Summer break came to a gentle close with the last of the cicadas fading into silence and the city shifting back into motion.
Yuto's parents had flown back to Paris just days before classes resumed. The farewell was simple. Daiki offering a firm nod to Ren and Sora hugging Hina tightly, whispering, "Take care of him now, okay?"
Hina nodded. "I will," she said softly. Then added, "One day, I'll visit you. With Yuto."
Sora smiled, her eyes warm. "We'll be waiting."
Hina and Yuto had slipped back into their campus routine: separate faculties, overlapping schedules, brief lunches under the courtyard trees, occasional library study sessions.
They didn't hold hands in the hallways. They didn't kiss between lectures.
But the closeness, the way they gravitated to each other was impossible to miss. And people had started to notice.
*****
It was a Wednesday afternoon when the question came.
Hina was sitting under a shaded bench in the literature courtyard, flipping through her notes, when her classmate Mio dropped down beside her with a teasing grin.
"So," Mio began casually, "how long are you going to pretend Yuto isn't completely into you?"
Hina blinked. "What?"
Another classmate, Ayaka, joined in from across the table. "We see you two. Always sitting together. Always disappearing after lunch. He even brings you drinks sometimes. And that look on your face when he texts you? Girl, please."
"I—" Hina hesitated, the tips of her ears burning.
Mio leaned in, eyes gleaming. "Just tell us. Are you two dating?"
Hina looked down at her notebook.
Her thumb brushed over the edge of a page before she looked up and smiled. She was shy but not ashamed.
"Yes," she said softly. "We are."
There was a beat of silence before the two girls squealed in unison.
"I knew it!" Mio beamed. "Oh my god, I knew it!"
"I can't believe you kept it secret this long," Ayaka added, practically bouncing. "You two are like… the calmest, most annoyingly attractive couple ever."
Hina laughed, covering her face. "We just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. It's… ours."
Mio reached across and grabbed her hand. "You're seriously lucky. He's so quiet, but the way he looks at you? Ugh. That boy is gone for you."
"I'm gone for him too," Hina whispered, almost to herself.
That evening, Hina met Yuto behind the library courtyard.
"You told them?" he asked, mildly amused.
She nodded. "I did."
He raised a brow. "How did they react?"
"Like I announced we were engaged."
Yuto chuckled, then stepped closer. "And how do you feel?"
She looked up at him, heart steady. "Like I finally felt freedom. It's not that bad to let others to know that we are in a relationship."
Yuto leaned in, brushing a kiss to her forehead. "Good. Because I stopped pretending the moment I kissed you."
They walked back to class side by side, not bothering to hide anymore.
*****
Later that week, Hina sat beneath the familiar sakura tree, reviewing notes with Mio and Ayaka, the two girls still buzzing about her recent confession. And then, from across the courtyard, she felt his gaze.
Yuto was walking toward her from the law faculty building, one hand in his pocket, the other holding an extra drink from the café cart.
But he didn't take his eyes off her, either.
A few girls turned as he passed, whispering behind their hands. One even tried to greet him.
He nodded politely and nothing more and walked right past them, straight to Hina.
"Hina," he said, handing her the drink.
Her eyes widened. "You remembered?"
"Always," he said, soft enough for only her to hear.
Ayaka cleared her throat loudly. "Okay, I see it now."
Yuto raised an eyebrow at the girls, who were grinning like they were watching a drama unfold.
Hina flushed. "Yuto, this is Mio and Ayaka."
He gave a respectful nod. "Thanks for keeping her company."
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he reached out and brushed a strand of Hina's hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering for half a second longer than necessary.
Ayaka made a squeaking sound. Mio kicked her under the bench.
"Are you free after class?" Yuto asked, gaze returning to Hina's.
She nodded. "I'm yours."
He leaned down just slightly and whispered, "You've always been."
Then, with the faintest smirk, he turned and walked off.
Hina was still blinking when she realized her friends were staring at her, mouths open.
Mio slapped her arm lightly. "Girl. What was that?"
"That," Hina said softly, a little dazed, "was Yuto being extra."
"Forget extra," Ayaka mumbled. "That was husband energy."
Hina laughed, cheeks burning. But her heart was warm.