The late afternoon sun cast long golden rays over the school grounds as Mark walked beside Akane Nanao, the girl he'd only ever watched from afar—until today. The gym loomed behind them like a bad memory, but the tension that had clung to Akane's shoulders was slowly fading. Her steps were lighter, and the grateful look she occasionally sent Mark's way was genuine.
"You really didn't have to step in like that," she said, her voice softer than before.
Mark shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I kinda did. I couldn't just walk away from something like that."
She glanced at him with a curious expression. "Still, most people wouldn't have. Especially not for me."
He looked over at her, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You're Akane Nanao. Smartest girl in school. Student council president. I'm surprised you even know who I am."
Akane smiled, brushing a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "You're Mark. You sit three rows behind me in history class and almost always fall asleep ten minutes in."
Mark chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "Guilty. But wow… you actually noticed me?"
"I try to know everyone in the student body," she replied with a playful smirk. "Though you're not exactly easy to miss."
Mark tilted his head. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Depends on the day."
They both laughed, the sound light and easy as they continued toward the school gate. For a moment, things felt… peaceful. Like he was talking to an old friend instead of the girl everyone admired from a distance.
Then, like the universe couldn't let him have a moment of peace, a shrill voice pierced the calm.
"Maaark!!"
He stopped mid-step, flinching at the sudden volume. Akane turned too, eyebrows raised.
Charging toward them was a short girl with twin tails bouncing behind her, her arms flailing as she waved. Takamine Miyu.
Mark let out a low groan. "Of course."
Akane looked from Mark to the oncoming girl. "Friend of yours?"
"Project partner," Mark muttered. "And the bane of my academic life."
Miyu came to a dramatic halt right in front of them, her bright hazel eyes locking onto his. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Mark sighed. "I have a phone, you know."
"You never reply fast enough," she said with an exaggerated pout. "Anyway, we have that science project due Monday! I told you we needed to finish the graphs and edit the final draft. But you disappeared after lunch!"
"I had stuff to do," Mark said coolly. "Important stuff."
Miyu crossed her arms, completely ignoring Akane. "Right, because you're so busy saving the world or something. Honestly, I don't know how I got paired with you. Half the time, I'm fixing your sloppy notes."
Mark's eye twitched. "Sloppy? You mean when I write useful data and you change the font color to pink sparkles?"
"It's called presentation, Mark! Maybe if you knew how to make things look good, we'd actually get full marks for once."
Akane coughed politely, and both of them paused. Mark had almost forgotten she was there.
"Oh," Miyu said, finally noticing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your date or whatever this is."
Mark and Akane both spoke at the same time:
"It's not a date—" "We're just walking—"
They glanced at each other and laughed awkwardly. Miyu, however, didn't seem amused.
"Well, whatever. We still need to meet up tomorrow to finish everything, or you'll be the reason we get a B again."
Mark gave her a flat look. "Noted. What time?"
"Ten. Sharp." She poked his chest. "Don't be late. I don't want to sit around waiting while you sleep in again."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
Miyu huffed and turned to leave, but not before giving Akane a quick, suspicious glance. "Nice meeting you… Miss President."
Once she was gone, Akane burst into laughter.
"Wow," she said between chuckles. "She's intense."
"You're telling me," Mark grumbled. "We got partnered up last month, and she's been acting like she's my boss ever since."
"She certainly has a way of… commanding attention."
Mark groaned. "She's just always on my case. Everything I do is wrong. She treats me like I'm an idiot."
Akane gave him a knowing smile. "Well, she did look a little jealous."
Mark blinked. "Jealous?"
"You were walking me home. Alone. Maybe she thought something was going on."
He scoffed. "Miyu? She doesn't even like me. She's just obsessed with getting an A on every assignment."
"Maybe," Akane said, a little teasingly. "Or maybe she just doesn't like sharing your attention."
Mark looked at her suspiciously. "You sound like you're enjoying this."
"A little," she admitted with a laugh. "You're fun to talk to, Mark."
He smiled. "So are you, Akane."
They reached the gate, the world beyond it bathed in warm sunlight and filled with the noise of traffic and students heading home.
"Well," she said, "this is me."
Mark nodded. "Thanks for the walk."
"No," she said, eyes sincere, "thank you. For earlier. I really mean it."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Anytime."
They stood there for a second longer before parting ways. As he turned to head home, Mark couldn't help but think the day had been weirder than usual… but maybe also better.
He had no idea what tomorrow would bring, especially with Miyu breathing down his neck again—but at least today, he felt like he'd done something right.