Chapter 7
The chair incident reached administration before lunch even ended.
That was exactly why Kiyotaka had done it.
Not out of rage.
Not because Hiro had pushed him too far.
Not because Honami's trembling voice had made something inside him snap.
Kiyotaka had broken the chair because ANHS loved rules, and rules loved physical evidence.
A cracked voice could be ignored. A crying girl could be dismissed as emotional. Missing points could be twisted until the victim looked guilty.
But damaged school property?
That created paperwork.
Paperwork created witnesses.
Witnesses created authority.
Authority forced hidden things into rooms where people had to answer.
By early afternoon, Kiyotaka was sitting inside one of the disciplinary trial rooms with Sae Chabashira standing near the wall behind him, arms crossed and expression unreadable.
Honami sat on the opposite side with Chie Hoshinomiya beside her, though she looked far calmer than anyone expected.
Too calm.
Her hands were folded neatly in her lap. Her eyes were soft on the surface, but something darker sat beneath them now, quiet and watchful.
Hiro sat farther down the table, posture stiff, face pale beneath his anger.
He kept glancing at Honami.
Not with guilt.
With expectation.
Like if he looked at her the right way, she would soften. Like she always had before. Like she would protect him from the consequences of what he had taken from her because she couldn't bear to see anyone hurt.
But Honami only smiled back.
Small.
Sweet.
Empty of mercy.
Hiro looked away first.
Kiyotaka noticed.
So did Sae.
So did Chie.
At the head of the table sat Reiji Kanzaki, student council president and Crown Hearts' polished representative of order. His uniform was immaculate, his expression disciplined, his voice calm enough to sound fair even when he clearly wasn't.
Beside him sat Suzune Horikita, acting as vice president, back straight and gaze sharp as she reviewed the documents in front of her.
The atmosphere was tight.
A perfect little courtroom inside ANHS.
Reiji looked toward Kiyotaka first.
"Ayanokōji Kiyotaka. Before we move to the accusation regarding Class B's savings fund, we need to address the destruction of school property."
Kiyotaka leaned back slightly.
His expression carried that faint, playful calm that made every adult in the room hate how difficult he was to read.
"Of course."
Sae's eyes narrowed.
She already knew he was about to say something irritating.
Reiji folded his hands.
"Several witnesses saw you strike and break a classroom chair during the confrontation. Do you deny this?"
"No."
The answer came easily.
Hiro's lips curled slightly, as if he had found a crack.
Reiji's gaze sharpened. "Then explain your reason."
Kiyotaka looked at the report on the table.
Then at the broken chair photo attached to it.
"I thought it looked fragile."
The room went silent.
Chie blinked.
Suzune slowly lifted her eyes.
Sae closed hers for a moment, as if asking the universe why Class D was like this.
Reiji stared at him.
"...You thought it looked fragile."
"Yes."
"So you punched it."
"To test its durability."
Hiro's face twisted. "That's obviously a lie."
Kiyotaka turned his head toward him.
His smile did not change.
"Is it?"
Hiro clenched his jaw. "Everyone knows why you did it."
"Then everyone can explain it."
No one did.
That was the problem with obvious lies.
Sometimes they were wrapped around something annoyingly valid.
The chair really had broken too easily. A school chair inside ANHS should not crack under a single impact from a student. If the administration treated it as simple violence, they would also be admitting the furniture in a classroom had questionable durability.
Kiyotaka had not made an excuse to be believed.
He had made an excuse that had to be processed.
Suzune looked down at the report again, eyes narrowing.
'He created a procedural inconvenience on purpose.'
Sae glanced at Kiyotaka with faint annoyance.
'This brat broke school property and turned it into a safety inspection.'
Chie pressed her fingers to her forehead.
"Chabashira-sensei, your student is... creative."
Sae replied flatly, "Unfortunately."
Kiyotaka's smile deepened by a fraction.
Hiro saw it then.
The truth.
The chair was never anger.
It was a hook.
Kiyotaka had escalated the situation just enough that the school had to step in, but not enough that he lost control of the board.
Hiro's stomach sank.
Reiji recovered first.
"Even if we accept that claim for now, the main issue remains. Hiro Hayashi has submitted concern regarding irregularities in Class B's savings fund. Honami Ichinose was responsible for managing those points."
Chie's expression cooled.
"Concern? That's a polite word for cornering a student in front of her classmates."
Reiji's eyes remained calm. "The student council must assess the facts."
Sae looked unimpressed. "Then start using some."
Hiro leaned forward.
"I only asked Honami to explain where the points went. If she had nothing to hide, she could have answered."
Honami's smile stayed in place.
Kiyotaka looked at her.
She had not moved.
Not once.
Reiji turned to her. "Ichinose. Do you have an explanation?"
Hiro looked at her again.
This time, he tried the old face.
The gentle one.
The wounded one.
The one that used to make Honami feel like refusing him would be cruel.
His eyes softened with practiced pain.
"Honami... just tell them the truth."
There it was.
The old chain.
A few days ago, it would have worked.
A month ago, she might have broken herself trying to save him.
Now, Honami only tilted her head slightly.
Her smile became colder.
"You want the truth?"
Hiro's expression flickered.
For the first time since the meeting began, his confidence cracked in a way he couldn't hide.
Honami opened her school phone.
The room watched.
She tapped through the private-point records with slow, steady fingers. Chie leaned closer. Suzune's attention sharpened. Reiji's expression remained composed, but his hand stilled on the table.
Honami placed her phone down and turned it toward the room.
"There are transfers," she said softly. "Multiple."
Hiro went pale.
Honami continued, voice gentle enough to sound almost cruel.
"They were sent from Class B's savings reserve to Hiro's registered school number over several months. The reasons he gave me changed each time. Event support. Temporary personal shortage. Emergency networking costs. He said he would return them."
Her smile widened slightly.
"He didn't."
The room froze.
Reiji's eyes moved to the screen.
Suzune leaned in, reading the records carefully. Her face tightened with each line.
Chie's cheerful expression had completely disappeared.
Sae looked at Hiro with open disgust.
Hiro shot up from his seat.
"That's not what happened!"
Honami looked at him.
Not with fear.
Not with sadness.
Like dirt on her shoe had started speaking.
"It is."
The simplicity devastated him more than shouting would have.
His face contorted.
"You said you understood! You said you trusted me!"
"I did."
Honami's voice stayed calm.
"That was my mistake."
Kiyotaka's eyes drifted toward her.
For a moment, his smile softened.
Then Arisu Sakayanagi entered the room.
No knock.
No permission.
Just the quiet sound of the door opening and a cane touching the floor.
Everyone turned.
Arisu walked in with Masumi behind her, Hashimoto and Kito flanking her like the room had been built around her arrival. Her smile was elegant, amused, and thoroughly dangerous.
"Fufufu... what a lively little trial."
Reiji stood immediately.
"Sakayanagi. This is a student council matter. You were not summoned."
Arisu looked at him as if he had said something adorable.
"Was I not?"
The student council sergeant-at-arms moved toward the doorway to block her path.
Hashimoto stepped with her.
Kito did not say anything.
He didn't need to.
The sergeant-at-arms stopped.
Hashimoto smiled lazily. "Careful. Princess doesn't like being crowded."
Reiji's jaw tightened.
"This room is restricted."
Arisu's smile sharpened.
"Restricted? In ANHS?"
She tapped her cane once against the floor.
"My family built more of this school's foundation than most of you will ever understand. I am here right now not as your classmate, Reiji, but as an heir of the Sakayanagi line."
The room cooled.
Even Suzune looked at her more carefully.
Arisu moved to the side of the table, eyes resting briefly on Kiyotaka.
He looked back at her.
Neither spoke.
But Arisu's smile changed for half a second, as if she had just confirmed something delightful.
Then she turned to Hiro.
"Hiro Hayashi."
His expression darkened. "What do you want?"
"To remove an embarrassment from ANHS."
The words landed cleanly.
Hiro stared.
Arisu continued, voice light, almost pleasant.
"Threatening a fellow student with false accusations, misusing class savings entrusted to another person, and weaponizing popularity to silence dissent. How disgraceful."
Reiji's eyes narrowed. "Expulsion is not decided by you."
"No," Arisu said. "But recommendation for expulsion can be initiated by several channels. The student council. Faculty. Administration. Family board review."
Her eyes gleamed.
"And when all of them point in the same direction, the result becomes less of a debate and more of a formality."
Hiro's hands shook.
"You can't do this."
Arisu laughed softly.
"Fufufu... how strange. People who take what isn't theirs always say that when consequences arrive."
Kiyotaka said nothing.
He didn't need to.
The room was eating Hiro alive.
And everyone knew who had dragged him into it.
The chair.
The records.
The witnesses.
The video.
The timing.
Hiro looked toward Honami again, desperation finally breaking through his anger.
"Honami..."
It was the old voice.
The one that used to ask for points.
The one that used to make her feel special.
The one that had made her miserable at the mall, staring at messages until Kiyotaka pulled her away with ice cream and teasing and warmth dark enough to hide inside.
Honami stared at him.
Her smile remained.
But her eyes had no light left for him.
"You should stop using my name like it still belongs to you."
Hiro flinched.
That was the moment he broke.
Not loudly at first.
His face twisted. Shame, fear, fury, all of it rushing up at once.
He looked at Arisu, then saw Kito's silent presence beside her and thought better of it.
So his anger turned toward the softer target.
Honami.
"You-"
He moved too fast for the room to fully react.
But not faster than Kiyotaka.
One second, Hiro was stepping toward Honami.
The next, Kiyotaka was behind him.
His hand caught the back of Hiro's head and forced him down to the floor with cold, controlled precision. Not wild. Not frantic. Just immediate.
The impact was loud enough to end every argument in the room.
Hiro gasped, pinned before his anger could become anything more.
Honami did not flinch.
That, somehow, was more frightening than Kiyotaka moving.
She only looked down at Hiro with the same soft smile.
Like she had finally stopped seeing a prince.
Arisu's laughter drifted through the room.
"Fufufu..."
She tapped her cane once.
"How unfortunate. Assault against a fellow student will now be added to the case for expulsion."
Reiji's face had gone pale with controlled anger.
Suzune stood, eyes sharp, but even she could not deny what had just happened.
Hiro had lunged.
Kiyotaka had stopped him.
In front of witnesses.
Inside a disciplinary trial room.
With evidence already placed on the table.
Sae let out a slow breath.
"Kiyotaka."
He looked at her.
His hand still held Hiro down.
Sae's voice was dry. "Let him go."
Kiyotaka paused as if considering whether Hiro was worth releasing.
Then he stepped back.
Hiro stayed on the floor for a moment, breathing hard, pride scattered around him like broken glass.
Kiyotaka returned to his seat.
His expression was calm again.
Almost bored.
The faint playful smile returned as he looked at the chair report still sitting on the table.
"Does this count as another safety concern?"
Chie stared at him.
Sae pinched the bridge of her nose.
Hashimoto coughed to hide a laugh.
Masumi failed to hide hers.
Arisu smiled like she had just watched art.
"Fufufu... how considerate of you, Kiyotaka-kun."
Honami looked at him.
For the first time since entering the room, something warm flickered through the darkness in her eyes.
Not forgiveness.
Not innocence.
Something deeper.
Kiyotaka had not saved her gently.
He had saved her completely.
Hiro's fall was no longer a rumor.
It was a record.
A proceeding.
A case.
A disgrace.
And as the trial room filled with the quiet weight of consequences, Hiro Hayashi finally understood what had happened.
Kiyotaka had not lost control in Class B.
He had taken control of the entire board.
The broken chair was the first move.
The trial room was the trap.
And Hiro had walked into it wearing a crown made of paper.
The trial room doors closed behind them with a soft click.
That sound felt heavier than it should have.
Honami stood in the hallway beside Kiyotaka, her fingers still loosely wrapped around his injured hand. The handkerchief around his knuckles was hers. She had tied it there herself, and for some reason, every time she looked at it, something warm and dark shifted quietly inside her chest.
Hiro's case had not ended with shouting.
It ended worse.
With evidence.
Point-transfer records. Witness statements. The video from Class B. His attempt to move toward Honami inside the trial room. The kind of things that became official once adults saw them in the right order.
Hiro Hayashi had entered the room as the Golden Prince.
He left as a file waiting for punishment.
Chie Hoshinomiya lingered near the doorway for a moment, her usual playful expression gone. She looked at Honami with worry, then at Kiyotaka with something closer to caution.
"Honami-chan," she said softly, "go rest for today. I'll handle what comes next with the class."
Honami nodded. "Yes, sensei."
Sae Chabashira stepped out behind Kiyotaka, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like she was already regretting being responsible for him.
"Ayanokōji," she said.
Kiyotaka turned slightly. "Yes?"
"Try not to break any more school property under the excuse of safety concerns."
His smile was faint.
"I'll be more selective."
Sae stared at him.
"That wasn't what I meant."
"I know."
Chabashira sighed, then looked at Honami. Her voice became less sharp, though only slightly.
"Ichinose. If anything else happens, report it directly to your homeroom teacher. Don't let students corner you again."
Honami's fingers tightened around Kiyotaka's hand.
"I won't."
The answer was quiet.
Too quiet.
Sae noticed the change in her eyes, but said nothing.
Then a cane tapped against the floor.
Once.
Twice.
Slow and deliberate.
Honami looked toward the end of the hallway.
Arisu Sakayanagi waited there with a gentle smile, her posture elegant and still, as if she had not just helped turn Hiro's downfall into an official proceeding.
Masumi Kamuro stood at her side, arms folded.
Hashimoto leaned nearby with his usual lazy amusement, while Kito remained silent and watchful behind them.
Ai Morishita was also there, staring at the trial room door with mild curiosity, as though she had just watched a machine produce an unexpected but satisfying result.
Arisu's smile softened when her eyes found Kiyotaka.
"Kiyotaka-kun."
Honami's gaze shifted immediately.
The hallway became colder in a way nobody announced.
Masumi glanced at Honami's hand still holding Kiyotaka's.
Hashimoto noticed too, and his eyebrows lifted slightly.
Honami's voice stayed polite.
"You call him by his first name."
Arisu's smile widened by a fraction.
"Of course."
Kiyotaka's expression did not change.
That was the problem.
He did not deny it.
Honami looked at him, then back at Arisu.
"You know each other?"
Arisu tapped her cane once, the sound clean against the hallway floor.
"We do. You could say Kiyotaka-kun and I are childhood friends."
Hashimoto blinked.
"Princess, that's news to me."
Masumi's eyes narrowed. "You never mentioned that."
"I do not mention every treasure I keep," Arisu replied lightly.
Ai tilted her head. "That wording implies possession."
Arisu ignored her with the grace of someone very practiced at ignoring inconvenient truth.
Honami's smile remained.
It was warm on the surface.
Only on the surface.
"Childhood friends," she repeated.
Arisu looked at Kiyotaka, and for the first time since entering the hallway, her expression became something quieter. Not gentle. Not innocent. Something more private.
"We met long ago," she said. "In a place most children would never be allowed to enter."
Kiyotaka's eyes sharpened.
"Arisu."
His voice was calm, but the warning inside it was unmistakable.
Arisu's smile became almost delighted.
"Do not worry. I know where the line is."
Honami noticed that too.
A line.
A secret.
Something old enough that Kiyotaka's playful mask had shifted the moment Arisu touched it.
Her fingers stayed intertwined with his.
"What kind of place?" Honami asked softly.
Arisu's eyes slid toward her.
"The kind that produces unforgettable meetings."
The answer was not an answer.
It still hurt.
Kiyotaka looked between them, silent.
Chabashira, who had not left yet, watched with narrowed eyes. Chie noticed the tension too and wisely decided that whatever was happening was no longer a teacher problem she wanted to touch unless someone started bleeding again.
Arisu moved a little closer.
"I have been waiting for him."
Honami's smile thinned.
"Waiting?"
"Yes." Arisu's eyes shone. "For our game to continue."
Masumi muttered under her breath, "Here we go."
Hashimoto glanced at her. "You know what she means?"
"No, but I know that tone."
Arisu did not look away from Kiyotaka.
"If Kiyotaka-kun defeats me in our battle of wits throughout his time here, then I will accept my place as his fiancée."
The hallway seemed to pause.
Chie's eyebrows shot up.
Chabashira closed her eyes like she wanted to be somewhere else.
Hashimoto stared. "Princess."
Masumi said flatly, "That is not how normal childhood friendships work."
Ai nodded. "Confirmed."
Honami's grip tightened.
Kiyotaka looked at Arisu with a faintly tired expression.
"You're saying that in public?"
"I am stating the terms clearly."
Honami's voice lowered.
"And if you win?"
Arisu turned to her.
The two girls looked at each other.
Both smiling.
Neither warm.
"If I win," Arisu said sweetly, "Kiyotaka-kun must grant me one request."
Honami's eyes darkened.
"What request?"
Arisu did not hesitate.
"For him to become my fiancé."
No one spoke.
For a moment, even the hallway lights felt too bright.
Hashimoto slowly rubbed his face.
"So both endings are marriage."
Ai's gaze drifted upward thoughtfully. "A game with converging outcomes."
Masumi sighed. "It's not a game. It's a trap with ribbons."
Arisu laughed softly.
"Fufufu... how rude. I gave Kiyotaka-kun a route to victory."
Kiyotaka's smile returned faintly.
"That route ends the same way."
"Only if you think marriage to me is a loss."
Honami's smile became frighteningly calm.
"You're very open about wanting him."
Arisu's eyes curved.
"Why hide something obvious?"
The question slid into the air like a needle.
Honami looked at Kiyotaka.
Then at their joined hands.
Then back to Arisu.
"Because some feelings should wait until the other person chooses."
Arisu's smile did not falter.
"And what makes you think I have not been waiting?"
The hallway went quiet again.
This time, something older moved behind Arisu's gaze.
The past.
The first board.
The first defeat.
---
Arisu still remembered the White Room's silence.
Not because it was empty.
Because it was controlled.
Even as a child, she had understood that difference. Empty places were harmless. Controlled places were built by people who believed the world should obey them.
She had wandered away from the adults during one of her father's visits, cane tapping softly against the polished floor. The corridors were too white, too clean, too bright. They made even breathing feel like a recorded action.
Then she found a room.
Inside was a chessboard.
And a boy sitting across from it as if this cold place was the most natural thing in the world.
He looked up when she entered.
No surprise.
No curiosity.
No childish awkwardness.
Just calm eyes.
Too calm.
That irritated her.
At that age, Arisu already knew she was a genius. Not because adults told her so, but because people were slow. Teachers were predictable. Children were boring. Games ended before she had properly begun enjoying them.
She approached the table.
"You play chess?"
"Yes."
"I am Sakayanagi Arisu."
"Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."
She sat across from him with a smile full of pride.
"Then entertain me."
He did.
By destroying her.
Not with cruelty.
Not with dramatic genius.
That would have been easier to hate.
He defeated her quietly, cleanly, without ever looking proud of it.
One game became two.
Two became five.
Each loss cracked something she had believed was unbreakable.
Her pride did not disappear.
It changed shape.
By the time she looked at him across the chessboard again, she understood something that made her heart tremble in a way victory never had.
This boy was not a wall.
He was a door.
And beyond him was a world where even her genius had to kneel before something greater.
She should have hated him.
Instead, she wanted to know everything.
His thoughts.
His limits.
His weaknesses.
His future.
Him.
An absurd image had flickered through her mind back then, too bold and too strange for a child. A future where their names stood together. A child born from minds like theirs, someone who might surpass both parents and prove that genius could be inherited, refined, perfected.
But even then, that imagined future was not the true obsession.
Kiyotaka was.
The boy at the chessboard.
The first defeat she had ever loved.
---
Arisu returned to the present with a soft smile.
Honami had been watching her carefully.
"You're thinking about him," Honami said.
Arisu's eyes gleamed.
"I often do."
Honami's smile turned darker.
"That must be tiring."
"Not at all." Arisu tilted her head. "Obsession becomes elegant when one has patience."
Hashimoto whispered, "Princess, please don't say that like it's normal."
Masumi looked at him. "You're surprised?"
"No, but hearing it out loud still hurts."
Ai murmured, "The emotional pressure in this hallway is increasing."
Chabashira finally spoke, voice dry.
"If this becomes another disciplinary case, I'm leaving."
Kiyotaka glanced at her.
"You can do that?"
"No."
"Unfortunate."
Honami almost laughed.
Almost.
Arisu noticed the almost.
Her eyes moved to Honami's hand again.
"You are holding him quite comfortably, Honami-san."
Honami did not let go.
Instead, her thumb lightly brushed the edge of the handkerchief wrapped around Kiyotaka's knuckles.
"His hand is injured."
"So I see."
"I treated it."
"How intimate."
"How observant."
The two smiles met.
Masumi looked between them and muttered, "This is awful."
Hashimoto nodded. "And fascinating."
Kito remained silent, though his posture suggested he was prepared for the impossible event of a smiling girl war becoming physical.
Kiyotaka looked down at Honami.
"You're still holding my hand."
Honami's expression softened instantly when she looked at him.
"Yes."
"That was not a denial."
"I wasn't denying it."
That answer made Arisu's smile sharpen.
Kiyotaka studied Honami for a moment.
She looked calm.
Too calm.
The girl who once looked like she would apologize for being wounded was now holding his hand in front of Arisu Sakayanagi and refusing to retreat.
Interesting.
Dangerous, perhaps.
But interesting.
Arisu's voice became lighter.
"Do not misunderstand, Honami-san. I have rules. Until Kiyotaka-kun and I settle our game, I will not claim what has not been won."
Honami turned back to her.
"That's very disciplined."
"Thank you."
"I wasn't praising you."
"I accepted it anyway."
Masumi stared. "She's using his style now."
Kiyotaka's smile curved faintly.
Honami noticed and looked almost pleased.
Arisu noticed that too.
For the first time, a thin line of jealousy flickered openly through her eyes.
Not ugly.
Not uncontrolled.
Sharper than that.
Honami's smile became sweet.
Dangerously sweet.
"If you have patience, Arisu-san, then please keep using it."
Hashimoto quietly choked.
Ai looked toward him. "Respiratory issue?"
"No," he whispered. "I just heard a threat wrapped in table manners."
Arisu laughed.
"Fufufu... you are more interesting than I expected."
Honami's eyes darkened.
"And you are more honest than I expected."
"Honesty is a courtesy between rivals."
"Are we rivals?"
Arisu looked at Kiyotaka.
Then at Honami.
Her smile became beautiful and wrong.
"If you keep holding his hand like that, yes."
Honami did not look away.
"Then I suppose we are."
The hallway became silent enough that Chie's nervous laugh sounded too loud when it escaped.
"Well, this is... youthful."
Chabashira stared at her.
"No, it isn't."
Kiyotaka finally moved.
Not away from Honami.
He simply adjusted his fingers slightly, enough to keep the injured hand from being squeezed too tightly.
Honami immediately loosened her hold.
"Sorry."
"You apologized again."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Your hand is injured. Don't use that against me."
"I wasn't."
"You were thinking about it."
Kiyotaka's smile deepened.
Arisu watched them with a calm expression that did not reach her eyes.
"You have changed him quickly."
Honami looked at her.
"I didn't change him."
"No?"
"No." Honami's grip became gentler. "I only saw him when he stood in front of me."
Arisu's eyes sharpened.
That answer, for some reason, mattered.
Kiyotaka glanced toward the corridor leading away from the disciplinary rooms.
"Honami."
"Yes?"
"You said you were tired."
Her face warmed. "I did."
The single word broke some of the tension, though not enough to make the hallway safe.
Honami nodded and stepped with him, still holding his hand.
Arisu watched them begin to leave.
Her smile remained calm.
Too calm.
"Kiyotaka-kun."
He paused.
"You haven't answered whether you'll continue the game."
Kiyotaka looked back at her.
His expression was playful again, but there was darkness beneath it now. The kind that made the hallway feel like a board where every person had become a piece without realizing it.
"I don't remember quitting."
Arisu's lips parted into a delighted smile.
"Fufufu... good."
Honami's fingers tightened for one second.
Kiyotaka felt it.
He did not comment.
As they walked away, Hashimoto let out a slow breath.
"Princess... you sure about this?"
Arisu's gaze followed Kiyotaka's back.
"No."
Masumi looked at her.
That answer had surprised even her.
Arisu's smile softened.
"That is what makes it worth playing."
Ai nodded faintly. "High-risk emotional strategy confirmed."
Masumi sighed. "This school is becoming unbearable."
From farther down the hallway, Honami walked beside Kiyotaka, her hand still threaded with his, her smile warm again but no longer innocent.
Arisu watched until they turned the corner.
Only then did her fingers tighten around her cane.
"Fufufu..."
The laugh was soft.
Beautiful.
Jealous.
And somewhere beneath it, completely mad.
Kiyotaka had finally arrived at ANHS.
The Crown Hearts were already shaking.
Honami had stepped into darkness and found warmth there.
And Arisu Sakayanagi, who had waited years since a chessboard in a white room, had just met the first girl who smiled at her like she might be willing to burn the board before losing him.