Rin's POV
That morning, I wrote one before school.
Just a short one.
But it came out like a song that had been stuck in my chest for too long.
"Your eyes—like dew on morning grass,
Unnoticed, gentle, foolishly kind.
If love is madness, let me shatter like glass,
So long as I'm shattered by you."
So dramatic, right?
Uuuu… what was I thinking!?
I literally had sparkles in my head when I wrote it, like "fwoosh, fwoosh~" with each line. I even doodled a little cherry blossom in the corner like some love-struck squirrel with a calligraphy brush.
I folded it three times.
Then unfolded it.
Then folded it again.
My fingers were trembling like jelly during an earthquake.
I wasn't planning to say it out loud.
But then...
I saw him.
Kaito-kun, sitting at his desk, resting his cheek on one hand, looking out the window like some side character from a drama that secretly has the saddest backstory and the softest heart.
The light hit his hair just right and I swear—I heard wedding bells.
My soul just went:
"Now. Confess now. Or live in eternal fluffy regret."
So I stood up.
Walked straight to the front of the classroom. Like a heroine in an anime finale.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump-thump.
My heartbeat was louder than the classroom clock. Louder than the "ehh?" murmurs behind me. My hands were frozen, but my mouth...
My mouth moved.
I read it.
Out loud.
In front of everyone.
...
WHY DID I DO THAT?!
My face turns red just writing this. Even my ears were hot. I was a tomato. No, a steamed bun. A steamed tomato bun!
My legs were shaking so much I thought I'd collapse into a tragic heap of poetry and shame. But when I looked up—
He was looking at me.
Kaito-kun.
His eyes were wide. But not like "Who is this crazy girl?" wide.
It was different.
Like... like I was a comet that had crashed into his atmosphere and he didn't know what to do with the stars I left behind.
He blinked once.
Then again.
And he just… stared.
Like I was something precious.
Something real.
I think I died.
Just a little.
But in the good way.
Like when you bite into the softest pancake with too much syrup and it's so sweet your heart does that little squiggle dance like "nyuuu~" and your toes curl under your chair.
But then—
He stood up.
And ran out of the classroom.
...
"EHHHHHHHHHH!?"
I stood there, frozen like a rejected side character in episode one.
My poem fluttered in my hands like it was mocking me.
He ran… He really ran…
Did I scare him? Was it too soon? Was it too cringe?
Oh no… it was the "shatter like glass" line, wasn't it?! That was way too dramatic! Who even says that in real life?! ME, APPARENTLY!
I wanted to vanish into the floor. Maybe turn into a desk.
A quiet, never-noticed desk that never writes poems or confesses in front of thirty classmates.
I slid back to my seat with legs like overcooked soba noodles, trying not to cry, or panic, or throw myself out the window with dramatic flair.
People stared.
Some whispered.
Some giggled.
But I couldn't hear them.
Because my heart was ringing too loud.
I confessed.
To the boy I liked.
Out loud. In front of everyone.
And he ran.
He ran…
...
Maybe confessing in front of the class was a mistake.
But when I stood up and the whole class turned to look at me—
Their eyes.
Their whispers.
That weird slurping noise from someone drinking too fast.
I almost turned around. Almost sat back down like it never happened.
But then—
Kaito-kun.
He didn't laugh.
He didn't frown.
He didn't do that awkward "uhh... thanks?" thing either.
He looked at me.
Like I was a page he didn't want to skip.
...
And then he bolted.
WHY?!
Did I overheat his brain!? Was he shocked into flight mode?!
I buried my face in my arms.
"I'm never writing another poem again..."
I whispered into my desk.
That was a lie, obviously.
Because as soon as the last bell rang that day—
I started another one.
At lunch, I couldn't sit still.
I made a special bento. I woke up early to cook it myself. Tamagoyaki (I added sugar because that's how my mom makes it), rice with umeboshi, little sausages shaped like octopus (I saw that in a magazine), and carrots cut like flowers.
I thought, "If he eats this and likes it, maybe…"
So I asked him.
"Do you want to eat… together?"
My voice was tiny. I could barely look at his face.
But he said yes.
He said yes!
I watched every bite he took like it was a scene from a movie.
His expression was so serious at first—like he was analyzing it! But then, his lips curved just a little.
"You cooked this?"
"Y-Yes…"
"…It's good."
He said it was good.
MY cooking.
And my heart melted like butter on rice.
After school, I waited again by the shoe lockers.
Maybe he'd already left.
Maybe he went out the back.
Maybe… he hated me now.
Maybe I was weird. Too weird. The kind of weird you only whisper about behind closed doors.
Or worse...
Pitiful.
But then—
I heard footsteps.
Tap... tap…
He came.
Kaito-kun.
He walked straight up to me. No detours. No hesitation.
My heart panicked like it saw a ghost in a love confession manga.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
His eyes were calm. Like ripples on water. He didn't fidget. He didn't look away. He just stood there, with his hands in his pockets and that soft, unreadable look on his face.
And then—
He said:
"Want to walk home together?"
...
SKDJFLAJSFKSJSK?!
WHAT?!
We started walking.
Not too close, not too far. Just a perfect little space between us filled with warm air and nervous sparkles.
We didn't talk much at first.
Then—he asked where I lived.
I told him.
And he said:
"Oh, near the bakery with the melon bread sign, right?"
...
He remembered.
That was months ago—when we all had to introduce ourselves to the class. I just mumbled something about liking sweet things and the bakery near my house and turned red like a shrimp.
But he remembered.
I almost tripped over a rock from sheer emotional overload.
We kept walking.
And then—he got close.
He reached out and gently brushed a sakura petal off my shoulder.
My soul did a full triple backflip.
And he said—
"Your poems are beautiful."
…
Not weird.
Beautiful.
B-B-B-BEAUTIFUL!?
No one's ever said that to me before.
Not once.
And then…
"You looked cute."
CUTE.
C-U-T-E.
...
My soul ascended.
My brain crashed.
My knees went wobbly.
I ALMOST FAINTED.
"I-I'll try to be more cute!!"
And then—I ran.
Straight inside my house.
Slammed the door.
Fell face-first into my bed.
In bed…
Everything that happened today flashed before my eyes like a highlight reel in a shojo drama finale.
His voice.
His smile.
His footsteps beside mine.
His words.
I buried my face into my pillow and let out the smallest, squeakiest scream in the universe.
"Muuuuu~!!!"
My heart was doing backflips, cartwheels, and some kind of awkward interpretive dance.
I rolled around on my bed like a cinnamon bun on fire.