Kitagawa Ryo had fantasized about his first kiss with Karuizawa Kei countless times—perhaps during a moonlit walk on a university campus, or beneath the grand bloom of fireworks. He was, after all, a boy who yearned for love. In his mind, romance was the fragrance lingering in a girl's long hair and dress, the warmth of two hands intertwined while strolling beneath a canopy of trees, exchanging whispered secrets forehead to forehead... Anything but this.
When Karuizawa Kei leaned in, Ryo felt a deep-rooted fear alongside a wave of pity surging from his heart. There was no emotional buildup—his lips were dry—yet she desperately leaned closer, as if trying to moisten his parched lips with her own.
That familiar taste of blood returned.
Tears spilled from Kei's face onto Ryo's cheek. Her mouth curled into something resembling a smile.
The mewing of Hotaru, the cat, finally snapped Ryo out of his daze. He raised his hand and gently pushed Kei away. The warmth from her bath had dissipated, yet his cheeks remained flushed from the kiss, and her scent clung to his skin.
"..."
Ryo took a deep breath and wiped his lips, only to find a distinct smear of blood on the back of his hand.
Neither of them spoke.
Time seemed to stall—only the sound of their shallow breaths filled the space between them like a thick, suffocating wall.
"I'll get you a cotton swab."
Ryo noticed Kei's lips were still bleeding. His words were calm, but it only made Kei more anxious.
She nodded slowly, forcing a small smile.
"While you were showering, I asked Izaki-san. He said he's not sleeping here tonight. He went out to visit an old friend."
Kei swallowed hard, the sound loud in her throat. Then she heard herself speak—though her voice felt distant, like a stranger was dubbing it behind her.
"Ryo... what do you mean?"
She sensed she was grasping for something, realizing Ryo's demeanor had changed.
"I'll sleep in the next room. I think it's best if you sleep here alone tonight."
Ryo found the cotton swabs and antiseptic, walked over to her, and spoke in a tone so serious it bordered on foreign.
Their eyes met—and his gaze was identical to the one Horikita Suzune had given her earlier that day.
"Sit down. I'll treat your wound."
He pressed on her shoulder until she sat back on the sofa, then sat beside her, tearing open the cotton swabs.
An indistinct fear settled over Kei. She turned her head just as Ryo extended a swab soaked in iodine.
"Don't move."
Each of his words felt like a meteor striking her core, blocking her breath and silencing her voice.
She complied stiffly, like a puppet. Ryo's touch was gentle, as always.
"Does it hurt? Bear with it."
Kei sat there, speechless, while memories of the past ten years surged forth. No matter how she'd deceived herself, their relationship had always been uneven.
She had accepted his kindness, his gifts, his warmth—all without fear, without guilt. It had become second nature. In hindsight, what had once been taken for granted now revealed itself as selfish consumption.
She had once consoled herself with the lie that being with him was enough—that her presence alone was a form of comfort for his loneliness. But now...
Ryo finished treating her wound and stood up without a glance back. He placed the remaining supplies on the most visible spot on the table—next to the rose.
"Get some sleep. It's late."
As he closed the door behind him, Kei was turned away, trying to put the rose back into its vase.
From behind, she looked more fragile than ever.
"Mm."
Kei suddenly noticed her right hand was trembling, making it impossible to fit the rose back in place.
Her voice shook.
"I understand."
"Good night."
"Good night."
Then came the soft thud of the door closing and the fading echo of his footsteps.
-------------------------------------
"So you're telling me this is the reason you dragged me out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
Horikita Suzune, dressed in a light charcoal outfit, looked at the heap of fried chicken before her with a hint of disdain, carefully placing a small sundae in front of herself.
"And why is it a fast-food chicken joint of all places?"
"Because this is the only 24-hour place near your place. As for bars? I don't think they'd let us in."
Kitagawa Ryo took a bite of grilled wing with obvious frustration. It was nearing midnight.
"Do you know this kind of thing totally messes up my routine?"
Even Horikita wasn't sure why she had changed out of her pajamas to come meet him at this fast-food place the moment she got his message. And for the past half hour, she had listened to his muddled, incomplete, and logic-deficient complaints.
"Isn't it because you went to see Kei today?"
Without even wiping his hand, Kitagawa downed a large gulp of iced cola. He was clearly in a mentally unhinged, self-abandoning state. His terrible table manners made Horikita frown deeply.
"I already heard from the front desk. You and Kei talked for nearly two hours this morning."
"And it was after that that she turned out the way she is now."
Horikita nonchalantly scooped up her sundae and replied to Ryo's accusation without missing a beat.
"I didn't say anything wrong. I did nothing wrong either."
"Then why couldn't you be a little more gentle or subtle about it?"
"Because being direct is usually more effective."
"...No wonder you don't have any friends."
Hearing that, Horikita actually let out a soft chuckle. Maybe because Ryo hadn't seen her smile in the past few days, he looked genuinely surprised.
"Didn't you just declare this morning that we were going to be friends? Or wait, you called it some kind of training relationship?"
She gave him a teasing smile, licking a ring of ice cream from her lips as if she had found a perfect opportunity to trap him.
"Forgot already?"
"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have waited there this morning just to talk to Karuizawa."
Ryo gave her an exasperated look, even abandoning the half-eaten chicken wing in his hand.
"Horikita, that's not how you help a friend."
"I just thought you two were bound to clash sooner or later, and what I said was simply the truth."
"If you'd hold back on your 'truths' a little, maybe you'd actually make some friends."
"Friends? One or two is plenty. More than that's useless."
Her eyes dropped slightly. Compared to her previous firm stance that she needed no friends, she had at least softened a bit. Three days ago, she probably would've hit Ryo with one of her strange theories again.
"Horikita."
Ryo, who hadn't finished even his shrimp dumplings earlier due to lack of appetite, now seemed to have a bit more of one.
"You've never been in a relationship, have you?"
"Of course not."
She shot him a cold look like he was an idiot.
"That's why you think being alone is fine—because you've never liked anyone or wanted to be with someone, hahaha."
Ryo started laughing. First it was genuinely amused, then turned bitter.
"Maybe you're right after all about staying distant from people."
Horikita couldn't understand what was going on in his head anymore. Just two days ago, he was trying everything to make her socialize, and now he was agreeing with her old beliefs. It made no sense.
"Did you get rejected or something?"
She recalled scenes from novels she'd read.
"I haven't even been in a relationship—how could I get dumped?"
Now it was Ryo's turn to give her the idiot look.
"Romance isn't that important. Look, if we don't resist now, a few years later…"
He spread his hands helplessly.
"We'll suddenly be legally married without feelings, saying 'I do' in front of a priest."
"..."
Even Horikita got goosebumps. Just like Ryo, she had no intention of accepting such a ridiculous engagement.
"So you didn't come to talk about Karuizawa tonight."
"Of course not."
He snapped his fingers, propped his head up and stared out at the dark street.
"Want me to walk you home?"
"Explain first."
Horikita sighed and looked him dead in the eye.
"Objective, method, result."
"Break off the engagement. Pretend to date for a while, then jointly say we're not compatible and call it off."
"Tell the truth."
"...I want to stay in Tokyo a while longer. Or rather, I have to."
Upon hearing that, an inexplicable irritation rose in Horikita's chest. Not even her sundae could soothe it.
"So I'm just a pawn to you."
"Didn't you want the engagement off too? Mutually beneficial."
"But I'm not in a rush."
A hint of satisfaction flashed in her purple-red eyes.
"But for you, this is your only reason to stay."
"Maybe I've got other ones."
"Then use those. The wedding isn't anytime soon—I can wait."
She leaned forward slightly, teeth gritted.
"And worst case, I'll just marry you."
"Your face is red."
Ryo looked amused at her flustered and embarrassed expression. Her bravado was crumbling.
"You're just trying to control the plan so you can set the terms—but the reverse is true too."
He boldly reached out and pinched her cheek.
"If I can't break the engagement, I'll just end up marrying you. Right? Suzune?"
She hadn't expected him to call her that, or to pinch her with such force. She tried to pull away, but his grip was firm, stretching her cheek into a comical shape that, to Ryo, looked quite cute.
He shamelessly took out his phone and snapped a quick photo. The flash startled her, and she finally swatted his hand away, cheeks crimson.
"Delete it, Kitagawa!"
"Couple selfies are rare. Especially one of Suzune making that face."
Ryo smugly scrolled through the photo. In it, Horikita's usual calm and pride were nowhere to be found—just wide eyes and a flushed face. To an outsider, they'd definitely look like a close couple.
"Don't let anyone else see it."
She took a few deep breaths to quell her fury and whatever else was bubbling inside. Her cheek still tingled from the warmth of his fingers.
"What a shame. I was thinking of sending it to Manabu."
Ryo grinned, tucking his phone away and offering his hand.
"Pleasure doing business, Suzune."
She realized she had walked into Ryo's trap. His true goal was to stay in Tokyo, and somehow he had maneuvered her into this fake relationship plan instead. She sighed.
"Pleasure's mine."
From this moment on, they were officially fake lovers aiming to break their engagement. Swallowing her pride, Horikita awkwardly tried to say it.
"...Ryo."
Her face flushed again as she forced out his name, one syllable at a time.