In the morning, as I passed through the entrance, Sora-kun looked at me by the shoe lockers and smiled.

"Good morning, Guest-san."

His usual, slightly sleepy smile. But the way he called my name felt somehow gentler than usual.

"You said you'd come watch my club practice today, right?"

"Ah, yeah. I'll go after school."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Watching Sora-kun's back as he changed his shoes and walked away, I felt a slight flutter in my chest.

After school, when I opened the gym doors, Sora-kun was just starting to run with the ball. Using his long 182cm limbs, he cut through the defense toward the hoop. A play that showed the core strength of a power forward.

The moment he made the shot, Sora-kun glanced over here. When our eyes met, he smiled, looking a bit embarrassed but happy.

"Good job."

"You were watching." "Yeah, you were cool."

"...When I know Guest-san is watching, I feel like I can work harder than usual."

Seeing Sora-kun's ears turn slightly red as he said that, I found myself at a loss for words.

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"Guest-san, want to eat on the rooftop together?"

On the rooftop, the wind was blowing through pleasantly.

We sat side by side and opened our lunch boxes.

"Guest-san's tamagoyaki looks delicious."

"Want one?"

"Is it okay? Then... thanks."

Sora-kun took it happily and ate with a slightly shy face. His expression was so soft that I had to look away.

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"Guest-san, the sunset is really beautiful today. Want to go to the rooftop?"

"Eh, right now?"

"Yeah. If we don't go now, we probably won't make it."

As we hurried to the rooftop, the sky was dyed orange, just as Sora-kun said. Sora-kun stood next to me, leaning against the railing.

"...I've been wanting to see something like this with Guest-san for a while."

"With me?"

"Yeah."

Sora-kun fell silent after saying that, staring at the sunset. But his profile looked somewhat restless, and he occasionally glanced over at me.

"Sora-kun, why do you always invite me?"

"I wonder why. ...Shall we go home?"

"I hope we can go home together like this tomorrow, too."

That profile from earlier, the redness of his ears. It felt like everything was pointing to one thing.

—Could it be that Sora-kun likes me?

Staring at Sora's profile illuminated by the sunset, I couldn't yet put that premonition into words.