Louis sat across from her, relaxed in posture but with sharp eyes fixed on her. 

"I didn't imagine you calling me out on a date~" 

"A date? You are the one who forced me to meet you kisaragi-kun. I just thought it would be better to meet outside. After all I cannot invite EVERYONE into my house. Anyways... What do you want?" 

“I thought you might at least say it’s good to see me.”

"What do you mean?" 

“You’ve grown,” he said. voice lower than usual. “But I recognized you right away.”

"Damn! My head feels so fuzzy...I can't even concentrate!" 

She looked away. “And? Why are you really here?”

“I told you,” he said, leaning forward. “The moment I saw your name on the student list for this school, I knew I had to transfer. I wanted to see if the girl I met in France all those years ago was still here.”

Yui's eyes narrowed. "In short...you were stalking me?" 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. His voice low and serious. “You were the only person who ever left an impression on me. Do you remember the first time we met? We played in the garden and ate macarons. You know I have always li-"

"I am sorry. I have to go." Yui interrupted and stood up fast.

Her head throbbed. Her limbs ached. She had been running on fumes for days—family expectations, lies, dinner parties, secrets. Her body had finally reached its limit.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good? I can drop you home." Louis looked genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine. I can go back myself." She replied and rushed out of the cafe. 

Louis followed her but she had already left.

Yui managed to reached home. Feeling worst than before, she was barely able to stand. The front door clicked open.

She stepped inside slowly, her vision tilting like the walls were leaning in on her.

Her head pounded like someone had stuffed thunder behind her eyes. Her limbs felt heavy, like she was walking underwater.

From the living room, Yuki looked up from the couch where he sat, flipping through a manga.

He raised a brow.

“Well, look who dragged herself back from her dramatic café date. Did Romeo confess over lattes or—?” He paused as she staggered forward, clearly swaying.

"H-how....did you know...?" She asked huffing and puffing. Her temperature rising and legs that felt like jelly.

-Flashback-

Yuki on his way back to home stopped by the artesian coffee shop. He coincidentally saw Yui and Louis together much to his surprise.

She never told me she was going to meet him…

Something bitter twisted inside his chest.

Dozens of thoughts tore through his mind like lightning:

Did she… like him? Was he someone important to her? Someone she didn’t want me to know about?

Is that why she kept brushing off my questions?

The anger rose first—sharp and cold. Then jealousy—hot, coiling around his ribs like a vice.

He turned away, biting down on the emotion before it swallowed him whole.

-Back to present-

"T-that....hey!" He dodged her question but soon his expressions turned alarming and he ran to her when she collapsed. He caught her on time.

He carried her to her room, her soft breathing pressed against his chest, her forehead hot enough to burn.

Yuki gently lowered her onto the bed, cursing under his breath as he grabbed a towel and medicine.

“Exhausting yourself with family dinners and that blonde headache. Seriously.”

He dabbed her forehead, brushing away a few damp strands.

Yui stirred, eyes half-open. Her voice was weak and hazy, but laced with softness.

“You’re cold…” she mumbled.

Yuki froze. “Well… I’m not the one with a fever.”

“You always got me in trouble,” she whispered.

His breath caught. “What…?”

“I remember…” she murmured.

Yui dreamed of shimmering chandeliers and sparkling tables at a grand party. She was barely seven, dressed in a pink tulle dress, and had just spotted the tower of desserts.

Just as she reached out for a strawberry tart—crash!

A wine-glass pyramid had collapsed nearby, red juice staining the tablecloth like a battlefield.

A little boy with tousled dark hair sat in the middle of the chaos. He immediately began crying.

Like an angel fallen from grace.

The adults rushed to him.

“Yuki! Are you hurt?”

“She did it!” he sobbed, pointing at her. “She made me nervous with her evil eyes!”

Yui stood there, stunned. “You liar!”

That wasn’t the only time.

Another day, she visited his house and left her favorite pink ribbon in the guest room. She returned for it, only to find Yuki smirking.

“You mean this?” he said, dangling it. Then he dramatically flung it over the balcony.

She screamed.

 

Back on the bed, Yui murmured softly in her sleep.

“…Pink ribbon…”

Yuki stared, his breath catching.

“You idiot… I hate you…” she added faintly.

He blinked. Her fever made her voice hazy, but those words hit too close to his chest.

And yet, her fingers were still slightly curled, as if reaching toward him.

After a long pause, he pulled the blanket higher around her, his expression unreadable.

Then he stood and walked slowly to his room, heart thundering in his chest.

He opened his desk drawer.

There, nestled beneath old notebooks and pens, lay the pink ribbon.

He hadn’t looked at it in years. But he hadn’t thrown it out either.

He took it out with both hands.

And held it tightly against his chest.