Rio couldn't help but feel that Haruto was messing with her.
Her calm eyes quietly stared at the boy sitting in front of her. Slowly, she raised her left hand, extending two fingers and aiming them straight for Haruto's eyes — only to stop just inches before touching him.
Even with her fingers practically pressing against his eyes, Haruto didn't blink. Those empty, hollow eyes just stared ahead.
That eerie stillness made her feel... complicated.
With a soft sigh, she withdrew her hand, leaned in slightly, and looked closely at him.
"…You really are messing with me, aren't you?"
She whispered those words, but of course, the boy in front of her didn't respond at all.
Rio's gaze lowered to his hands.
"Raise your left hand."
Slowly, like a machine following commands, Haruto lifted his left hand.
"Now the right one."
His right hand rose as well.
Watching him quietly obey, Rio reached out and took hold of his left hand. She leaned in a little closer, raising his hand up to her face, staring at it.
For a moment, hesitation flickered across her face.
But seeing how he stayed completely unresponsive — as if still lost in some kind of "hypnotized" trance — she parted her lips and gently bit down on his index finger.
Her snow-white teeth pressed lightly against him. Testing him. Watching for any reaction.
Normally, anyone would instinctively pull their hand back the moment someone bit them. It was just human reflex.
But no matter how gradually she increased the pressure, Haruto's calm expression didn't change at all.
Of course, she couldn't actually bite down hard enough to hurt him.
With a small, defeated sigh, Rio let go, giving up on "waking him up" through this method.
"…That girl you were talking to in front of the school gate yesterday — who was she?"
Since he had no intention of snapping out of this state, she figured she might as well take advantage of it to satisfy a bit of her own curiosity.
"A second-year senpai," Haruto answered, his voice slow but clear.
"What's your relationship with her?"
"She likes me."
"…"
Silence.
Rio was momentarily at a loss for words.
She honestly didn't expect him to just blurt it out like that.
Staring blankly at the boy in front of her — face completely calm, no signs of embarrassment at all — she had to admit, she was kind of impressed.
"…Why do you think she likes you?"
"She told me herself."
That answer.
That ridiculously straightforward answer.
Rio felt like she'd lost count of how many times today she'd been left completely speechless by this guy.
The way he said it was so matter-of-fact, so casual — and yet for some reason, it irritated her to no end.
Glaring at him, feeling more and more conflicted inside, she pressed on with her next question.
"…So? Are you dating her?"
"No."
"Out of the three other girls rumored to be involved with you... are you dating any of them?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I already like someone."
That sudden answer made Rio Futaba's breath catch in her throat.
She froze, her eyes locked onto the boy in front of her. Even now, his gaze remained hollow, indifferent. But despite that, Rio's cheeks instantly flushed red.
Her lips trembled slightly. The calm surface of her heart was shattered by his words, sending ripples through her emotions that she couldn't suppress.
If things were really like she suspected — if the boy in front of her hadn't been hypnotized at all — then didn't his answer just now count as... a confession?
Biting her lower lip unconsciously, Rio stared at Haruto. Her breathing slowly steadied, and after hesitating for a moment, she finally asked the one thing weighing most heavily on her heart.
"The person you like... is it—"
Ding—dong—ding—dong—
The school bell rang.
In an instant, the dazed look in Haruto's eyes cleared. He glanced at Rio, then tilted his head as if listening to the bell.
"Class time already?"
"..."
Rio didn't even know whether she should curse the perfectly-timed interruption... or praise the boy in front of her for his flawless acting.
After a moment of silence, she simply decided to pretend the whole conversation never happened.
"Yeah, class time."
"About just now... never mind. I should get back to class."
Seeing Haruto hesitate as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself, Rio couldn't read what he was really thinking. She gave a small, sulky nod.
She hadn't gotten the answer she wanted — and that left her feeling a little frustrated.
Picking up his empty lunchbox, Haruto said goodbye to Rio and left the science lab, heading back toward the classroom.
Leaving Rio standing there alone again...
Was that answer just now... kind of misleading?
Walking down the hallway, Haruto thought back on the exchange.
Truthfully, he hadn't been fully hypnotized at all.
At the beginning, sure — he'd fallen into a kind of half-asleep, half-aware state. His mind was hazy, and he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. But when she asked him about his age... that question snapped him awake instantly.
Well, maybe not "awake" in the usual sense.
It felt more like... a computer program running into a logic error mid-operation, crashing and forcing him back to full awareness.
After that, he was just playing along — pretending to still be hypnotized, calmly answering her questions.
Raising his left hand, Haruto glanced at his index finger — the one Rio had bitten. The corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smirk. Letting out a quiet laugh, he turned his steps toward the classroom.
Things were starting to get interesting.
_ _ _ _
"In May, there's a four-day holiday. Why don't you come to Tokyo?"
Raising his index finger, Haruto gestured for Sekai — sitting below him — to keep quiet. While talking to his little sister on the phone, he closed his eyes, speaking to her calmly.
"A four-day holiday... I guess going to Tokyo wouldn't be a problem. But mom's still worried about me... I'm already a middle schooler, though! I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"Even if you become— hiss— hmm, a high schooler, or even a college student... in your parents' eyes, you'll always just be their child."
"...Huh? What was that weird sound just now? You okay?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just saw a cat licking its paws. It looked kind of cute."
"There are cats everywhere in the countryside, aren't there? And yet you act so surprised seeing one in Tokyo. Looks like you've completely adapted to city life, huh."
Glancing down at Saionji Sekai's mischievous grin, Haruto let out a small sigh.
"So you're not coming to Tokyo in May then?"
"Who knows~" she replied teasingly.
"Wait... don't tell me you're planning to sneak off to Tokyo by yourself?"
"No way! I'm not that kind of person, hmph. Anyway, that's enough about me — Yotsuha's calling me. Bye!"
The call ended abruptly, leaving Haruto staring at his phone with a helpless sigh.
"Geez... sounds like a really adorable little sister."
Sekai slowly stood up, wiping her hands with a tissue before heading to the bathroom.
Left alone, Haruto leaned back onto his bed, letting the phone slip from his hand onto the pillow beside him. Staring blankly at the ceiling, his thoughts wandered aimlessly — from the vastness of the universe, to the contrast between the bustling Tokyo and the simplicity of Itomori, between modern glamor and rustic charm.
Judging from Mitsuha's words just now, it seemed pretty likely she was secretly planning to head to Tokyo alone during the May holiday. There was also a chance she'd rope Yotsuha in and convince their mom to take them both to the city.
Should I contact mom and give her a heads-up about Mitsuha?
Worried about what might happen if Mitsuha traveled alone, Haruto hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding to text his mother — just to ask her to keep an eye on Mitsuha. As for Mitsuha coming to Tokyo... well, if things got tricky, he'd just go pick her up from the station himself.
Meanwhile, the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom. Before long, Sekai stepped out, wrapped in a bath towel, leisurely walking toward the living room as she dried her damp, flowing hair.
Not just Setsuna — recently, even Sekai had started leaving some of her clothes at his place. Whenever she stayed over, she'd just change into them directly, leaving her dirty laundry for him to deal with.
At this point, Haruto wasn't only doing his own laundry — even Sekai's clothes occasionally got tossed into the wash too.
Not that it was a big deal. With the washing machine doing most of the work, it wasn't particularly troublesome, and Haruto didn't really mind.
"So... is your sister really coming over in May?"
"Yeah, there's a good chance she will. She might even stay with me for a while. If that happens... I probably won't have much time to hang out with you or Setsuna."
There was still some time before May rolled around. As for Sekai, she didn't have any concrete plans for the holiday yet — most likely, she'd just spend her days relaxing at home or helping out at her mother's store. Any spare time would probably be spent with Setsuna and the others.
Of course, she had thought about asking Haruto to go shopping with her during the break... but from the looks of things, that wasn't going to happen now.
"It's fine. I'll just spend the holidays with Setsuna," Sekai said with a small smile. "But there's still some time before May comes around. Do you have any plans this Saturday?"
"Saturday? Yeah."
"You're meeting up with Setsuna then?"
From Haruto's slightly hesitant expression, it wasn't hard for Sekai to guess what his weekend plans were. And honestly, there weren't many people besides Setsuna who could occupy his entire Saturday.
Haruto gave a small nod. He wasn't trying to hide it — there wasn't much point in doing so anyway. Considering the relationship between Setsuna and Sekai, hiding it would only cause more trouble later.
After all, if Haruto wasn't at home, Sekai would probably go looking for Setsuna. And if Setsuna wasn't home either, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.
"I'm going out with Setsuna and Mai-san this weekend," Haruto explained calmly. "We're planning to do a little sightseeing around Tokyo. I've been here for a while now, but aside from Shinjuku and Shibuya, I haven't really visited many other places. So I thought it'd be a good chance to look around."
"Sightseeing, huh?"
"Yeah. And if Mitsuha really does come over during the May holidays, this'll help us figure out where to take her. That way we won't have to panic over plans at the last minute."
"Like… one of those tour buses?"
"..."
Technically, that was an option. There were sightseeing bus tours that let you visit a bunch of Tokyo landmarks in a single day. But trips like that weren't exactly appealing — most of the time you were stuck on the bus, and when you finally got off, every place was packed with tourists and lined with vendors.
It wasn't the kind of trip Haruto was aiming for. He'd much rather plan everything out himself and enjoy the freedom of exploring at his own pace.
"For now, you should probably get dressed," Haruto said, glancing over. "If Setsuna shows up and sees you like this…"
"Mm."
Sekai walked over to the wardrobe and slid it open. There used to be only a few of Haruto's clothes hanging inside. But now… the space had nearly doubled.
Just as she was about to grab her own clothes, her eyes happened to catch sight of another set hanging neatly to the side — clothes that obviously belonged to Setsuna.
Sekai hesitated for a moment. Then, slowly, she reached out her pale fingers and pulled down one of Setsuna's outfits — a size smaller than her own.
She glanced back over her shoulder, her gaze falling on Haruto, who was busy typing away on his phone, completely unaware of her actions.
『If Mitsuha and Yotsuha really do come to Tokyo for the May holidays, I'll head over to the station to pick them up. Better than letting them wander around on their own.』
After asking about things back home and casually reporting on his life in Tokyo, Haruto finished typing his message and hit send with a quiet sigh. He leaned back on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment to relax.
"Haruto."
Sekai's voice broke the silence.
Haruto slowly opened his eyes, turning to look at her — standing there by the wardrobe, already dressed.
At first glance, he didn't notice anything unusual.
But then, in the next instant — something felt off.
His gaze snapped back to her like lightning — landing squarely on the outfit Sekai was now wearing.
His eyes sharpened as he gave her another look.
"...Why are you wearing Setsuna's clothes?"
"I wanted to try them on," Sekai answered softly, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush. "Besides... doesn't this feel a little more... exciting?"
The clothes were a bit small on her, hugging her body snugly, emphasizing her curves. Even Sekai herself felt a little embarrassed, her heart thudding faster than usual. But if it could make Haruto happy — just a little — she was willing to bear it.
Haruto opened his mouth, staring at her for a moment in silence.
"...You're seriously..."
Click.
Before Sekai could even respond, the sound of the door opening suddenly echoed through the room.
Standing there, frozen in place, holding a convenience store bag in her hands — was Sentuna.
She had just arrived.
And the first thing she saw... was Sekai, wearing her clothes, looking entirely too comfortable in Haruto's room.
She came to call Haruto to her home for dinner, her eyes silently wandered back and forth between the two of them. The air pressure in the whole room suddenly dropped to the lowest, leaving only the sound of silent breathing.