The classroom was unusually quiet after the final bell rang.
Most students had scattered home or to their after-school clubs, leaving the first-year hallway bathed in amber sunlight and the soft squeak of the janitor's mop echoing down the corridor.
Saito Kagami stood near the door of the Cultural Research Club room, holding a broom.
Next to him, Riko Kumijo was poking a suspicious dust bunny with a feather duster like it might bite back.
"…Are we really doing this just because the usual guy is tired?" she asked.
"Yes," Saito replied, sweeping a practiced stroke down the corner of the room. "Yamada-sensei said the third-year in charge of cleaning this room collapsed yesterday during archery club. Heatstroke."
Riko puffed out her cheeks. "That's dramatic. I mean, I like naps too, but collapsing is overdoing it."
"He's apparently fine. Just resting for the week."
"And now we're doing it?"
"You volunteered."
"You made eye contact with the teacher when he asked!"
"I didn't blink."
"That counts as volunteering."
Saito swept the broom one more time and stepped back. The floor gleamed.
"You didn't have to come," he said, shaking the dust from the broom into a pan.
"Nah," she replied, placing her hands behind her head, "I was curious."
"About dust?"
"About you."
Saito blinked.
"…Curiosity is a poor reason to do unpaid labor."
She grinned. "You really know how to kill a mood, don't you?"
The clubroom they were cleaning wasn't used by either of them—it belonged to the Cultural Research Club, a mismatched collection of students who apparently dabbled in everything from ghost hunting to bookbinding.
Posters lined the walls. The bookshelf was half manga, half obscure encyclopedias. A small fridge in the corner hummed like it was trying to stay awake.
Saito moved across the room to begin rearranging the desks—three rows of two, each facing the whiteboard.
He gripped the edge of one desk and slid it across the floor in a single smooth motion.
Riko stopped mid-dusting.
"…Whoa."
Saito paused.
"What?"
"Did you just move that whole desk by yourself?"
He looked at her, deadpan. "Yes."
"With, like, zero effort?"
"Yes."
She walked over and peered at his arm as if trying to x-ray through his sleeve.
"Are you… built under there?"
"Built?"
"Like—muscles. Do you work out?"
"Yes."
"...No way."
"I do push-ups, squats, and sit-ups. Morning and evening."
She squinted. "You're telling me you're secretly a gym bro?"
"I don't attend a gym. I use my bedroom floor."
Riko stared at him like he'd just revealed he could lift a car.
Saito blinked.
Why is she still staring?
He turned away and moved the next desk. Another fluid motion. No noise, no hesitation.
"That's wild," she muttered, half to herself. "You're, like… a sleeper build."
"A what?"
"You know. Someone who looks average but secretly has abs of justice or whatever."
"That's not a real term."
"It is!"
"I'm certain it isn't."
Riko laughed and leaned against a desk, still studying him.
"I seriously would not have guessed. You've got the energy of a haunted pencil case."
"I don't know what that means."
"It means you don't look like you could move a fridge, but apparently you can."
"I've never moved a fridge."
"But you could. That's the point."
Saito exhaled slowly through his nose.
This conversation is inefficient.
But despite himself, a small pulse of warmth fluttered in his chest.
She was smiling at him again.
The room was almost done.
Riko wiped down the windows while humming something out of tune. Saito returned the books that had been stacked haphazardly on the corner shelf.
It was quiet.
Peaceful.
Until they heard the sound.
Click.
Saito turned toward the door.
So did Riko.
She stepped forward and tried the knob.
Jiggled it.
Then again, more forcefully.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Saito walked over and tried it himself.
Locked.
From the outside.
"They locked us in?!"
"I believe the janitor forgot we were inside."
"He didn't even check?!"
"The room is listed as 'unused' for today. He likely assumed we were done."
"Oh my god. I knew I should've left a shoe in the door."
"That would create a tripping hazard."
Riko spun in a slow circle and let out a dramatic groan.
"Ughhh, what do we do now? Wait? Yell?"
Saito checked his phone.
"No signal. Third floor. Corner room. Dead zone."
"Well that's convenient."
They both sat in silence.
"…This is the start of a horror movie," Riko said. "Two students trapped after dark. One has a secret. The other... is secretly jacked."
Saito stared blankly. "We'll be fine. Someone will notice."
"Like who?"
"Possibly your friends."
"…Fair point."
Another silence.
Riko flopped into a seat.
Saito remained standing.
She looked up at him.
"You're not freaking out," she said.
"I'm not claustrophobic."
"Still. Normal people would be at least a little stressed."
"I don't panic in controlled environments."
"This is controlled?"
"There's light, air, and no threats."
"…You really are a robot."
He tilted his head. "I'm human. My heartbeat is within normal range."
"That's even creepier."
Time passed.
Maybe ten minutes. Maybe more.
Riko sighed and laid her arms across the desk, resting her chin on them.
Saito stood beside the bookshelf, arms crossed, eyes closed.
"…You're seriously okay just standing there?"
"Yes."
"That's so weird."
"You've said that three times."
"Well, you are weird."
"I know."
She smiled faintly.
"…That's the first time you've agreed with me."
"I'm aware."
Another beat.
Riko glanced sideways at him.
"…You don't talk to people much, huh?"
"Only when necessary."
"So I'm… not necessary?"
"That's not what I said."
She blinked.
Saito turned toward her.
"You ask questions. You listen to answers. You share snacks. You draw on schoolwork."
"...Is that a bad thing?"
"No. It's… different."
Riko tilted her head.
Then gave him a soft smile.
"Different's not so bad."
Outside, the sunlight faded to a soft peach.
Inside, the clubroom filled with a warm quiet.
Neither of them spoke.
Not because there was nothing to say—but because silence was no longer uncomfortable.
Saito found himself watching the soft rise and fall of Riko's shoulders as she hummed to herself again.
She didn't seem bored.
She didn't seem impatient.
She just seemed… okay.
With being here.
With him.
This situation is irrational.
I should be annoyed. Frustrated.
But I'm not.
Eventually, Riko sat up and stretched.
"Alright. If no one finds us in ten minutes, I'm using the emergency broom escape."
"That's not a thing."
"I'll make it a thing."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then—
Click.
The door swung open.
A senior student in a track uniform stood there, blinking in confusion.
"Oh. You two were still in here?"
Riko jumped up. "YES. We've been stuck!"
Saito dusted his hands calmly. "Thank you for unlocking the door."
The senior looked apologetic. "Sorry. I thought this room was empty today."
They both stepped into the hall. The sky outside was already dimming into early twilight.
Riko turned to Saito.
She paused.
Then, with a small grin:
"Thanks for not panicking… Kagami."
He blinked.
Not "Serious-face-kun."
Not "Judgey-kun."
Just his last name.
Soft. Casual. But a little different.
A little more real.
Saito watched her walk ahead, ponytail swinging behind her.
And for some reason—
His chest felt warm again.