immediately knew it was not the right time to try to continue their previous conversation. 

Subaru was following the others on autopilot, her thoughts still circling around the classroom storage room. 

Saku had feelings for her.

For her.

That realization came with its own tangle of emotions she was still trying to sort out, and she could barely keep them under control. 

“There you are.”

The voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The group had stopped when a boy, the photography club member from earlier, approached Subaru. 

“Took some time, but it’s ready,” he said, holding out an envelope with a smug grin. “It came out great.” 

“Thanks…” she managed to mumble, giving a small, stiff bow as she took it. 

“My pleasure,” he said, then went back to his conversation with a group of other students around the photo board. 

Subaru turned the envelope in her hands a couple of times. Madoka, Kaoruko, and the teacher were all looking at her, slightly confused by the interaction that had just happened. 

Finally, Subaru opened the envelope, and her eyes fixed on the photo inside. 

It was them.

A candid photo of them, next to the photo board, half turned toward each other. 

Her hand resting in his palm, his fingers wrapped around hers like she was something fragile. 

His expression was fixed on her, completely enraptured, a tender look in his eyes like he was looking at something fleetingly beautiful in front of him. 

And she…

She touched the surface of the photo, incredulous. 

She could hardly believe what she was seeing. 

In the picture, she was in the middle of saying something back to him, maybe agreeing to his plan to explore the festival together. Her expression was full of life, looking at him endearingly, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright with anticipation. An expression cute and soft, one she had only seen in others and had thought herself incapable of. 

The face of a person in love.

“All good?” Chigusa-sensei asked at last. Subaru, snapping out of it, looked back at her. 

“Excuse me, do you happen to have a pen?”

Saku was going through the motions, trying to keep a lid on how distressed he felt. 

He had just done the exact thing he’d sworn never to do.

He had confessed to her.

He could not help it. He had wanted to comfort her when she seemed so hurt, and now the cat was out of the bag. There was nothing he could do except wait and hope he had not just shattered whatever they had.

He needed to focus. He needed to prepare the next group for the escape room. At least he would be chaperoning them, and they would mostly leave him alone so he could lean against the wall and simmer with his own regrets in peace.

But just as he was about to go in with them, he heard her voice calling for him.

He turned sharply, only to realize she was back, and before he could say anything, she had already handed him an envelope.

He frowned in confusion and opened it. 

Of course, his face turned bright red at the photo. He looked up immediately, searching for her.

She was now a few meters away, already turning to leave again.

She made a small swirling motion with her fingers, signaling for him to flip what he was holding. 

And he did.

I fell for you as well

 

Do you want to go out with me?

He froze in place, wondering if the universe was playing some kind of joke on him. 

It was just too good to be true. 

He looked up again, his eyes finding her in the same spot. 

She was watching him with an expectant expression, cheeks slightly flushed. 

Seconds elapsed in what seemed like an eternity.

Then he nodded.

And a smile spread across her face. 

She had to leave, as Chigusa-sensei had instructed, but she could not wait to see him again.

Or talk with him.

Or maybe exchange texts. 

She covered her grin with her phone, tapping her index finger lightly against the device.

And he could not stop himself from grinning like an idiot, his ears crimson, already looking forward to talking with her again. 

She disappeared down the hallway, and he turned back toward the classroom, about to enter again to be mostly left alone, but in a very different state of mind than just a few minutes earlier.