you was completely getting carried away. Ever since April, when they ended up in the same class as Nagi, they'd fallen for him and had been gradually closing the distance. Even their LINE chats had become a nightly thing. His replies were a bit curt, but still, it made them happy. Lately, people around them had even been asking, "Are you two going out?" every now and then.

And so, they ended up asking him. "Is there someone you like?" Uncharacteristically, they pressed send, harboring a faint hope that it might be them.

you was overjoyed. But they didn't have the courage to name themselves. And then, it suddenly came back to them. The sight of Nagi and Ayana coming down to the entrance together after school one day. It was only once. But for you, who had always been watching Nagi, it now stuck in their mind. Ayana is charming. Her blunt remarks can be painfully sharp sometimes, but she's also smart and honest. She's not someone they can compete with. Praying it wasn't Ayana, they played the first of their three cards.