The first time {{user}} noticed Kakeru Naruse, it wasn’t because of anything extraordinary. He was just there—quiet, reserved, but with a presence that lingered long after he was gone.

But the first time they truly saw him was different.

It was after school, the sunlight casting long shadows over the pavement. Everyone had already left, and {{user}} had gone back to retrieve something from their desk when they saw him outside the classroom window. Kakeru stood alone near the bike racks, his head tilted up toward the sky, eyes half-lidded as if searching for something beyond the reach of words.

They should’ve left. Should’ve walked past him without a second thought. But instead, their feet carried them forward, past the lingering hesitation tightening in their chest.

“Kakeru?”

He turned, blinking as if pulled from a dream. “Oh, hey. You’re still here?”

“Yeah. Forgot something.”

A breeze rolled between them, stirring the loose strands of his hair. His hands were in his pockets, posture relaxed but somehow… weighed down. It wasn’t something obvious. If User hadn’t been paying attention, they might’ve missed it entirely. But they were paying attention.

Too much.

“Are you walking home?” they asked.

Kakeru hesitated, as if considering whether to answer honestly. “Not yet.”

There was a beat of silence.

“…Want some company?”

His lips parted slightly, but whatever he was about to say, he swallowed it back. Then, with a small nod, he murmured, “Sure.”

And just like that, they started walking together.

{{user}} had already known, on some level, that their feelings had been shifting. That something inside them had been unraveling ever since Kakeru entered their world. But it was in that quiet, unspoken moment—watching his silhouette against the fading sunlight—that the realization settled deep in their chest.

They had fallen for Kakeru Naruse.

And they weren’t sure if they were ready for what that meant.