Video

Kiryu Yume woke before his alarm went off.

He stared blankly at the crack in the ceiling, split in two by the morning light. Last night replayed in his mind frame by frame—the convenience store's stark white lights, the drink in Kamuro Masumi's hand, and the "Mom Kamuro" that had slipped from his mouth.

Sakayanagi Arisu had been there last night too.

Morishita Ran had told him. After he returned to the dorm, Morishita had messaged him: "Sakayanagi went downstairs too. She seemed to stand outside the convenience store for a while." He had replied, "Didn't see her," comforting himself with the thought that she had probably just passed by.

Then, sometime after one in the morning, his phone vibrated.

It was an unknown number. No text, just a video attachment. The footage was not especially clear, but it showed everything clearly enough—in the convenience store, he stood behind Kamuro Masumi, his lips moved, and he said those words. It had been filmed from outside the store through the glass wall, from a tricky angle, yet the audio was surprisingly good. Sakayanagi Arisu had not sent any text. Not one word. Just a video.

Kiryu Yume kicked the blanket onto the floor and sat up, bracing his hands on his knees as he took a deep breath. His chest still felt tight, as though someone were pressing their knuckles into it.

"At worst, I'll die of embarrassment," he muttered, his voice a little hoarse. "It's not like dying of embarrassment actually kills you."

But his hands were shaking.

While brushing his teeth, the face in the mirror looked like a cat that had just been tipped out of a cardboard box—fur standing on end, dark circles beneath its eyes. He splashed cold water on his face and barely bothered to dry it, letting droplets run down his chin. His uniform was crooked, one side of the collar flipped up, and he could not be bothered fixing it.

The moment he pushed open the dormitory doors, the morning breeze rushed over him, carrying the scent of cherry blossoms and dew. The blossoms were still falling, just as they had on the first day of school. Kiryu Yume had no mood to look at them. He hunched his neck, shoved his hands into his pockets, and headed toward the school gate. He did not want to run into Sakayanagi Arisu. But he knew she would definitely be waiting there.

Sure enough.

Two people stood beneath the streetlamp by the school gate, which had yet to switch off. Short silver-white hair fluttered faintly in the morning breeze, and a white cane reflected the lamplight—Sakayanagi Arisu. Half a step behind her stood Kamuro Masumi, with long straight black hair, a burgundy school uniform, and a blank face devoid of expression.

Sakayanagi had been looking down at her phone screen. Hearing footsteps, she lifted her head. The instant those violet eyes met Kiryu Yume's, they curved. It was not quite a smile. It was the curve of a cat seeing a mouse finally run into a dead end.

Kiryu Yume slowed. A thought flashed through his mind—turn around and run. But his legs would not listen. He still stepped forward. Head lowered and shoulders drawn in, he shuffled over one step at a time, stopping in front of Sakayanagi Arisu with his eyes fixed on the patch of concrete beside his shoes.

"Good morning, Kiryu-kun." Sakayanagi's voice drifted lightly, unhurried and relaxed. She pronounced the honorific so faintly that it was like she was addressing a somewhat disobedient but still interesting cat. "Last night's trip to the convenience store was rather interesting, wasn't it?"

Kiryu Yume's throat went dry. He swallowed.

"...Sakayanagi, you were up pretty late too."

"Yes, I was busy sorting through the footage I captured." Sakayanagi tilted her head. "Don't you want to ask what I filmed?"

"...No need."

"Oh? You already know?" Sakayanagi's smile deepened. "So Masumi showed you a preview? No—more likely, it was the video I sent. Messaging you in the middle of the night was admittedly a little rude, and I apologize. But you read it, didn't you? Reading a message without replying is rather rude too, Kiryu-kun."

"I didn't notice it."

"You're lying." Sakayanagi's tone was as cheerful as if they were discussing the weather. "You watched it three times. The message status showed it had been read, and the file was downloaded three times."

Kiryu Yume's face instantly burned.

Sakayanagi took a small step forward. Her cane tapped the concrete. Tap. Kiryu Yume's shoulders flinched at the sound, but he did not retreat.

"Masumi." Sakayanagi did not turn around, merely calling her name softly.

Kamuro Masumi stepped half a pace out from behind Sakayanagi and stood beside her. Her expression remained the same blank slate—nothing written on it. Her black eyes looked deep beneath the morning light, impossible to read. She glanced at Kiryu Yume, then shifted her gaze away, as though last night had already been put behind her. But Kiryu Yume knew she had not forgotten. When that bottle of drink had still been in her pocket, her shoulders had tensed. Nobody could forget something like that.

"Masumi told me the details of last night," Sakayanagi said. "Except for the name you called her. I personally confirmed that part."

Kamuro Masumi tilted her head slightly. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Kiryu Yume guessed she was cursing him in her head.

"Kamuro—" Kiryu Yume began.

"Masumi is enough," Sakayanagi cut him off. "From now on, you call her Masumi. She calls you Kiryu. No honorifics."

Kamuro Masumi's brow twitched, barely perceptibly, but Kiryu Yume caught it. She did not object.

"...Masumi," Kiryu Yume tried.

Kamuro Masumi did not respond. Her gaze shifted from him to the distant athletic field.

"You see? She accepts it." Sakayanagi pulled out her phone, lit up the screen, and waved it in front of Kiryu Yume. The screen was paused on the frame where his lips were parted, his expression earnest enough to be a little pitiful. "Kiryu-kun, do you remember this video?"

Kiryu Yume stared at his own face on the screen, his mind completely blank. That face looked as if it had been cursed—eyes wide, lips half-open, his entire being radiating the air of someone with nowhere left to run.

"I remember." His voice was barely louder than a mosquito.

"Good boy." Sakayanagi put away her phone and gently poked his cheek with her index finger.

Kiryu Yume froze all over. Sakayanagi's fingertip was cool, like a tiny piece of ice pressed to his face. He did not dare dodge or move. He simply stood there.

"You look awful today." Sakayanagi withdrew her finger and examined him for two seconds. "Didn't sleep well?"

"...I'm fine."

"Fine?" Sakayanagi smiled. It was not a large smile, but it was genuine enough. "Did you look in a mirror?"

"I did."

"You looked in a mirror and still think you're fine? Kiryu-kun's mental fortitude is a level higher than I estimated." She switched her cane to her other hand and leaned forward slightly. "Then I'll be direct. From today onward, you're with me. Any objections?"

Here it came.

Kiryu Yume opened his mouth, but his throat felt stuffed with cotton. He glanced at Kamuro Masumi. She stood behind Sakayanagi, her face revealing nothing, but their shadows overlapped on the ground. He had no choice.

"...No objections."

"Too quiet. Again."

"No objections." This time, he raised his voice slightly.

Sakayanagi nodded in satisfaction. She reached out and gently patted the top of Kiryu Yume's head—the movement was light and slow, like soothing a feral cat that had finally agreed to crouch down.

"Good boy," she said.

Kiryu Yume's shoulders curled in tighter. Her hand rested atop his head for two seconds before withdrawing. The tips of his ears had turned bright red, looking almost like tiny lanterns from the side.

"Come on." Sakayanagi turned around. "To class."

The three of them formed a line. Sakayanagi was in front, her cane tapping the ground. Tap, tap, tap. Kiryu Yume followed two steps behind her, not daring to get too close. Kamuro Masumi brought up the rear, still keeping that half-step gap. They were like beads strung on the same thread—none pressed against the others, yet none could shake the others off.

Morning light fell on them from the side, stretching their shadows long across the ground. Sakayanagi's shadow came first, slender and straight, her cane's shadow like a needle. Kamuro Masumi's shadow trailed behind, sharp-edged and neat. Kiryu Yume's shadow was caught in the middle, shoulders slumped forward like filling squeezed flat from both sides.

"Kiryu-kun." Sakayanagi did not turn around.

"...Yes."

"Why are you walking so far away? Afraid I'll eat you?"

"No."

"Then come closer."

Kiryu Yume hesitated for a second before catching up half a step. Now, only half a body's width separated him from Sakayanagi. He could clearly see the back of her head—her silver-white hair carried a pale blue sheen beneath the morning light, the ends curling slightly outward. Her shoulders were narrow, and her uniform jacket looked a little too large on her, but her back was held perfectly straight.

"When you said 'no objections' just now," Sakayanagi said as she walked, "your voice was trembling. Were you afraid, or nervous?"

"A little of both."

"Honest. Points awarded." Her cane tapped the ground. Tap. "What are you afraid of?"

Kiryu Yume thought for two seconds. There were actually many things he feared—the video being spread around, people thinking he was a pervert, his reputation at this school being utterly ruined. But all that came out was, "Trouble."

"Trouble?" Sakayanagi gave a soft laugh, like wind brushing through leaves. "You fear trouble, yet you ran to a convenience store in the middle of the night and called an unfamiliar girl Mom. That behavior itself seems like an enormous amount of trouble."

Kiryu Yume was speechless. She had hit every mark.

"You're not going to ask what I want you to do?" Sakayanagi continued.

"...Do I need to ask?"

"Hmm?"

"Whatever it is, I'll have to do it anyway."

Sakayanagi stopped. Kiryu Yume nearly walked into her and hurriedly halted. She turned and looked up at him—she only reached his shoulder, yet that upward angle did nothing to diminish the air of control she commanded. Her violet eyes looked like two polished glass beads in the morning light.

"Kiryu-kun, you're rather interesting," she said. "More interesting than I expected."

"...Is that a compliment?"

"No." She reached out and poked his forehead with her index finger. "Hurry up. We're going to be late."

As they turned into the school building, quite a few people were already in the hallway. Several Class D students came down from the stairwell. At the front was a short-haired blonde girl—Kiryu Yume recognized her as the one who had delivered the freshman speech at the entrance ceremony, Ichinose Honami. She was saying something to the classmate beside her, smiling brightly. When her gaze swept across the corridor, it met Sakayanagi's.

Ichinose Honami paused slightly, then smiled and nodded. "Morning, Sakayanagi."

"Morning, Ichinose." Sakayanagi's tone was calm, and she did not stop walking. Her cane tapped evenly against the floor tiles.

Ichinose Honami's gaze slid from Sakayanagi to Kiryu Yume, then to Kamuro Masumi close behind them. After greeting them, she left.

Kiryu Yume withdrew his gaze. He did not have the energy to guess at anyone else's thoughts right now.

When they reached the Class A classroom, Sakayanagi pushed open the door. The three entered one after another. Sakayanagi led the way, her cane tapping the floor. Tap, tap, tap. Kamuro Masumi followed behind. Kiryu Yume was last, head lowered and hands still in his pockets.

Every gaze in the classroom turned toward them.

Sakayanagi walked very slowly, as always. Every step she took with her cane followed the same rhythm, as if she were walking a straight line that only she could see. As she passed the empty seats in the middle rows, several people who had been chatting noticeably lowered their voices.

Katsuragi Kohei sat in a seat by the aisle, flipping through a notebook. When the three entered, his hand paused as he turned a page. His gaze passed over Sakayanagi's face, stopped on Kamuro Masumi, and finally settled on Kiryu Yume. That gaze was heavy, like a stone placed on his shoulders.

Kiryu Yume felt it, but he did not look back. He quickened his pace to go around Katsuragi's desk, but Sakayanagi kept her unhurried rhythm, forcing him to slow down again. Katsuragi did not frown, and no surprise showed on his face. He merely watched quietly before withdrawing his gaze and resuming his notebook, as if nothing had happened. But Kiryu Yume knew Katsuragi had understood. This man spoke little, but he took everything in.

Kiryu Yume reached his seat, dropped his bag down, and sank into his chair. His shoulders hunched tighter and tighter, as though he wanted to fold himself into a sheet of paper and stuff himself into the desk drawer.

Morishita Ran was already seated in the back row. She was reading a novel, the cover printed with an author's name Kiryu Yume did not recognize at all. Hearing the movement beside her, she lowered the book slightly, revealing half her face. Her drooping blue-violet eyes swept from Kiryu Yume's face toward Sakayanagi, then over Kamuro Masumi, before returning to him.

"Kiryu."

"Yeah?"

"The way you walked in this morning looked like you were being escorted under guard."

"...You saw?"

"The whole class saw." Morishita Ran closed her book, turned sideways, and propped her chin on one hand. "Sakayanagi took the lead, Kamuro brought up the rear, and you were caught in the middle. Equal spacing between all three of you, in a straight line. Were you a prisoner being escorted?"

"Worse than a prisoner." Kiryu Yume buried his face in his arms, his voice muffled.

"How so?"

"At least prisoners have a sentence. Mine has no end date."

Morishita Ran fell silent for two seconds, then lightly tapped his arm with the spine of her book. "Tell me. What happened?"

Kiryu Yume revealed one eye through the gap between his arms and glanced around. People in the rows before and behind them were chatting, with no one paying attention to them. He lifted his face slightly and lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear. "She has something on me. Something pretty big."

"How big?"

"Die-of-embarrassment big."

Morishita Ran blinked. "Then you're done for."

"I know."

"Still, Sakayanagi probably won't spread it around casually. That girl—" Morishita Ran reopened her book, "—likes keeping things. Keeping them is much more useful than releasing them."

"How do you know?"

"Observation." Morishita Ran turned a page. "Since school started, everything she's done has been for the sake of keeping something."

Kiryu Yume opened his mouth, about to say something, when a soft sound came from Sakayanagi's direction—the knock of her cane against the edge of her desk. He instinctively glanced over. Sakayanagi sat by the window, taking textbooks from her bag. She was not looking this way, but the corner of her lips was raised in the faintest curve, so faint that only someone staring at her could notice. She was smiling. The kind of satisfied smile one wore after finally pressing the last puzzle piece into place.

Kiryu Yume turned back around and buried his face in his arms again.

The system panel automatically appeared, a translucent screen unfolding before his eyes.

[Mom-Recognition System]

[Host: Kiryu Yume]

[Current Mom: 1 (Kamuro Masumi)]

[Bond: Coercion—when the target attempts to conceal something or lie, the host has a chance of detecting fluctuations in their emotions.]

He stared at the word "Coercion" for several seconds. Someone being coerced had turned around and been coerced by someone else. He remembered a line he had seen online in his previous life—the creatures at the bottom of the food chain were often both predators and prey. He had thought it sounded pretentious at the time. Now, he understood the flavor of it.

The class bell rang. Mashima Tomoya pushed open the classroom door and walked in, his suit immaculate as he wrote the first line on the blackboard with chalk. Kiryu Yume raised his head, opened his notebook, and picked up his pen. His handwriting came out crooked. His hand was still shaking.

Outside the window, the cherry blossoms continued to fall. He secretly glanced toward Kamuro Masumi. She was bent over her notes, black hair draped over one shoulder and covering half her face. From beginning to end, she did not so much as glance in his direction.

Then he looked at Sakayanagi. Sakayanagi sat properly in her seat, propping her cheek with one hand while writing something in her notebook with the other. Her white cane leaned against the desk, made slightly translucent by the sunlight outside.

A thought suddenly surfaced—What if Sakayanagi too...

He forcefully shoved the thought down. No. He could not keep thinking about it. That was courting death. But this damned system seemed determined to drive him down a dead end.

Kiryu Yume drew a circle in the blank space of his notebook, scribbled it out, then drew another. He set down his pen and looked out the window. The cherry blossoms were still falling, as though they would never stop. They had fallen on the first day of school too, and they were still falling now. The difference was that on that first day, he had been alone—no money in his pockets, no system on him, but at least nobody had a hold over him. Now he had one mom, plus someone holding his leverage.

Kiryu Yume rested his forehead against the cool desk. Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell across the back of his neck, but he did not feel warm.