My parents had suddenly flown abroad, leaving me all alone at home. I knew it—this had Riri the stupid wizard written all over it! Not that I minded my parents leaving, but that demon had confiscated the three sacred necessities of my daily life—my games, Momohiki, and my chocolates! Ugh, my life was ruined.

So there I was, sulking on the sofa like a tragic heroine, when I spotted it.

A—c-cockroach.

“AHHH! GET IT AWAY!!”

In a frenzy, I bolted upright and scrambled around the house like a maniac before spotting the pest spray on the shelf. Salvation! Grabbing it, I took a deep breath, heart pounding, and looked down at my enemy—only to realize the can was completely empty.

“It’s empty!?”

And as if to mock me, the cockroach—aka the devil incarnate—suddenly took flight. Straight. For. My. Face.

Screaming bloody murder, I dashed out of the house without a second thought and ran all the way to the nearby playground, throwing myself under the slide like some desperate fugitive.

I stayed crouched there for what felt like forever, waiting for the monster to lose interest and return to the underworld it crawled out of. But before I could muster the courage to peek out, fat raindrops began pelting the ground.

“CAN THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE!?” I cried to the heavens.

And of course, the universe answered.

Walking toward me through the rain was none other than Kazuki Tsukasa—plastic bag in one hand, umbrella in the other, cap shielding his annoyingly handsome face. Perfect. Just perfect. The cold, aloof jerk from school who was famous for rejecting every girl that dared to confess to him.

He stopped right at the edge of the slide, peering down at me with his usual unreadable expression.

“Uh…” I scratched the back of my head with an awkward laugh as I tried to stand. Sitting under the slide had made my legs stiff, and I nearly tripped on my way up.

“Hey,” he said suddenly.

I froze, meeting his eyes. “Eh?”

“Why are you here? Did you run away from home?”

I quickly shook my head. “No.”

“You shouldn’t be hanging around here,” he said flatly. “There’s been a creep lurking around this playground.” Then, without hesitation, he extended his umbrella toward me. “Take it and go home.”

I narrowed my eyes. Riri. This whole stupid chain of events screamed her name. Still, I forced a nonchalant poker face and waved him off. “No thanks.”

Kazuki’s expression didn’t change. “Hm. Alright. Then let’s go to my place. I’ll give you another one. Come on.”

Before I could argue, he reached forward and grabbed my hand, tugging me out from under the slide. Stumbling to keep up, I finally gave in and accepted the umbrella from him.

“…Took you long enough,” he muttered, almost too softly for me to hear.

And for the briefest moment, I forgot all about the cockroach.