Arisu Sakayanagi's Thoughts

The person who suddenly stepped in to stop Sudo was a sunny-looking boy with blue hair.

"Eh? Are you a classmate of this guy?"

"There are a lot of people here. If you seniors don't want to make a scene, please just leave!" Yosuke Hirata's tone was neither servile nor overbearing.

"Tch, whatever. You trash will show your true colors in a month anyway. You'll be crying by then!" After saying that, the other party left in a foul mood. "That's a piece of advice from your second-year seniors!"

As they passed by Amasawa Yuto and Arisu Sakayanagi, the seniors noticed them staring. "What? Are you in the same class as him too?"

"Unfortunately not, we are from Class A."

"C-Class A?! Hmph." They didn't say anything else and turned to leave, though there was clear fear in their eyes just a moment ago.

Would they really feel such fear just because of a class system based on points?

Or was there someone formidable in Class 2-A who had left them traumatized?

"Sudo-kun, violence is wrong. I hope you can get along with everyone—" Before Hirata could finish, Sudo shoved him aside.

"Tch, mind your own business. Get lost, weakling!"

Hirata lost his balance and fell to the floor.

Sudo had already walked away, kicking over a trash can in the corner as he left, scattering beverage bottles all over the ground.

"Are you alright?" Yuto said, reaching out a hand toward him.

"Thanks, I'm fine. By the way, I'm Yosuke Hirata from Class 1-D." He introduced himself.

On the way back to the dorms, Yuto finally asked Sakayanagi that question.

"Sakayanagi, you said 'long time no see' in the classroom, and you told Risonaka that we were childhood friends. When have you ever seen me before?"

Arisu Sakayanagi's eyes curved into beautiful crescents, as if she had been waiting a long time for him to ask.

"That's right. Though, it was merely me watching you from behind the glass—strictly speaking, it doesn't count as having met. That was when I was eight years old, the first time I went to that pure white building."

"Just to confirm, Sakayanagi and I should both be sixteen years old, right?"

"Asking a girl her age is a deduction, but since it's you, Amasawa-kun, I can make an exception and forgive you. That's correct, I am the same age as you."

If that was the case, then the Sakayanagi she saw at eight years old... by then, he had already gone to the new white room, Kiyotaka had died, and Yuki and Shiro had also left the white room.

In other words, the only person Sakayanagi could have seen was him.

"What was I doing when we first met?" Yuto asked.

Narimori Sakayanagi narrowed his eyes as if lost in a pleasant memory. "You were playing a game, chess."

"I remember you saying you were a world champion in chess, Sakayanagi."

"Yes. It was precisely the day I saw Amasawa's skill that I fell in love with chess." He stopped walking, lowered his head like a girl in love, and placed his hand over his chest, as if gathering his emotions.

Then, he looked up, stars flickering in his purple eyes, and reached out a small hand toward Yuto.

"I have been looking forward to meeting you again for so long—looking forward to it more than words can say. This long-standing yearning has left my heart restless. Even this encounter feels fraught with anxiety; I am always afraid that you before me, and even myself in this moment, are as ephemeral as a mirage. It feels so dreamlike that I fear you might vanish the moment I wake up, like mackerel clouds in the sky or soap bubbles under the sun."

"So, could you please take my hand? Skin-to-skin contact, the warmth between people is never a bad thing. I just want to confirm your existence, to confirm that you are right here before me. This is also the message I have wanted to tell you for eight years—a message that is long overdue."

The gentle April sun gilded his silver-white hair. Yuto reached out and placed his hand upon his fingertips, much like a princess accepting an invitation to dance.

"If you don't mind."

Sakayanagi revealed a happy smile, slowly closing his hand to hold Yuto's fingertips in his palm.

"People often say that every encounter is merely a prologue to the sorrow of parting. But at this moment, I do not care about future goodbyes. I am thinking only of you."

"Saying things like that will be mistaken for a confession."

"You don't really think that, do you?"

"Who knows? I'm just an ordinary guy, after all."

"I feel that hearing you call yourself ordinary is even less realistic than hearing the richest person in the world say that money isn't important."

"In any case, I know you don't have any hostility toward me now, Sakayanagi. I look forward to working with you."

"So I was being guarded against all this time? Besides, it seems a bit awkward for childhood friends to address each other by their surnames."

"This is the first time I've met you today, Sakayanagi-san."

"Being called Sakayanagi-san feels even more distant. Please, don't use honorifics with me, Yuto-kun."

"You seem to have started using my first name quite naturally as well, Sakayanagi."

"Mm. Because I told Risonaka-kun that we were childhood friends, I have to use your first name to address Yuto-kun. Does that explanation satisfy you?"

"It sounds logical enough. I'll accept it."

"Then, I look forward to our time together, Yuto-kun."

"By the way, Sakayanagi, what is your relationship with Chairman Sakayanagi?"

"I suppose I couldn't keep that from you. Narimori Sakayanagi is indeed my father."

"I see. That explains everything."

"Yuto-kun seems to have connected some rather incredible dots. However, I would like to reserve Yuto-kun's afternoon. I wonder if I might have that honor?"

A cunning glint flickered in Sakayanagi's eyes.

Yuto and Sakayanagi parted ways on the fourth floor of the dormitory; it seemed Sakayanagi intended to have lunch in her room.

Yuto returned to his room, 404, intending to drop off his things before heading out for lunch.

Before he even entered, he sensed a slight dissonance.

The angle of the doorknob was slightly different from when he had left.

If it had slid downward, he could have attributed it to gravity, but for it to be tilted upward, it could only mean someone had touched it.

Yuto glanced at the empty hallway, set his belongings down by the door, and swiped his room card to unlock it.

With a beep, Yuto carefully pushed the door open. Sure enough, there was a pair of shoes in the entryway, and a figure was moving inside—

"Yuki, how did you get into my room?"

"Yuto, you're so slow! Let's go to the cafeteria together, shall we?"

The person in the room was indeed Tsubaki Yuki. She was sitting on his bed, hands gripping the edge of the mattress, boredly swinging her smooth, slender legs.

Seeing Yuto return, she immediately sprang up and hurried over, unable to contain her excitement.

"No, answer my question first. How did you get into my room?"

"Is that question really so important?" She tilted her head, deliberately playing dumb.

"It is very important. It concerns whether or not I can sleep soundly in the future—don't think you can get away with this just by acting cute."

"Fine, fine. Actually, I just asked the dorm manager for a copy of your room card~" Tsubaki Yuki said, pulling the gleaming card from her pocket to show him.

Can room cards just be copied like that? What are you doing, manager? If this is allowed, what's the point of the second and third articles of the school code prohibiting overnight stays?

"Wait until I put my things down, then we'll go eat." Yuto felt a sense of helplessness.

"Wait a second. Yuto seems to have forgotten something. Which female student did you go shopping with just now?" Tsubaki Yuki took out her phone and waved it in front of Yuto.

Her smile looked somewhat dangerous, like the calm before a storm.