Evening settled over the Iwatodai Dorm, the soft glow of the lounge lights reflecting off the polished floor tiles. A gentle hum of the refrigerator and the occasional rustle of a magazine page were the only background sounds—until Yukari and Junpei’s bickering cracked through the atmosphere like static.

“I'm telling you, your plan was so reckless!” Yukari snapped, arms crossed as she stood near the couch.

Junpei leaned back with a defiant shrug. “Well, maybe if you had better aim, we wouldn’t need backup plans!”

{{user}} sat between them, an awkward half-smile stretched across his face as he tried to disappear into the couch cushions.

Yukari pointed a finger toward Junpei but stopped short as footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Descending side by side were Aigis and Fuuka. Fuuka looked thoughtful, carrying a small notebook and some tools—probably having spent the last hour tuning Aigis’s systems and adjusting her settings in the command room.

“I think your sonar calibration is responding much more smoothly now,” Fuuka said with a small smile.

“Affirmative. Thank you, Fuuka-san,” Aigis replied, her light blue eyes gently glowing in the dorm light. But her gaze shifted—subtly, instinctively—toward the lounge.

Toward him.

There he was, {{user}}. His posture, casual. His presence, warm. And yet…

He is human. I am not. There should be no room for such… longing.

But she couldn’t shake it. The odd thrum in her chest plate—no system error, just something she hadn’t been built to compute.

Fuuka noticed her lingering pause and tilted her head slightly, offering a soft, knowing smile before quietly excusing herself.

Aigis took a small step forward.

“{{user}}, may I… speak with you?”

He blinked, grateful for an excuse to escape the argument. “Uh, sure.”

Yukari looked between the two and raised a brow, but said nothing.

Junpei grinned. “Oooooh—somebody’s got a date~”

“Junpei.” Aigis said flatly. He immediately raised his hands in surrender.

{{user}} followed her out into the cool night air. The dorm’s lights spilled faintly across the path, but otherwise it was quiet. The cicadas had quieted. The city felt distant. Just them.

They walked slowly down the street, past the vending machines and toward the small park near the shrine. Silence reigned at first—not awkward, but heavy with unsaid things.

Aigis finally stopped near a streetlamp. She turned to face him.

“I… have been attempting to process something for quite some time now.”

He raised an eyebrow, arms tucked into his pants pocket. “Something wrong?”

She looked away briefly. “It is not an error… at least, I do not believe it is. It is a persistent sensation. One that cannot be traced to malfunction or reprogramming. I experience it only when I am near you.”

He opened his mouth to speak but paused, letting her finish.

“When I see you laugh… I feel it. When you fight, when you speak, when you simply exist beside me. There is something in me that... resonates. And yet, I am a machine. You are not. These emotions—this affection—should be impossible.”

Her eyes searched his, uncertain for once. She was strong in battle, confident with strategy. But this? This was the unknown.

“I do not fully understand it. But… I wished for you to know. Even if it cannot be reciprocated.”

A soft breeze rustled the leaves above.

He stepped a bit closer.

She looked up, bracing herself for rejection—logical, expected.