Arashi and Mizuki entered the classroom together. As soon as they stepped inside, Mizuki spoke up clearly, her voice calm but firm.
"Alright everyone, let's head back to our class now. School is about to close."
The entire class turned their attention toward her. After a brief pause, they all responded in agreement. Chairs shifted, bags were picked up, and the quiet classroom slowly filled with the sound of students gathering their belongings.
While everyone was busy, Arashi's eyes searched the room. He soon spotted Ayane. Walking over to her, he spoke in a composed tone.
"Let's go. The others will follow us anyway."
Ayane looked at him for a moment, then nodded without hesitation.
"Okay."
Soon after, Arashi and Ayane began walking at the front, leading the way, while the rest of the class followed behind them. As they walked, a few voices from the back whispered among themselves.
"Why isn't Arashi walking with Mizuki?"
"What's going on?"
Before the questions could turn into misunderstandings, Mizuki answered calmly. She turned slightly toward the class and said that Arashi needed to walk Ayane to the station. From there, Ayane's mother would pick her up. She added that Arashi and Ayane had known each other for a long time.
Of course, this explanation was a lie.
Mizuki said it deliberately—only to make sure no one in the class misunderstood anything or started thinking the wrong way.
After that, Arashi and Ayane put on their shoes and were the first ones to leave the school building. They walked ahead, moving toward the main gate. The school grounds were quiet, the air carrying that familiar end-of-day stillness.
As they were walking along the path toward the gate, someone suddenly stepped in front of them, blocking their way.
Ayane froze for a moment. A slight fear crept into her expression.
"Who is that?" she asked softly.
The boy standing there slowly reached up and removed the mask from his face.
The moment Ayane saw him, her expression changed completely.
It was Ren.
Seeing him left her so stunned, so emotionally shaken, that she didn't even notice when Arashi quietly stepped away from her and walked back to rejoin the class behind them.
After that, Ren stepped forward toward Ayane. His movements were confident, and without holding back, he shouted at the top of his voice—
"Ayane, I love you!"
The shout was so loud that it instantly pulled everyone's attention toward him. Students stopped mid-step. Conversations died out. Even the birds resting in the trees nearby were startled and flew away all at once, wings beating against the air.
Ayane stared at him, completely frozen.
Ren looked straight at her and spoke again, his voice filled with emotion.
"Ayane, I love you so much. You remember what you said, right? You asked me to show you what I could do for you."
He took a breath, then raised his voice once more.
"So, look."
At that moment, Arashi and Mizuki. Without hesitation, they used a lighter to ignite a piece of cloth. The instant the fire caught, something incredible happened.
From all around the school, fireworks rockets shot upward into the sky.
Boom.
Fireworks exploded above them, lighting up the air in bright colors. The sudden display echoed across the school grounds, impossible to ignore.
Then, Arashi and Mizuki pressed a button—one that Ren himself had given them earlier.
As soon as they did, heart-shaped balloons began rising from all directions around the school. They floated upward, filling the space with color and movement, drifting gently beneath the fireworks.
Ayane stood there, completely overwhelmed.
She couldn't understand what was happening. Her mind struggled to process everything at once—Ren's words, the fireworks, the balloons, the attention of everyone around her. She didn't know how to react, or what she was supposed to feel.
Slowly, she looked back at Ren.
And inside her heart, she began to think.
Is all of this real?
Ren… I was only joking back then.
Is this what real love is?
Why would someone do all of this just for me?
Ren, did you really go through so much?
Does Ren truly love me this much?
So many questions flooded her mind—one after another. But despite all of them, she had no answers. Not even one.
After some time, when everything finally settled down and the fireworks faded away, Ren slowly reached into his pocket. He took out a single flower. Then, without hesitation, he kneeled down in front of her.
Looking up at Ayane, he spoke softly but firmly.
"Ayane, I love you."
As he said this, he held out the rose toward her.
The moment his words left his lips, sparkling lights appeared around them, glowing gently in the air. Seeing this, Ayane's eyes filled with tears—but these were not tears of sadness.
They were tears of happiness.
With trembling hands but a sincere smile, Ayane gladly took his hand and accepted the flower. When Ren saw her reaction, a warm smile spread across his face.
Ayane looked at him, smiling through her tears.
Ren smiled back.
He slowly stood up and said, "Thank you, Ayane."
Ayane looked straight at him and replied gently, "No, Ren. Thank you."
After that, Ren turned his gaze toward the school building for a brief moment. Then he looked back at Ayane once more and said—
After that, Ren raised his voice once again—so loud that everyone around could clearly hear him.
"The sun shines, the moon looks fine—
but when I see your smile, I just want to make you mine."
As soon as he said this, he reached into his pockets again. This time, he pulled out many roses—far more than before—and threw them high up into the air.
The roses floated for a moment, suspended in the air. Then, one by one, they began to fall.
When they finally landed, they surrounded Ayane completely, forming a circle around her.
Ren looked at her one last time and said softly but firmly,
"Ayane… I love you."
The moment those words left his mouth, Ren suddenly turned around and started running away. While running, he shouted,
"Everyone, run! Let's get out of here before someone shows up!"
Hearing this, everyone immediately started running as well.
Arashi was running alongside Satoru and Takumi. While still running, Arashi turned his head slightly and shouted to them,
"Take Hina and Miyu with you—and get to my house!"
Takumi and Satoru didn't ask a single question. They simply nodded in understanding and quickly moved toward Hina and Miyu.
After running for quite some time, Arashi finally reached his house. Mizuki was with him the entire way.
Catching his breath, Arashi took a deep inhale, then spoke to Mizuki, his voice uneasy.
"I don't even know if Ayane managed to get out properly or not," he said.
"With the crowd… I couldn't see her at all."
Moments later, Satoru, Takumi, Miyu, and Hina arrived from behind as well.
Takumi placed a hand on Arashi's shoulder, breathing heavily, and said with a tired laugh,
"Ohhh man… I'm exhausted. That was way too much running."
Miyu suddenly leaned forward and collapsed against Mizuki's shoulder, completely drained. In a dramatic, breathless voice, she said,
"Mizuki… I'm going to die. Please save me."
Mizuki gave a small, calm smile and replied casually,
"Nothing's going to happen. Come on, let's go inside."
With that, the group slowly gathered themselves and headed into the house together, leaving the chaos of the day behind them as they stepped indoors.