Rin Kamoshida's POV
The morning when I woke up from sleep—it happened.
I think my heart… truly bloomed.
Not in the "Oh, spring is finally here!" kind of way. I mean in the sparkly, fluttery, shojo anime opening theme starts playing in my soul kind of way. I mean like POOF!—as if a sakura tree sprouted in my chest and started throwing petals at my ribcage.
I don't know what changed exactly. Maybe it was the sweet scent of sakura petals wafting through my bedroom window, carried by a gentle breeze that tickled my cheeks. Or the way my dream didn't dissolve into silence, but instead faded into a soft, lingering warmth. Like a hug I didn't want to end.
Maybe it was fate. Or a divine love goddess finally noticing I'm fifteen and lonely.
Or maybe… it was just him.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I felt it.
Thump.
My heart.
Just one beat too loud.
Eh?
I blinked, staring at the ceiling. My blanket had wrapped around me like a burrito in the night. I looked like a confused caterpillar.
"…Did I fall in love while I was sleeping?"
I placed a dainty hand over my chest.
Yep. My heart was going thump-thump! like a tiny hamster on a sugar rush.
"Uwah…" I muttered, pressing a palm to my chest, half-expecting to find a tiny drummer boy inside, going to town on my aorta.
That's weird. I'm not used to this sort of thing. I mean, I'm the kind of girl who hides behind the tallest classmate during group photos. Who whispers the right answer to herself instead of raising her hand. Who writes lovey-dovey poems in the back of her math notebook and guards them like top-secret treasure.
Because… people laughed once.
They laughed so much, I wanted to disappear into my pencil case.
I still remember it.
"Love is a star falling into a teacup~?" one of them read aloud, fake-gagging.
I never wrote another poem after that.
...Okay, I did. Like, hundreds.
But I stopped showing them. Even though my heart kept writing anyway.
But this morning felt different.
Because this morning…
I liked someone.
Kaito Mizuki.
Not just "he's nice" kind of like.
Like, "I wonder what his handwriting looks like" kind of like.
Like, "if I bump into him by accident and we both drop our books and reach for the same one at the same time and our fingers touch I might self-destruct" kind of like.
Kaito-kun has always been kind and sweet. Quiet, like the soft click of a pencil. Calm, like tea steam in the morning. Gentle in a way that doesn't make you feel nervous—just… seen.
Like once, I dropped my mechanical pencil and before I could blink, it was already on my desk again. No dramatic sound effect, no "you dropped this" line. Just... there.
He didn't even look at me..
But I stared at the pencil like it had just proposed marriage.
He remembers things you forgot you even said. Like that one time I muttered that I liked green tea instead of milk tea, and two weeks later, when he passed around extra drinks during clean-up duty, he handed me the green one.
I literally ascended.
He doesn't try to stand out, but his presence always reaches me somehow.
Even when I didn't want to look up—he was already there.
Like a ghost... but hot.
Wait no, that sounds weird. Delete, delete.
Uuu...
I covered my cheeks with my hands. They were heating up like toast.
I've never loved anyone before.
Not in real life.
Only in poems.
"Love is a quiet umbrella on a loud rainy day."
"Love is the hand that doesn't reach out, but waits for yours."
"Love is the sigh before a smile."
I used to think love was something soft and far away. Something that lived between pages. That only happened to prettier girls with longer lashes and voices like honey.
But then—
"OH MY GOSH I'M IN LOVE I'M IN LOVE SOMEONE HELP I'M DYING I'M MELTING AHHHH—"
That morning, I sat up in bed, hugging my fluffy pillow to my chest like it was my only source of emotional stability.
"I can't go to school like this…" I whispered.
Because he'll be there.
Of course he'll be there. It's school. But still.
My heart felt like a strawberry jelly—wiggly, sweet, and on the verge of spilling everywhere.
I turned to look at my alarm clock.
7:42 AM.
"KYAAA! I'M LATE!!"
I flew out of bed like a magical girl transforming, scrambled to brush my teeth, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
…
No.
No no no.
"EEEEH?!"
A gigantic pimple had declared war on my forehead.
Right when I decided to fall in love!?
I pressed my cheeks together with both hands. "What kind of tragic heroine is this?! Is this what they meant by love hurts?!"
I tried covering it with foundation, then a cute clip, then my bangs, then foundation again. I nearly turned into a human pancake.
I paused.
"…Would Kaito-kun even care?"
He didn't seem like the type. He's not shallow.
He'd probably say something like, "You look nice today," in that gentle, quiet voice of his.
And then I'd melt. On the spot. In my uniform. Like a mochi left in the sun.
I pressed my forehead to the mirror with a tiny whimper.
"Why am I like this…?"
This is love.
Sweet, fluffy, terrifying love.