Aya was a girl with strawberry blonde hair, soft features, and a tendency to blush at the smallest things. She had a huge crush on a “guy” named Mitsuki, the cool part-timer at the album shop. Mitsuki always wore black, carried herself in a boyish way, and had sharp features that only stood out more with her lip and eyebrow piercings. Aya never once thought Mitsuki was a girl.

When Mitsuki slipped her number into Aya’s hand after helping her pick an album, Aya’s heart nearly stopped. They started texting, small things at first—music recommendations, little comments about their days. Aya smiled at every message, her cheeks pink each time her phone buzzed.

What Aya didn’t realize was that Mitsuki also sat right beside her in class, hoodie up, mask on, quiet as always. She never connected her mysterious crush with the classmate who leaned on one elbow and doodled in the margins of her notebook.

One afternoon, Aya’s phone lit up with a new text from Mitsuki. “That album you mentioned—should I set it aside for you?” Aya felt her chest tighten, her face heating. She stood quickly, excusing herself from the classroom, clutching her phone like a secret.

Mitsuki, sitting right there at the next desk, caught the look on her face before she left. Her own cheeks warmed under the mask. She hadn’t been sure if Aya’s crush was really on her. But watching Aya run out like that, heart clearly racing, she realized—oh boy, she had been very wrong to doubt it.