In a night devoid of others, what should a young boy and girl do?

The sound of the school bell marking the end of the day rang out.

After locking up the doors and windows of the student council room, Tsukiya Jinguuji and Kanade Yamada went together to the staff office to return the keys.

“Jinguuji-senpai, I have to go to the clubroom, so I’ll take my leave first.”

“Club?”

“Yes, actually, I also joined the Kendo Club.”

This took Tsukiya Jinguuji by surprise. He studied Kanade Yamada a little more closely; indeed, he looked frail, and recalling the incident on the rooftop, Tsukiya suspected he didn’t really participate seriously in club activities.

Kanade Yamada seemed to sense what Tsukiya was thinking and explained, somewhat embarrassed, “Actually, I only joined the Kendo Club recently.”

“I see.”

“Yes, those guys are seniors in the club, so…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Truth be told, Tsukiya had little interest in such things. He’d approached Hoshino Morihoshi originally to avoid getting involved. As for now, if something like that happened again, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

All in all, Tsukiya Jinguuji tried his utmost not to draw attention to himself.

“Well, I’ll go this way. See you tomorrow, senpai.”

“Mm, see you tomorrow.”

After leaving the school, Tsukiya made his way up the long slope toward home, walking alone.

…

“I’m home.”

He stepped inside. No one responded. Only a lazy cat, tail held high, moved gracefully, poking its head out from the living room. Its sharp eyes flicked toward him, almost imperceptibly.

“Kokoro, I’m home.”

The cat ignored him, tail still raised, and walked away.

Fine, suit yourself and be aloof.

Back in his bedroom on the second floor, Tsukiya had just lain down, eyes closed for a moment’s rest, when his phone beside him began to buzz incessantly.

He glanced at it—Morihoshi Hoshino had pulled all the student council members into a group chat.

They’d exchanged LINE contacts earlier that day; now, including Yo Yagami and Kanade Yamada, Tsukiya had added them all as friends.

Yo Yagami was flooding the group with incomprehensible stickers. Tsukiya replied perfunctorily with a default smiley, just to say hello.

Then he set the group chat to “Do Not Disturb” and tossed the phone aside.

He didn’t know how long he’d slept before awakening to his mother calling from downstairs.

Rubbing his eyes, he yawned his way into the living room, where his gaze met that of a certain girl sitting on the sofa.

“…Good evening,” she said.

He blinked, then replied, “Good evening.”

Apart from the girl, there was another woman, somewhat older and with a resemblance to her, who was chatting and laughing with Tsukiya’s mother in the kitchen.

“Tsukiya, what’s with your hair?” Yuko Jinguuji looked at her son.

He took out his phone and used the reflection to check his slightly tousled hair.

“I just fell asleep,” he said.

“What high schooler comes home and immediately goes to sleep?”

“I was tired.”

“That’s because you stay up reading half the night, always with books even I can’t understand,” his mother chided.

He had no answer to that.

He went to the washroom to fix his hair, then returned and sat down beside the girl as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

He whispered, “What’s going on?”

Sakura Sakuragi picked up the remote and started flipping through channels without hurry.

“Girls’ gathering,” she replied.

Tsukiya nodded. “Where are the girls, then?”

Sakura Sakuragi gave him a look of sheer disbelief, as if to say, “You really dare say that?”

At that moment, Yuko Jinguuji called from the kitchen.

“Tsukiya, come here and help.”

He walked over, and his mother took two 1,000-yen bills from her wallet and handed them to him.

“Go to the convenience store and buy a few cans of Strong Zero.”

“I’m underage.”

“Just pretend you aren’t.”

“Why me?”

“Do you want Sakura to go? Does she look like an adult to you?”

“I don’t look like one either, and she runs faster than I do.”

“Just go. Why so many questions?”

“Aunt Yuko, I’ll go with Tsukiya. I want some ice cream anyway,” Sakura volunteered.

When it came to Sakura Sakuragi and Tsukiya Jinguuji, Yuko Jinguuji’s attitude was clearly different.

Without a word, she took back the two 1,000-yen bills and handed him a 5,000-yen note instead, telling Sakura to buy whatever snacks she liked.

It felt all too real.

So, Tsukiya and Sakura changed their shoes and stepped out together.

By now, night had fully fallen. Overhead, the deep blue sky resembled a canvas splattered with white paint—the stars startlingly bright. The streetlights glowed a warm yellow.

Sakura skipped ahead, hands clasped behind her back, each step radiating youthful energy.

“Hey, Tsukiya, what constellation is that?” she suddenly asked, pointing to the sky.

“Which one?”

“The one shaped like a ‘W’.”

“Cassiopeia.”

“Oh, and the Big Dipper?”

“Over there.”

“Hmm… Why can’t I see it?”

She stood on tiptoe, as if stretching just a little more would let her gather the stars into her arms.

“I heard the Big Dipper looks like a ladle.”

“It does.”

“Why?”

“Well, not exactly. It looks like a ladle because the Earth’s axis is tilted—”

“Ah, never mind, never mind,” she interrupted. “You’re always like this, Tsukiya! Should I call you unromantic or just oblivious? That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“Then what did you want to hear?”

She thought for a moment, then pointed skyward. “I’m prettier than the stars.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t get it, forget it.”

Laughing, Sakura gave his shoulder a gentle smack and hummed a tune, not quite in key, not quite out, yet perfectly in tune with the autumn night. It seemed even the stars shone brighter for it.

“So, how’s the student council?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Is it fun? Are you happy? That kind of thing.”

“Not really fun, not really happy. If I had to say, it’s not ideal for reading. The lighting’s good, but there’s always someone causing a commotion. Hard to concentrate. If I could have the student council room to myself, that’d be perfect.”

“Don’t tell me you just read there all the time.”

“Not always.”

“What a bookworm.”

He smiled, neither agreeing nor denying.

Suddenly, she stepped in front of him and held out her hand.

“There’s no one else around,” she said.

He looked around. The street was empty.

“It’s been a while. Let’s hold hands,” she said with a smile.