Chapter 5 : I honestly never came here. To me, the school library had always felt like a graveyard.

Chapter 5

The next day.

Because my dad had unexpectedly picked me up early yesterday, our very first study session had been pushed to this afternoon.

3:15 PM. The school library.

I honestly never came here. To me, the school library had always felt like a graveyard. Usually, I just studied on my phone since I could do that anywhere. Maybe that was exactly why I was always so completely oblivious to my surroundings—my focus was always glued to the screen right in front of me, ignoring the rest of the world.

But sitting here now, I had to admit that the smell of old paper and the absolute silence was actually surprisingly calming.

Today, however, my calm was rapidly deteriorating.

I checked my watch. 3:25 PM. He was late. I tapped my pen against my blank notebook, aggressively overthinking everything. Why did I get here ten minutes early? Why did I check my reflection in the window? Why is my heart beating so fast? I am just tutoring an idiot so he doesn’t lose his stupid club.

"Yo."

I jumped, nearly dropping my pen. "Y—Yo..."

Satono stood next to the table. He didn't look like himself. Even in class today, he had been completely, uncharacteristically silent. Now, he just looked utterly exhausted. He pulled out a chair—not the one across from me, but the one directly next to me—and slumped into it.

He dropped his backpack onto the floor with a heavy thud. As he shifted in his seat, his knee accidentally brushed against mine under the table.

My entire body went rigid. Too close. He is way too close. I could suddenly smell the faint scent of his citrus laundry detergent.

"Alright," I said, my voice coming out slightly higher than normal. I cleared my throat, stiffly pushing my glasses up my nose. "Let's start with Math. Pull out your midterm paper so I can see what went wrong."

Satono groaned, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his bag. He smoothed it out on the table. A giant, red 25 circled at the top stared back at me.

"Look at question four," I said, pointing at the page with my pen, desperately trying to ignore the heat rising in my cheeks. "This is basic algebra. You just need to isolate variable X on the Y-axis. How did you get completely lost here?"

Satono stared blankly at the numbers. "Umm..."

For the next ten minutes, the library was completely silent. The only sound was the scratch of his pencil against the paper.

I caught myself just... watching him.

Without the loud, chaotic mask he always wore, the room felt entirely different. He wasn't the brain-rotted boy yelling in class. He wasn't the hyper-focused esports captain either. He was just... Eriko.

His jawline was sharp. His eyelashes cast long shadows over his cheeks in the dim library lighting. When he concentrated, he bit the inside of his lip.

When did he get so co— nope! Not at all! I violently corrected my own thoughts, staring hard at the table.

But looking at his serious face, a sudden memory hit me. A seven-year-old boy, looking at me with that exact same intense focus.

“Promise?” 

“Promise.”

My chest tightened so painfully I had to look away, staring blindly at a bookshelf across the room. I am in so much trouble.

"Nao."

His soft whisper pulled me out of my panic. I turned back.

Satono slid the paper toward me. He pointed at the bottom of the page with the eraser of his pencil. He had solved the entire equation perfectly.

He looked up at me. He didn't yell. He didn't brag. His eyes just lit up, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a soft, genuinely relieved smile.

"I got it," he whispered, looking right into my eyes. "Thanks, Nao."

Ba-thump.

My heart completely betrayed me, hammering against my ribs like it was trying to escape. My face felt like it was on fire. I quickly grabbed my notebook and hid the lower half of my face behind it.

"...It's just one question," I mumbled into the paper, refusing to look at him. "Don't get cocky."

Satono just chuckled quietly, a warm, easy sound, and turned back to the next problem.

I stared at the side of his face over the edge of my notebook.

Tutoring him wasn't going to be a threat to my patience. It was going to be a fatal threat to my heart.

I took a shaky breath and tapped my pen on the table. "Okay. Next..."

***

The late afternoon sky was starting to fade. A sudden breeze swept past, sending leaves fluttering to the ground. Above us, the sky was painted in the exact same saturated colors as the autumn leaves. The setting sun was shining directly at me, but it was gentle, no longer stinging my eyes.

"5:23 PM," I muttered, sitting on the bench in front of the school where I usually waited for my dad to pick me up.

"Why are you still here?" I asked sharply. "We can just continue tomorrow."

Satono, who was standing about three meters away from me, flinched like he’d been summoned.

"—!!" His body jolted like a robot that just had its batteries shoved back in. He moved instantly. "Y... yeah, well, I just felt bad leaving you here alone."

"Ridiculous."

"Alright then. I'm gonna head back first. I usually walk anyway."

He turned around. He took three... four... five steps away.

"Wait." I checked my phone. "Looks like my dad isn't picking me up today. I'm walking too."

Seriously, I just got a text telling me to walk home.

"O... Okay..."

"Besides, our houses are in the same direction."

And then…

We started walking side by side.

The late afternoon breeze gently swept through my hair. I glanced to the side. He was staring at me.

What is his problem? I quickly looked away, focusing on the busy afternoon street instead. I usually take the car, so I never really pay attention to this stuff.

We walked slowly in silence for a few minutes.

"Whoa, this park..." I murmured, looking at a small playground not far from our school.

"What about it?"

"You cried here once because you tried to do a backflip off the top of the slide."

Satono physically cringed, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "...I miscalculated the fall damage. And the wind was against me."

I let out a small breath. "Idiot."

He didn't fire back or start yelling. He just stared at his shoes, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. I looked back at the playground. "A lot has changed," I added softly. "The park used to be so wide, but now it's getting eaten up by all these new houses."

"Yeah, that's true..."

I frowned slightly. "You're surprisingly quiet today."

Satono rubbed the back of his neck, looking straight ahead. "Well, you said you'd leave if I was being too loud, right?"

"Correct," I answered firmly.

Correct!! Well, not entirely correct... Then, I remembered something. "For the sake of time efficiency, regarding the Literature assignment... I actually have an old textbook that I already annotated."

Satono blinked, looking at me. "Whoa, that's perfect. Your notes are probably super clear."

"But it's at my house," I said casually, keeping my eyes locked on the pavement. "You have to come to my house first so I can go grab it."

Satono stopped walking entirely. "W—what?"