"Rukia?"
A soft call snapped Rukia out of her daze. When she turned her head, Hinamori's face was right beside hers.
"Huh? I'm fine. Where were you?"
Rukia hurriedly leaned back and gave an embarrassed smile.
In the park near the school building, the two sat on the stone steps beneath a cherry blossom tree, cooling off as students in white uniforms passed by in scattered streams before them.
Hinamori Momo tilted her head in confusion and looked at Rukia. "You've been off all day. You were distracted in class, and you keep zoning out whenever I talk to you."
"Have I? Maybe I'm not feeling well."
Rukia made up an excuse.
"Come to think of it, your complexion does look a little poor." Hinamori Momo reached out and lightly stroked her cheek, then glanced at the blazing sun overhead.
She picked up the water bottle beside her, unscrewed the cap, dipped a finger inside, then tapped it against Rukia's cheek.
"Feel better?"
The coolness of Hinamori's fingertip made Rukia's eyelashes tremble. The cicadas in the surrounding trees suddenly seemed piercingly loud. Staring at Hinamori's bright smile, Rukia felt as though fragments of a blade were lodged in her throat.
What had happened last night began replaying in her mind. She felt like a whole trapped in the Dangai.
"Ah, much better," Rukia said with a smile.
"Are you still not used to living with the Kuchiki family? Why not talk to them and see if you can move back into the Spirit Training Academy? Then we could share a dorm room."
"No need. I'm actually doing quite well there." Rukia gently shook her head.
Hinamori did not press the matter. She shifted her gaze toward the path carpeted with scattered petals.
"Yesterday, when Kira, Abarai, and I were talking,