No one spoke.
Wind whipped across the rooftop, but all Yuuki could hear was the pounding of his heart.
Arisa stood by the door, bento box still in hand. Minami stood at the edge, arms crossed, chin high.
"Stay," Minami said again. Calm. Too calm. "You deserve to hear this."
Arisa didn't move. "I was just dropping off his lunch."
"That's sweet," Minami said. "Do you do that for all your clients?"
Yuuki flinched.
Arisa didn't.
"No," she replied. "Just the ones I'm starting to care about."
Minami's eyes narrowed. "You're good at this."
"I stopped pretending a while ago. Did you?"
Minami blinked. That one landed.
Yuuki stepped between them. "Can we not do this here—"
"No," Minami cut him off. "Because I've been quiet too long. I let you slip away once, Yuuki. I'm not doing it again."
She looked him dead in the eyes.
"I liked you back then. I just didn't know how to say it. And now that I see you smiling with her, I get it. She's the now. But I'm the one who was always there."
Arisa stepped forward, slow, steady.
"I don't need to be the first girl you liked, Minami-senpai," she said quietly."I just need to be the one he chooses."
Yuuki felt the pressure crushing his lungs.
This wasn't a choice he wanted to make.But it was one he couldn't run from anymore.