“No, but if my housemate gets sick, I’m the one who has to deal with it, aren’t I?”
“Ah, right. Like that time you got a fever—that was rough,” said Saito sarcastically.
Akane’s face showed instant regret at her words. “Ugh… I mean, yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” she huffed. “In order to not trouble each other, we both need to manage our health properly. Got it?” Akane was speaking from a place of desperation, but she still carried an air of authority.
“The worst-case scenario would be everyone finding out where we live,” said Saito. “If we’re caught living in the same house, it’s not really something we can explain away.”
“Maybe we should start shopping at a supermarket farther from home too,” Akane added. “It’ll be a pain to carry everything back, though.”
As they continued talking, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
The classroom door swung open without warning.
“…!”
Akane and Saito were already suspected of having a relationship—getting caught secretly meeting like this would be the final nail in the coffin. Saito and Akane dove under the teacher’s desk, shoving and squirming until they managed to fit themselves into their hiding spot.
“How many desks were we supposed to bring again?”
“Wasn’t it eight?”
“I feel like they said they needed more than that…”
“I’ll go ask the teacher real quick.”
Chatting as they entered, a few students wandered around the empty classroom. It didn’t seem like they would be leaving anytime soon. Saito and Akane remained hidden under the teacher’s desk, the cramped space making it nearly impossible to move. Akane was kneeling with one leg up, and Saito had somehow ended up in a position that looked like he was being held by her. Her chest, rising and falling with rapid breaths, was pressed against Saito’s face. A sweet, slightly tart scent hit his nose head-on.
“Hey, get off me a bit,” Akane whispered, her voice tinged with embarrassment.
“Don’t ask the impossible,” Saito muttered back, feeling the heat rising to his face.
“That tickles—don’t talk!”
“You’re the one talking!”
As if trying to gag him, Akane wrapped her uniform sleeve around Saito’s head, pulling him in and closing the distance between them even further. The soft sensation of having this girl pressed against him tormented and unsettled Saito. All he could hear was Akane’s faint, aching breaths—and a heartbeat that was racing. But maybe it wasn’t her heart echoing so loudly…maybe it was his own.
No one at this school would have ever imagined that Saito and Akane—mortal enemies—would be in a place like this, so close together. Even Saito himself felt like it wasn’t real, as if he had wandered into a dream. And strangely enough, that dream didn’t feel unpleasant enough to be called a nightmare.
“We’re supposed to move the teacher’s desk too, right?” A student’s voice echoed through the room, and Saito and Akane froze in place.
This was bad. Really bad. Getting caught like this wasn’t something they could laugh off. If it was a classmate, they’d definitely shout “See? I knew you two were dating!” Even if it was someone from another class, the rumors would still spread through the entire school like wildfire.
“What do we do…?” Akane whispered, her voice small and anxious.
Even Saito—usually sharp in a crisis—found his mind sluggish, as if coated in molasses. He couldn’t think straight.
Footsteps approached.
Pressed together in tense silence, Saito and Akane huddled under the desk. Just when they thought it was all over, one of the students spoke.
“The teacher’s desk is way too heavy. Let’s just borrow another one from the next classroom over.”
“Yeah, good idea. Let’s go.”
The door closed, and the students’ footsteps gradually faded. Only once the silence fully settled did Saito and Akane crawl out from under the teacher’s desk.
“Haah…haah… That was awful,” Akane muttered, holding her flushed cheeks in both hands trying to catch her breath.
Saito, burning up from head to toe, loosened the collar of his shirt and fanned himself with his hand. They were too embarrassed to even look at each other, so they spoke with their backs turned.
“It’d look bad if we left the classroom together,” said Saito.
“I’ll go out into the hallway—Saito, you jump out the window,” instructed Akane.
“This is the fourth floor.”
“You’ll manage.”
“I’ll splat, not manage,” said Saito, exasperated.
“So should I be the one to jump?”
“No jumping. Just go back to class ahead of me,” said Saito. “I’ll follow after a little bit.”
“Got it. See you later,” said Akane before dashing out of the empty classroom.
See you later—that might’ve been the first time Akane had ever said something like that to Saito. Maybe it was because she’d lost her usual composure, but still, it was a farewell that implied that they’d meet again. It was a far cry from the past two years of school life where they couldn’t stand the sight of each other.
Feeling strangely surprised, Saito left the empty classroom. Just to be safe, he took a roundabout route back toward his own classroom—and ran into Himari on the stairwell landing.
“Ah! Saito-kun!” Himari skipped down the stairs with a light, effortless rhythm. At the end, she skipped two steps in one bound, her skirt fluttering as she landed gently in front of him.
“You’ll fall if you run on the stairs.”
“It’s fine—if I do, you’ll catch me,” said Himari with a smile.
“Don’t drag me into it. I’d dodge you with everything I’ve got.”
“Meanie! You’ll never be popular with girls like that.”
“Fine by me.”
“Ah ha ha, that’s so you, Saito-kun.” Himari laughed brightly, clasping her hands behind her back.
Himari was Akane’s best friend, and she and Saito had been chatting off and on since their first year. Unlike Akane, though, Himari never picked fights—it was always just harmless small talk, which made it easier for Saito to deal with her.
“Oh, by the way…” Himari suddenly said, as if remembering something. “Saito-kun, that lunch… Akane didn’t really make it, did she?”
Saito stiffened at the question but tried not to show it on his face, only giving a small shrug and replying with a joking tone. “We probably just used the same frozen food. I mean, hey, there’s always the chance she’s copying me.”
“Really?” asked Himari, unusually serious, her voice low. She leaned in so close he could feel her breath, as if determined not to miss even the slightest facial tic. Her high-bridged nose—unusually prominent for a Japanese girl—was nearly touching his. The faint scent of her mature perfume drifted through the warmth between them.
“It’s true,” answered Saito.
“So, for real, you two aren’t dating?” asked Himari again. Her eyes, locked on his, seemed to waver slightly.
Saito, suddenly uneasy, swallowed hard. “Of course not.”
“I see, I see… Yeah, okay.” Himari nodded repeatedly, almost to herself. Then, letting out a deep breath, she stepped back with a bounce. “Sorry for being so weird. I’ll take care of clearing up the misunderstandings with the others, okay? See ya!” With an embarrassed smile, Himari turned and left.
If it was Himari—the most popular girl in class—saying it, their classmates would surely believe her. Relieved, Saito felt like peace was finally returning to his world.