Raichi's heart was beating unimaginably fast, so fast that his body was the one keeping up. He swerved past stranger after stranger, and couldn't stand still at the crosswalk as he waited for the lights to take a blink. The people he left in the dust glanced back at him.

  His stamina could only keep him on his toes for so long, and it eventually failed him.

  "So… tired!" He cried out in between huffs.

  His hands lay on his knees as he took deep breaths, trying to gather himself. The park wasn't too far, and he was almost there. He just had to force his lungs into obedience for a little while longer.

  The idea of talking to Yaori again seemed almost frightening. As if what they had now could crumble like a piece of glass.

  The responsibility of keeping their relationship standing fell upon his shoulders, he thought. And for that, he mustn't falter, either.

  His gears started spinning yet again as he passed beside sidewalk bushes and small families, thoughts swirling in his head.

  Once past the crossroads, there he saw a sight that seemed so familiar: the black, metal reins of the children's park, a place as natural as he had left it.

  The sounds of children's laughter filled the air, along with the rustling grass, as Raichi stood at the park's perimeter.

  His eyes, strictly avoiding the giant ginkgo tree, inevitably turned in its vicinity once he was at the gate.

  Across the other end, under the orange fan-shaped petals and shadow of the ginkgo, sat a girl he was most familiar with.

  Her chestnut-colored hair and twin braids swayed in the light wind, her eyes hidden under her round-rimmed glasses.

  Ah, deja vu, indeed.

  Seeing Yaori here again wasn't a new memory, but it certainly hadn't taken this form.

  The time was before breakfast hour, and she was sitting idly by herself. It was likely she came here on an empty stomach.

  Raichi's racing heart wouldn't let him stand still with the thoughts, and he found himself pushing past the gate with great force, stepping into the park.

  He cupped his hands together in front of his mouth and gathered all his courage into one, single burst, one he had been desperately wishing to convey.

  "Yamada-san!!"

  His voice almost broke at the end.

  The shine on Yaori's glasses faded as her head popped up.

  Her mouth shriveled into a panicked swirl, eyes trembling as if they could pop out.

  "S-Sato-kun!?" Her hands moved in front of her chest, clenching into fists. "What are you—what are you doing here!?"

  Raichi sprinted toward the bench, stopping just before the silhouette of the ginkgo tree, chin pointing at his feet.

  He let out huffs and puffs as he rested where he stood, sucking in a sharp breath in order to force his lungs into cooperating.

  "I-I was… here to apologize."

  Her shoulders twitched. "Apologize…?"

  An answer did not come out. Ginkgo leaves around and under him rustled in the small breeze, and a child laughing could be heard behind him from the playground side of the park.

  Raichi did not ask for permission to lower himself onto the bench. He made sure not to sit beside her as he perched on the edge.

  His posture tilted, putting his arms on his knees.

  "What are you… doing here this early, Yamada-san?"

  She stuttered. "I-I couldn't sleep. I thought I'd sit for a while before I ate breakfast."

  There wasn't a guarantee as to whether she just told him the truth. The upsetting part was that he was about to do the same, and give her an ambigous lie.

  "I see." Hesitation held him back for a moment. "I was… out for a walk."

  Yaori heard that, loud and clear.

  Small talk wasn't going to get him places; that much was true. He wasn't the best at it, nor was it the time and place for it after leaving her hanging about an apology.

  Here goes.

  The silence felt harder than the last time they exchanged pleasantries in class.

  "About the apology," He said, at last. "I thought… it was long overdue. But then I found myself passing by here, and saw you."

  Yaori turned to fully face him, hands held together on her lap. "That is not something you get to decide alone, Sato-kun. Please, I would like to know."

  He was thinking about straightening his posture and at least letting her in his field of vision, but that thought was out the window after that.

  "T-Then…" His fingers dug into the fabric of his clothing on his thighs. "I've been… cold, a bad friend, haven't I?"

  His eyes didn't intend on meeting her gaze just yet, but when the silence stretched for too long, he realized the words had settled like snow.

  Yaori had stopped moving. The light had vanished from her glasses, and her eyes turned glassy. Her lips were parted, but then they curled back in on themselves, trembling at the sight of him.

  Raichi noticed right away. "W-Why are you—looking at me like that? Did I say something strange?"

  The more Raichi kept eye contact, the more Yaori looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was hard to keep her in sight, seeing such an innocent soul so aghast.

  Time was frozen, inside this tiny bubble around the bench and nowhere else. That was the nature of their conversation.

  He had hurt her feelings, again.

  "I didn't mean to—" Raichi faltered. "It's just that, even after all the brainstorming, it's the only conclusion I can arrive at!"

  Raichi meant what he said. The distance between them, no matter how he looked at it, seemed like it was born from his cowardice. At least, that's what he thought.

  It was then that Yaori's gaze finally wavered, like her spine gave in, pulling her downward.

  "If you ask me… I was the problem," her meek voice delivered. "My identity. It's bound to me… and by connection, to you, if you were to follow me, I thought. I didn't want to make you feel trapped!"

  Raichi shook his head, frowning. "I noticed the distance. I should've done something, I just didn't know how, Yamada-san! It would be so simple, too! All I had to do was drag you here like we are now…"

  Silence settled again, and in this hypothetical battle of who's to blame, Raichi was one lap ahead, as sad as it was. The tightness in his chest, the pain in his back, it was unbearable. It stung and ached at every mention of the gap between them.

  Yaori's grip tightened in her lap. When her head finally rose back up, her eyes—were wet.

  "T-that's not fair, Sato-kun!"

  Raichi irked back, muttering. "What?"

  "You can't just—blame yourself like that!" Her voice was cracking by the minute. "Saying you were a bad friend and all that!"

  "But it's true." Raichi bit his lip. "I should have reached out, Yamada-san."

  She inhaled sharply, not giving Raichi a second to feel his supposed victory.

  "You did, Sato-kun!" Yaori's tears fell onto the dirt, shining under the small spots of sunlight shooting from above. "You did reach out! You know you did!"

  Like a stab to the chest, Raichi had frozen in place. "...I did?"

  "Yes, when Nishikigi-sensei caught you. Please don't invalidate that, not for my sake."

  Raichi didn't know how to feel. "So you did hear me."

  The bench creaked with Yaori's movements, and she reached out with her finger to wipe her tears off.

  Her breathing was more unsteady than the boy who had run the whole way here.

  "I heard you. I heard you calling my name, too loud."

  Raichi managed to turn her way. He had to after she admitted as such.

  "And why didn't you respond, Yamada-san? I saw you—shaking."

  Yaori glanced at him, unable to linger. She looked down at her hands, tilting more toward the right one, hidden under her sleeve.

  She then stood upright, resting her back and head against the bench, gazing straight up at the tree, like the last time they were here.

  "I'm guessing you knew what I was doing under my arms at that moment, if the shaking was that palpable."

  "What was it that had gotten you so saddened?"

  "The decision I made… to steer away from you, Sato-kun." She placed her hands on her chest. "When you called my name, and before that, it only buried the shank deeper. I was… hurting immensely."

  "Steer… away from me?"

  Yaori had made a choice, apparently. She had put distance between the two of them, and without asking him. Surely if he were aware of the decision, it would hurt him equally.

  However, where did that thought process come from? He was about to get answers.

  Yaori then went back into her normal position, putting her hands on her lap again.

  "When you were speaking with Hayasaka-san and Kurosawa-san, you seemed happy." She swiped her hair over her ears. "I saw the struggle, but I could see your pleasure in the conversation, too."

  "And what of it?"

  "I realized… there wasn't the baggage of having a secret friendship with the Ace that you would have to contend with."

  When she said it, her voice held no emotion behind it.

  Baggage, she called it. She saw herself as one, a burden. Unlike Raichi, Yaori hadn't made a certain distinction about herself. She had decided for him.

  A big question lodged itself in Raichi's brain. Under that view of burdening him, did Yaori wish to remain friends as he had?

  "W-What?"

  "I saw—what the bullies tried to do to you, thought of what they could have done to you, and that made me regret it even more. Yamada Yaori… wanted to be with you. But the Acing Bookworm couldn't."

  The distinction Yaori hadn't made was, understandably, hard for her. But the truth was, Raichi never once saw the ace, only Yamada Yaori.

  I've had enough of this. I won't let Yamada-san do this to herself anymore.

  Searching within the depths of his heart, he gave her an expression he never thought he'd wear next to her.

  His frown, though still an upside-down smile, was a determined one

  "...Tell me, Yamada-san." His fist clenched. "Who are you?"

  "W-Who… am I?"

  "Yes. Who am I talking to?"

  Yaori's golden brown eyes locked with his. Any other moment, he'd flinch at her beauty, at how adorable she was. This was a time when he had to prove his grit, as this friendship needed two legs to stand upright.

  Her lips swirled again, and out of the blue, she took off her glasses, putting them behind her on the bench.

  Whoa....

  This was a sight of her that Raichi hadn't seen, and his eyes widened in response.

  With her brows furrowed, she put her left hand out in front of her, in front of Raichi.

  His turn came, and he felt a cold shiver making contact with his hand. Yaori's hand was frosty, bloodless like a vampire.

  "Yamada Yaori!" She snifled. "That's—who you're talking to. Someone who made a huge mistake."

  "A mistake we can fix. Together, on this bench, Yamada-san."

  "I'm… glad to hear it—Sato-kun!" She wiped her tears off with her unoccupied arm. "You made my day today, thank you."

  In a spur-of-the-moment move, they inched closer and closed the gap between them. Their eyes were looking into one another's, smiling, as if there was no tomorrow, one hand gently holding the other's.

  For a moment, he could see his reflection in her gaze.

  A patch of sunlight was beaming through the leaves onto her face, giving her eyes an even brighter, mesmerizing glow.

  Though the bookworm's looks would prove distracting, his eyes eventually landed on something else that was brown. Not her hair, not her outfit, but the bandage on her right hand, which she had been covering all this time.

  "W-Wait, Yamada-san." Raichi pulled away, begrudgingly. "Your hand… did something happen to it?"

  "Oh, that…" She innocently looked down at her hand, spinning it. "It feels a little painful to the touch. Stiff, too. It's like it's throbbing with my heartbeat, hehe!"

  "Y-You're not worried? How can you laugh at it like that?"

  "It's fine, Sato-kun." She shook her head. "My sister made sure to treat it well. Plus…"

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Plus… what?"

  "Your hand. It was… warm. You ran here, didn't you?"

  Just like that, with their distance now set aside, Yaori was back to reading him like an open book, even though it didn't take a mind reader to guess someone red out in the morning sun was anything but a bucket full of sweat.

  "I mean, I was out of breath."

  "...Would you mind if I requested something?" She took a deep breath, letting her back hit the bench, her head turned toward the gates. "Can I… hold your hand a little while longer?"

  Raichi felt his breath hitch for a second, despite doing that very hand-holding moments earlier.

  He felt a heat rising up to his ears, then his cheeks.

  His hand, red-knuckled and radiating heat from the nerves, caught his eye. He then returned his attention to Yaori's hand, bandaged and porcelain-white.

  "I… I don't mind, I think." Raichi managed to muster. "You want me to—warm you up?"

  Yaori looked up at him, eyes fixed full of expectation, mouth open. "Yes. The bandage doesn't help against the cold."

  "Okay, then."

  Raichi's heart skipped a beat as he almost braced for impact, unaware of where to look. With his left hand, he held Yaori's right, his fingers touching the rough surface of the bandage and her delicate cotton-white skin.

  He just got goosebumps, and he hoped Yaori wouldn't notice.

  "How's it feel?"

  Yaori's head tilted toward Raichi's as she responded, onlookin upon the strangers passing by on the street.

  "Snug. With this, we're square—for how much you scared me, yelling my name across the park like that."

  "Um," Raichi felt the arrow hitting him right in the head. "S-Sorry about that."

  "I was only kidding!"

  Raichi, seeing how comfortable she was, decided to follow suit, relaxing his muscles where he stood and letting his body lean on the back of the bench.

  The experience of this connection made him realize the real anguish that had been plaguing him was the anxiety that deprived him of this.

  "By the way… Sato-kun, how'd you know I was here?"

  To tell the truth, Raichi ran here based on gut and nothing else. Looking at his options overall, he had no plausible explanation, and he'd hate to lie.

  "H-How'd I know?"

  "Yeah. I was originally supposed to… be somewhere else, but I came here, instead."

  "I'll say one thing," Raichi put his hand over his mouth, gesturing for her to be quiet, winking. "That's my little secret."

  "S-Secret?"

  To withhold information wasn't necessarily equal to lying, as opposed to telling her something completely made up.

  The perfect solution. On top of that, the moment had decided for itself, they wouldn't be returning to Hon no Sato after this, meaning they would be spending the entire day outside.

  "I have my sources, Yamada-san."

  "Sources!?"

  "You'll see."

  The bookworms fell into silence not long afterward, spending some time on morning sightseeing. The leaves above them crinkled, causing the spots of sunlight to move back and forth around them. A ginkgo leaf fell on their hands, refusing to budge to the wind.

  When Raichi took a peek at Yaori's side, he saw that she was turned the opposite way, her ears tinted red under her hair and shadow.

  "B-By the way, Sato-kun. There's… something else I've been meaning to ask."

  "...And that is?"

  "I've been making selfish requests after one another, but—are you free this entire day?" Yaori crept the bench along as she turned, more composed than she would have been a second ago. "And yes, I really do mean the entire day."

  His instincts were only being proved correct the more Yaori spoke of why she was here. Assuming Yaori was about to mention what Raichi thought she was about to, then his wishes might be realized.

  "Should be."

  "Then, I'd like to—spend the day with you." Yaori's expression would have melted most of his classmates like cotton candy. "I don't… want to go where I was supposed to right now."

  "U-Uh!"

  He and Yaori were growing closer and closer by the minute after their reunion, and he couldn't possibly predict such a moment at the beginning of the day. If his eyes were to linger on her any longer, so exposed and guard-down, he might just get atomized.

  Before identifying the Ayaka-shaped obstacle in their path to a day together, Raichi had to think straight, and so to avoid combusting, he turned the opposite direction for a moment.

  "Well, my bases are covered, but…" Raichi tilted his head. "What about you, Yamada-san? Do you… have permission to be here?"

  Judging by the way Yaori's shoulders slumped, her next words wouldn't be one of affirmation.

  "Unfortunately, no. Nee-san probably thinks I am at where I am supposed to be. I am… effectively a runaway."

  A rhetorical question now probed his brain on what to do. Would it be kidnapping if you were, unbeknownst to the child, the caretaker the said child was waiting for?

  If he managed to get the all-clear without bringing her to the shop, it would be two birds with one stone, and he would additionally be able to spend the day with her.

  I think I may or may not have an idea, although it might just be a long shot.

  A grand scheme soon appeared in his head, and he knew exactly what to do. However, it would come with a moment of painful consequence, unavoidable if his phone was involved.

  "Yamada-san… give me a moment. Leave it to me."

  Then, Raichi's left hand, a lot colder than when he first held Yaori's, gently tried to pull away from the bonds.

  "U-Uhm, okay…"

  Her fingers tried to hold on, even if for a little longer. It was as hard as it was for Raichi as it was for Yaori. She made a tiny noise, not so much a word, but muttering.

  Afterward, she slowly closed her hand then opened it again, as if she was feeling some sort of phantom warmth still lingering after letting go.

  Raichi turned around, brought out his phone from his pocket in a hurry, and opened up the messages screen to his father.

  Thinking his next words while treading on thin ice, he made a sincere, fruitful request to his father— to seize the initiative of caretaker duty and convince him.

  "Father, I've found Yamada-san. Turns out, we're classmates, and good friends. She is not having a good day. Can you tell Ayaka-san she came to the shop safely, for my sake? Please trust me on this. I'll bring her home myself in the evening."

  His hands shivered as he pressed the send button, turning his back to Yaori to make sure she didn't send his wall of privacy flying.

  And as he thought, Yaori tried peeking. "W-What are you—?"

  "Asking my father to make sure I'm covered." He lied, technically.

  "T-Then…" She held her hands together, knuckles facing Raichi as she pleaded, "Are you really going to stay with me?"

  Raichi nodded, checking his phone. "I intend to. I intend to… pay you back for the lunch we missed."

  "You—you remembered it!" She screeched, pure happiness seeping through her voice.

  The phone in Raichi's hand vibrated twice, lighting up with the notification.

  With his nerves almost tripping over one another, he opened a message that read;

  "Fine, then. I'll tell her she arrived and that she is messing around in the back with the staff. You won't make me regret this, that I am certain, son. Take care, and have fun."

  His father's words echoed back to him in the walls of his skull, left staring at his reflection on the black screen of his phone. The meaning of his father's confirmation took a few seconds to settle.

  Raichi's voice dropped into a low register as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "Looks like the coast is clear, Yamada-san. My schedule is wide open."

  Yaori's mouth gradually turned agape, a mix of thrill and anxiety reflected on her face.

  She hovered her bandaged hand above her chest. "But Sato-kun… are you sure? I've… never lied to my sister like this before, I—I can't be caught being this selfish."

  "Then it falls on me for urging you to indulge in said desire." He interrupted. "I'll take any fall you need to take. If anyone asks, I'm the one who dragged you away. Is that… good enough of an explanation?"

  In a world filled with ordinary and extraordinary people alike, Yaori would certainly be a stand-out amongst her peers.

  To consider this bit of troublemaking selfish, she really must be extremely obedient when it comes to familial rules, he thought.

  If anything, Raichi thought there was some truth to what he just said. He was the one who chose to come here, after all.

  Yaori's shoulders lost their tension, her anxiety visibly dropping in a moment.

  "It is… more than enough. Thank you, Sato-kun."

  For a minute or two, neither broke the calm silence, neither moved an inch. Their argument and worries had found time and place to settle, like the stalling of water after a rock was dropped into it.

  Eventually, though, they had no reason to sit around. After their quiet exhaustion, Yaori looked like she needed a breather.

  Much to Raichi's chagrin, she stood up from the spot, her weight unloading from the old, creaking bench.

  Her movement caused a few scattered ginkgo leaves on her lap to fly away into the air. She then raised her arms high above her head, and she arched her back in a long stretch, like a feline. At the peak of said stretch, her body gave in to her lack of sleep, and she let out a tiny, involuntary yawn, one that seemed to warrant trust in her company, and squeezed out the remainder of stress in her frame.

  Raichi averted his eyes quicker than he expected to, focusing his attention on the perfectly spherical rock right next to his shoe, admiring it like it was a museum exhibit. Even hearing her alone was putting his heart at risk of imploding.

  "Phew…" Yaori exhaled, grabbing her glasses from the bench and putting them in place as her eyes momentarily flashed white. "Well, Sato-kun, where are we going first?"

  The way Yaori's smirk took on a more mischievous glint meant he was at the mercy of a playful Yaori.

  "Uh–"

  "Since you've taken the liberty of kidnapping me, Sato-kun, my expectations are unusually high for breakfast today."

  His throat almost went dry at Yaori's wording. If she expected some sort of daring adventure, then Raichi surely had to meet her expectations, he thought.

  "K-Kidnapping?? I wouldn't call it that, but," He tried his best not to mutter that to himself. "Seeing as I promised lunch, I might have something that fits the bill."

  "Fits the bill? Is it something over the top?"

  "I'll leave that judgment up to you."

  "Hehe. Well, okay." Yaori put her hand out to the bookworm sitting on the bench, happy as ever. "Shall we go then, partner in crime?"

  Raichi looked at the bandaged hand reaching out to him. He combed his hand through his hair. With one arm on his knee, he took Yaori's hand in his to get up.

  "Haha. Let's go, Yamada-san."

  As their shoes clattered on the sprawled cobblestone path, the wind hit his chest and pushed his clothing. The children's laughter felt like it was louder and brighter, and the view of the ginkgo tree and bench he called his safe space, seemed even more majestic, which was now most definitely Yaori's, too.

  Being caught up in the spectacular view, he almost forgot about the person who made it possible, standing now in front of him.

  "Heyy, Sato-kun! I thought you were supposed to lead the way!"

  "Oh—my bad, Yamada-san!" He sprinted over to her, closing the gap. "Just couldn't take my eyes off this tree again."

  "You really do love that tree to bits, don't you?" Yaori let out a giggle, suppressed with her hand. "I can't blame you. Look where I was when you found me."

  "You best believe this won't be the last time we'll be here like this."

  Raichi opened the gate for her, nudging her to pass.

  "Obviously not, silly. We promised, didn't we?"

  "...That, we did, Yamada-san."

  The world around him felt much more colorful today. Or, maybe it was only now. Either way, Raichi felt like his senses had multiplied. Was it Yaori's energy seeping through? Was it the thrilling sensation that came with this bridge they patched up?

  It was a question he needn't need to search for answers for. Not when there was the presence of someone who was so uplifting standing by his side for a whole day.