"Ring ring ring ring ring…"
The dismissal bell rang. Saiki slowly packed his bag while secretly glancing sideways.
Gulp
Kitagawa Marin swallowed hard. At that moment, she gripped her bag tightly with both hands and stared fixedly at Saiki.
Kitagawa Marin [I can't drag this out any longer. Whether I live or die, the moment Saiki leaves alone, I have to stop him and take him behind the grove to talk things through properly.]
(You still haven't given up? Seriously, spare me already!)
Saiki was truly impressed by this person. She had spent the entire day tailing him relentlessly, just waiting for a chance to help him, make him owe her a favor, and then make her request.
But…
After failing all day and still not giving up — he had to admit, even Saiki was starting to admire her persistence.
Saiki placed the last book into his bag, zipped it shut, and calmly looked toward the door.
Then he stood up and left. Kitagawa Marin sneaked along behind him.
Saiki had already noticed the person following and pretended not to see or care, continuing to walk. After a while in the corridor, he suddenly stopped.
Kitagawa Marin immediately ducked behind a door.
Saiki sped up his pace. Kitagawa Marin sped up to follow. Finally, Saiki slammed on the brakes and whipped around.
Kitagawa Marin instinctively hid. Seeing no better spot left or right, she turned her head, whistled casually, and pretended to admire the bulletin board.
Kitagawa Marin [Could Saiki have figured something out? Does he know I'm following him? I was hiding so well though.]
(Where was it well hidden?!)
Saiki suddenly broke into a sprint.
"Uh oh, wait!"
Kitagawa Marin hurried to keep up. If nothing else, her stamina was pretty good.
Seeing her still following, Saiki thought left and right and headed up toward the rooftop.
At his maintained speed, Saiki reached the top floor and saw a sign that read: "Rooftop railing is loose. Students prohibited from entering."
Bang
Saiki completely ignored it and kicked the door open. After leaving a glimpse of his figure for the pursuing Kitagawa Marin, he used teleportation and returned straight home.
"How is that possible? Did I mistake him for someone else?"
By the time Kitagawa Marin reached the top, Saiki was already gone. Only one male student remained, leaning against the railing — clearly startled by the door suddenly flying open.
The boy's center of gravity shifted toward the railing and then…
Crack — the railing broke.
The boy fell forward due to momentum. In the last emergency moment, his survival instinct made him grab the edge of the rooftop, but the situation was dire. All his strength was concentrated in his hands. He didn't dare look down.
"Bad!"
Kitagawa Marin rushed over and grabbed the falling boy's hand.
"Help!"
Cold sweat poured down the boy's face. He was terrified.
"Hold on, classmate! Can you… climb up?"
Kitagawa Marin gritted her teeth and held on. She felt her strength fading; she couldn't pull him up completely.
The boy clung tightly to Kitagawa Marin's hand and tried to pull himself up, but because someone was holding him, he instinctively looked down for a second — and his grip loosened even more.
"No, no way! I have acrophobia! My whole body's gone limp right now!"
"You have a fear of heights and you still came up here?!"
"Sorry! I won't do it again, waaah~"
The boy deeply regretted everything now. Why had he come up here? Why had he ignored the warning sign?
But no amount of regret would help now.
"Damn it, push!"
Kitagawa Marin clenched her teeth, veins bulging, and used every ounce of strength in her body to slowly pull the nearly falling classmate back up bit by bit.
"Huff! Th… thank you, classmate!"
After being pulled up, the boy knelt on the ground. Before he could finish thanking her, Kitagawa Marin — exhausted and caught by a gust of wind — instinctively stumbled toward the broken gap in the railing.
"Classmate!!"
The boy turned and saw the scene. He reached out to grab her, but his body was still weak and trembling. He could only watch.
Kitagawa Marin [Oh no… I'm out of strength]
[Yare yare]
A gust of wind passed. From behind, Saiki reached out, wrapped his arms around Kitagawa Marin's waist and arm, and pulled her back.
"Saiki-kun"
[She almost got herself killed just to save someone.]
Saiki brought Kitagawa Marin to a spot farther from the railing and leaned her against the wall.
[You okay?]
"Huff~ Thank you, Saiki-kun. That was really dangerous!"
Kitagawa Marin still had cold sweat on her face. She never imagined that going all out like that would leave her completely drained.
"Classmate, thank you. I'm really, really sorry."
The rescued boy kept apologizing and thanking her nonstop from the side.
Kitagawa Marin spoke sternly and righteously. "It's fine, but next time don't stand there, okay? It's way too dangerous. They clearly said no one's allowed up here — read the signs properly."
(You're not really qualified to say that… though neither am I.)
"Yes, I'm really sorry."
(Thanks to Kitagawa, the teleport cooldown is three minutes. When I used clairvoyance earlier and saw the situation, it was seriously critical.)
"…"
After the boy left, only Saiki and Kitagawa Marin remained on the rooftop.
Kitagawa Marin suddenly went quiet.
"Um, Saiki-kun, weren't you ahead of me coming up here? How come I didn't see you earlier?"
[What are you talking about? I don't know. I only came up afterward and saw you two almost falling.]
Saiki turned his head away, lying without the slightest guilt.
"I… I see."
Kitagawa Marin [So I really did see wrong? Sigh~ In the end, forget about helping Saiki-kun — I just caused him trouble and made him come save me.]
(How should I put this? It seems like I was the one who came up first, kicked the door open, and scared that guy, which started this whole chain of events. Maybe I should find a chance to apologize properly.)
Looking at Kitagawa Marin's expression — wanting to speak but holding back, clearly troubled — Saiki spoke first.
[So go ahead and say it. You've been looking for me all day, right? Following me around.]
"Ah, was it that obvious? When did you notice?"
[Pretty much from the start.]
Kitagawa Marin was startled. Although she had some guesses deep down, she never thought Saiki had noticed right from the beginning.
"That's right. There is something I want to ask you for."
Kitagawa Marin stood up, took a deep breath, and looked straight at Saiki with bright, determined eyes. Then she looked up as if remembering something and spoke as though entering a daydream.
"Saiki-kun, do you know why I went to the sewing room — the Handicraft Club — yesterday?"
[I feel like anyone with eyes should be able to figure it out. Unless they're completely abnormal, anyone would know that going to the sewing room Handicraft Club means making clothes — it's not like you went there for tea.]
Saiki looked at Kitagawa Marin, who was still lost in her own lamentation.
[So… can you get to the point?]
"…"