The smartphone screen glowed faintly in the dim room. Matsuoka Rio lay in her futon, opening and closing the same screen over and over. The LINE group "Iwatobi Penguins." Five names displayed there. (What should I even send?) Her thumb hovered motionless above the screen. The faint sound of waves drifted in from outside the window. In the pre-dawn stillness, that sound alone reached her ears with strange clarity. Yesterday after school. The chaos in the club room. Rei confessing to Nagisa. Nagisa shouting that he liked Makoto too. Makoto overhearing it. And Haruka, walking out as if she—crying right there—were nothing but air. The scene looped endlessly in her head. The same images, replaying again and again. (I couldn't become anyone's number one.) Every time those words sank into her chest, her stomach clenched tight. She'd known it for a long time already—but having it thrust in her face like that still felt different. Knowing and feeling were completely different things. Rio sat up. She slipped her arms through her uniform. It was Saturday, but she couldn't think of any other clothes to wear. She left the house. Quietly, she closed the front door so no one would notice. The sky had only just begun to lighten, the eastern horizon barely tinged with pale brightness. There was no wind; lukewarm air clung to her skin. Her feet carried her naturally toward the sea. She descended Shiomi Hill. The road she always walked while watching Haruka's and Makoto's backs—now she went down it alone. Her shadow stretched thin across the asphalt. She passed through the shopping street in front of the station, cut past the fishing port, and entered the promenade to the cape. A breeze mingling the scent of grass and the smell of the tide brushed her cheek for the first time. Shiokaze Lighthouse. The white tower stood against the gray sky. A view she'd known since childhood—yet this morning, for some reason, it looked like something from a distant world. She climbed down to the rocky shore below the lighthouse. The waves struck the rocks in steady rhythm. *Swoosh. Swoosh.* (If it's here—) No one would come. No one would see her. Still in her uniform, Rio sat down on a large rock. The hem of her skirt swayed slightly in the sea breeze. She wrapped both arms around her knees and gazed out at the ocean. The gray sea stretched on endlessly. Near the horizon, the morning light was beginning to dye it a faint gold. *I couldn't become anyone's number one.* She hadn't spoken it aloud, yet the words repeated over and over in her head. Even without voicing them, her lips traced their shape. She remembered when she was small. Her brother Rin was always someone's number one. His swim times were the best in his grade, he had lots of friends, and even the teachers trusted him. She was always beside him, just "Matsuoka Rin's little sister." She'd thought that was fine. Her big brother being amazing was only natural, and she was fine being herself—she'd tried to think that way. But. The truth was, she'd wanted to be someone's number one. She'd wanted someone to see her—not as just a little sister, not as a manager, but as a single person named Matsuoka Rio. Tears spilled from Rio's eyes. One streak, then another, trailing down her cheeks and falling onto her knees. She made no sound. But she couldn't stop her body from trembling. *Swoosh.* Only the sound of the waves echoed back, as if in place of an answer. She cried, stifling her voice. It felt like the tears were coming from somewhere deeper than when she'd cried in the club room yesterday. The tears she'd shed hoping no one would notice, and the tears she was shedding now because no one *had* noticed—they were different kinds of pain. How long had she been like that? Suddenly, she heard the crunch of gravel behind her. *Crunch, crunch, crunch.* Someone was slowly approaching. Rio hurriedly rubbed her eyes. But the tears wouldn't stop, and her vision remained blurred. "[gentle]...I figured you'd be here." A gentle voice she knew well. A voice warm like a patch of spring sunlight. She turned to find Makoto standing there. He was slightly out of breath, his bangs plastered to his forehead with sweat. "[whispers]Makoto-senpai..." Her own voice was terribly hoarse. "[gentle]Sorry. I went looking for you." Makoto sat down on a rock beside her. His large frame became a silhouette against the morning light. His pale greenish eyes were turned toward the sea. "[gentle]How did you know I was here?" "[gentle]I just knew." Makoto answered simply. "I knew that when you're sad, Rio-chan, you go toward the sea. So I went down Shiomi Hill, walked all along the shore, and looked for a place with no one around." Rio couldn't say anything. Again, only the sound of the waves passed between them. Still gazing at the sea, Makoto began to speak quietly. "[gentle]About that kiss from Haru." Rio's shoulders flinched. "[gentle]You probably saw it, didn't you, Rio-chan? That day, in the club room." Rio didn't answer. But that silence was an answer in itself. Makoto let out a small breath and continued. "[gentle]That... I don't think it was Haru's feelings in a romantic way." Rio's eyes widened slightly. "[gentle]The day before that, I told Haru something. That I was thinking about going to a university outside the prefecture." Outside the prefecture. The words landed with heavy weight. "[gentle]That I might leave this area and go far away. When I said that, the next day, Haru suddenly kissed me." A small, rueful smile crossed Makoto's face. "I think that was Haru trying to hold me back. Not as romance, but as a way to stay together forever." Something stirred faintly deep in Rio's chest. She'd been thinking about it all this time. That gesture Haruka had directed at Makoto—she'd believed it was proof of absolute affection. A bond between just the two of them that she could never compete with. But. It wasn't romance? "[gentle]And also," Makoto continued, his voice a little hesitant but steady. "[gentle]The truth is, I've been lying to myself about my own feelings for a long time too." The color of the sea was beginning to take on a hint of blue. Sunlight started to stream through gaps in the clouds. "[gentle]Back in elementary school, I made a promise with Haru here. That I'd always be with him. We linked pinkies under the lighthouse." Rio watched Makoto's profile. His face was still turned toward the sea. But his eyes weren't seeing the present view. They were looking at something far away—something from long ago. "[gentle]That promise became a chain. I kept forcing my feelings to fit that shape. Whether I liked Haru, or whether I just couldn't break free from a sense of responsibility—I couldn't tell anymore myself." Makoto's voice was quiet. But beneath that quietness, she sensed something he'd been carrying for a long, long time. "[sad]Taking care of Haru was so natural to me that I never even thought about whether it was love. But... I think it's probably not." Rio realized her breathing had become shallow. Makoto had been lost too. Even that Makoto—the one Haruka treasured most—had been lost all along. Not knowing if it was love or duty, he'd stayed by Haruka's side. That fact pierced deep into Rio's chest. The person she'd been jealous of. Had actually been struggling, just like her. "[gentle]I'd noticed about you, Rio-chan. For a while now." Makoto's voice suddenly felt closer. "That you like Haru." Rio caught her breath. She tried to say *no*, but she no longer had the energy to lie. Not now. She just gave a small nod. "[gentle]Yeah. I thought so." Makoto smiled, a little sadly. "[gentle]I pretended not to notice. Because I didn't want to hurt you." At those words, tears overflowed from Rio's eyes again. This time, they felt slightly different from yesterday's tears. Not just despair. As if something had loosened, just a tiny bit. But still—heavier than the fact that Makoto had been considerate of her, a harsher reality pressed down. Makoto hadn't changed anything. Even knowing her feelings, he hadn't chosen Haruka because of it. But he wasn't choosing her either. He'd simply, gently, kept his distance. And that, in its own way, was another kind of pain. Rio buried her face in her knees. She stifled her voice, but this time a little sound escaped, and she cried. Makoto said nothing. He just stayed beside her. The sound of the waves filled their silence. After a while, Makoto quietly spoke. "[gentle]Next time, do you think you can go tell Haru yourself, Rio-chan?" His voice was less a question than a confirmation. Rio couldn't answer right away. But. She didn't shake her head. That was the best answer she could give right now. --- The sky, before she knew it, was filled with morning light. The sea that had been gray was slowly reclaiming its blue. The scent of the tide had grown stronger than before. The shapes of the distant waves told her the tide was about to come in. Makoto slowly stood up. "[gentle]I'll stay here a little longer. I want to watch the sea." Rio lifted her face. Beyond her tear-blurred vision, Makoto was smiling a little. That smile wasn't his usual perfect kindness—it was an expression that seemed somehow relieved. "[gentle]Thank you." Her voice still trembled, but it was the most honest word she'd spoken yet. Rio stood and brushed the sand from her uniform skirt. Then she started back along the promenade to the lighthouse. It might have been her imagination that her steps felt a little lighter. --- Around that time, on the rooftop of Iwatobi High School— Hazuki Nagisa stood alone, leaning against the railing and looking up at the sky. The cold of the concrete floor seeped through the soles of his sneakers. The wind blew in from the sea, making the rooftop fence sway faintly. (What did I do yesterday?) His head was still a mess. Rei's confession. His own outburst. Hurting everyone. When he closed his eyes, the image of Rio crouched on the floor, crying, floated up. (I made Rio-chan cry.) The one person he'd least wanted to make cry—he'd made her cry the most. Only that guilt sank heavily in his chest. *Clank.* The sound of the rooftop door opening. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "[serious]Nagisa." A quiet voice, with little inflection. Nagisa kept his hands on the railing and didn't turn around. His golden eyes gazed at the distant sea. Rei stood beside him. Perfect posture, back straight. The eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses were fixed solely on Nagisa, just as they had been yesterday. Rei didn't apologize. He didn't say what happened in the club room yesterday was wrong. He just quietly opened his mouth. "[serious]It's okay if you reject me." The wind blew between them. "But I want to know the reason you won't look at me." There was no anger in his voice. No sadness or resentment. There was only a quietness that said he truly, simply wanted to know. Nagisa faced the wall, unable to say anything. "[serious]You were always watching that manager senpai. But yesterday, you said you liked someone else too. I don't understand that." Rei's voice was matter-of-fact, as if he were solving a puzzle. Nagisa gripped the railing tightly. The cold of the metal bit into his palms. "[sad]...You're so annoying." His usual bright voice wouldn't come out anymore. "I don't even get it myself. I like Rio-senpai, but I'm also hung up on Makoto-senpai, and I have no idea which one it really is." The words kept spilling out, one after another. "[crying]Yesterday, when I saw Rio-senpai crying, I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't do anything, and everything's a mess. With Makoto-senpai... it's probably not love. I think I just admired him—wanted to become that kind of adult someday." Nagisa's voice trembled. Things he'd never been abl