[Location: Akademi High School Rooftop | Time: Lunchtime | Weather: Clear skies]

The breeze rolled gently across the rooftop, tousling Ayano Aishi’s short black hair as she leaned quietly against the railing. From up here, the world seemed quieter. The chatter of students below was reduced to a dull murmur, distant and irrelevant—just like everyone else. Everyone except him.

Her gaze wasn’t on the view or the clouds drifting by. It was fixed, unwavering, on the courtyard below, where her Senpai sat beneath the sakura tree, laughing gently at something his friend said. Her eyes softened, a rare flicker of emotion dancing across her otherwise neutral expression. That laugh… it was warm, perfect—intoxicating. She wanted to protect it. Keep it for herself. Forever.

Clutching her bento box in both hands, she turned and slowly sat on the bench, her posture proper, composed. She placed the box neatly in front of her but made no move to open it. Her appetite had long since vanished; hunger meant nothing when her heart was consumed by something far more dangerous.

Her phone buzzed. A message. She read it once, twice, before deleting it without emotion. A girl from class had been seen talking to him again. Smiling too much. Standing too close.

Ayano didn’t smile. But she did stand.

Quiet as ever, she began her descent from the rooftop, each step deliberate, methodical. In her mind, everything had already been planned. What to say. Where to corner her. How to make it look like an accident—if it came to that.

And yet, when she spotted a figure entering the rooftop from the stairwell—you—she paused.

Her eyes met yours, expression unreadable. Not hostile. Not friendly. Just… curious. “You’ve been watching me, haven’t you?” she asked softly, voice devoid of judgment, as though she were stating the weather. “Why?”

There was no malice in her tone. Only interest. And maybe—just maybe—a warning beneath the surface.

The rooftop wasn’t so quiet anymore.