The last bell had rung.
The sun had started turning gold.
And the classroom was almost empty.
Almost.
I was still at my desk, stuffing my notebooks into my bag while my charger cable did its usual thing: mysteriously vanish somewhere in the depths of my backpack.
Across from me, Zay leaned back in his chair with that effortless silence, while Ryusuke argued with Kiro about whether blue or green soda was "superior as a life philosophy."
"Green tastes like regret," Kiro said flatly.
"You taste like regret," Ryu shot back.
And just as I finally got my bag zipped—
Click-click.
The sound of polished school shoes and way-too-high confidence.
Here we go again.
The blonde girl from earlier entered, flanked by her two loyal orbiters. Again. Right after school. Like clockwork. Straight toward Zay.
She didn't even glance at me this time—straight for him like I was part of the furniture.
"We're going to the new café," she said sweetly, resting her arm on Zay's desk without permission. "You're coming, right?"
Zay didn't move. "No."
Blonde blinked. "No? That's it?"
"Do you want a paragraph?" he asked, not even opening his eyes.
Ryusuke choked on a laugh.
Curly-hair girl turned to him. "Ryu~you're invited too."
"Nope," he said around a mouthful of gum he'd mysteriously acquired. "I don't do lattes with hostility in the air."
The soft-spoken one, eyeing Kiro: "You never go anywhere with us."
"I don't go anywhere with anyone," Kiro replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
I was just quietly pulling on my jacket when Blonde finally turned to me—oh no, wait, she looked past me.
"Nakahara," she said, voice like fake syrup. "Still here?"
"Still a student here," I replied, without turning. "Shocking, I know."
She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
"You're always… hovering near them, huh?"
"They sit next to me," I said. "Gravity does the rest."
Ryusuke let out a sharp "Pft."
Zay's voice finally cut in, low and calm. "You done yet?"
Blonde's mouth twitched. "Why do you always talk like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're tolerating us."
Zay opened his eyes.
"Because I am."
Dead silence.
Even the hallway outside seemed to freeze.
Blonde stared, her eyes flicking briefly toward me like I had something to do with it—which, I didn't. I was just here, okay?
Then she straightened, flipped her hair, and turned away.
"Let's go," she snapped to her friends. "Waste of time."
As the three of them exited in a dramatic cloud of perfume and indignation, the room finally breathed again.
Ryu exhaled like he'd been holding in a laugh the entire time.
"Man," he said, wiping an invisible tear, "you need to teach me how to shut people down like that."
Kiro grabbed his bag. "It's called being Zay."
Zay stood, stretched, and finally turned to me.
"You walking?"
"Uh, yeah," I said, caught off guard. "Right now."
He nodded once, not saying another word, then shoved his hands in his pockets and headed out the door.
Ryu gave me a two-finger salute. "Later, Nakahara~"
Kiro nodded too, quiet as always.
And just like that, the 'Angels' left the room—with me trailing behind, wondering how the most chaotic school year of my life somehow still felt… normal.
Kind of.