The stars above the dormitory roof weren't bright—but they were enough.
Leo sat on the edge of the rooftop, legs dangling just above the emergency ladder, hoodie pulled over his head. The air was cool, tinged with the scent of sakura trees from the nearby hill. It was nearly midnight.
He wasn't sure why he'd agreed to come.
Then Kai appeared.
Plastic bags in hand, wind in his hair.
"Alright," Kai said, setting the bags down. "Two canned coffees, one melon soda, and a pack of your favorite spicy chips."
Leo blinked. "You bribed me?"
"Technically, I 'emotionally lured' you. There's a difference."
Kai plopped down beside him, cracking open a can.
For a while, they just sat.
No music. No noise.
Just the creak of old metal and the rustle of wind through distant grass.
Then Kai said it:
"So. You gonna talk about it?"
Leo didn't answer right away.
Kai sighed, leaned back against the rooftop fencing.
"You're kind of an idiot," he said casually.
Leo frowned. "Thanks?"
"No, like. Legit. You walk around being quiet and thoughtful and helpful and accidentally romantic, and you've got four girls orbiting you like emotionally unstable satellites."
"I'm not—"
"You are."
Leo looked away.
Kai's voice softened.
"I'm not blaming you. You didn't ask for this. But... dude. They're starting to notice each other."
Leo stiffened.
Kai continued. "Yuki asked me if you 'smiled more' when Sora was around. Hana keeps walking past the art room 'accidentally.' Rin? She punched a guy last week because he made a joke about you."
"She what?!"
"Exactly."
Kai turned to face him.
"You've got to figure this out. Not now. Not this second. But soon."
Leo rubbed his face. "I don't even know how I feel. They're all… so different."
"Yeah. And you like parts of all of them. That's the problem."
He offered Leo a chip.
Leo took one. "What would you do?"
Kai stared up at the sky.
"Honestly?"
"Yeah."
"I'd pick the one who makes you want to become something. Not the one who praises you. Not the one who needs you. The one who makes you want to be better."
Leo was quiet.
Then: "Did that happen to you?"
Kai laughed once. Dry.
"Yeah."
"Who was it?"
Kai didn't answer right away.
Then he said, very softly: "Doesn't matter. She liked someone else. I figured it out too late."
Leo turned to him.
Kai shrugged. "It's not a tragedy. It's a cautionary tale."
He stood up, brushed crumbs off his pants.
"You're still in the middle of your story. Just… don't let it become someone else's ending."
Leo looked up at him. "You always talk like you're in a movie."
Kai grinned. "Nah. I'm just the best supporting actor."
He offered a fist bump.
Leo returned it.
Then Kai added, as he walked away:
"Pick someone, Leo. Before the story picks for you."
Leo stayed on the roof a little longer.
The city below blinked with soft lights.
He thought of Sora's quiet poetry. Rin's fierce silence. Yuki's dazzling energy. Hana's raw honesty.
And he asked himself the scariest question of all:
> Who do I not want to lose?
---
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, the wind passed like a whisper.
He remembered:
Sora's hand, stained with ink, resting lightly on his desk.
Rin's gaze, burning but unreadable, as they passed each other on the hallway stairs.
Yuki's voice over the radio, laughing at nothing, then pausing when she thought of him.
Hana's laugh echoing across the running track as she tossed her water bottle at his head.
Moments.
Simple ones.
And yet—each carved a mark on his chest.
He took out his phone. Opened Notes. Typed something.
> I think I'm in love. The problem is—I don't know with who.
He hit backspace. Slowly. Word by word.
Then he typed something else.
> I want to protect all of them. But I can't.
A breath left his lungs. Like releasing something heavy.
---
He stood up.
Took one last look at the empty rooftop.
And whispered:
"I'll figure it out."
Even if it breaks someone.
Even if it breaks me.