The Price of a Perfect Cadence

The rooftop was freezing. As soon as we stepped outside, Ray pulled up his coat collar, shivering as he grimaced.

“Damn, it’s so cold! Why is everyone have to be out here?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t know, I wonder why?”

The view from the rooftop was breathtaking. The crescent moon cast a faint glow, and since we were surrounded by darkness, the stars above shone brilliantly. In the distance, the city lights twinkled like miniature stars, blending into the night sky.

Ray fell silent for a moment. When I turned to look at him, I saw his eyes staring off into the distance, lost in thought.

“This is so weird, Yuta,” he murmured. “I have a girlfriend now.”

His voice carried a solemn weight, but the small smile on his lips told a different story. He seemed to be recalling something—his gentle expression reflecting a quiet joy.

“Yeah.” That was all I could say. What else was there to add?

Ray’s eyes sparkled. “It feels like such a small thing, but… it’s like my whole world has changed.” His voice had dropped to a whisper.

His whole demeanor had shifted. I had known Ray for years—he was practically a brother to me—but it had been a long time since I’d seen him like this.

“You’re excited,” I said.

It felt like we had grown up. We weren’t middle schoolers anymore. The years had changed us, but we had stayed together. And now, for the first time, one of us was stepping into a new phase of life.

“Yeah… I don’t know. It’s just strange to think that someone sees me like this.” Ray scratched his head. Damn. He really was in love. Then, he turned to me.

“Have you ever felt this way?”

Silence...

My breath turned into small white clouds in the cold air. I could feel his eyes on me, waiting.

Had I ever felt like this?

Probably not. I had been in love before, but since it had never been reciprocated, I never got to experience the kind of satisfaction Ray was talking about.

“…I don’t think so,” I admitted, exhaling deeply. “But I think it’s a beautiful thing.”

As we spoke, the cold air turned our words into visible wisps of fog. But eventually, we lapsed into silence.

Honestly, I wished Yasu was here too. Even though he was a newer addition to our group, we got along well. Leaving him out made me feel a little guilty. But my phone was in the room, and Ray… well, he didn’t seem like he’d check his phone anytime soon.

One look at him, and I could tell.

He was afraid of not meeting expectations.

“By the way,” Ray suddenly said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Did something happen between you and Aiko? You guys seem… close sometimes, but then distant at other times. Feels like something’s up.”

Damn, right on target.

Just like I knew him, he knew me just as well.

I was caught off guard for a second, but I couldn’t let it show.

I couldn’t tell Ray about what happened with Aiko. Even if he was my closest friend, it would change the way he saw her. And I didn’t want that.

Lyra was different—she was still more of an outsider. But Aiko? She was part of the team, part of the family.

Normally, Ray could see right through my lies. But that was only because I rarely wore my mask around him.

“Nah,” I said flatly. “She got drunk, confronted me about some stuff, then apologized a bunch of times. I told her it was fine, but I think she still feels a little embarrassed. She’s a good person, after all.”

I made sure my voice was even and emotionless.

Yeah. Maybe I was the mask.

But sometimes, hiding things for the sake of others wasn’t deception—it was kindness.

“Oh, right. That makes sense. I figured it was something like that,” Ray said, seeming at ease again.

I nodded.

Ray leaned against the metal railing, watching the cityscape in quiet contemplation.

…Aiko, huh?

How did she feel about all this?

If there was one thing I couldn’t even admit to myself, it was this—if I had accepted Aiko’s confession, just like Ray had accepted Sayuri’s, would I be feeling the same way he was now?

Honestly, I was a little envious. But the truth was, relationships that seemed so magical at first could turn around and stab you in the back when things fell apart. And I wasn’t ready for that.

After chatting for a while longer, we returned to our room. Luckily, no one else had arrived yet, so we kept talking for a bit.

Yasu showed up before the club president did. Looked like they planned to stay up all night. Well, us “normal” people weren’t really into that kind of insanity.

After catching up with Yasu for a bit, exhaustion took over. We turned off the lights and went to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up feeling like my body was melting into the sheets.

My mind was still buzzing with last night’s thoughts, making it feel like I hadn’t slept at all.

Half of the club members looked like zombies, barely functioning on little to no sleep. As we waited for the bus, they honestly looked terrifying. 

Just what did they do all night?

Once the bus arrived, everyone shuffled in. I took a seat by the window, letting the cold glass press against my face. Ray sat next to me, and Yasu took a single seat beside him.

For once, no one in the club was singing.

The bus was eerily silent.

Well, mostly because everyone had already passed out.

I could barely stay awake myself.

Ray, however, was still lively, quietly chatting and bickering with Yasu.

“This is a huge deal,” Yasu said. “You getting a girlfriend is basically a revolution for the club.”

Ray turned to me for backup.

Sayuri was sitting up front, separate from him. The upperclassmen seemed to have intentionally placed them apart—as if they were getting back at Ray for last night. Maybe Sayuri was annoyed, who knew?

“Come on, it’s not that big of a deal,” Ray protested.

He was really trying to act like this was just some normal thing. What a joke. Even I had never seen something like this happen before. He was totally lying to himself.

Yasu stared out the window as he spoke.

“It’s a big deal because it happened to you, Ray. I mean, Yuta has known you for ten years. And to be honest? Even I thought the odds were zero.”

“Zero?!?!” Ray turned back, outraged.

Yasu nodded without a care. “Absolutely.”

“Finally, someone said it,” I thought to myself.

Though to be fair, Yasu was even more logical than me. He was blunt, straightforward… and one of the kindest people I knew.

The rest of the trip passed quietly, uneventfully.

I managed to get some much-needed rest.

But soon, exams would be creeping up again.

And after that, Christmas and New Year’s.

Still, those were a bit further off. First, there were tests to worry about.

Ugh.

Looks like I had no choice but to focus on studying.

Not like I had anything else to do, anyway.