"Need me to explain? I can explain if you want."
In the quiet room, standing face to face with Setsuna, who had suddenly entered without warning, Haruto let out a small sigh the moment he saw her.
It was about the usual time he would head over to Setsuna's house for dinner — so her showing up here wasn't exactly unexpected.
Still... her timing really was something else.
Haruto's expression was tinged with helplessness. He hadn't anticipated she'd walk in right at this moment.
His gaze drifted toward Sekai, who was standing nearby. Just moments ago, Sekai had been blushing shyly, with a trace of anticipation in her eyes. But now?
Now her whole face had gone pale, darkened with embarrassment. She stood there awkwardly, like a child caught doing something wrong.
As for Setsuna, after glancing briefly at Haruto, her gaze naturally shifted to Sekai—who was standing beside her, desperately avoiding eye contact.
Setsuna fell silent for a moment, her gaze lowering slightly.
Her eyes fell on... the tight button.
It wasn't like Setsuna had never seen Sekai wearing her clothes before. Back when she stayed over at Sekai's house, she'd even lent her pajamas.
But this situation... this wasn't the same at all.
This wasn't a casual sleepover between friends.
Sekai had put on her clothes, behind her back, in front of Haruto —without saying a word about it. And not only that...
Setsuna's sharp eyes stayed fixed on the tight fabric straining across Sekai's chest... on that single, trembling button, looking like it could burst off at any second.
This was the second time.
First, Sekai had snuck off without telling her.
And now this.
That feeling again—betrayal. Burning hot and bitter.
Haruto's voice broke the silence, pulling Setsuna's gaze back to him. After a pause, she gave a small nod.
Fine.
She'd listen.
She wanted to see exactly how he was going to talk his way out of this.
"Uh... well, um... Sekai just... grabbed the wrong clothes. Yeah."
The pitifully clumsy excuse made even Sekai look up, giving Haruto a look like, Seriously? That's your explanation?
Setsuna's face remained unreadable.
Sekai bit her lip hard.
"S-Setsuna, I... I'm... sorry."
She had a lot she wanted to say. A lot of excuses, a lot of reasons.
But in the end... all she could do was apologize.
Because no matter what she said now, there was no way Setsuna would accept it.
Setsuna's eyes were cold as she cast Sekai a brief glance, then turned without a word and started walking toward the door.
Haruto stood there for a second, watching her leave. Then he looked back at Sekai, still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, her head bowed.
He sighed.
"...Get changed first. I need to go calm her down."
"...Okay."
Setsuna had already left his apartment.
Without wasting any more time, Haruto quickly followed after her, leaving Sekai alone in the quiet room.
Sekai slowly looked down at herself, at the tightly stretched fabric of the borrowed clothes.
Silently, she began to change back into her own.
Haruto soon caught up to Setsuna on the street.
Walking beside her in silence, he found himself at a loss for words.
What could he even say...?
"Not accompanying the Sekai?"
"Angry?"
"No."
Seeing her calm face, she did not look angry, but she was different from other girls. Even if she was angry, she would not show her feelings on her face. Haruto was helpless at that moment. He first saw the door open, and then they went into the house together, ready to comfort each other again.
Sekai sat in Haruto's apartment and watched Haruto and Setsuna enter the Kiyoura household together. She then sat in his room, quietly lying on her side on Haruto's bed, quietly waiting for Haruto's return.
When the moon rose to mid-sky, Haruto returned to his apartment.
Click——
The sound of a door opening rang out in the quiet house. Sekai was lying on the Haruto's bed, resting with her eyes closed. She did not wake up because of the slightest noise.
When Haruto entered the room and put off his shoes, he found the shoes belonging to Sekai at the door.
"Still here?"
With a soft whisper, Haruto stepped into the room, flicking on the lights. There, lying peacefully asleep on the bed, was the girl.
After finally managing to calm Setsuna down, Haruto quietly approached the bedside. Looking at the girl, fast asleep, he couldn't help but feel a little amazed — when she was sleeping, she really did seem like a completely different person from her usual self.
Not wanting to wake her, Haruto headed to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and then returned to the living room. Seeing that she was still sound asleep, and already in his pajamas, he simply climbed onto the bed beside her, gently pulling her into his arms as he slowly drifted off to sleep himself...
Morning came, and Sekai was the first to wake up.
Opening her eyes early as usual, she found herself still in Haruto's arms. Seeing that he was still asleep, she didn't move. Instead, she quietly gazed at him, countless emotions swirling in her eyes, before closing them again and simply lying there, feeling the warmth of his embrace.
Haruto, whose internal clock usually woke him up a little after six, slowly opened his eyes — and was met with a flawless, delicate face right in front of him. Those clear, dark eyes were staring right at him, sparkling like they always did.
"Morning," she whispered.
"Morning… mmm—ahhh—"
Yawning slightly, Haruto sat up from the bed, taking a deep breath. His gaze naturally fell onto Sekai, still lying beside him.
"So… it's morning already, huh? Last night... no, never mind."
He thought about making some small talk but, after a moment's hesitation, realized there wasn't really anything specific to say. Leaning over, he placed a light kiss on her cheek before quietly getting up to make breakfast.
After sharing a simple breakfast together in the apartment, Sekai changed back into her school uniform, said goodbye to Haruto, and left early to go meet Setsuna. Haruto, meanwhile, stayed behind for a bit, sitting quietly in his room and taking a moment to clear his mind before eventually heading out himself.
It was Saturday today. Tomorrow, he'd be going out with Setsuna and Mai. As he walked along the familiar route to school, Haruto let out a long yawn, already starting to mentally prepare himself for whatever the weekend had in store...
By the time he reached school, he was clearly still feeling a little out of it.
"Um... Miyamizu-kun, you don't look so good. Did something happen?"
At the shoe lockers, Haruto unexpectedly ran into Yoshida Saki. For some reason, they seemed to bump into each other almost every day now.
Seeing her standing in front of him, Haruto blinked, forcing himself to perk up a little.
"Ah, no, it's nothing serious. I just didn't sleep very well last night. I'll be fine after getting some rest once I'm home."
"I see..."
Standing there in front of Haruto, Saki hesitated. She wanted to get closer to him — to talk about more personal things, to shorten the distance between them. But looking at the boy before her now, she couldn't help but feel an invisible wall lingering between them. And somehow, she just didn't know how to break through it.
After changing into his indoor shoes, Haruto noticed Saki still standing by his side. He smiled at her, a casual, gentle smile — and the two of them naturally began walking together towards their classroom.
"Lately… there've been some rumors going around," Haruto suddenly spoke, his voice calm, "about how you and I… might actually be dating. Have you heard about that?"
"Eh... u-um... I-I've heard a little…" Saki stammered, clearly caught off guard. "Um... did it bother you, Miyamizu-kun…?"
"Bother me?" Haruto repeated with a soft chuckle. "Not really. Doesn't affect me all that much. But what about you? Isn't it troublesome for you, being misunderstood like that?"
As he glanced sideways at the braided girl walking beside him, Haruto realized he didn't actually know all that much about Saki Yoshida. Their only real connection was that thing she'd done before — the only reason he still remembered her vividly at all.
Feeling his gaze on her, Saki instinctively lowered her head, avoiding his eyes. Even that brief moment of eye contact had left her heart racing, her cheeks subtly flushing with warmth. She slowly shook her head.
"People never really paid much attention to me before anyway," she whispered. "Even with these rumors going around… everyone's focus is still on you, Miyamizu-kun, not me."
Thinking back on the past few days since the rumors started spreading through their class, Saki realized that, honestly, nothing much had changed for her. People treated her the same way they always had — like she barely existed. And if anyone did bother talking to her, it was only to casually ask about Haruto.
No one really believed that someone like her could actually be dating Miyamizu Haruto. No one had even directly asked if the rumors were true. At best, they'd just probe her for any details about him.
Even with all the rumors floating around, the other girls were still extremely conscious of Haruto.
Walking quietly alongside him now, Saki found herself filled with a swirl of complicated emotions. Eventually, they reached the area near the classrooms. Haruto stopped first, turned to her, and casually said goodbye before heading into his own classroom.
Left standing there for a moment, Saki watched him disappear inside… before silently turning away and walking towards her own classroom.
When Haruto returned to his seat after class, he noticed a small sticky note placed neatly on his desk.
Casually picking up the sticky note left on his desk, he glanced at the handwriting. It didn't look like it was written just recently.
He wasn't sure if it had been left there yesterday after school, after he went home, or if the other party had arrived at school extra early this morning just to stick this on his desk.
Without thinking much about it, he folded the note in his hands, turning it into a small paper crane, and placed it at the corner of his desk.
Kasukigaoka Utaha was technically a member of the Literature Club. But like most people, she was more of a ghost member — rarely ever showing up at the clubroom. Even if there were any official club activities, they didn't hold much meaning to her. She wouldn't bother attending them anyway.
That said, the Literature Club's room held some rare books and materials that even the library didn't have. So Utaha would occasionally drop by — not for the club, but for the books.
Unlike sports clubs, which were filled with lively and popular types, the Literature Club mostly attracted people with similar quiet personalities. It wasn't uncommon for the clubroom to be completely empty.
There were always a few students who joined, hoping the Literature Club would be like something out of their favorite anime or light novels. But after a week or so of facing reality, they too would quietly fade away, becoming ghost members like the rest.
....
"Looks like the material I need isn't here either. Guess I'll have to look online later. Hopefully there's still some info floating around... hmm?"
Leaving the Literature Club, Utaha was planning to either drop by a second-hand bookstore or head home to do some online searching.
But just as she was leaving the club building, her eyes landed on a familiar figure.
"...Miyamizu."
If she remembered correctly, that was his name.
After running into him twice in the library, Utaha had at least committed his name to memory.
Watching him enter the school building where most of the clubrooms were, Utaha felt a spark of curiosity.
Is he part of a club too?
Driven by curiosity — and noticing that he hadn't realized she was nearby — Utaha quietly followed behind him, keeping a careful distance.
Not bad... but pretty careless. Definitely needs to work on his awareness.
She watched as he climbed the stairs, so she followed suit. When she saw him walk all the way to the door of the Astronomy Club and head inside, Utaha couldn't help but feel surprised.
"...Astronomy Club?"
To be honest, when she first noticed him, she had thought he might've been a new member of the Literature Club that she simply didn't know about. But after following him all this way... to think his destination turned out to be the Astronomy Club of all places.
That really caught her off guard.
Standing in front of the Astronomy Club's door, Utaha hesitated for a moment.
Why would he join the Astronomy Club?
She didn't even know their school had an Astronomy Club.
After a few seconds of hesitation, driven by curiosity, she raised her hand, preparing to knock on the door—
Pausing in front of the door, Utaha slowly raised her hand, ready to knock—
—when suddenly, a voice came from inside.
"Starting off like this already?"
"If I don't recharge my Haruto energy, I feel like I can't even breathe properly."
Her hand froze mid-air.
Utaha's expression turned... complicated.
Huh?What kind of sketchy conversation did I just walk in on?
Because it was after school, the entire club building was practically deserted. And with the Astronomy Club being tucked away on one of the upper floors, it was even quieter here.
Then—
"I can smell another woman's scent on you, Haruto... Did you sleep with someone else last night?"
Utaha, standing at the door, instinctively held her breath.
Oh?
Ohhhh?
Her interest was instantly piqued.