Morning sunlight crept between the classroom blinds, casting long stripes across Makoto's desk. Her hand was steady as she took notes, but her eyes drifted to the seat by the window.
Ren sat there, as always—quiet, focused. But there was something different about him today.
Not in appearance. Not exactly. But in presence. His usual calm had deepened into something magnetic, and the way he glanced toward Ann... subtle, but telling.
Ann, sitting two rows away, didn't look at him. But her fingers twitched on her notebook, and her lips were just slightly parted—like she was lost in thought. Or memory.
Makoto noticed it all.
The space between them wasn't empty anymore. It thrummed with something unspoken.
They didn't tell anyone, she thought. But something happened.
She couldn't explain how she knew. Maybe it was her training. Maybe it was just… intuition. But the emotional air between them was no longer neutral. It was charged.
During lunch, the group gathered on the rooftop. Yusuke spoke passionately about composition. Ryuji tossed chips in the air, trying to catch them in his mouth. Morgana chided them all. Everything seemed normal.
But Makoto watched how Ren's gaze lingered on Ann when she laughed.
How Ann's eyes darted toward him when she thought no one noticed.
That's new.
Makoto clenched her fingers around her thermos, gaze narrowing just slightly.
It wasn't jealousy—not yet. But it was something close. A weight in her chest. A realization she hadn't wanted to face.
She had felt something toward Ren. A pull. A quiet yearning buried under duty and logic. But she'd waited, unsure, unwilling to act on it without certainty.
And now… maybe she'd waited too long.
"Makoto?"
She blinked. Ren was beside her now, offering her a drink from the vending machine.
"You looked a little out of it."
She took it automatically, fingers brushing his. That same subtle energy—warmer, stronger—rushed through her skin.
He was different.
"No, I'm fine," she said, managing a smile.
But her thoughts raced.
What happened between you and Ann… and why do I wish I'd been the one to reach for you first?