Yuki hesitated at the top of the stairwell, her finger hovering over the keypad beside the metal door. The small sign above it read "Roof Access - Authorized Personnel Only." Her afternoon classes had finally ended, and she'd made her way to the science building, the folded receipt burning a hole in her pocket the entire day.
4-7-2-1.
She punched in the numbers, half expecting nothing to happen. But the lock clicked, and the door gave way when she pushed it.
Cool autumn air rushed to greet her as she stepped onto the roof. The science building was one of the tallest on campus, offering a panoramic view of Sakura University and the city beyond. The setting sun painted everything in shades of gold and amber, casting long shadows across the concrete surface.
For a moment, Yuki thought she was alone. Then she spotted him.
Haruki sat with his back against the low wall that ran around the perimeter, a textbook open on his lap. He didn't look up as she approached, though she was certain he'd heard the door.
"I wasn't sure if you'd come," he said quietly, still not looking at her.
So the note had been for her. Yuki's heart skipped a beat.
"I wasn't... I wasn't sure if I was meant to," she replied, stopping a few feet away from him. "You could have just dropped that receipt by accident."
Now he did look up, the faintest hint of amusement in his tired eyes. "I don't do much by... by accident, Tanaka."
The way he said her name sent a small shiver through her. Formal, yet somehow intimate.
"You can call me Yuki," she offered, then gestured to the empty space beside him. "May I?"
He nodded, closing his textbook as she sat down. A candy wrapper skittered across the concrete between them, caught in a sudden breeze. Up close, the shadows under his eyes were even more pronounced than they had been that morning.
"Thank you again for helping me get to class," she said when he didn't speak, tugging her jacket closer as the wind picked up. "Professor Ito would have locked me out for sure."
"It... it was nothing," Haruki replied, his voice low as he fiddled with the corner of his textbook. "You seemed, um, desperate."
"I was," Yuki admitted with a small laugh. "Three locks and you fail participation."
"Ito's rules haven't changed in ten years," Haruki said. "My brother had him too."
It was the first personal detail he'd volunteered, and Yuki seized on it. "Your brother went to Sakura?"
Haruki nodded, his expression giving nothing away. "Graduated three years ago."
"Is that why you came here?" she asked, then immediately worried she was being too forward. But her curiosity about this quiet, mysterious boy was overwhelming.
He seemed to consider her question, looking out at the campus spread below them. A distant siren wailed somewhere in the city. "Partly," he finally said. "It's... complicated."
Yuki followed his gaze to the city beyond the university grounds. "Most things worth talking about are."
That earned her another glance, this one slightly longer. "You're not what I expected, Yuki Tanaka."
"What... what did you expect?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly self-conscious.
"Someone who would ask why I invited you up here."
Yuki smiled. "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."
The corner of his mouth twitched, almost a smile. "I come here to think," he said after a moment, his fingers drumming lightly against the textbook cover. "It's quiet. No one stares."
The simple honesty of his statement caught her off guard. "You noticed that too? In the cafeteria?"
"Hard not to notice," he replied, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. "I'm either invisible or a... a spectacle. Nothing in between."
"That must be difficult," Yuki said softly.
Haruki shrugged, but the tension in his shoulders told a different story. "You get used to it."
"Should you have to, though?"
He looked at her then, really looked at her, as if seeing her clearly for the first time. The intensity of his gaze made her breath catch.
"Why did you follow me out of the cafeteria today?" he asked suddenly, then glanced away as if regretting the directness of the question.
Yuki felt heat rise to her cheeks. "I wanted to thank you properly for this morning. I didn't... I didn't get the chance before."
"Is that the only reason?"
His directness was disarming. Yuki found herself answering honestly. "No. I was curious about you."
"Because of... because of what people say?" He picked at a loose thread on his jeans.
"Because you helped me," she corrected, watching a bird land on the edge of the roof then take off again. "Twice now. And because you don't seem to match the rumors."
"What rumors have you heard?" His tone was casual, but she sensed the question mattered to him.
Yuki hesitated. "That you're some kind of genius. That you work at a factory. That you broke someone's heart so badly she transferred schools."
To her surprise, Haruki laughed. It was a quiet sound, rusty from disuse, but genuine. "One of those is true," he said. "I do work at a factory. Night shift, quality control. Not very... not very glamorous."
"And the others?"
"I'm decent at programming, not a genius. And I've never broken anyone's heart." He paused, swallowing visibly. "Never been close enough to anyone for that."
Something about the way he said it, his voice had gotten quieter, almost embarrassed. Yuki felt a pang in her chest.
"Why... why did you invite me up here?" she asked finally, mouth dry, wondering if she'd sounded too blunt.
Haruki was quiet for so long she thought he might not answer. When he did, his voice was soft.
"You looked at me in the library," he said. "Not at what everyone thinks I am. Just... at me." He ran a hand through his dark hair, seeming almost embarrassed. "And then this morning, you didn't ask questions or try to keep me talking. You just said thank you."
"That's not much of a reason," Yuki said gently.
"It... it is," he said quietly, jaw tightening slightly. "When no one else... notices."
His answer... it was so simple. And yet, her heart... it just ached. How lonely must someone be to notice such small kindnesses?
They sat quietly, the wind tugging at her jacket sleeve, the sun sinking lower... painting the sky weirdly pink and orange, like someone had spilled paint across it. A helicopter buzzed in the distance. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Somehow, it felt like they'd known each other longer than just a day.
"I should go," Haruki said eventually, gathering his textbook. "My shift starts at eight."
"Every night?" Yuki asked, rising to her feet as he did.
"Five nights a week. Sunday through Thursday."
"That's why you sleep in the library."
He nodded. "When I can. Between classes."
"How do you manage?" The question slipped out before she could stop it.
Haruki's expression softened slightly. "One day at a time."
They walked to the door together, and Yuki was acutely aware of how much taller he was, how his presence beside her felt both intimidating and comforting at once.
At the door, he paused. "The code works anytime," he said, not quite meeting her eyes. "If you ever want somewhere quiet to study."
It wasn't quite an invitation to meet again, but it wasn't not one either.
"Thank you," Yuki said, meaning it. "For sharing your thinking spot."
Haruki nodded, his hand on the door handle. "Tanaka," he said, then corrected himself. "Yuki."
"Yes?"
"Don't believe everything you hear about me."
With that, he opened the door and disappeared into the stairwell, leaving Yuki alone on the roof with the setting sun and a hundred new questions about the boy who worked nights and slept in libraries.