The danger had passed, and the suffocating tension finally began to ease. Ichinose Honami carefully supported Sakura Airi by the arm, helping her slowly to her feet from the cold ground. "It's okay now, Sakura-kun. It's okay." Ichinose's voice was gentle and soothing. She carefully brushed the dust off Sakura's skirt and straightened her messy pink hair. "That bad guy's gone."
Sakura Airi was still trembling slightly, but compared to the despair she'd felt before, now she was mostly dazed with relief and shaken by lingering fear. She raised her tear-streaked face and first looked at Shimiya Kuki, who had just saved her. She bowed deeply, her voice faint but filled with genuine gratitude. "Th-thank you so much... Just now... Thank you so much!" She didn't know his name, but that didn't keep her from expressing her thanks.
Then she turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Ichinose Honami and bowed just as deeply. "Th-thank you so much, Ayanokoji-kun... and... you, too..." She didn't know Ichinose's name either, and her voice was apologetic.
Ichinose immediately gave her a warm smile and smoothly picked up the conversation. "I can't believe there's a pervert like that hiding at school. It's terrifying! Thank goodness Kuki-kun stopped him in time. Who knows what might've happened otherwise!" As she spoke, she patted her chest, as if relieved herself.
Then she cheerfully introduced herself to Sakura. "By the way, you're Sakura Airi, right? I'm Ichinose Honami from Class B." She pointed to Shimiya, standing beside them with a calm expression. "This cool-looking guy who saved you is Shimiya Kuki from our class. Are you hurt anywhere? Do you feel uncomfortable at all?"
Sakura was slightly surprised when Ichinose called her by name, but then she shook her head and managed a weak smile. "Thank goodness... thank goodness Shimiya-kun showed up in time. I... I'm not hurt, just... a little shaken."
Shimiya Kuki merely nodded, his voice as steady and unemotional as ever. "You don't have to thank me. I happened to be nearby, so I got here in time." His explanation was simple and direct, as if he'd done nothing worth mentioning. He made no attempt to take credit.
Ichinose bent down to pick up Sakura's school bag. Her eyes swept over the letters scattered on the ground, each bearing a distorted heart sticker. She also thought of the "Shizuku" the man had cried out in his breakdown, and Sakura's fierce reaction—"I hate you." In the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She hesitated, then asked softly, "Um... Sakura-kun, what's the story with these letters... and the 'Shizuku' that man called out? Of course, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to!" She quickly added the last part, afraid of bringing up something painful.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed about to explain for Sakura, but he paused and looked at her, as if asking whether she was okay with him telling them.
Sakura Airi lowered her head and gripped the straps of her school bag tightly, falling silent for a few seconds. At last, she gave a small nod, as if she'd made up her mind. Since Ayanokoji-kun seemed to already know, she supposed it was all right to tell the two people who had just saved her.
With her permission, Ayanokoji explained to Ichinose and Shimiya in his usual flat tone. "Back in junior high, Sakura Airi was active as a print idol under the stage name 'Shizuku.' These letters... were probably written by that extremely devoted fan from earlier. I suspect he happened to discover that he was so close to his idol and did something crazy. A few people in our class know about this besides me."
Ichinose Honami covered her mouth in surprise. "A print idol?! Shizuku? Oh my gosh, Sakura-kun, you were an idol?!" Her gaze filled with wonder and a hint of admiration.
Sakura's cheeks flushed faintly, and she lowered her head, embarrassed.
Ichinose immediately turned to Shimiya Kuki, excitement in her eyes. "Hey, Kuki-kun! She's a young idol! Aren't you even a little surprised?" She seemed a little "displeased" by Shimiya's unshakable calm.
When Shimiya Kuki was addressed, he merely turned his head slightly to glance at Sakura. His eyes remained as calm as ever as he replied, "I happened to see her work before. I recognized her when Sakura-kun left the hallway last time." He meant the time Sakura had fled in a panic after Ichinose greeted her.
"Huh?!" Now it was Sakura's turn to look up at Shimiya in surprise. She hadn't expected that, besides Ayanokoji and the few people in her class, this seemingly aloof student from Class B had recognized her past identity all along.
Sakura's gaze shifted between Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Shimiya Kuki. One was a classmate who quietly helped her and knew her secret; the other was a "hero" who had just rescued her from the most dangerous situation imaginable. Their temperaments were completely different: one was inscrutable, the other cold and formidable. But now, they were both on her side. A sense of security she'd never felt before, along with a faint touch of courage, seemed at last to dispel the heavy shadow of fear. Slowly, with effort, a genuine smile bloomed on Sakura Airi's pale face, tinged with relief and hope.
She gently pushed up the slightly unfashionable glasses on the bridge of her nose and asked quietly, her tone part self-mocking and part tentative, "Um... if I stopped wearing glasses and changed my hairstyle starting tomorrow... do you think people would recognize me?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at her and calmly replied, with what seemed like the faintest hint of teasing in his voice, "They wouldn't just recognize you. You might cause a stir at school... if you don't mind that."
"Whoa... she's so cute...! She looks completely different without her glasses!" Ichinose Honami exclaimed in delighted surprise. She had already whipped out her phone and seemed to be searching for something. Now she was looking at a photo of "Shizuku" on the screen, letting out excited little cries, her face alight with the joy of discovering a treasure. "Sakura-kun! You're so cute without your glasses! Of course, you're cute now, too."
As they chatted, the group naturally left the quiet, dangerous alley and returned to the brighter, more open school path. The setting sun cast long shadows behind them. Ichinose was still excitedly sharing the photos on her phone with Sakura, who occasionally smiled shyly but more easily now. Ayanokoji walked a little ahead, calm as ever, while Shimiya Kuki followed behind in his usual silence.
On the balcony of the Third Floor of Cafe, in the distance.
A woman with long, wavy dark brown hair leaned lazily against the window. She held a round lollipop between her slender fingers and absently licked it, the sweetness seeming to bring a playful smile to her delicate face. Her gaze was sharp as an eagle's, clearly picking out the four figures emerging from the alley below, especially the black-haired boy at the back, whose expression had returned to its usual indifference.
"Heh," she chuckled softly, her tongue brushing the candy. Her voice carried a lazy note of teasing. "He really looks like a hero... Clean, decisive moves. At least he lives up to appearances."
Beside her stood a gentle-looking girl in a beautifully tailored maid outfit. She followed the woman's gaze, and when she saw the four walking together below—especially the Pink-Haired Girl, whose face still seemed a little shy (maybe she was looking at that cool Black-Haired Boy?)—and the other girl, whose bright smile and sunny demeanor made her look so lively, her eyes lit up at once! Little stars seemed to dance in her normally gentle eyes, and they blazed with gossip-fueled excitement!
"Exactly, exactly!" The Maid Outfit Girl brought both hands to her cheeks without thinking and leaned forward slightly. Her voice rose with excitement, brimming with longing. "A hero saving a beauty! It's a classic scene straight out of a manga! Look, look, isn't that Pink-Haired Girl sneaking glances at Shimiya-kun? Ah! The sunny girl beside her looks like she really cares about her, too! The four of them together have such a compelling story! I wonder if something touching will happen between them in the end. Ahhh—I want to know what happens next!" She had clearly already imagined countless romantic scenarios, her face glowing with barely contained excitement.
The dark-brown-haired woman glanced at the maid beside her, who was beside herself with excitement, and rolled her eyes helplessly. She bit down on the lollipop in her mouth, making a crisp crunch. "It'd be better if nothing happened." Her voice carried a hint of cold realism, dousing the girl's pink bubbles. "It's better for both of them." She straightened and took one last look at the people below, who were walking farther away. "At this school, people from different ranks getting too close... isn't a good thing. It usually ends in a pretty tragic way." Her words hinted at something more, carrying the cold indifference of someone who understood the rules.
"Huh?! Big Sister, don't say such a mood-killing thing!" The Maid Outfit Girl stamped her foot in protest. The flames of gossip in her eyes had been dampened but clearly hadn't gone out; she kept staring at the figures below, as if she could see their relationship through the distance. "But they look like they have such great chemistry! Especially Shimiya-kun and that cute girl with pink hair!"
"Let's go." The woman called "Big Sister" ignored the girl's complaints, flicked the lollipop stick into a little box on the windowsill, and strode off, her figure disappearing neatly into the shadows of the stairwell.
"Wait for me, Big Sister!" The Maid Outfit Girl took one last quick, hopeful look downstairs. Her gaze lingered especially on the "hero," the only one whose name she knew, before she hurried after Big Sister, full of gossip and disappointment, and disappeared into the depths of the third-floor hallway.
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