The classroom had never felt this quiet, this... intense.
Rei Kazama sat motionless, eyes glued to the chalkboard, but his thoughts were somewhere far more chaotic.
He could still feel it.
That accidental brush of Aira's fingers against his hand when they reached for the same pen on the floor. A moment so brief, so tiny—and yet, his heart had reacted like it had been struck by lightning.
He told himself it was nothing. Just a coincidence. Just static electricity.
But his ears were still red.
Aira, on the other hand, was seated diagonally across from him, notebook open, head tilted slightly as she watched the teacher explain a math formula.
But Rei noticed something.
She hadn't written anything for the past five minutes.
And once again—there it was.
That glance.
Aira turned slightly, her bangs swaying, and peeked at him from behind her notebook.
Just for a second.
Then back to the teacher like nothing had happened.
He wasn't imagining it, right?
That was the third time.
No, fourth.
Rei tried to ignore it. He took a deep breath and scribbled something on his notebook. Probably nonsense. His brain wasn't functioning properly anyway.
From the corner of his eye, he saw her hand reach into her bag.
A small piece of folded paper.
His stomach dropped.
She leaned back, stretched slightly, then flicked it toward his desk with ninja-level stealth.
It landed perfectly under his pencil case.
He looked at it like it was a bomb.
A paper bomb of confusion and butterflies.
Should he open it?
What if it wasn't for him?
What if it was something weird?
He waited ten seconds.
Twenty.
Sixty.
Screw it.
He unfolded it slowly, hiding it behind his textbook.
"If I borrow your heart for a bit... would you want it back?"
Rei froze.
What... what kind of romcom line was that?!
His soul nearly left his body.
He looked up, stunned, and Aira was smiling—not at him—but in that cheeky way she always did when she knew she'd won a match no one else noticed was happening.
Rei felt his face heat up again. He quickly grabbed his pen, flipped the paper, and scribbled back.
"...It depends. Would you return it in one piece?"
He waited. Slid the paper back with precision only a top scorer could master.
Aira took it casually, read it under her desk, and—
She giggled.
Audibly.
The teacher turned around with a frown.
"Miss Vellione. Something funny about derivatives?"
Aira immediately sat straight, her expression innocent. "Ah—no, sir! I just... remembered a joke. From earlier."
The class chuckled.
Rei shook his head, smiling despite himself.
She was chaos. Pure, cheerful chaos.
And he was starting to think—
He didn't want to escape it.
---
Closer Than a Confession
The afternoon sun painted golden streaks through the windows of the library, casting a warm hue over the wooden tables and shelves. The silence was comfortable, broken only by the soft turning of pages and the occasional scribble of a pen.
Aira sat across from Rei, her chin resting on her hand, pretending to read the same sentence for the past ten minutes. Her eyes kept drifting to the boy in front of her—stoic, focused, annoyingly unreadable.
"Hey," she whispered.
Rei didn't look up. "What?"
"I'm bored."
"Then go home," he replied flatly, still not glancing her way.
Aira pouted. "But I came here to study with you, y'know. Not to be ignored like a forgotten pen cap."
"You've been staring at me for the last ten minutes. That's not called studying."
She blinked, slightly flushed. "Y-You noticed?"
"Of course I noticed. You sigh every twenty seconds."
Her heart thumped awkwardly. This guy... he's too sharp sometimes.
"Okay, fine," she said, leaning forward a little. "Then talk to me. Anything."
Rei finally raised his eyes, locking gazes with hers. "Why?"
"Because if you don't, I'll start asking dangerous questions."
He blinked once. "Like?"
Aira grinned mischievously. "Like... who was your first crush?"
A small pause.
"I don't remember," Rei answered smoothly.
"Liar."
"I'm not lying. I really don't."
"Then…" She tilted her head, brushing her hair aside. "What about your current crush?"
Rei held her gaze for a little too long.
And that was all it took.
Aira's heart did a backflip. Her throat tightened. Wait—was that... a pause? Did he just...?
The tension in the air thickened.
But Rei casually returned to his notes. "You ask too many questions."
"Ughh, you're impossible!"
She flopped down on the table, face buried in her arms.
"…But cute," Rei mumbled, almost inaudibly.
Her head shot up. "What did you just say?!"
"Nothing," he said, flipping a page.
"No. I heard that!"
"I said nothing."
"You said I'm cute!"
"No, I said you're impossible."
"You liar!"
"I'm not," Rei said, but his ears were suspiciously red.
Aira leaned in, eyes narrowed. "Say it again."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"I'll treat you to strawberry parfait!"
Rei paused. "Tempting."
"Then?"
He glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You already know what I think. Why do you want to hear it again?"
"…Because it feels nice when you say it."
That silenced him.
The air between them was fragile, like the last few moments before a firework explodes. No one said anything for a full ten seconds.
Then, quietly, Rei spoke.
"You're cute."
Aira covered her mouth.
"…S-Stop… saying it so casually like it's a math answer."
He smirked. "I meant it."
For once, Aira couldn't find a witty reply. She just smiled, heart racing.
Their eyes met again, softer this time. A calm kind of chaos.
And for a brief moment, the library disappeared—the books, the world, the noise—until it was just the two of them in their own quiet confession.
But no words were needed now.
Because some hearts don't need to be confessed.
They're just… slowly stolen.
---