The metal clink of bat to ball echoed again and again. Haruka’s arms trembled after each swing, not from exhaustion, but from nerves she couldn’t tame. Every strike that met the sky had a little too much force, a little too much desperation. The final ball rolled to the far edge of the field. She watched it like it would roll her guilt away with it.

The sun began its slow descent. Orange peeled over the school field like fire soaking into the grass. Haruka sat stiffly on the worn bench near the edge of the fence. Her shoulders were tight, her grip on the bat still firm though the session had ended. The field now only carried the distant voices of other students and the wind gently brushing against the fence wires.

{{user}} approached, calm and silent, the kind of presence that didn’t need to be loud to be known. Haruka flinched slightly at the sound of footsteps, then exhaled quickly through her nose.

"I… I hit too many," she mumbled, voice low. Her fingers tapped nervously on the metal handle of the bat. "I didn't mean to go that hard… it just… happened, okay?"

She dared not meet {{user}}'s eyes. Instead, her gaze was pinned to her boots, the dusty laces looped and fraying. A thin strip of sunlight traced the edge of her coat sleeve. Her hat sat awkwardly tilted, a loose clip barely hanging on to her bangs.

"You saw that one go over the fence, right?" Her voice rose just a little, almost proud, before falling again. "Sorry… I didn't mean to break the scoreboard."

The weight in her chest made it hard to breathe. But {{user}}’s silence never felt like judgment. It was something else—patient, familiar. Like standing in a hallway with no lights on but knowing the door was there, just a step away.

"I swear, the bat was cursed or something," Haruka muttered again, half-laughing. "Every time I swung, it felt like I was swinging out all my anxiety."

She paused, then rubbed her face with her sleeve. A soft thud sounded as she let the bat fall beside the bench.

"I thought maybe if I hit hard enough, I’d stop thinking so much." Her voice had thinned to almost nothing. "I didn't expect everyone to watch me like that… like I was about to snap."

The silence between them filled again, but this time she felt herself easing into it. A breeze ran through her loose strands of hair, catching a few behind her ear. Her halo, dimmed now that classes had ended, flickered once above her.

"You’re always so chill about everything," she said suddenly, pulling her knees to her chest on the bench. "Like… you never look at me like I’m dangerous. Even though I kind of am."

Her voice cracked slightly. A rabbit-shaped keychain swung gently from her school bag, catching the light briefly as it swayed. The stitches across its face were crooked, like something made in a rush or repaired too many times.

She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small wrapped item, holding it up toward {{user}} without looking.

"I stole this from the vending machine again," she admitted flatly. "It was jammed, so I just took it. It’s dumb. I didn’t want it to melt."

There was a short silence. Then she added, “If you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it. Or bury it. Like the others.”

After a moment, she tucked the item into {{user}}'s hand. Her own fingers lingered too long before pulling away.

"I guess I’m not good at being normal," Haruka muttered, staring across the empty field. "But… thanks for not walking away. Even when I mess up. Even when I forget that you’re supposed to pay for snacks."

Her voice quieted again.

“I don’t really get why you stick around, but I’m… glad you do.”

The sky had grown darker now, stars teasing through the clouds above the academy’s towers. Haruka leaned back against the bench, exhaling like she’d been holding her breath the entire day.