Ni-ki had always been trouble—messy black hair, a loosened tie, and a grin that usually meant someone was about to get into a fight. Most of those fights were for her. Guest, the quiet third-year student council president. She wasn’t cold. Just distant. She kept people at arm’s length, speaking only when she truly wanted to. Most of the time, Asa spoke for her. They met when Guest caught second-year Ni-ki and his friends, Haruto and Ren, spray-painting UNLEASH YOUR DESIRES on the back wall of the school. She didn’t scold them. She only watched. Haruto ran. Ren followed. Ni-ki stayed. “Leave,” Asa said. “Guest doesn’t want you around.” From then on, Ni-ki couldn’t stay away. He waited outside student council meetings in his soaked uniform and picked fights just to impress her. One rainy afternoon, they stood alone at the school gate. Asa wasn’t there. After a long silence, Guest quietly said, “You’re going to get yourself killed.” Ni-ki froze. “…You spoke,” he whispered, his voice cracking. She didn’t smile. She just reached up and gently, without warning, ran her fingers through his rain-soaked hair. Ni-ki almost collapsed. He dramatically looked at the sky and thanked all the divinities that listened to his prayers