Cecil's voice from last night was still ringing in his head. Saturday. Standby orders. No right of refusal. Mark repeated those words to himself over and over as he walked to school. Three days ago, he'd told Amber "I'm definitely going." Three days ago, on the rooftop, he'd answered with all his might, "I will!!" And yet, the same thing was happening again. (I can't just accept it.) Usually he'd buried his feelings under "I can't help it." He'd told himself it was to protect citizens, that it was GDA orders. But this morning, those words got stuck in his throat and wouldn't come out. Because Amber's words—"You think saying sorry will make everything okay?"—were still lodged in his chest. As he entered the hallway, he heard voices buzzing from the direction of the classroom. --- Just before first period on Wednesday, homeroom teacher Wilson stood in front of the classroom and announced: "[serious]We have a transfer student starting today. Saya Miyamoto, please come in." The door opened. Short hair. Two-tone black and purple. Several small piercings glinted on her left ear. She was on the shorter side, but her stride as she entered was confident. Golden odd-colored eyes swept across the entire classroom, and then she smiled brightly. "[excited]Nice to meet you! I'm Saya Miyamoto. Um, this is my... fourth transfer, I think? I've basically become a pro at packing. Thanks for having me!" The class burst into laughter. The teacher assigned her a seat. Right next to Mark's. Saya sat down and turned toward Mark. "[gentle]Thanks for being my neighbor," "[serious]...Yeah." He'd tried to say "thanks," but his voice wouldn't come out properly. He'd been thinking too much about Amber, and his head felt heavy. Saya tilted her head slightly as she looked at Mark's face. Then, as if confirming something, she spoke in a low voice: "[whispers]Hey, are there any interesting people at this school?" "[serious]...What do you mean by that?" "[excited]I always check when I transfer. Like, people who can fly, or super strong people... Schools with weird people like that tend to be more fun after you transfer." Mark froze for a moment. People who can fly. Super strong people. "[serious]...No, there's nobody like that here." He answered while looking out the window. He couldn't meet her eyes. The back of his neck grew warm. "[sarcastic]Really? That's too bad." Saya easily turned back to face forward. It seemed she hadn't meant anything deep by it. Only Mark was breaking out in a cold sweat. --- At lunch, Mark was looking for a seat with a hamburger on his tray when a voice chased after him from behind. "[excited]Oh, Mark! Can I sit next to you?" He turned around. Saya was standing there holding her tray in both hands. She didn't seem to have come with anyone. "[serious]...Sure, I guess." The two of them sat at a window-side table. Saya started talking without any hesitation while peeling open her chicken sandwich wrapper. "[gentle]Right after transferring, you don't belong to any group, right? So lunch is the hardest part—I never know where to sit." "[serious]You still can't get used to it after four transfers?" "[laughing]If anything, I never get used to it! I've gotten good at packing, but I'm terrible at resetting my relationships. Oh, but I think I've gotten better at my first self-introduction at least." Mark laughed without thinking. It felt like it had been forever. He couldn't remember laughing in the past few days. His head had been full of his misunderstanding with Amber, and he hadn't had the energy to laugh. And yet, this girl who knew nothing about any of that—her words slipped right in, and before he knew it, the corners of his mouth had lifted. "[gentle]Four transfers—is it because of your dad's work?" "[gentle]Yeah, he's a construction site supervisor. He goes all over the country. He said we'd be in Upland for about half a year. ...Half a year, huh." Saya's gaze grew distant for a moment. Mark could see that she was transforming the fact that she could only stay for half a year into the shape of a laugh. He didn't ask any further. It was right then. From a table across the cafeteria, he felt someone's gaze. When Mark looked up, Amber was there. Standing with her tray, looking in his direction. Reddish-blonde wavy hair. Bright green eyes that met Mark's for just a moment. (Amber—) But the next instant, Amber cut her gaze away. She headed to another table and sat down next to her friend group. She started talking with a smile as if nothing had happened. But her eyes remained fixed on a single point. Mark could see it. "[gentle]...Mark?" "[serious]Oh, sorry. It's nothing." Saya said nothing. She just tilted her head slightly and went back to eating her sandwich. After that, Mark had no appetite. --- After school. Amber's friend Chelsea walked alongside Amber in the hallway and said: "[gentle]Hey Amber, hasn't Mark been getting really close with the transfer student? They were together at lunch too." "[cold]Oh, really?" She answered with a smile. Her voice was slightly strained. Chelsea didn't particularly notice. --- Amber opened her front door just after five in the evening. She said "I'm home" as she closed the door. She went up to her second-floor bedroom. The moment she closed the door, she dropped her bag on the floor. She collapsed. She fell to her knees, put her hand over her mouth, and stifled her voice. Tears came. She couldn't stop them. (Crying is weakness.) She'd always believed that. She'd thought that showing emotion was losing. But tonight, there was no helping it. Mark had been laughing. She hadn't seen him laugh like that in a long time. The fact that his smile had been directed at someone she didn't know was painfully beyond words. Her mother's voice from childhood echoed in her mind. "Crying isn't bad, Amber." Remembering those words while crying made it even more painful. It was pathetic to borrow her mother's words in a moment of admitting weakness. She didn't know if it was anger at Mark or anger at herself for not wanting to admit jealousy. She stayed like that for a while. --- The next morning. Thursday. Mark found Amber in the hallway right after arriving at school. The scene from the cafeteria yesterday wouldn't leave his head. He didn't know what expression to wear as he approached her. But he didn't want to use that as an excuse. "[serious]Amber, can I talk to you for a second?" Amber stopped. Their eyes met. Mark couldn't tell if the traces of yesterday remained in those eyes. "I'm definitely not going to bail on Saturday." His voice trembled slightly. "I even wrote it on the calendar." Amber was silent for a while. Then she spoke quietly. "[sarcastic]How many times have you written something on the calendar and then not followed through?" Mark had no response. Three times. At least three times. "[cold]...Okay." Amber said it. Her voice was calm. But it was too calm. It would have been better if she were angry. For just a moment—just the briefest moment—Mark felt warm air flow between them. The anxiety in the depths of Amber's eyes hadn't disappeared, but she'd said "okay." Mark carefully tucked that "okay" away in his pocket. --- That night. When Mark returned to his room, the GDA communication channel opened in his ear. "[cold]Invincible. Regarding Saturday's mission, I'm transmitting formal orders. Large-scale villain deployment confirmed in downtown Chicago. Standby support for the Guardians. Time is 1 PM. No right of refusal." 1 PM. His meeting with Amber was at 1 PM. "[serious]...Understood." After the communication cut off, Mark couldn't move for a while. He picked up his phone and started typing a message to Amber. He turned the screen on and off several times. But what could he say? He couldn't say "I might not be able to make it." He couldn't give a reason. He couldn't say there was a GDA deployment order. He couldn't say a hero call was coming. With nothing he could say, the night grew deeper. --- Saturday. The sky was clear autumn blue. The sky toward Chicago looked strangely transparent. Mark was running toward Upland Station. His feet were fast. Superhuman fast. But today he couldn't run at full speed. He ran at a normal pace, like a normal high school student, but a little faster than normal. He'd make it. He'd really make it today. Then. A hero call rang in his ear. ——All registered heroes, immediate deployment. Downtown Chicago, massive damage. Arrive at the scene within fifteen minutes—— Mark pulled out his phone while running. He called Amber. No answer. He called again. No answer. (Please, pick up.) He called three times while running. None of them went through. He ducked into the alley behind Burger Mart. Behind the dumpster, in the camera's blind spot. He always changed here. He pulled out his costume and started to put it on hurriedly. One leg got caught. He stumbled and put his hand against the wall. His "Invincible" logo costume was only half on as he pathetically leaned against the alley wall. (Not exactly a heroic departure.) He couldn't laugh. But laughing was all he could do in this situation. He managed to finish putting on the costume and flew into the sky with a face that looked like it might cry. --- Amber was waiting at the station plaza. The autumn wind was cold. She checked her phone repeatedly. No missed calls. No messages. Thirty minutes passed. An hour passed. When her feet started to hurt, someone spoke to her. "[gentle]Um... are you okay? You look really cold." She turned around. A girl with short hair was standing there. Golden odd-colored eyes. Piercings glinting on her left ear. Amber shook her head. "[cold]I'm fine." "[gentle]But you've been standing alone for such a long time. If you'd like, there's a café over there, it's warm——" Amber was about to refuse. But her body no longer had the strength to keep standing. They went into a nearby café. Warm coffee arrived. The station was visible through the window. Saya said with a smile: "[gentle]Actually, I just moved here recently. I don't have any friends yet. I'd be really happy if we could get to know each other." Amber received that smile head-on. It was guileless. There was no hidden agenda. This girl knew nothing. (This girl was laughing with Mark.) Even as she thought that, she also thought: this girl isn't at fault. Of course she isn't. This girl hadn't done anything. She was just smiling at her. Complex emotions swirled together in her chest. "[gentle]...I'm Amber. Nice to meet you." "[excited]Amber! That's such a cute name." The two of them knew nothing but each other's names. They didn't know about Mark, or their relationship, or anything else. They just had an ordinary conversation and drank warm coffee. --- That night. Mark called Amber after returning home in tatters. His body, having flown back from Chicago, was exhausted, and his costume had blood on it. He changed clothes before calling. It went through. "[cold]...Hello?" She didn't yell. She didn't cry. "[cold]Never mind, Mark. Today, I waited the whole time. For an hour." "Amber——" "[cold]But then I realized—I don't know anything about you. Every time you disappear, every time you say sorry, that's all. I don't know the reason, I don't know where you go, nothing. I was waiting without knowing anything." Her voice was quiet. Too quiet. "[cold]Maybe we can't do this anymore." The call ended. Mark sat on the floor of his room, gripping his phone. It would have been better if she'd yelled. It would have been better if she'd cried. There would have been room to apologize. But this silence left no place to apologize to. A dark room. The sound of cars from outside. The ordinary sounds of night. Mark leaned his back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. (I have no one I can explain myself to.) He'd followed GDA's orders. He couldn't tell Amber any