Monday – Tenkaichi Elite Academy, Class 1-B
The classroom was warm with afternoon sun. Aeron sat near the window, his posture relaxed but unreadable — always half-there, like he could vanish if no one watched too closely.
"Hey, Kael."
Yume slid into the seat beside him, her bag hanging off one shoulder. Her hair was tied up with a pale-blue ribbon that matched her eyes.
She'd known him longer than most — not from school, but from the little cake shop tucked beside the old river bridge. She'd been going there for years.
Back then, he didn't talk much.
Now… he still didn't.
But he remembered her name. That was enough.
"You're always early," she said, half-smiling.
"Beats rushing."
She pulled out a small wrapped box from her bag. "I brought something. Strawberry matcha roll. Grandma gave it to me to share."
He stared at it.
Then unwrapped it wordlessly.
"You're welcome," she added with a grin.
---
Meanwhile – At Home, Ayaka's Room
Ayaka threw her pillow at the wall.
> "He went to dinner with her. And hasn't said a single word about it!"
She wasn't proud of eavesdropping. But how could she not notice?
Last night, she passed the living room just in time to hear her father praising Midori for how well she'd handled the business dinner with Mirei Asagiri. Aeron had been there — sitting beside them. Quiet as ever.
> Not even a mention.
Not a smirk. Not a smug comment.
Just nothing.
> "It wasn't even his idea," she tried telling herself.
"She was a guest. He just sat there."
But still…
> "If she were anyone else, maybe I wouldn't care."
Her phone buzzed.
A message from a classmate:
> "Did you hear? That Asagiri woman hasn't even come back to school since that board meeting. Weird, right?"
Ayaka didn't reply.
She just stared out the window and whispered:
> "What are you hiding from me, Aeron?"
---
After School – Cake Shop
Yume sat by the front display, watching Aeron frost another tray of cakes with perfect swirls.
"You never mess up," she said, quietly impressed.
"I do," he replied without looking. "I just throw those away."
She laughed. "I could never throw away something I worked so hard on."
He paused for a moment, knife hovering over icing.
Then resumed.
"I don't get attached to things," he muttered.
Her smile faded slightly, but she nodded. "You used to be different."
"I used to have a mother," he replied.
The room fell quiet.
Yume didn't push. She just watched him finish the last swirl — perfectly even, no hesitation.
Then she stood.
"I'll be back tomorrow," she said, voice soft.
"Same time?"
"Always."
---
Side Story – Third Floor Library Window
At the far end of the library, where no one usually sat, a girl with shoulder-length ash brown hair scribbled in a worn leather notebook.
She looked like an ordinary honors student.
Except for the fact that every few minutes… her eyes drifted toward the quad, tracking Aeron through the third-floor window.
> "He doesn't talk," she murmured, writing.
"No friends. But people follow him anyway.
They move when he breathes.
They fall when he walks away."
She tucked a Polaroid between the pages — a photo of him from behind, standing in the cake shop window.
> "Subject #07. Name: Aeron Kael.
Hypothesis: He has no idea what kind of gravity he carries."
She closed the book.
Smiled faintly.
And disappeared into the rows of shelves.