By the time Kaito reached the school gates the next morning, the air was warmer, but his thoughts weren't.
He hadn't slept much.
He kept replaying the walk home with Ren in his head—the way their footsteps had matched, the easy quiet between them, the way Ren had looked up at the cherry blossoms like he'd forgotten how to breathe for a second. And most of all, the way Kaito hadn't wanted the moment to end.
It wasn't like him to get stuck on things. He was good at drifting through school unnoticed, at keeping people at arm's length. But Ren had slipped past that without even trying. And now… now it felt like something in him had been quietly rearranged.
He stepped into Classroom 2-B and paused.
Ren was already there, half-asleep with his head against his arm, earbuds in. Sunlight spilled across the desk, catching on the edges of his hair. He looked peaceful. Tired. Real.
Kaito stared longer than he meant to.
His heart did that thing again—tightened, then fluttered.
It had happened before—once when Ren smiled at his rice ball, once when their hands brushed near the pencil sharpener, once when Ren had said his name like it meant something.
And now, standing in the doorway, it finally clicked.
Oh.
He liked him.
Not just in that I-want-to-know-more-about-you way. Not just as a fascination, or a puzzle, or a person who made the days less dull.
He liked him.
Like really, really liked him.
It hit him like a quiet wave. No thunderclap. Just a slow, undeniable realization settling into his bones.
He sat down, trying to act normal. Whatever normal meant now.
Ren stirred a little, pulling one earbud out. "Hey."
Kaito glanced at him, careful not to let his thoughts show on his face. "Hey."
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Kaito said too quickly. "Just… tired."
Ren studied him a moment, eyes unreadable. "You sure?"
No. Not even a little. But Kaito nodded.
Ren didn't push. Just leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes like he hadn't slept much either.
Kaito found himself watching the movement of Ren's hands, the curve of his wrist, the way his fingers twitched slightly when he was thinking.
His chest felt tight again, but now he knew why.
It wasn't confusion anymore. It was something quieter. Clearer.
And far more terrifying.
When the teacher walked in and class began, Kaito looked down at his notebook, but his pen hovered over the page, unmoving.
He thought of Ren's voice beside him, of cherry blossoms falling like snow, of that almost-smile on a street corner under a pale streetlight.
And suddenly, history class didn't matter.
Because Kaito Sakamura had just realized he was falling for someone.
And that someone was sitting exactly seventeen inches to his right.