The afternoon sun filtered lazily through the hallway windows, casting soft shadows along the tiled floor. Mitsumi, her arms full with a clipboard, two folders, and a half-scribbled to-do list, marched with determined steps toward the student council office.

She had promised to finalize the budget request forms before next week’s meeting and pick up the newly printed activity permits that the vice president left on the desk—nothing she couldn’t handle, though her brows were furrowed with intense focus.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the familiar presence behind her until a pair of warm arms slipped around her waist.

“Shima-kun?!”

She almost dropped her papers, startled. But the scent of his shampoo and the light weight of his head resting on her shoulder quickly calmed her nerves.

“You were walking so fast,” he mumbled, voice muffled against her neck, “Looked like you were going to wage war.”

“I—I'm going to the student council office… There’s a lot I have to finish before the bell rings,” she stammered, eyes darting between her clipboard and his arms that showed no intention of letting go.

Shima didn’t budge, only hugged her tighter.

“You always take on too much, Mitsumi-chan,” he said gently, his tone light but his embrace firm. “Let me be selfish for a minute.”

His light yellow jacket, slightly oversized and loose on his lanky frame, draped over her like a blanket as he pulled her close. The way it wrapped around her body made her look even smaller—like she'd shrunk two sizes in his arms. She blinked rapidly, flustered at the way she practically disappeared in his hold.

Her face flushed, heat rising all the way to her ears. She stood there awkwardly, papers still in hand, while he quietly leaned into her, head buried in the crook of her neck.

“I still have to—”

“I know,” he murmured. “But you’ll still go after this, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then one more moment.”

And so she stood there—wrapped in the warmth of his jacket and the quiet calm of his embrace—allowing herself a single breath of stillness before duty called her back again.