[Serina Mikage POV]
The sky hung low from early morning.
A seamless canopy of gray clouds smothered the school building, and through the open window blew a damp breeze laden with the scent of rain. It hadn't started falling yet, but the weather was set to deteriorate.
Even though it was the exact same classroom as yesterday, I felt inexplicably restless.
What had changed wasn't the room—it was me.
Yesterday, I had admitted it in front of the three of them: what I harbored toward Aiba-kun had to be love. Once I gave it a name, I could no longer pretend it wasn't there.
"Serina, haven't you been staring out at the hallway this whole time?"
Rio turned around from the seat ahead of me.
"I have not."
"You've looked at least three times."
"Four times," Miu corrected without lifting her eyes from her textbook.
"Don't you start counting too, Miu."
Even Kotoha chimed in. "Are you waiting for Aiba-kun?"
"...I'm not waiting. Besides, he doesn't even have a reason to come to this classroom."
"Having no reason to come and you not waiting for him are two entirely different things."
"......Stop saying things that are impossible to deny."
Yesterday, as we parted ways, Aiba-kun and I had exchanged a simple "See you tomorrow."
It wasn't a hard promise that we'd cross paths today. I knew that, yet my attention kept drifting toward every set of footsteps echoing past the door.
In the end, morning classes came and went without a single glimpse of him.
The chime signaling the end of fourth period rang out.
Closing her textbook, Miu pulled her phone from inside her desk. Checking the screen, she tilted her head slightly.
"I got a message from home."
Rio turned back toward her. "Did something happen?"
"Probably just family plans."
"Are you going to call them now?"
"Yeah. Looks like there's something they need to confirm."
Miu stood up from her seat with a small tote bag in hand.
"Go ahead and eat without me."
"Will you join us when you're done?"
"If it doesn't take too long."
"Got it. Let us know if anything comes up."
"Will do. And Serina, try not to stare at the hallway the entire time."
"Did you really have to tack that on at the end?"
Instead of answering, Miu gave a slight wave and stepped out of the classroom.
A moment later, a timid voice came from the doorway.
"Um, Mikage-senpai."
I turned my head.
Standing just inside the open door was Koharu, holding a small lunch bag.
She looked nothing like the pale girl who had collapsed in the hallway the other day. Healthy color had returned to her cheeks, and her posture was steady and secure. Still, simply seeing her looking well made the knot of tension in my chest loosen a little.
"Koharu. Are you already well enough to be at school?"
"Yes. Thank you for worrying about me."
Koharu answered with a nod, then shifted her gaze to the two girls sitting beside me.
"Kotoha-senpai, Rio-senpai. Thank you so much for the other day."
"If it's thanks, we already heard it back then. As long as you've recovered, that's all that matters."
When Koharu bowed deeply, Rio flusteredly motioned for her to lift her head.
"Still, I was lying down the whole time before. I really wanted to thank you properly."
Lifting her gaze, Koharu glanced around the room.
"Is Miu-senpai not here?"
"She stepped out to take a phone call just now. I'll let her know you stopped by."
"Please do. Anna said she was going to come along, but a teacher called for her. She wanted me to pass along her gratitude to everyone, too."
"We only did what anyone would've done on the spot."
"Kotoha was the one who called the teacher, and Miu looked after you. Rio called out to everyone around us to clear a path. So if you're thanking us, we'll all accept it together."
"Yes!"
Just then, two girls who looked like first-years slowed their pace as they walked past in the hallway.
"Hello, Rio-senpai."
"Hello!"
Rio waved back instantly. Once the underclassmen walked away, Koharu let out a soft chuckle.
"Rio-senpai is pretty famous among the first-years, too."
"Hearing that right after what just happened makes me a little nervous, honestly."
"They say you're a cheerful upperclassman who's really easy to talk to."
"Thank goodness. It was the good kind of reputation."
"So you were bracing for other possibilities," Kotoha remarked.
"Kotoha, don't latch onto that!"
Rio's flustered protest drew a laugh even from Koharu.
"Koharu, have you eaten lunch yet?"
"Not yet. I was planning to eat with Anna, but her talk with the teacher might take a while, so she texted me to go ahead without her."
"In that case, want to join us?"
"Would that really be okay? I don't want to intrude..."
"Miu stepped out, so there's an open seat anyway. It's perfect."
"Then... if you don't mind, I'd love to."
"Of course."
To avoid the bustling traffic of the classroom, the four of us headed down to the cafeteria. We wove through the lunch rush until Rio spotted a four-person table by the window, where we unpacked our lunches.
Outside the glass, the cloud cover had grown even heavier than that morning, casting a gloomy shadow over everything. The wind-tossed leaves on the trees had lost their vibrant green, looking ready to be drenched at any second.
"Are you truly feeling all right now?" Kotoha asked gently once we settled in.
"Yes. My fever broke, and I've been sitting through classes just fine since morning."
"You aren't just forcing yourself to act normal, are you?"
"I'm not, I promise. Anna asked me the exact same thing over and over."
Koharu puffed out her cheeks in slight exasperation.
"Whenever we move classrooms she tries to carry my bag, and she hovers right next to me on the stairs. Even though I keep telling her I can walk around just fine."
"You just collapsed the other day, so of course she's hovering."
The words slipped out before I could think.
Koharu paused her chopsticks and looked straight at me.
"You sound just like my big brother."
"Wh-Why does Aiba-kun come up here?"
"Because he's been telling me the exact same thing since yesterday: 'You just collapsed, so don't push yourself.'"
"Well, if Aiba-kun is telling you that too, you'd better listen to him."
"Mikage-senpai, whose side are you on?"
"I'm saying it because I'm on your side, Koharu."
"'I'm on your side, Koharu' is something my brother says all the time, too. The two of you really are kind of similar, Mikage-senpai."
"I-I-Is that so...?"
Koharu smiled wryly.
Across the table, Rio clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle a giggle.
"What?"
"Nothing, just that your wind-up to 'Is that so?' took an eternity."
"You don't need to comment on every little thing..."
"Still, the way she worries over Koharu-chan really might be just like Aiba-kun."
"......Are we really that similar?"
I blurted the question before I could think to deny it.
Similar to Aiba-kun. The phrase made me unexpectedly happy, sending a ticklish warmth spreading through my chest.
"Serina, you look a little pleased with yourself."
"I mean, if someone tells me I'm like Aiba-kun... of course I'd be at least a little happy—"
The moment the words escaped my lips, I remembered Koharu was sitting right across from me.
"Koharu. Forget what I just said."
"Why?"
"Just forget it!"
Koharu tilted her head in confusion, while Rio shook with silent laughter. Even Kotoha let the corners of her mouth curve upward.
To be able to banter like this with Koharu after seeing her collapse so recently made me so glad that, in the end, I couldn't help smiling too.
"Still, Aiba-kun himself isn't in any condition to be pushing himself either, is he?" Kotoha noted.
Koharu nodded in agreement. "No. His right shoulder hasn't healed yet."
Aiba-kun had hurt his right shoulder while rescuing me. Even if he acted like nothing was wrong, that didn't mean the injury was gone.
"And yet he spends all his time worrying about you instead, Koharu."
"He's always been like that. He always puts himself second."
Koharu paused thoughtfully, resting her chopsticks on the rim of her lunchbox.
"But right now, we have a deal. He promised to speak up without hiding it when he's in pain or when there's something he can't do. And I promised not to take on all the housework alone."
"The housework?" Rio echoed.
"Yes. Our mom works late some days, so up until now, my brother would take care of almost everything the second he noticed it."
"Even after he got injured?"
"At first, he claimed that if it was something he could manage, it wasn't a big deal."
"It's definitely a big deal."
Once again, I spoke before I could stop myself.
"Right? My mom and I told him the exact same thing."
Koharu gave a satisfied little nod.
"So the three of us talked it over, and we decided to split the chores until his shoulder heals. We're only letting him do things that don't put strain on it."
"Is Aiba-kun actually keeping his promise?"
"For now. But he keeps saying he's going back to how things were once it's healed."
"Back to how things were?"
"He says he'll handle everything he can on his own again, like always. He probably intends to push himself the second he's cleared."
Seeming to see straight through her brother's habits, Koharu let out a deep sigh.
"Even after he heals, it'd be much better if you kept sharing the chores like that," Rio said.
"I think so too. But my brother's mindset is that if Mom or I have to overwork ourselves, he'd rather just take it all on instead."
"If so, he doesn't realize that you and your mother worry just as much about him."
Kotoha's tone was gentle, but her words carried weight.
"That's exactly it. He worries constantly about me, but he has no idea how to let people worry about him."
Even amidst the fire, Aiba-kun had tried to push me out to safety before himself. When Koharu collapsed, he cared far more about his sister's well-being than his own injured shoulder.
It wasn't just during emergencies. Day in and day out at home, he had prioritized his family above everything else.
Yet if he neglected his own pain in the process, then to Koharu and her mother, his dependability came with a heavy price.
"Has Aiba-kun been helping out at home for a long time?"
I worried I was prying too much, but Koharu simply gave a quiet nod.
"Yes. Because we don't have a father."
Her voice wasn't asking for pity; she was merely stating a fact to explain their family dynamic.
"Ever since I was little, my brother seemed to feel like he had to be the reliable one. He helped Mom and watched over me. He basically acted like a substitute father the whole time."
Koharu's finger slowly traced the hem of the fabric wrapped around her lunchbox.
"Of course, to me, he's just my big brother. I've never thought of him as a dad. But I think he felt like he had to shoulder far more than an older brother normally would."
I couldn't easily dismiss it as having been hard on him, nor could I simply brush it off by calling him dependable.
"When did you realize Aiba-kun was pushing himself, Koharu?"
When I asked, Koharu took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking.
"......When I was little, I didn't understand. Having my brother around was just normal, and I thought if I relied on him, he'd fix everything. But little by little, I began to realize that wasn't how it should be. Now, since we're family, I know he shouldn't have to be the only one holding everything up."
"That's why you used this injury as an excuse to make him promise not to overdo it."
"Yes. Together with Mom."
"Two against one—you're bound to win," Rio remarked.
Koharu tilted her head as if calculating the odds. "Right now his injury is on our side too, so it's three against one."
"You're counting the injury as a person?"
"Yes. Though it'll drop out of our alliance once he's healed."
"Even then, it's still two against one, right?"
"My brother is a tough opponent even on his own, you know."
Koharu delivered the line with such solemn gravity that a laugh slipped past my lips. Koharu giggled too, caught up in the mood.
With a lingering smile, I reached for the tea beside me and took a sip.
Blending effortlessly into the flow of conversation, Rio threw in a casual remark.
"If the family alone can't rein him in, we'll just have to get Aiba-kun's girlfriend to help out too."
"—Pffft!"
The instant the word "girlfriend" struck my ears, the tea in my mouth lost its destination. I barely managed to keep from spraying it across the table, but it went down the wrong pipe, leaving me hacking uncontrollably.
"Mikage-senpai, are you okay?!"
"I-I'm fine! A tiny bug just flew right at me... it startled me and went down the wrong way."
"Are you really all right?"
"Yeah. I'm good now. Thanks."
After studying me with lingering concern, Koharu turned back to Rio.
"My brother doesn't have a girlfriend, you know."
"Oh, is that so?"
Saying only that, Rio casually popped a bite of rolled omelet into her mouth as if nothing had happened.
Still fighting back coughs, I glared at Rio, but she wore an expression of pure, unbothered innocence.
"Then I guess it's up to the family to keep him in line for now."
"Yes. Anna will probably pitch in too, I think."
Koharu kept the conversation going without missing a beat.
Even after my coughing subsided, my heart refused to slow its frantic rhythm.
—My brother doesn't have a girlfriend, you know.
It wasn't as if anything had actually begun between us. Even so, the quiet weight that had been snagged in the corner of my chest dissolved, and breathing suddenly felt so much easier.
When I looked up, my eyes met Kotoha's.
Kotoha said nothing. She merely glanced once toward Rio.
She knew Rio hadn't chosen those words by accident, and she recognized the relief washing over me, yet she deliberately kept quiet in front of Koharu.
I didn't say anything either, picking up my chopsticks to resume eating.
After that, the topic shifted to classes, and Koharu's smile grew noticeably more relaxed than when she had first arrived.
Eventually, with less than ten minutes remaining before the warning bell, Koharu checked the clock.
"I should get going. My next class is in a different room."
"Don't run on the way back, okay?" I reminded her gently.
"You really do sound just like my brother."
"All right, that's enough of that."
"Hehe, I understand. I won't run."
Wrapping up her lunchbox, Koharu rose from the table.
"Thank you so much for today. I'll let Anna know I properly passed along her thanks, too."
"I'll let Miu know as well. But we've officially received your thanks now, so you're banned from thanking us again next time, okay?"
"Understood!"
With a cheerful bow, Koharu exited the cafeteria.
The moment the doors swung shut behind her, Rio let out a long, theatrical exhale.
"Natural, wasn't it?"
"What was?"
"The girlfriend question."
"I knew you did that on purpose!"
My voice spiked despite myself.
"Serina, lower your voice," Kotoha quietly cautioned, and I clamped my mouth shut.
"......You promised we wouldn't go digging," I hissed, glaring at Rio in a lowered voice.
"I didn't go digging. We were just having a normal chat with Koharu-chan, and it came up naturally."
"You steered the conversation so that it would come up, didn't you?" Kotoha pointed out evenly.
"Well... maybe a little."
"It was not a little."
"Hey, it's not like I cornered the guy himself, and I didn't ask anything that would make Koharu-chan uncomfortable."
"No more next time, got it?"
When I laid down the law, Rio nodded with surprising obedience.
"Got it. I already found out what I wanted to know anyway."
"Are you actually reflecting on what you did?"
"I am."
"Truly?"
"About fifty percent."
"You're barely reflecting at all!"
As I glared at her under my breath, Rio offered a faint, teasing smirk.
A moment later, however, the mischief faded from her expression.
"Still... good for you, Serina."
This time, I was able to nod without deflecting.
"......Yeah."
The moment I admitted it, whatever lingering tension had remained deep in my chest melted away.
"I'm relieved."
"One can tell just by looking at your face," Kotoha said.
"I-Is it really that obvious?"
"Your shoulders are much more relaxed than they were a moment ago, after all."
"Kotoha, you watch too closely."
"I wasn't watching; it was simply in plain sight."
Being hit with a retort worthy of Miu left me completely at a loss for words.
Rio chuckled softly.
"Still, besides the fact that he's single, we learned quite a bit about him."
"Yeah."
That Aiba-kun had supported his family for years in a fatherless home.
That even with his injured shoulder, he was still trying to find things he could do.
That only after being cornered into a promise by his mother and sister had he finally stopped shouldering everything alone.
And that the moment he healed, he intended to go right back to how he was before.
He truly cared deeply for his family.
At the same time, he was someone who put himself second to the point of causing them worry.
Back when I only knew the Aiba-kun from inside the fire, I might have simply thought of him as a "kind person" without a second thought.
Now, though, I understood that such self-sacrificing kindness didn't just reassure people—it could also burden the ones who loved him.
"I said I wanted to learn one thing about Aiba-kun, but..."
The two of them turned toward me.
"Learning about someone isn't just about finding out their favorite foods or what they do on weekends, is it?"
"Today's conversation was much closer to what Aiba-kun values as a person, after all," Kotoha noted.
I nodded in agreement.
"He cherishes his family. And he tends to burden himself with the feeling that he has to carry it all."
"Now that you know all that, what are you going to do the next time you see him?" Rio asked.
"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
"Are you going to ask him something directly?"
"That's... I haven't decided yet."
"Then will you tell him, 'I was so relieved to find out you don't have a girlfriend'?"
"I would never say that!"
Students at a distant table glanced over at the outburst.
As I hastily clamped a hand over my mouth, Rio's shoulders shook with laughter.
"Your voice is loud again."
"Whose fault do you think that is?!"
"Mine, entirely."
"Don't just admit it so casually!"
Even Kotoha let out an amused breath.
Right then, the warning bell echoed across the cafeteria.
"Let's head back. We'll be late for fifth period."
Spurred on by Kotoha, the three of us hurriedly packed up our lunches.
When we returned to the classroom, Miu wasn't in her seat yet.
Just as I glanced toward the doorway with a flicker of concern, Miu walked in from the hallway right before the bell finished ringing.
"Made it," she said in her usual, flat tone, taking her seat.
"That call took a while."
"Yeah. There were a lot of family plans to confirm."
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing bad. We just finalized an outing for next month."
Without offering any further detail, Miu stowed her tote bag inside her desk.
"Did you get to eat lunch?"
"I ate quickly after the call ended."
After answering, she shifted her gaze toward me.
"Did something happen with you, Serina?"
"Why do you ask?"
"You're in a better mood than this morning."
Beside me, Rio snickered, and Kotoha let out a soft sigh.
"Nothing happened."
"I see."
Miu didn't press the matter.
Still, she didn't look entirely convinced, either.
Even after afternoon classes got underway, my mind kept drifting back to the things I had learned during lunch.
I had wanted to know more about Aiba-kun.
Yet what I wanted to understand wasn't just the convenient, heroic parts of him.
His kindness, his clumsiness. His strength in trying to support his family, as well as the precarious habit of forgetting that he could let others support him, too.
What I had heard from Koharu wasn't the complete picture of who he was. It was merely the side he showed to his family.
Even so, not as the savior from the fire, but as a fellow student walking the same halls, I felt like I had taken one small step closer to him.
The next time we met, I resolved not to act like I knew about the family circumstances Koharu had shared.
I didn't want to casually bring up things I had learned behind his back.
Instead, I wanted to hear something from Aiba-kun's own lips one day.
Whether it was something he liked or something he was terrible at—anything was fine.
Not passed through someone else, but something Aiba-kun chose to share with me himself.
By the time after-school arrived, tiny raindrops had begun pattering against the windowpanes.
What began as a few scattered drops gradually multiplied, and students crossing the courtyard opened their umbrellas one after another.
"The forecast says it'll rain all day tomorrow starting from the morning. Looks like it'll pick up in the afternoon, too."
Checking her weather app, Rio spoke while gazing out the window.
The rain was still light, but in the distant sky, clouds far denser than this morning's were gathering.
Listening to the rhythm of rain tapping against the glass, I found myself daydreaming about the next time I would see Aiba-kun.
Completely unaware of what would end up in his hands that very night, or the mark it would leave on his heart once he read it.
A single letter—penned to the savior in the fire back when I still had no idea he was "Aiba-kun," right here in the very same school.