"Okay, okay... good."
Standing by the school gate, Natsukawa Aika smiled as a cool autumn breeze brushed against her sweaty cheeks. She checked off a task on the list clipped to her binder, squinting with a sense of accomplishment at having finished a major job. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. An hour and a half had passed since the closing ceremony ended.
During the Cultural Festival cleanup, the Executive Committee members acted as directors and guides. Their role was to ensure that every part of the school was restored to its pre-festival state. Spotting a piece of discarded tape out of the corner of her eye, Aika picked it up and dropped it into a trash bag held by a nearby student.
It was almost time for the committee to wrap things up as well. As Aika scanned the area, a shadow stretched across her back.
"—H-Hey!"
A boy’s voice, slightly raspy and on the verge of breaking, rang out. Aika and the students around her turned toward the sound. A boy in a white hoodie and oversized cargo pants stood at the edge of the school gate, his short hair spiked with styling gel. His tanned skin provided a sharp contrast to his clothes. He was staring directly at Aika.
"Oh, wait. No one except those involved is allowed—"
"—B-Before!"
"Eh?"
"Ever since you gave us the school tour, I haven't been able to forget you! Before I knew it, I was thinking about you all the time...! If I pass the exam for Kouetsu High School, please go out with me!"
It was a sudden, passionate confession. His voice was loud, echoing off the school buildings. The sheer intensity of it left Aika frozen in shock. Memories of leading middle schoolers around the campus during summer vacation resurfaced. She vaguely recalled a particularly rebellious boy among the group.
"Whoa, what's this? A confession?"
"No way, a middle schooler?"
"Damn, he’s actually going for it..."
"...Ah...!"
After a five-second stun, Aika’s mind finally restarted as she heard the excited whispers of the crowd. Realizing how much she was standing out, her face flushed with heat. She turned to the boy, knowing she had to handle the situation.
"—Alright, kid. Know the time and place."
"Ack!?"
Suddenly, a large male student in a black T-shirt wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder. It was a senior who had been dismantling stage sets just a moment ago. One after another, several other older boys approached and began to lead the middle schooler away from the gate.
"Wait, hold on...!?"
"I admire your guts, though."
"You can't cause a scene like this."
"You okay, first-year?"
"Ah... y-yes."
Thanks to the seniors' intervention, the situation resolved itself while she was still in a daze. The boys in the black T-shirts returned from outside the gate; though she didn't know exactly what they had said, they seemed to have talked the kid down. Her classmates began to chime in, some telling her to pull herself together while others, the ones who loved gossip, sounded a bit disappointed that the drama was over.
"Well, maybe you should consider it if he actually gets in?"
"Eh... well... ahaha."
A senior girl nearby spoke as if it were someone else's problem. While she wasn't technically wrong, Aika felt a bit miffed that she would suggest it so casually. She managed a strained smile as her only response.
Work resumed, though all that remained was for them to gather their things and head home. Aika followed the flow of people, her focus shattered. The passionate, direct words of the boy’s feelings repeated in her head. The memory was thoroughly seared into her mind.
And yet, strangely, it didn't feel like a shocking encounter with something unknown; it felt somewhat nostalgic. Without her even realizing it, the repeating voice in her head had shifted into the voice of a different boy...
Many students were gathered in the Cultural Festival Executive Committee room. Aika had been one of the last to return. Feeling guilty for potentially keeping the seniors waiting, she lowered her posture and hurried to her seat. Sasaki, a boy from her class and a fellow committee member, sat to her left, and further down was Inoue-senpai, a second-year.
As she sat down, she caught the senior’s eye.
"—I heard someone screamed their love for you?"
"Hahyu!?"
At the words from the smirking Inoue-senpai, Aika let out a sound she had never made before and instinctively covered her mouth. She shrank back, embarrassed as the room’s attention turned to her again, while Inoue-senpai delighted in her reaction.
"She's totally flustered! How cute!"
"A-Ah, ugh..."
"Wait, Senpai...! You're hitting me, you're hitting me...!"
"Hah, gross."
Inoue-senpai reached across Sasaki and began pounding Aika on the back. Aika accepted the teasing with a red face, having little experience with such things. Sasaki, meanwhile, seemed visibly rattled as the senior—who already had a boyfriend—unintentionally pressed her chest against his head while reaching over. May there be salvation for him, a boy who had only just started his own relationship—
"Well then, good work everyone. We’ll have a small wrap-up party during lunch break soon, so be there."
"Okay!"
With those final words, the Cultural Festival, with all its drama, officially ended. Among the committee members, the one who had changed the most was the President, Hasegawa. Their trademark serious braids were gone, replaced by a chic short bob. Having swapped their glasses for contact lenses, they looked completely refreshed and stylish. It was a transformation so complete one might have suspected a broken heart, but their voice as they dismissed the room was full of newfound composure.
"Alright! Let's head back then!"
"Saito-san is waiting for you, after all."
"Y-Yeah, exactly!"
Aika had finally regained her cool during the final meeting. As Sasaki voiced his excitement just to return to their classroom, Aika responded by referencing the latest gossip. A girl's heart begins with the spark of romance, and Aika was no exception—the level of interest in Sasaki had skyrocketed now that he was about to start dating the Yamato Nadeshiko waiting for him in their room.
(—I see...)
Walking a step behind Sasaki rather than beside him, Aika watched his restless back. Lately, there had been more and more of those kinds of stories. Aika couldn't help but feel the weight of time passing as she observed how relationships were changing compared to middle school.
(What should I do...)
Recalling the shocking event from earlier and the raw emotion in the boy's shout, she peered into the depths of her own heart.
Deep down, there was a faint, shimmering feeling. It was something that had only formed recently. Like a single drop of moisture that had settled at the bottom, tracing its surface sent a sharp jolt through her. If she were to touch it all at once, an impulse would surge up, making her want to scream, sending an uncontrollable energy through her body. That was why she couldn't bring herself to touch it carelessly.
In the heart of the girl dating Sasaki, there was surely the same thing. When she touched it, she must have been surprised by the same sensation coursing through her. She must have been overwhelmed. And now, she was finally prepared to share that feeling with the person she had worked so hard to reach. Surely—in the most ideal way possible.
(How am I supposed to handle this...)
Her heart’s thirst accelerated until it felt like a physical ache. Only now did she begin to regret the past. The instinctual manual of the heart contained no instructions on how to quench this kind of thirst. Human hearts were truly incomplete things.
People made up for such divine oversight by using reason to control themselves. Only by doing so did they truly become adults. Aika, who had yet to realize that one sometimes needs another person to feel whole, was still immature to the core.
She had learned how lonely it felt for the bottom of one's heart to dry up. What should she do to keep from losing this single drop of moisture? Using her Maidenly Heart—that special skill—Aika sensed that the answer might lie in the outcome of the two people currently before her.
"—Ah."
"Whoops."
Sensing a small mishap, Aika raised her gaze from the floor. At the corner of the hallway, a small girl had bumped into Sasaki. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Aika noticed the girl clutching her smartphone to her chest like a protective charm. Seeing her so earnest, Aika’s eyes softened.
"Oh, Ichinose-san. Is something wrong?"
She wondered if the same thing existed within that girl's heart as well.
Skill—Activated.