Albert stiffened. He could feel the warmth radiating through his sleeve.
She does this so naturally. No hesitation. No awkwardness. She clings to me like I'm a plush toy she's held a thousand times. Does she have any idea that she is burning me alive? Every second of this contact is a memory I will have to surgically remove later. She just fell into Leo's arms ten minutes ago with a look of pure, terrified romance—a chemical reaction I could feel from ten feet away. But with me? She hugs my arm like I'm a body pillow. It's not romantic; it's safe. And that hurts worse. It means she doesn't even see me as a man who could misunderstand. She trusts me so much it feels like an insult. If I pull away, I hurt her feelings. If I stay, I destroy my own sanity. It's the worst kind of trap: a warm one.
"I didn't drag you," Albert corrected, keeping his arm rigid, terrified that if he relaxed, he might lean back into her. "You followed me."
"Details!" Maya laughed. It sounded almost genuine.
The sun had fully set, replaced by the soft hum of streetlights flickering to life.
"My stomach is growling," Maya mumbled as she pressed her face against Albert's sleeve. "We missed the parfait."
Albert sighed. He spotted a small, lit-up stall near the park entrance. Steam was rising into the cool evening air.
"Taiyaki," Albert said. "Custard cream. I'm buying."
Maya's head snapped up. "You're the best!"
Three minutes later, they were walking again. Maya held a warm, fish-shaped pastry in one hand and a bottle of milk tea in the other. She wasn't clinging to his arm anymore, but she was walking close—shoulder-brushing close. She took a bite of the taiyaki, steam curling from her lips.
"Hot! But so good!"
She beamed, breaking off the tail end.
"Here. The tail has the most filling. It's the best part."
She held it up to Albert's mouth.
Albert froze. "Maya, I can use my hands—"
"Your hands are in your pockets. Just eat it! Ahh."
She insisted. Albert opened his mouth and took the bite. Sweet custard and warm pastry filled his mouth. Maya smiled, satisfied, and went back to eating her half.
They walked past a group of elderly women sitting on a bench. The women watched them pass—a boy and a girl, sharing food, walking close in the evening light.
"Oh, to be young," one woman whispered loud enough to hear.
"Such a cute couple," another agreed. "Look how he matches her pace."
Albert looked down at the pavement.
Stop. Don't say that. Don't validate the glitch. To the world, that's what we are. A data set: Boy plus Girl plus Shared Food equals Couple. They see the surface geometry and assume the bond exists. For this one minute, in the eyes of these strangers, I am the protagonist—the one she chose. It's a hallucination. A dream sequence. It feels so real I could drown in it. Walking beside her, sharing her food, listening to her hum... it's everything I ever calculated I wanted.
He glanced at Maya. She was licking a bit of custard off her thumb, completely at ease. Completely unaware that she was breaking his heart.
I wish this street would stretch on forever. I wish we never reached her house. But I also wish this would end right now because every second of this 'date' is just a reminder of what I'll never have. She's comfortable with me because I'm Albert. I'm the furniture and the safety net. If only she looked at me with that terrified, electric panic she gave Leo. If only I was the one who made her heart race. If only I was the danger, and not the shelter.
"Albert?" Maya asked, swallowing her bite. "You're doing the 'Silent Mode' again. Is the custard too sweet?"
"No," Albert whispered as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's perfect."
Then Albert changed the topic.
"Leo is cool, though," Albert said suddenly.
He needed to do this. If he couldn't leave them, he could at least push them together.
"He handled that fall back there perfectly and caught you so you didn't hit the bike rack."
Maya blushed. "He... yeah. He has good reflexes."
"You'd be safer if he was walking you home," Albert said while staring straight ahead. "He's an athlete. He has muscles. If a bad guy showed up, Leo could fight them off. With me... well, I'd probably just calculate the probability of us getting mugged."
He meant it as a self-deprecating joke. A way to say, 'He is the hero, I am the sidekick. Choose him.'
Maya stopped walking. Albert stopped a few steps ahead and turned around. Maya was looking at him, her expression serious.
"That's true," she said. "Leo is strong."
She stepped closer to Albert. "But I feel safe when you are my escort too, Albert."
Albert blinked. "Why? I can't fight."
"Because in my eyes, you are the smartest person–my Oracle," Maya said firmly. She pointed at his head.
"If Leo has muscles, you have brains. Do you remember the blackout during the Storm in 4th grade?"
Albert paused, the memory surfacing. "The one where the power lines went down?"
"Yeah," Maya nodded, a soft, nostalgic smile touching her lips. "We were all stuck in the gym. It was pitch black and the thunder was shaking the windows. Leo was panicking. He was running around trying to find flashlights and ended up tripping over a bench. He was trying so hard to 'do something' that he just made it scarier."
Maya took another step closer, looking up into Albert's eyes.
"But you... you didn't run. You just sat next to me in the dark. You held my hand and started counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder."
Maya mimicked Albert's calm, childhood voice. "One... two... three... See, Maya? The gap is getting longer. The storm is moving away at 300 meters per second. It can't hurt us."
Maya laughed softly, but her eyes were shimmering. "You made me feel safe with math, Albert. While Leo was fighting the dark, you explained it so I wouldn't be afraid of it. That's why I trust you. Strategies are better than physical strength, right?"
Albert stared at her. The specific detail—the counting, the logic used as a shield—hit him harder than any generic compliment.
Don't. Don't bring up memories like that. Don't tell me I have value. Don't tell me I can protect you. It makes it impossible for me to leave. If you look at me like that... remembering the version of me that was a cool guy instead of a burden... how am I supposed to let you go?
"I guess," Albert muttered, looking away to hide the heat rising in his cheeks. "I was just a geeky kid counting seconds."
"You were my hero," Maya proudly said.
"It's not a big deal," Albert said.
"I can never thank you enough for recovering the Sapphire Ring and the Deleted Class History Movie," Maya whispered to herself.
"Did you say something?" Albert asked.
"I'm recalling old memories. Let's keep moving," Maya commanded.
Total calculation failure. I pulled the emergency brake and walked away. I gave them the perfect stage—the sunset, the accidental fall, the silence. The variable 'Albert' was removed so the equation could finally balance but I underestimated the cruelty of her loyalty. She didn't stay with the Prince. Instead, she chased the extra down just to tell him he's a hero. Does she have any idea how much that destroys me? If she had ignored me, I could have finally severed the tie. If she had stayed with Leo, I could have started the process of forgetting her. But this? This soft, unwavering kindness? It's a death sentence. It binds me here. It forces me to stay in this purgatory where I am loved enough to be kept, but never loved enough to be chosen. I tried to save them from the burden of me, but she just locked the shackles tighter and thanked me for it. I didn't fix the glitch. I just confirmed that I am the curse that will never let them be happy.
---
Location: Maya's House
They stood in front of the Tachibana gate.
"We're here," Albert said.
"Yeah."
Maya didn't open the gate immediately. She stood there, fidgeting with her bag.
Albert turned to leave. "See you tomorrow."
He took a step.
Tug.
He stopped.
Maya had reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his uniform. Just the tip of the fabric, holding it between her thumb and index finger.
It was a tiny gesture but it anchored him to the spot.
He turned back.
Maya looked up at him. The bright streetlight reflected in her large, brown eyes.
"See you tomorrow, Albert," she whispered. She squeezed the fabric for a second, then let go.
"Thanks for walking me home. Really."
"It was nothing," Albert said. He waited until she went inside and the gate clicked shut.
Only then did he let his shoulders slump.
He turned and walked toward his own empty house, the ghost of Maya's touch still burning on his sleeve.
---
Endnote of Chapter 34
Maya's guard is down when she is with Albert, mostly because she doesn't see him as a man.
-
Logic Engine Log of Chapter 34
Constants:
*Oracle
*Storm in 4th Grade
*Hero
*Sapphire Ring
*Deleted Class History Movie