Under the covers, Yuki stared at the ceiling. He hadn't slept a wink. Yesterday's events kept spinning endlessly in his head. Rin's tears. Mio's interrogation. The words "original world" that had slipped from his own mouth. (*It's all out in the open now.*) When he closed his eyes, Mio's blue eyes were seared into his mind, refusing to fade. It was what happened behind the gymnasium. Her words—"What exactly... do you mean by that?"—echoed in his ears over and over. His smartphone on the pillow vibrated. Six in the morning. Yuki dragged his heavy body upright. In the full-length mirror, his face bore unmistakable dark circles. It was as if the exhaustion of a thirty-seven-year-old man was plastered all over a seventeen-year-old's body. Even after splashing cold water on his face, his head remained hazy. On the uphill road to school, the wind from the sea blew fiercely. The scent of the tide tickled his nose. A breeze that normally felt pleasant was nothing but cold this morning. The autumn leaves at the main gate blazed crimson in the morning sun. It was a beautiful sight. But to Yuki's eyes, it looked like the color of a warning. (*Cut it out. You're thirty-seven. What are you doing, getting scared of a high school girl.*) He told himself this as he changed his shoes at the shoe lockers. He opened the classroom door. In that instant, golden hair swayed at the edge of his vision. Mio was standing right next to Yuki's seat. Her waist-length, straight blonde hair sparkled brilliantly in the light from the window. Her large blue eyes locked onto Yuki's face and wouldn't let go. And on her lips floated her usual soft smile. "[gentle] Yuki-kun, good morning." Mio took one step closer to him. Close enough that her breath nearly touched him, she whispered softly into his ear. "[whispers] Would you come to the rooftop with me? There's something I'd like to talk about, just the two of us." Yuki's stomach clenched tight. (*—Here it comes.*) As he walked down the hallway, Yuki desperately racked his brain. (*Wasn't the rooftop Rin-senpai's territory?*) No, it was morning now. Rin probably hadn't arrived yet. (*More importantly, this... she's completely figured it out, hasn't she.*) That muttering to himself the other day. There was no way he could pass that off as her mishearing him. (*Calm down, me. I'm thirty-seven years old. What am I doing, getting rattled by a high school girl.*) But his seventeen-year-old body was honest. His heart pounded loudly enough to be obnoxious. Cold sweat trickled down his back. Beneath his uniform, he could feel his shirt growing damp and clammy. He climbed the stairs to the rooftop. One step. Then another. When he pushed open the heavy iron door, the blue sky leaped into his eyes. Mio stood leaning against the railing on the seaward side. The morning light shone through her golden hair, and the wind gently swayed the hem of her skirt. The sight was so utterly picturesque. (*I want to run away.*) Yuki meant it with all his heart. "[serious] Yuki-kun." Mio turned around. Her large blue eyes pierced straight through him. "[serious] I've been thinking about it ever since yesterday. That thing you said behind the gymnasium—about your 'original world.' What exactly did you mean by that?" Her voice was quiet. But each and every word stabbed into Yuki's chest like a blade. Inside Yuki's head, he frantically began assembling excuses. ① He was talking about a dream. —No good. Who cries behind the gymnasium while talking about a dream? ② He was imitating a line from a game. —Impossible. The tone of his voice back then was clearly dead serious. ③ She misheard him. —Mio has sharp ears. There's no way she'd mishear something she heard once. Three in a row. His defensive walls crumbled with a crash. Silence ruled the rooftop. Mio blinked slowly. Her long eyelashes cast shadows in the morning sun. "[gentle] Yuki-kun... can you not trust me?" Her voice trembled. Her blue eyes grew faintly moist. —In that instant, something inside Yuki snapped. Leaning his back against the wall, Yuki looked up at the sky. "[whispers] ...I'm not the real owner of this body." His hoarse voice was carried away by the wind. Mio didn't move. She just stared intently at Yuki. "[whispers] Originally, I was thirty-seven years old. A lowly salaryman from a completely different world. Before I knew it, I was in this body, at this school... I don't know why." The words wouldn't stop. As if water that had been dammed up for a long time was suddenly overflowing all at once. "[whispers] You're weirded out, right? Normally, no one would believe a story like this." Yuki averted his eyes from Mio. A self-deprecating resignation, almost like giving up—something befitting a thirty-seven-year-old ossan—welled up from deep in his chest. Mio froze completely. "[whispers] ...Thirty-seven... ossan... different world..." She repeated it under her breath, freezing entirely for five full seconds. Yuki thought he should say it. "[sad] Yeah, it's impossible after all. You're weirded out—" "[crying] Being weirded out or not isn't even the issue here!" Mio's cry echoed across the rooftop. Tears spilled profusely from her large blue eyes. "[crying] On the day of the sports festival, and when I said I'd submit a kokuri letter on the very first day—all of it, all of it, I fell in love with the Yuki-kun who's here right now!" Mio closed the distance by one step. Her tears sparkled brilliantly in the morning sun. "[crying] Whether you're an ossan or someone from another world, none of that matters! The Yuki-kun standing in front of me right now is the person I love most!!" Yuki's thoughts came to a complete halt. In thirty-seven years of living, he never imagined the day would come when a girl would confess to him while crying. Isn't this straight out of a light novel? But his seventeen-year-old body was a traitor. His heart hammered wildly, and the tips of his ears grew hot. The more his adult rationality tried to put a stop to it, the more honestly his body reacted. "[whispers] ...Thank you." The voice he barely managed to squeeze out was so feeble it was pathetic, even to his own ears. Mio gently wrapped both her hands around Yuki's hand. "[gentle] If someday you ever feel like you want to return to your original world—until that time comes, I'll always be by your side." She whispered it close enough that her breath seemed about to touch his lips. The body temperature of his seventeen-year-old form shot up all at once. —*Clatter.* A small noise came from the direction of the rooftop door. Yuki and Mio turned around at the same time. "[surprised] ...Whoa, seriously?" "[scared] ...Thirty-seven... so that's why we connected over books..." "[cold] ...I thought I sensed a similar scent. So that's what it was." From behind the door, Hina, Shizuka, and Rin each poked their faces out at different moments. "[angry] You heard all that?!" At Yuki's first-ever angry shout, all three of them wore guilty expressions in unison. "[scared] N-no! I just happened to come here, it's not like I was eavesdropping or anything!" Hina waved her hands frantically as she rattled off excuses. "[scared] I-I also just came to return a book... and accidentally..." Shizuka was blushing all the way to her ears, looking down. "[cold] ...It's a coincidence. I'm always here." Rin turned her face away with a huff, but her ears were faintly red. "[angry] Three coincidences all at once?!" Yuki's retort sliced through the clear morning air. Hina cleared her throat once and walked up to Yuki. "[laughing] I mean, no wonder you seemed so mature! Finding out you were a thirty-seven-year-old ossan actually makes total sense!" Hina slapped Yuki's shoulder repeatedly. Shizuka timidly raised her face. "[gentle] ...So the reason we connected over books... that was only natural, wasn't it... But if you ask me whether I could dislike Yuki-kun because of that... I can't." Behind her black-rimmed glasses, her eyes looked straight at Yuki. Rin stepped closer by one pace. "[gentle] ...Now I get why you're so composed. You're an adult, so of course you are. So what's supposed to change?" Rin stopped right in front of Yuki. "[whispers] I... about you—" Rin started to say something, then closed her mouth. Her face turned bright red, and she turned her head away sharply. No one rejected Yuki. Yuki slid his back down the wall and crouched down on the spot. "[crying] Why... why isn't anyone weirded out by this..." His voice trembled with tears. Four girls peered down from above at his pathetic, tearful, laughing face. "[gentle] Where exactly would we find a reason to be weirded out?" Mio bent her knees, bringing herself down to the eye level of the crouching Yuki. "[laughing] It's hilarious. If anything, it's a huge bonus." Hina gave Yuki's head a light pat. "[whispers] ...I... I like you, Yuki-kun." For the first time, Shizuka put her feelings into clear words. Rin crouched down next to Yuki without a word and turned away with a huff. But her hand gently grasped the edge of Yuki's sleeve. "[whispers] What am I supposed to do..." Surrounded by the four of them, Yuki let out a small laugh. The wind from the sea swept across the rooftop. Someone's hair tickled Yuki's cheek. —The memory of a soft morning light, the first time they faced each other with zero secrets between them.