After school.
The classroom emptied quickly. Most students rushed off to clubs, cafes, part-time jobs, or to hang out with friends.
But Kouno Sakura stayed in her seat.
She sat quietly, reviewing her notes, long black hair falling around her shoulders, creating a soft curtain that shielded her from the world.
Shuu lingered by the window, pretending to admire the view outside.
In reality, he was watching her reflection in the glass.
"She really is invisible," he thought. "Even in an anime where almost everyone's in a relationship, she's like a background NPC."
And yet…
The way she tucked her hair behind her ear when reading.
The way her fingers held the pen so gently.
The way her eyes focused when solving a math problem.
It was like she existed in a completely different tempo from everyone else.
Quiet.
Soft.
But not empty.
There was a depth to her—the kind that people who only look at surface-level things would miss entirely.
Shuu turned around and walked over to her desk.
"Still studying?"
Sakura looked up, startled.
"I'm just reviewing the formulas from math class…"
"Mind if I sit here?"
He gestured to the seat beside her.
Sakura blinked.
No one had ever sat next to her after class.
"…Okay."
Shuu sat down and pulled out his notebook.
To make it feel natural, he flipped to the same math page and pretended to study too.
But a minute later, he leaned over slightly and pointed to a problem on her sheet.
"Hey, this one—did you solve it using the quadratic formula or by factoring?"
Sakura glanced at the page, then hesitated.
"…Factoring. It seemed faster."
"Smart. I went the long way around."
Sakura gave the tiniest smile.
Shuu smiled back.
For a moment, silence fell between them—but it wasn't awkward.
It was peaceful.
"I've seen you read a lot," Shuu said. "Do you like novels?"
Sakura's eyes lit up ever so slightly.
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"…Mostly fantasy. And romance."
Shuu leaned in a little. "Got any favorites?"
Sakura paused. She looked down, then pulled a book out of her bag.
The cover was faded, the spine slightly worn.
A secondhand paperback.
She handed it to him shyly. "This one."
Shuu looked at the title.
It was a lesser-known fantasy romance novel—one he had actually read in his past life.
His lips curved up. "Oh, I know this one. The one where the heroine pretends to be a knight to protect the prince, right?"
Sakura's eyes widened.
"You've read it?"
"Yeah, a few years ago. The writing's kind of flowery, but the world-building is solid. And that ending... man, that hit hard."
Sakura stared at him for a moment.
Then, softly—almost imperceptibly—she smiled.
A real one.
The kind that glowed, however faintly.
"...You're the first person I've met who's read it."
Shuu's heart skipped.
He hadn't just broken through her shell.
He had lit a spark inside.
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