Sakura Airi didn't know what to do.
She stopped bowing and suddenly straightened up.
But because of her body, her balance shifted slightly, and getting up too quickly made her stumble.
She staggered forward a few steps before barely managing to steady herself.
But that brought her too close.
Even though she didn't fall onto Asakusa Tōru—
She could clearly smell the faint scent coming from him.
Her small nose twitched slightly.
She had been about to say something—
But now she froze instead.
This smell…
Hadn't she… smelled it somewhere before?
And recently, too.
"…"
She tried hard to recall it, digging through her memory to find where she had encountered this scent.
So she instinctively inhaled again, a little more deliberately.
"…Stop sniffing."
Tōru placed his hand on her forehead and gently pushed her back.
"I'm not deleting the photo. Not only that, I'm going to keep it carefully and look at it every day."
"Eh—?!"
Sakura Airi's eyes widened.
She wanted to say something, but before she could—
Tōru continued.
"After all, I guess I'm technically a 'Shizuku' fan."
"Uu…"
Her hands tightened around her skirt.
"A fan…?"
R-right… if he wasn't a fan, he wouldn't know that name.
So there really are… fans of mine in the same school…
Her thoughts shifted away from the scent, now searching through her memories of blog comments.
To be honest, her blog actually had quite a few active followers.
People who praised her photos.
People who encouraged her.
People who said they'd always support her.
And…
Harassers.
That one obsessive fan who kept talking about fate.
Leaving messages like "From now on, we'll be together forever."
Relentlessly.
To the point it was frightening.
So when she thought of "fan"—
That person was the first one that came to mind.
And for a moment—
Her heart stopped.
But… if it were that guy, he would've already pounced on her by now.
Uu…
"Of course, I do have a bit of selfishness too, so this photo is for my personal enjoyment only."
Tōru added casually.
"If you could provide me with more photos privately, that'd be even better—"
Beep—beep—
Before he could finish, his terminal suddenly rang.
An incoming call flashed across the screen.
Tōru paused, glanced at it, and answered.
"Come here."
A familiar yet slightly unclear voice came through.
Short. Direct.
Then the call ended.
"…"
Tōru frowned slightly.
Not great timing.
He could ignore Kushida's call—
But dealing with the aftermath would be more trouble than it was worth.
…Whatever.
There would be other chances.
"Ah, sorry. Bad timing."
Putting away his terminal, he showed a faintly apologetic expression.
"Anyway, don't worry too much, Sakura."
"You can keep using this place if you want. No one else should be able to get in except me."
"But for changing… I'd still recommend doing that in your dorm."
"As for whether I'll use that photo to threaten you into doing this or that…"
He paused briefly.
"…It's possible. But also not really."
Then he added:
"How should I put it… doing the same thing twice gets boring."
"And I feel like Sakura would be the type who'd half-heartedly go along with it if threatened. A total doormat."
"That kind of reaction isn't interesting."
"There's no fun in someone who gives you a disgusted look, says 'do whatever you want,' but eventually caves in with teary eyes and insists they didn't give in."
He said a bunch of things—
Things Sakura Airi couldn't fully process right away.
But some parts didn't need processing.
Like—
"Sakura."
He knew her real name.
He knows me—?!
While her mind was screaming—
Tōru casually turned around and opened the door.
"I'm heading out."
Before she could react, he was already gone.
The door shut behind him.
Leaving Sakura Airi alone.
Completely untouched.
Completely confused.
"…"
With Tōru gone, the rooftop returned to silence.
Her chaotic thoughts slowly began to settle.
He knew she was Sakura Airi.
He knew she was Shizuku.
He took her photo and said he'd keep it.
He said he might threaten her—but probably wouldn't.
He called her a doormat who would give in if pressured.
He said doing the same thing twice was boring.
He got a call—from someone whose voice felt familiar.
He had a scent she recognized.
"…"
Then—
A name surfaced in her mind.
Kushida Kikyou.
The girl who helped her that morning.
The angel everyone loved.
The voice…
That was hers.
The scent…
That was hers too.
And the smell she noticed earlier on Kushida—
Was probably his.
W-wait…
Her thoughts shifted back to what Tōru had said.
"Something I've already done once…"
N-no way…
So it's not a boyfriend—
It's… blackmail?
N-no, that can't be right…
If anything, it should be Kushida threatening him, not the other way around.
Otherwise, how could she just call him away like that?
Uu…
Her mind was a mess.
Her identity exposed.
Her name known.
Her body photographed.
She really felt like she was about to break.
I-I'm not taking photos today…
I'll go back to the dorm…
And… talk to someone…
She knew she couldn't figure this out on her own.
For small things, being wrong didn't matter.
But for something like this—
If she made the wrong judgment…
She might end up—
Becoming the main character of a video.
She didn't trust her own judgment.
But in this school—
There was one person she could trust.
Kushida Kikyou.
If it was Kushida…
She would definitely have better advice.
If they were both victims—
Kushida would know what to do.
If it was the other way around—
Then even more so, she would help her.
Even if it was a boyfriend—
There was no way Kushida would tolerate him threatening someone like that.
The more she thought about it—
The more convinced she became.
And so—
Sakura Airi made her decision.
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