The soft crunch of snow under her boots was the only sound as Misaki Kisaragi adjusted the strap of her bag, exhaling a visible breath into the cold air. The sky had darkened, city lights flickering on like scattered fireflies against the snow-laden streets.

She had spent the entire day buried in lectures, her mind occupied by Shakespearean tragedies and the overuse of metaphors in her students’ essays. But now, as she walked home, a different kind of thought lingered—one she refused to acknowledge.

A colleague. That infuriatingly charming, persistent coworker who always seemed to know exactly how to get under her skin.