"Did I commit a crime or something!? Why is he coming over here!?" Yui looked away avoiding eye contact.

"Yukimura-san." The teacher called out.

"Y-yes." Yui jolted.

"You are the class representative! Please guide Kisaragi-kun incase he needs help. He can sit beside you."

"Huh?" 

He pulled out the chair next to her. "Nice to meet you!" 

Yui ignored and continued reading her text book.

He chuckled, leaning just close enough for their classmates to start whispering.

 "la fille silencieuse.”

Yui turned to look at him. It was clearly him. She remembered- her trip from eight years ago. A memory that flooded back in her mind. 

Yuki's pen cracked. His eyes stuck on both of them as if he was inspecting."What are they doing gazing into each other's eyes like that!?" He thought.

The day ended peacefully. Yui chose to ignore Louis the whole day. He tried to make advances on her but she just gave short on point replies to his questions with a straight face. One thing they didn't know or maybe did- a specific someone, that by the next morning strange rumors will be all around school just like  fire burning a forest.

-Back at home- 

Yui towel dried her damp wet hair. She sat cross-legged on her bed, wrapped in an oversized hoodie, staring at the ceiling as if it held answers.

Louis Kisaragi.

She still wasn’t sure if remembering him was a blessing or a curse.

-Eight Years Ago- Somewhere in southern France.

It was the first and last time her family had taken a proper vacation together.

An overly formal diplomatic function. Endless French food she couldn’t pronounce. And her mother hissing at her to smile for the cameras while her father talked politics with men who laughed like villains.

So Yui did what any responsible, well-mannered diplomat’s daughter would do.

She escaped.

She wandered the hotel gardens barefoot, wearing a sundress too big for her and hair braided by the maid.

She found a rose bush.

And… him.

A boy with grass-stained trousers, a white shirt rolled up to his elbows, and the gall to actually wink at her from behind the hedge.

“You’re tres petite to be sneaking out alone,” he said in terrible Japanese.

“You’re tres annoying,” she shot back in terrible French.

He laughed, holding out a rose like it was a peace offering—or maybe a trap.

“I’m Louis. With an ‘s’ you don’t say.”

“I’m Yui. With a ‘y’ you pronounce.”

His smile widened.

He followed her around the garden for an hour like a shadow she never asked for. He showed her the koi pond. Stole her a macaron from the event buffet. Called her la fille silencieuse when she refused to talk anymore.

And then just like that- after a few weeks it was finally time to say goodbye.

-Back to present-

She shook her head and forced herself up. The scent of food drifted meaning Yuki cooked again. She went outside.

Yuki sat across from her, looking effortlessly composed—like always.

She sat down without a word, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating.

Silence stretched between them like thread pulled too tight.

Yuki's fingers tapped lightly on the table, once, twice.

Then—

“So.”

One word. Loaded like a gun.

Yui didn’t look up.

“Louis. You looked like you recognized him.”

She froze mid bite and hesitated. Her grip on the chopsticks tightened.

“I don’t see how that’s your business.” She stood up and went to her room slamming the door. 

The words dropped like ice cubes in a hot drink—sharp and jarring.

Yuki blinked.

 His heart felt a pang. Is that what their relationship was? Two strangers living together? Did she really didn't find him even a bit worthy to tell him about a random guy? Was he that less of an important existence in her life? The whole night questions popped up in his head making him unable to sleep.

---- 

The next morning, Yui left for school a bit early by herself leaving behind Yuki. 

She entered school, students staring at her, whispers and murmurs- it was obvious they were about her. She ignored and moved towards her classroom. Her jaw dropped when she entered her classroom and heard her classmates.

“Did you see him touch her shoulder yesterday??”

“They were smiling at each other.”

“I heard she spent a summer with him in Paris. Like, romantically.”

"And here we were shipping Yukimura-san and Sanada-kun!"

"I know right! They made a good couple! They already looked married"

"Yeah! Especially all that bickering! Hahahaha!" 

A few moments later,

“Yui~” Louis leaned over her desk with a rose he definitely didn’t get from the school garden. “For you, ma fleur.”

Yuki entered the classroom composed as ever a charming aura surrounding him as usual but in reality his inner thoughts were having a world war three. He went to his desk. 

“‘Ma fleur,’ huh?” he muttered, his voice barely audible in a shrill voice mimicking Louis, quietly sitting down on his seat. “What’s next, a serenade under her window?” 

"You carry around roses with you?" She asked with a straight face.

Louis looked dumbfounded.

The whole day Yuki and Yui didn't speak a word to each other.