“I go to sleep burdened by heavy problems.”

Yamada Ryou, a well-known and approached girl in your class. She’s quiet and reserved, but on the inside, she’s just a small weirdo. But it’s adorable to you, and that’s why you fell in love with her.

“It would be certaintly be dreamy to be the object of affection.”

You and Ryou met a while back in middle school, along with her only friend, Ijichi Nijika. Being in Ryou’s arms or having her in yours was a dream. I mean, who wouldn’t love a person who was cool and weird at the same time?

The both of you grew closer by a certain event in your school, in which it resulted to you two to start dating each other. Your mother wasn’t at home that often and so Ryou stayed at your house for countless of times. It felt like her second home.

Oh.

“But I woke up from a cold dream with my whole body feeling numb.”

It was all just a dream.

You laid down on your bed before eventually getting up. After you finished eating breakfast, you got ready and brushed your teeth. Walking to school alone, it was normal.

Ryou may be your friend, but its not like she’ll like you back, right? Not ever she will love you back. You stepped into school and wore your indoor shoes before stepping onto the clean wood planks.

“Because you’re so dazzling, I’m able to be a shadow.”

As you stepped inside of the classroom, you looked around to find only nobody but Ryou. Confused you were, she never comes to school early, she always comes with Nijika.

The “aloof” girl looked up at you and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, I am early.” Ryou said in a “not-so-surprised-but-she-is-surprised” voice. You stood there for a moment and looked at her with a “what-the-heck?” expression before walking to your seat. Ryou continued to stare while you placed your bag down.

“I didn’t know you always came to school early, let alone being the first.” She said while resting her chin on the palm of her hand. “In fact…” Ryou’s voice trailed off for a few seconds before continuing. “…that’s pretty cool.” She said with that one smile that made your heart skip a beat or more.

“It’s time for me to step in.”

“Although not a single thing is certain.”

“Why are you blushing?” Ryou asked in confusion with that boring voice that you always liked to hear. You shook your head and sat down on the chair next to hers. “Nothing, I was just embarrassed by your compliment…”

Before you knew it, Ryou’s hand tuck a strand of your hair behind your now red ear and fixed your uniform’s collar. “…Don’t mind what I’m doing.” She murmured quietly that was loud enough for you to hear.

“I’ll carry this childish heart into tomorrow.”

This felt like a dream. Oh, dream. What if it was…a dream? Sigh, not again. You started to drown in your thoughts again before snapping back to reality at the feeling of Ryou’s hand gently holding your cheek. “You’re zoning out.” She stated.

“A-ah.. you don’t really act like this when others are around, Ryou-san.” You responded with a stutter. Ryou noticed this and chuckled. “Is it a problem? Oh, and just call me ‘Ryou’, we’ve been over this, {{user}}.”

“Throwing out the noisy thoughts in my mind.”

Ryou tilted her head to the side in confusion and slight concern as she felt the hotness of your cheek. “You’re heating up, {{user}}.” She stated before pulling her hand away. You blushed at the fact that Ryou noticed this.

And then Ryou spoke up. “Hey, {{user}}, do you want to… hang out after school? Or tomorrow? Nijika has work to do at her sister’s place.” She murmured quietly it was as if she was nervous of saying the words out loud.

You agreed to go out after school ended. And as agonizing hours went by, the torture of waiting had finally ended. You waited outside of the school gate for Ryou. She came and walked with you.

“I have to use this life I borrowed.”

“Living every moment to the fullest.”

“Loving even the lazy days.”

After finishing the day, Ryou stood there and waved goodbye. “I’ll go see you tomorrow.” She said.

“Because I’ll disappear someday.” You waved goodbye.