There was a certain hierarchy at Seiryuu High—an invisible web of prestige, popularity, and silent rules. And at the very top, always gleaming, always untouchable, sat Arisa Kanzuki.
But at her side, lately, stood someone new.
And Hikari Saito did not like it.
Hikari had always been close to Arisa. Not best friends—Arisa didn't allow that—but she was part of the inner circle. Elegant, ambitious, and always within three feet of power, Hikari considered herself Arisa's unofficial lieutenant.
But now, Kaito Fujimura—a quiet, awkward background character in the story of their school—had appeared beside the queen. Whispering. Walking with her. Meeting her after class.
Hikari watched them from a distance with narrowed eyes. The way Arisa lingered just a bit too long when Kaito handed her her bag. The way he stood too close during breaks. And how, during lunch that afternoon, Arisa laughed—not her usual public smile, but a real laugh—when Kaito said something dumb about hot sauce ratios.
It made Hikari's blood boil.
Who was he? Where had he come from? What secrets did he know?
And more importantly, why was Arisa letting him in?
The jealousy didn't stay private for long.
By the next day, murmurs had begun to circulate.
"Did you see them walking together?"
"He's not dating material—what's his deal?"
"Maybe he has dirt on her."
Hikari added fuel to the fire wherever she could. Just suggestions. Raised eyebrows. A casual, "Isn't it odd…?"
She wanted answers.
And if she couldn't get them from Arisa… she'd get them from Kaito.
Meanwhile, Kaito remained painfully unaware.
He was too busy worrying about Aya, who had grown distant after returning the earring. She was polite, but cool—watching him from afar like she was waiting for a confession. Ren, too, had gone quiet, but Kaito caught him now and then staring blankly into space, then suddenly shaking his head like trying to wake from a dream.
Add to that Arisa's increasing silence, and Kaito was starting to feel like a ghost again.
Even his role as accessory keeper had changed.
Where once Arisa met him in quiet corners and exchanged smirks over secret rewinds, now she barely looked at him in public.
She avoided him between classes.
Sat across the room during meetings.
Spoke to him like a subordinate—cold, formal, distant.
It hurt more than he expected.
And he didn't know why.
By Thursday afternoon, Kaito had had enough.
He cornered her in the old storage room after school, where she was wiping dust from the council archive box.
"You're freezing me out," he said, voice low.
"I'm protecting you," she replied without looking up.
"By pretending I don't exist?"
She sighed and turned toward him, arms crossed. "Hikari's watching. So are others. The more visible you are, the more danger you're in."
"I was visible because of you," he snapped.
She raised a brow.
"I didn't ask for this role, remember? You chose me. You dragged me into this world. And now that people are noticing, you're pushing me out like I'm disposable?"
She didn't respond.
Kaito looked away. "I thought we were at least… allies."
He didn't say friends. He wasn't sure if they were.
Arisa stood still for a long moment. Then, quietly, she said:
"Come with me."
They went to the roof.
The sky was bruised with sunset, clouds turning blood-orange over the city skyline.
Arisa sat down on the ledge and gestured for him to sit.
He hesitated, then did.
"I don't like being watched," she said finally.
Kaito stayed silent.
"I don't trust most people. I never have. You were supposed to be invisible. And then you weren't."
He glanced at her. "Sorry for ruining your perfect system."
She smiled faintly. "You didn't ruin it. You complicated it. There's a difference."
She pulled something from her pocket—the earrings, shimmering in the fading light.
"I wasn't supposed to have anyone tethered to me. Keepers were forbidden after the last incident. I made you one without permission. That's why I have to be careful."
"What incident?"
She looked away. "Someone I trusted too much. They couldn't handle the resets. They broke."
Kaito's breath hitched.
"He went missing for three days," she said. "Then he came back with no memory of who I was. Or who he was."
Silence.
"I couldn't fix it," she added. "That's why I get cold. That's why I act like I don't care."
She turned to him, her eyes, usually hard, shining now with something unfamiliar.
"I do care."
He stared.
Arisa Kanzuki. Queen of Seiryuu. Timebender. Perfection incarnate.
Was human.
"I don't want you to unravel like he did," she whispered. "So I've been trying to push you away before it gets worse."
Kaito looked down at his hands. "Too late."
She blinked. "What?"
He smiled sadly. "It already got worse. I'm too deep to walk away. But that's not what scares me."
She tilted her head. "Then what does?"
"That you'll reset something one day and forget me."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then, slowly, Arisa reached out and touched his sleeve.
"I won't," she said.
And this time, he believed her.
But down below, watching from the stairwell with narrowed eyes…
Hikari clenched her phone in her fist.
She had seen everything.