“Have you been waiting long?”
“Not at all, Ayanono.”
After parting with Alisa at the front of the cafeteria, Nonoa made her way to the emergency staircase and waited until Ayano silently approached her with her usual blank expression.
“First, I would like to thank you again for the other day. Thanks to your advice, I managed to get Master Masachika to visit Lady Yuki.”
“Don’t mention it. Like, I told you already, right? I’m on your side.”
Nonoa approached her slightly bowing schoolmate with a warm, easygoing smile and smoothly added:
“Sounds like a lot happened though, huh? Kuze wants to be accepted back into the Suou family?”
“What…? Uh…”
When Ayano lifted her head, her eyes briefly widened, wandering helplessly. Though she was typically hard for Nonoa to read, this reaction was laughably easy to comprehend. Ayano, on the other hand, was confused and suspicious, for she had no idea how Nonoa could possibly know something so private about the Suou family.
“…Did he tell you that?”
“Hmm? Ah, no. I heard it from Alisa.”
“Huh? Oh.”
“Yeah, in the cafeteria a second ago.”
The confusion and distrust that had bloomed within Ayano shifted toward Alisa while Nonoa coldly watched, clasping Ayano’s hands with both of hers.
“Anyway, I’m sure it’s not gonna be easy, but if you ever wanna talk, I’m here for you.”
And then, Nonoa declared with the most beautiful of smiles:
“Because I’m on your side, no matter what happens.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“…Hey, uh… Masha?”
“Yes?”
“What is this? Some kind of hug speedrun?”
Meanwhile, Masachika, having been asked come to the student council room during lunch, was staring into the distance as Maria, who had dashed across the room the instant he stepped inside, threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.
“What’s a ‘speedrun’?”
“It’s where you—okay, your face is way too close now.”
She gazed into his eyes, their faces so close their noses nearly touched, prompting Masachika to instinctively lean back. But the moment he did, her entire face came sharply into view, overwhelming him all over again.
“Anyway, yeah. You’re right. Alya and Masha are cute…and they’re getting prettier every day. It’s getting to the point that it’s hard to believe they’re even human.”
He suddenly recalled Yuki’s comment. Maria clearly did seem to have gotten even more beautiful, or at least more radiant. However, he didn’t allow his mind to linger too much on the topic, worried that his heart might start to race in her embrace, so he averted his gaze.
“Don’t worry about it. More importantly…what is this?”
“Come, let’s sit first.”
“Uh-huh… I’m kind of scared by how naturally you held my hand.”
Just when he thought she was going to let go, she smoothly grabbed his hand and gently pulled him in so naturally that he shuddered. Maria then led him to the couch, settling him beside her before reaching for the teapot already waiting on the table and carefully pouring some tea into the cup in front of Masachika.
“Here, have some tea.”
“Thanks…”
Maria watched with a beaming smile as he took a sip of the tea, prompting Masachika to furrow his brow.
“So, uh… This is good, but what’s going on?” he asked.
“Hmm? I’m trying to reward you and make you feel appreciated.”
“Uh… For what?”
He shot her a puzzled glance, completely confused as to what was going on. Maria, however, placed the teapot back on the table, casually replying:
“You had a really rough night after the party, right? So I wanted to make you feel better.”
He knit his brows in thought for a few moments, then suddenly gasped. Gazing at Maria’s profile, which carried an air of quiet maturity, he asked in a whisper:
“Masha… Did you know all this time…?”
She had never shown any indication that she knew, nor had she ever brought it up, so he had naturally assumed she was unaware. But the way she was speaking now…
“Mm-hmm… Yes… I remember you telling me your last name and your sister’s name when we were little…so I assumed that you two were—you know? The way you looked at Yuki—your eyes were always so gentle. You looked at her the way someone looks at family—at your loved ones, so I assumed that had to be what was going on.”
She turned to face Masachika while speaking in a tender tone, and the brilliance in her eyes, quiet, yet unmistakably sharp, made his breath catch. But after he paused for several moments, he eventually let out a small sigh with a troubled, resigned smirk.
“You got me… You saw right through me.”
“Hmm? I won? Hurray. I won!”
“It’s not really a win-lose kind of thing…”
“Then as my right as the winner, I want to give head pats to the loser.”
“That’s like the most humiliating thing you can do to someone who just lost… Hey,” he mumbled, bashfully pulling back while she rubbed his head.
“Hey, uh… This is really embarrassing,” he added with an awkward grin, unable to simply push her hand away.
“Why? It’s just us here.”
“It’s not an issue of being caught…”
“Don’t worry. You’ve worked hard, so there’s nothing embarrassing about getting a few head pats.”
“Wow. It must be true, since you said it,” he uttered in a monotone voice, wondering where that mature, older woman from a few minutes ago had disappeared to. Maria, however, ignored his remark and simply continued to gently rub his head.
“There, there. I’m so proud of you.”
“…Hey, uh… What exactly did I even do to deserve this?”
“Hmm? I’m not sure, but I know that you’re doing your best.”
“…Yep.”
Just as he resigned himself to the idea that having a logical conversation might be hopeless, Maria gently announced:
“I know that you work hard, and I know that you are always putting others before yourself, so it’s going to be okay. No matter what decision you make, everything’s going to turn out okay. At the very least, I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”
Masachika stared at Maria—her gaze seemed to see through and accept all, her smile unbelievably sweet. His eyes naturally widened, and before he even realized it, his own lips had curled into a smile as well.
“Really…?”
“Really,” Maria said reassuringly, without asking questions or even knowing what was going on, and that was because she had absolute trust in Masachika Kuze. He strangely didn’t feel pressured or overwhelmed by that trust, either. If anything, it made his heart feel a little lighter.
“…Thank you, Masha.” He smiled, and just like that, she took her hand off his head and smiled back.
“Oh, by the way. I don’t mean to rush you, but don’t forget about our little promise, okay?” she added with a quirk of her head.
Masachika’s smile froze. His promise with Maria… He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what she was referring to. In fact, it was something that had been constantly sitting in the back of his mind: the promise he had made with Maria at the sports festival…about going on a very romantic date. The hurdle was so high that somewhere in his heart he had been thinking cowardly thoughts like, Maybe she’ll just forget. But of course, she hadn’t, and there was no way he could feign ignorance before that radiant smile.
“…I won’t forget.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to it!”
Maria clapped her hands together once, her smile blooming with genuine joy and once again conveying a deep trust in him…
What the…? That’s strange…
And because of that trust, Masachika’s heart, which had felt lighter only moments ago, suddenly plummeted like a heavy stone.