Time slipped by, and by the time the sun peeked through snow-heavy clouds, Rei and Sera were walking side by side down streets blanketed in soft white. Snowflakes danced around them like little secrets being passed by the wind.
Before they realized it, they were standing outside Sera's house.
Inside, warmth greeted them—along with a sight that nearly made Rei snort.
Haruta was already there, seated awkwardly beside Alya at the table. His expression said it all: he was fighting for his life. Across from him, Alya beamed like she'd just cooked up the world's greatest dish.
"Did you make something again?!" Sera said, half laughing, half horrified.
Alya sprang up like a 15-year-old gremlin on a sugar high. "Yes! I made Haru a tasty snack!"
Rei glanced at Haruta. The poor dude looked like he had eaten a war crime. His soul was halfway to the afterlife.
They all sat down, and time melted. Laughter echoed off the walls like little bells. Somehow, Haruta—the quiet, sharp-eyed guy who rarely spoke more than five words—was laughing. Smiling. Alya poked and teased him like he was her personal toy, and shockingly, he teased her right back. The chemistry was low-key electric, even if neither of them saw it yet.
After a while, Sera stood up. "Alya, can you grab us some snacks from the store?"
"Roger roger!" Alya said, bouncing out of the house like she was in an anime outro.
…But not before secretly slipping a tiny voice recorder under the table. Yeah, she was a menace.
As the door closed, silence returned. Haruta's smile faded, his usual stoic look slipping back into place like a mask. That peaceful glow vanished from his eyes—like someone flipping off a light switch.
Rei noticed first. "You good?"
Haruta adjusted his glasses, sighing quietly. "You said I get along with Alya, right?"
"Yeah," Rei nodded. "Honestly, better than I expected."
"The only reason I talk to her…" Haruta paused, voice quieter, more fragile. "...is because I admire her."
Both Rei and Sera blinked. "Wait—admire? Alya? How?"
Haruta looked down at his hands. "She's...free. She can laugh without holding back. Cry without shame. Speak her mind like her voice matters. She lives… like she's not afraid of being seen."
He looked up. His glasses were off now, and for once, his eyes weren't guarded.
"I've spent so long hiding everything—my pain, my thoughts, even my joy. She's everything I'm not. And somehow, she makes it seem so easy. I admire that."
Sera spoke gently. "But… why don't you try to be like that too? You're not alone anymore."
Haruta turned to Rei, eyes steady. "You asked me about my past once, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Rei said quietly.
Haruta pulled his hair back and tied it, exhaling like he was about to tear open an old wound.
"Then I'll tell you. About the things I buried… beneath the snow."
To be continued
--~Rei