Kakeru is a typical high school sophomore who is totally obsessed with the super popular Vtuber, Muna Hoshinova. But one day, he accidentally discovers that the new transfer student, Hazuki, is actually Muna in real life! Hazuki begs him to keep it a secret from everyone at school, making him her only confidant.
But keeping that secret is way too hard! His classmates Yuzuha and Akari keep pestering him because they know he's a Muna fan, and his childhood friend Sakura is getting suspicious of h
A Secret Kiss Behind the Stars - A Rooftop Promise and the Awakening of a Love Square
The after-school chime echoed throughout the school building.
The classroom's murmur swelled all at once. Some students packed up to go home, others headed to club activities, and some laughed together with friends.
As Aikawa Kakeru stuffed his textbooks into his bag, he glanced at the seat diagonally in front of him.
Haduki was closing her notebook, her head slightly bowed. Her long black hair slipped from her shoulders, hiding her profile. Behind her fashion glasses, her violet eyes were fixed on a single point on her desk, as if lost in thought.
He couldn't get yesterday's events in the library out of his head.
Her voice, brimming with tears, begging him not to tell anyone. And the decisive gap between that and her glamorous persona as Muna Hoshinova.
*(Back then, I swore I'd protect her.)*
Kakeru zipped his bag shut.
*(If that's the case, this is no time to hesitate.)*
Near the front of the classroom, Yuzuha and Akari were chatting happily about something. Yuzuha's bright voice reached him from a distance.
"Hey, Aikawa-cchi! Come hang out with us again today!"
Her ponytail swaying, Yuzuha came running over. Akari quietly followed behind her.
"Huh? No, today's a little—"
"...You're going to the library again?"
From behind him, his childhood friend Sakura was staring intently at Kakeru. Beneath her fluffy, cherry-blossom-pink bob, her large hazel eyes wavered slightly.
Sakura looked back and forth between Kakeru and Haduki, then returned to her seat without a word.
*(Sakura...)*
A sharp pang struck his chest.
"Well, if you have something to do, it can't be helped. Let's go, Yuzuha."
Akari pulled Yuzuha's arm. Her narrow, sharp eyes fixed on Kakeru's face for just a moment. It was a gaze that seemed to be thinking something over, appraising him.
"Aww, what the heck... Well, see you tomorrow, Aikawa-cchi!"
After seeing the two of them leave the classroom, Kakeru let out a small sigh.
Confirming that no one else was around, he approached Haduki.
"Haduki. There's a place I want you to come with me to."
Haduki looked up in surprise. Her violet eyes wavered, just a little, with unease.
"...Where would that be?"
"Somewhere we won't be disturbed. I want you to feel safe."
Haduki bit her lip slightly, then gave a small, quiet nod.
—
The two of them walked down the empty hallway.
The evening sunlight slanted in through the windows, casting long shadows on the floor. The shouts from club activities could be heard in the distance.
In front of the tea room next to the staff room, Kakeru stopped.
"The key to the rooftop is hidden here. Apparently, the PE teacher, Mr. Komiyama, uses it to slack off a lot."
Kakeru reached behind a shelf. His fingertips touched cold metal.
"It's here... Thank goodness."
What he pulled out was a slightly old, silver key.
Haduki's eyes went wide.
"...So there was a secret place like this."
"Yeah. I found it by accident last year, too. Here, no one can see us. No one can hear us."
They climbed the stairs.
They went up to the fourth floor, and then further—standing before a door with a yellow sign reading "No Entry" hanging from it.
Kakeru inserted the key and turned it.
*Click.*
The quiet sound echoed through the hallway.
When he pushed the door open, the September evening air rushed in all at once.
"Wow..."
Haduki let out a small murmur.
What leaped into view was the vast sky.
The clouds were beginning to be dyed orange and pink. They could see the entire town of Minase, and in the distance, the skyscrapers of Tokyo looked hazy. The Sorami River sparkled, reflecting the setting sun.
The rooftop was more spacious than he'd expected.
A concrete space of about two hundred square meters, enclosed by a fence. Several water tanks were lined up, trembling faintly every time the wind blew through.
"Does no one come here?"
"Mr. Komiyama goes home right after school. And the teachers in charge of clubs wouldn't go out of their way to come up here."
Kakeru walked over near the fence.
The wind blew through, ruffling Kakeru's black hair.
"Besides, this place is already off-limits, so students don't come near it either."
Haduki stood beside Kakeru.
She looked down at the town through the fence. Cars like miniature toys moved slowly.
"So here, I... don't have to be Muna, do I?"
Haduki murmured quietly.
The wind gently lifted her black hair. Her violet eyes behind her glasses looked slightly moist, illuminated by the setting sun.
"Yeah. Let's make this a place just for me and Haduki."
As soon as he said it, Kakeru felt a little embarrassed.
*(What was that? That's kind of embarrassing.)*
But Haduki smiled happily.
"...Okay. Thank you, Kakeru-kun."
The moment he saw that smile, something deep in Kakeru's chest leaped with a thump.
*(Oh no. My heart just seriously skipped a beat.)*
—
For a while, the two of them looked down at the town in silence.
Only the sound of the wind could be heard. In the distance, the after-school chime rang once more.
"...Kakeru-kun, why are you so kind?"
Haduki asked quietly.
"Kind? Me?"
"Yes. Even after learning my secret, you haven't told anyone. Not only that, you've even shown me a place like this... I'm nothing but a burden to you."
Haduki placed her hands on the fence and looked down.
"On the other side of the screen, I play the role of a sparkling idol... But the real me is so weak like this. Desperately wanting to depend on someone like this."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Muna is my ideal self. But that's a mask. The real me is such a pathetic existence that I can't show anyone..."
Without saying anything, Kakeru gazed at Haduki's profile.
*(Ah, I see.)*
*(This person has been alone all this time.)*
He remembered the winter of his third year of middle school. The night he had been saved by Muna's stream.
That stream he had watched while crying, wrapped in his futon.
The girl on the other side of the screen had told him, "It's okay," as if she could see right through all his worries.
How much those words back then had lightened his heart.
"You know,"
Kakeru opened his mouth.
"Back in middle school, I went through a pretty rough time. I hated going to school, but I couldn't escape. Every day was gray."
Haduki looked up.
"That's when I found Muna's stream. Seeing you smiling on the other side of the screen, I felt like I was saved, somehow."
"...I did that?"
"Yeah. You say that the Muna on the screen is also a mask, but I was definitely saved by that mask, too."
Kakeru looked straight into Haduki's eyes.
"But now it's different. Now, I want to properly see the Haduki who's here beside me. Not Muna, but the real you."
Haduki's eyes widened.
Her violet eyes wavered greatly.
"...The real... me...?"
"Yeah. Weak, pathetic, but desperately wanting to depend on someone—I'm properly seeing that you. And to me, that's something incredibly important."
Haduki's lips trembled, and then, she quietly shed tears.
"...Thank you."
Her voice was hoarse.
"I never imagined... that someone would see the real me."
She took off her glasses and wiped her tears.
Her violet eyes, hidden behind the glasses, shone wetly in the sunset. That profile was far more beautiful than Muna on the other side of the screen, Kakeru thought.
*(Ah, I'm... about this person—)*
He thought that far, then hurriedly shook his head.
*(No, calm down. This isn't the time to be thinking about that.)*
"...Man, I said something embarrassing. Forget it."
When Kakeru scratched his head, Haduki, still wiping her tears, laughed a little.
"Hehe... I won't forget it. Absolutely not. I'll treasure it for the rest of my life."
—
That was when it happened.
A strong gust of wind blew across the rooftop.
*Whoosh—*
"Ah!"
The handkerchief Haduki had taken from her pocket was caught by the wind and swept up.
The small white cloth fluttered into the air, catching on the edge just outside the fence.
"My handkerchief...!"
Haduki leaned forward in a panic.
"Ah, that's dangerous! Stop!"
The next moment.
Haduki's foot caught on a small step at the edge of the rooftop.
Her body tilted, swaying unsteadily.
*(She's going to fall—!?)*
Kakeru moved his body before he could think.
"Grab on!!"
He seized Haduki's arm with a jolt and pulled her towards him with all his might.
Her slender body flew into Kakeru's chest.
—*Thud.*
The two of them collapsed onto the concrete floor just like that.
Kakeru's back, underneath, hurt a little.
But, more than that—.
"...Ah."
Haduki's face was just a few centimeters away.
Her large violet eyes were wide with surprise, staring intently at Kakeru. Her long eyelashes trembled. Her breath touched Kakeru's lips.
*(S-so close...!)*
Their chests were pressed together.
Her heartbeat transmitted through their clothes. It was surprisingly fast and loud.
His own was the same.
His heart was pounding loudly.
"S-sorry! Are you okay!?"
Kakeru hurriedly let go of her hand.
Haduki, her face also bright red, jumped off of him.
"No, I'm the one who should apologize...! Um, well, thank you for saving me...!"
Her fair skin was dyed bright red all the way to the tips of her ears. She looked down, clenching both hands tightly in front of her chest.
*(She smelled really nice...)*
Kakeru thought that, then immediately fell into self-loathing.
*(Idiot! That was unavoidable! Don't think weird things!)*
Neither of them could say anything for a while.
Haduki kept her head down, glancing up at Kakeru repeatedly. Kakeru, not knowing where to look either, could only stare up at the sunset sky before him.
"...Too bad about the handkerchief."
When he finally managed to say just that,
"...No. Because I received something more precious than a handkerchief."
Haduki, her face still red, said that clearly.
—
After that, until the sun had completely set, the two of them sat side by side, keeping a little distance.
They were silent.
But it wasn't an unpleasant silence.
Occasionally, the wind blew. The fence rattled. Crows cawed in the distance.
*(I wish a time like this could last forever.)*
Kakeru thought.
But he immediately dismissed it.
*(No. I decided to protect her secret. I shouldn't wish for anything more.)*
When he glanced beside him, Haduki was also hugging her knees, staring at the sky.
That profile was far more human, far warmer, than Muna inside the screen.
*(I'm watching this person.)*
*(So, it's okay.)*
—
The next day.
The classroom was wrapped in its usual bustle.
Outside the window, it was perfectly clear. The September sunlight sparkled as it streamed into the classroom.
"Aikawa-cchi!! Oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!"
From first thing in the morning, Yuzuha charged at Kakeru's desk with incredible momentum.
"What is it? You're noisy so early in the morning..."
"Of course I'm gonna be noisy!! Look at this!!!"
On the smartphone screen she thrust at him, the word "Winner" was displayed in huge characters.
"I won tickets to Muna Hoshinova's handshake event next month!!! And not just one, but two—for me and Akarin!"
Yuzuha looked ready to jump for joy. Her ponytail bounced up and down.
"That's amazing! Wasn't the lottery ratio insane?"
"Of course! It was easily over a hundred times oversubscribed! So you should come with us, Aikawa-cchi! There might still be day-of tickets, and even if not, let's just go buy some merch!"
"Huh? No, I'm..."
*(Me, going to a handshake event with Haduki herself?)*
*(No, no, no. That's bad. In more ways than one.)*
As Kakeru hesitated, Akari spoke up right beside him.
"Now, now, Yuzuha. Aikawa-san has his circumstances. I'm sure he's busy after school as well."
She casually brushed back her semi-long, bluish-black hair with her hand. Her narrow, sharp eyes glanced at Kakeru's face.
Her tone was gentle, but it sounded like it held some hidden meaning.
*(...As I thought, has Akari noticed something?)*
"Is your love for Muna lacking, Aikawa-cchi!? You get to meet your oshi! You get to hear her voice righ
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.