Before going to bed, Sakurai Saki finished his homework and grabbed a blanket. He planned to sleep on the sofa tonight.
As he stepped out of his room, blanket in hand, he spotted her sitting silently on the couch.
"You should go sleep in your room," he said—then realized she wasn't moving at all.
"…" Nakano Nino simply looked at him.
She didn't want to sleep. Not yet.
What if everything went back to normal when she woke up? Or worse—what if nothing changed at all?What if even he couldn't see her anymore?
"I don't want to sleep," she murmured.
"But it's already eleven," Sakurai replied. He had a firm habit of sleeping before midnight.
Nino glanced at the clock on the wall. She'd usually be asleep by now, too.Late nights were bad for her skin. Normally, she'd already have applied a face mask and been tucked in bed by this time.
She rubbed her eyes. They were swollen.She'd cried too much today—as if she'd spent a lifetime's worth of tears in a single afternoon.
If only that were true. Then maybe she wouldn't have to cry anymore.
Sakurai laid the blanket down on the sofa, then took a seat at the small table near the balcony, where he usually read.
Nino couldn't see what he was doing.
"What's wrong? I'm just reading," Sakurai said, noticing her puzzled expression. "They're light novels. Nothing too heavy. I usually read them before bed."
Nino frowned. She didn't like books. Especially after their argument, she disliked them even more.
"Reading helps me relax," he continued, trying to break the silence again.
Autistic kids were hard to approach.Was he this annoying last year?
"Books are boring," she whispered.
She never understood them anyway. Maybe a math textbook would make a better sleeping aid.
"But books are useful," Sakurai smiled. "Without them, how would you write a good love letter? You might not even know how to express your feelings."
He paused.
"You know the phrase, 'The moon is beautiful'?"
"Are you treating me like I'm stupid?" Nino muttered, turning away and curling up under the blanket.
"That's from Natsume Soseki," Sakurai added with a chuckle. "But no one uses it anymore. Way too old-fashioned."
You're really kind of dumb, he thought.Not that it showed on the surface—but her every action gave off an unmistakable air of clumsiness.
Just like those four students from yesterday.
Time drifted by slowly.
Midnight crept closer. The house fell quiet.Only the soft sound of their breathing filled the living room.
Sakurai had read halfway through his book when he noticed Nino had fallen asleep—wrapped in the blanket meant for him, on the sofa where he'd planned to sleep.
'Did she hijack the sofa just to stop me from using it?'
Even Kaguya Shinomiya, the most reserved person Sakurai had ever met, wouldn't do something like that.
She always said what was on her mind.He never saw her bluntness as a flaw—sometimes, it was her way of showing closeness.
Just thinking of that sharp-tongued, arrogant girl from last year gave him a headache.Student Council work had been less council and more constant bickering. Thankfully, she'd mellowed out a bit lately.
Putting away his book, Sakurai reached over and turned off the lamp.
Just as he stood to return to his room, he heard a faint voice from the sofa—
"Don't go... Don't stop talking to me... Please... don't..."
She was dreaming. From her words, Sakurai could guess what she feared.
Maybe she felt forgotten—abandoned by her friends, her family.
Teenage girls could be sensitive like that. Even the smallest hurt could stay with them for a long time.
She might cry again.
He grabbed a tissue. She'd been crying ever since they met. A real crybaby.
Quietly, he wiped her tears. Her eyes were already puffy.
"Don't go..." she mumbled again—and opened her eyes, still clouded by sleep. Her hand reached for his and clutched it tightly.
As soon as she grabbed him, she seemed to relax, closing her eyes again.
'You want me to leave, but also don't want me to go? What exactly am I supposed to do?' Sakurai thought, trying to gently pull his hand away.
But her grip only tightened, just like it had when she came back—as if she were clinging to a lifeline.
Every time he tried to move, she'd frown.
So, in the end, Sakurai Saki sat there, held by the sleeve, through the whole night.
Wednesday morning.
At the dining table, Nakano Nino sat with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"…I'm sorry about last night," she said softly.
"It's fine," Sakurai Saki replied, brushing it off. He was used to pushing through without much sleep.
Nino lowered her head, still visibly embarrassed.
It was her first time staying over at a boy's place—and worse, she'd clung to his sleeve the entire night.Wasn't that borderline obsessive?
She picked up a slice of bread and nibbled at it in small bites, like a squirrel testing its food.
Still, anything he touched… she could touch too. That was the rule.
"Is your eyesight really that bad?" Sakurai asked casually.
Nino gave a quiet hum of confirmation.
"I usually wear contact lenses," she explained. "But yesterday, they slipped out somehow, and I couldn't find them."
So that was it.No wonder she'd been practically blind.
But still—wasn't her myopia a bit too extreme?She couldn't recognize people beyond a meter, and beyond three meters she couldn't tell if something was a person or an animal.Sakurai had always thought those exaggerations were jokes—until now.
"Can you make it back on your own today?" he asked.
She gave the same answer as yesterday, without hesitation.
"I don't have a home."
That again.Wasn't she overreacting?
Running away for a day was one thing, but dragging it out like this?
"I can't stay with you," he said, changing the subject. "I've got school."
Nino stopped chewing. Her head lifted slowly, and she looked at him with a fragile, uncertain expression.
"…Can you not go?" she asked, voice trembling.
If he left, she wouldn't be able to touch anything.
She had confirmed it again this morning—only things he had touched, and only when he was nearby, were solid to her.
Sakurai let out a frustrated sigh.
He was seriously starting to get irritated.How could anyone be this helpless?
"Look, I don't even know who you are. I brought you back out of sympathy, that's all. Try to understand that."
"But I don't want to die…" she said, crying again.
"You're not going to die just because I leave."
What was she thinking?
Sakurai was genuinely puzzled now.
"If you're not around… I really will die," Nino said, tears falling as she kept eating.
"Please. Don't leave me."
He looked at her, but his heart didn't move. No pity, no panic—just a quiet sort of disbelief.
"If you've really thought this through, then go home later," he said calmly. "And if you still won't go back, then just wait here. I'm not skipping class for someone I don't know."
Even if she was—he glanced at her again—really, really big.