“If you dare spill Xiao Yun’s secret, I won’t let you off, Mai~”

“I won’t say a word. You too—zip it.”

“I’ve known this secret for ages. I knew before you even met Xiao Yun~”

“...That’s not the point. I know now, so I’ll sweep her off her feet in style~”

“Oh? You think you can? Above Xiao Yun, Mizuki’s still standing in the way~”

“Heh, that’s nothing. Give me time, and I’ll have Yun Shi lying obediently beneath me~”

“Wrong. Under me.”

“Nope. Under me.”

“Hey, why are you making me sound like the bottom...” Yun Shi grits his teeth, choking on the mood like bitter tea. What a joke—how could a man be the bottom!

“Shut up!” x2

Two voices crack in perfect sync, like twin lashes slashing the air. Yun Shi shivers on reflex.

What did I even do this time.

The two girls face off, eyes flashing like drawn blades. The air crackles and pops like dry thunder. Yun Shi feels he’s wandered into a war zone.

Ever since that explanation, they’ve clung to the kitchen like barnacles. Hostile glances flicker back and forth, like fireflies trading sparks.

He’s inexplicably a little happy, yet more headache than joy. It’s nice to be liked by so many girls. But... if they’re fighting over the same person, that’s trouble.

With no way out, Yun Shi sighs and drops it. He turns back to finish the half-made dishes, letting the storm rage behind him.

Dinner comes together fast. As the plates land, chopsticks strike like rain. Sham, who’d been locking horns with Mai, instantly reins it in and devours the food like a hungry wolf.

“Delicious!” x4

Except for Sham and Yun Shi, it’s everyone’s first taste. Awe slips out before they can stop it.

“Such simple dishes, yet they don’t lose to a high-end restaurant... Yun Shi-kun, you’re amazing!” Mizuki says, admiration shining like sunlight on water.

“So you’re this good at it too...”

“So impressive, Yun Shi...”

“This is so good. Uh—let’s just call you Yun Shi. If you were a girl, boys would confess in droves.”

Each girl at the table speaks in her own color, yet every word is praise. Even proud-as-a-banner Yun Shi can’t help showing a small smile.

He watches Sham eat like a gale. He sees Mizuki study the dishes with a serious face, like a scholar trying to steal a recipe. He catches Mizuki—no, the other Mizuki—staring, stunned, like a deer in snowfall. He notes Mai’s eyes narrowed into crescents. He hears Yan Er clicking her tongue between bites, like a percussionist keeping time. Without knowing why, Yun Shi finds himself spellbound.

It feels like a home, somehow.

He shakes his head, shooing the thought like a bird from a window. He doesn’t believe he’s found what he wants yet. That longed-for family. Those longed-for people. That longed-for salvation...

“Everyone, there’s something I want to say.”

Suddenly, Mizuki speaks. The lively table goes quiet in a heartbeat, eyes turning to her like sunflowers to light.

She smiles, but holds her words, gaze warm and blazing, as if trying to etch this scene into memory. The air grows strange. Sham’s hand tightens, knuckles white. She feels the rhythm slip off beat.

A moment later, Mizuki sighs softly. “Not long from now, I’m getting engaged. This might be our last time together.”

...

Silence drops like snow. Every face lifts a look of disbelief, staring at Mizuki as if she’d turned to glass.

Mizuki is getting married? So that means...

“Mizuki, you said you had a fiancé. Don’t tell me it’s...”

Sham forces herself calm. She touches her chest, voice steadied like a hand on the tiller, yet urgency leaks through like steam.

“Father wants me to go to a match meeting this weekend. The man is the one who made an engagement with me years ago. We’ve never met. We don’t know each other. But his family background runs deep, deeper than mine. We’re not on the same level.”

She doesn’t answer directly. She lays out the roots with a cool voice.

“Because his family is that powerful, Father has no right to refuse. I don’t, either. I’ll go this weekend, then the engagement will come soon after. And then I’ll have to transfer schools.”

...

The heavy mood thickens like storm clouds. No one dares say too much.

“I’m so glad I met all of you. Being with you made me happy. You’re irreplaceable friends, aren’t you... I’ll be lonely, but we’ll still have chances to meet. So today, I don’t want regrets.”

Mizuki wipes the corner of her eye, smile brimming like a tear-lit flower. The sadness doesn’t erase the beauty; it preserves it, like a pressed petal.

She’s a well-bred lady. If fate wrote this, it isn’t strange. She doesn’t hate the idea of being with someone not of her choosing. She just can’t bear to leave her friends.

They haven’t been together long. A month at most. But that month wove a bond she can’t cut. The time is short, yet the feeling runs deep as roots. Mizuki really loves everyone. She loves how different they are, yet all are kind.

No one speaks. They know it’s Mizuki’s matter. They have no right to interfere.

But...

“No. No!”

Only one voice. Mizuki—the other one—slaps the table and stands, and that single motion turns every gaze toward her like swiveling lanterns.

“That’s not it. Mizuki, you don’t even like this match. So why go!”

“Mizuki-chan...”

“Refuse it. You told us because you want to push back. You’re asking us for help, aren’t you!”

Mizuki’s hand rests over her heart. Her voice turns serious, iron under silk. The resolve on her face startles the room. The honest, easygoing Mizuki breaks pattern today and speaks like a bell.

Miyuki Kiseki—she’s starting to change.

Yun Shi watches this Mizuki and feels it in his bones. She’s fated to stir a storm in the world he lives in.

“Mizuki...”

Sham rises. A smile has crept onto her face at some point. She laughs softly. “You’re right. I was naive enough to think we couldn’t step in. I almost forgot what I am.”

“Sham-chan...”

“Mizuki, I forbid you to say you’re leaving. If we’re friends, then listen up. You have people you can rely on. If you can’t carry it, we’ll carry it with you!”

In the next beat, seriousness replaces her smile like dawn replacing night.

Miyuki Kiseki is scary in the best way. She only raises the flag, and the whole room catches the wind. That’s the pull of her character.

“That’s right. Handing Mizuki-chan to some stranger? Not on my watch~”

“Though I’m not close with Mizuki, please let me help.”

Mai and Yan Er stand at the same time. They trade a smile, then turn and speak their lines like actors hitting cue.

“Mai-chan, Yan Er-chan, you two... why...”

Mizuki covers her mouth. The tears won’t stop; they spill like a spring, wetting her cheeks in moments.

No one truly knows Mizuki’s heart. She doesn’t want to leave her friends. She doesn’t want to leave this place. She even braced herself to be misunderstood. Yet one short sentence from Mizuki set everyone in motion.

To say she isn’t moved would be a lie. Mizuki longed for help, for a way to stay. She still wants Rakuyoku High School. She still wants to be with her friends.

“Mizuki, if you go, I won’t get to eat your cooking. I’ll be all out of sorts.”

Sham walks to her gently, smiling as she pats Mizuki’s head. Her voice pours warm as tea.

“Sham-chan... thank you. Everyone...”

“Please. Help me... I don’t want to leave...”

Mizuki’s nature is soft. This kind of storm easily breaks her bough. A little genuine feeling moves her like rain on drought.

“You don’t have to ask. I’d do it anyway. We’re best friends.”

Sham hugs Mizuki, tucking her head to her chest. She strokes her nape, touch steady as tide.

Only Yun Shi hasn’t spoken. He’s sat through it all, silent as stone. Seeing this, Mizuki smiles, steps forward, and offers her hand.

“Yun Shi.”

Her voice is soft as velvet. The offered hand hovers before him, an invitation in the shape of a pale jade palm.

Yun Shi studies that hand and flinches, just a little. He slaps his own hand to it, awkward, and stands.

“Tsk. Damn it...”

I’ll help. Just this once.

Because I owe her.

“Thank you.” Mizuki lowers her head slightly, her smile like dawn.

“I don’t want your thanks.”

Yun Shi won’t accept it. He pulls his hand back and ignores her.

“Uu...”

Mizuki’s muffled sob rises like a flute behind rain. For the first time, she feels how many reliable people stand at her side. Each is a crucial friend. Each a bond money can’t buy.