High school routines are strange.
Days repeat so similarly that they begin to blur together. Same classrooms, same teachers, same faces. For most students, those routines slowly become memories they cherish.
For me, routines were shields.
As long as everything stayed predictable, my peaceful little world remained safe.
And for the longest time, nothing disturbed that world.
Until she did.
The next few weeks passed quietly.
I followed the same pattern every day:
Wake up.
Go to school.
Sit silently in class.
Eat lunch with Daichi.
Go home.
A simple life.
Yet, without realizing it, one small detail began repeating itself.
Every time I entered Class 2-B, my eyes unconsciously searched for Aiko Tanaka.
Not because I wanted to.
But because she was impossible to ignore.
Some people are loud to get attention.
Aiko wasn't like that.
She didn't demand attention—she simply attracted it naturally.
Whenever I stepped into the classroom, I saw her doing something different.
One day she was helping a shy classmate with homework.
Another day she was laughing with a group of girls near the window.
Sometimes she was arguing playfully with the boys about sports.
Always smiling.
Always lively.
It was like the entire atmosphere of the room changed depending on her mood.
And somehow, I had become an unwilling observer of that world.
"Haruto, you're staring again."
Daichi's voice pulled me back to reality.
"I'm not," I replied calmly.
"You totally are."
"I'm just looking around."
He grinned. "Sure, sure."
I ignored him and opened my bento.
The truth was—I didn't even realize when my gaze wandered toward her anymore.
It had become a habit.
A meaningless one, I told myself.
At that time, Aiko Tanaka was nothing more than:
"Daichi's classmate."
"A popular girl."
"Someone from a different world."
We had never spoken.
And I planned to keep it that way.
Fate, however, had other plans.
One afternoon during lunch break, something unusual happened.
Daichi had left his seat to buy a drink from the vending machine, leaving me alone at his desk.
I quietly ate my food, enjoying the rare silence.
That was when footsteps stopped in front of me.
A cheerful voice followed.
"Hey, you're always with Daichi-kun, right?"
I looked up.
And there she was.
Standing right in front of me.
Aiko Tanaka.
Up close, she felt even brighter than from a distance. Her hair was neatly tied, her expression open and curious, as if talking to strangers was the most natural thing in the world.
For a moment, I forgot how to respond.
"Uh… yeah," I managed to say.
She smiled.
"I've seen you around a lot. You're in Class 2-D, right?"
"…Yes."
"I'm Aiko Tanaka!"
She said it so confidently, as if introducing herself was an important event.
I nodded politely.
"Haruto Sakamoto."
"Nice to finally talk to you, Haruto-kun."
That was it.
A simple greeting.
Normally, that should have been the end of it.
But Aiko didn't walk away.
Instead, she sat down on the empty chair beside me.
"So, you're Daichi's best friend?"
"I guess."
"You're really quiet, aren't you?"
"I hear that a lot."
She laughed softly.
"I don't think I've ever heard you speak more than one sentence."
"Maybe that's for the best."
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"You're interesting."
Those two words made me uncomfortable.
Interesting.
That was a dangerous label.
People who are "interesting" get noticed.
And getting noticed leads to troublesome situations.
I gave a small, polite smile.
"I'm really not."
Before she could continue, Daichi returned.
"Oh! You two are talking?" he asked in surprise.
"Just getting to know him," Aiko replied casually.
"Careful," Daichi joked. "He bites."
"I don't," I said flatly.
She laughed again.
That was the first time I properly heard her laughter up close.
Bright. Genuine. Annoyingly pleasant.
After a few more minutes of light conversation—mostly her asking questions and me giving short answers—she finally stood up.
"Well, nice meeting you, Haruto-kun. I'll see you around!"
I nodded politely.
"Yeah."
And just like that, she returned to her group of friends.
I thought that would be the end of it.
A single random interaction.
Nothing more.
I was wrong.
From that day onward, something changed.
Whenever I came to Class 2-B, Aiko greeted me.
"Hi, Haruto-kun!"
Sometimes she asked small questions.
"Did you finish the math homework?"
"Is your class as boring as ours?"
"Why do you always look so serious?"
At first, I answered briefly, hoping she would lose interest.
But she never did.
Instead, she talked to me more and more.
Little by little—
She began invading my quiet routine.
And I didn't know it yet—
But that was only the beginning.