We were walking along the wide sidewalk that ran parallel to the main street leading to the station. At this hour, traffic was sparse, and the streetlights and signals, spaced at regular intervals, cast a dim glow along the road to the station. The area in front of the station still had some activity, but here, it was already quiet.

“The stars are really visible tonight. You can clearly see Ursa Major and Virgo.”

Walking beside me was none other than the ‘Prince of Suzakura’. Just being next to Tachibana Iori made me feel like I had somehow become a more dignified person—it was strange.

“Ursa Major and Virgo? Sorry, I don’t really know much about that.”

It had been about a week since I met Tachibana Iori.

As her assigned mentor, I had spent almost all my time with her over the past week. And yet, I was surprised by how little I actually knew about her. We had been so busy that there was barely any time for casual conversation.

Which meant, honestly—I was struggling to find things to talk about.

“See the Big Dipper over there? That’s the tail of Ursa Major. If you follow the tip of the tail, you’ll find a particularly bright star. That’s Arcturus, part of the Spring Triangle—it’s in the constellation Boötes. And the other bright star forming the triangle is Spica, in Virgo.”

She continued, mentioning that the last point of the triangle was Denebola in Leo—her zodiac sign. As I followed the direction of her finger, I spotted what seemed to be the right stars.

So she was born in summer. That was the first personal detail I had learned about her.

“Tachibana-san, do you like astronomy?”

“I just memorized the explanations they gave at the planetarium. I was taken there as a child.”

“I see. Still, I think it’s a great hobby.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful, after all.”

As I gazed up at the stars, I almost forgot Tachibana Iori was right beside me. The tension within me gradually eased.

“By the way, about earlier—”

Her words pulled me back to reality, and I lowered my head to look away from the night sky. Tachibana Iori was staring straight ahead. Just beyond her, the pedestrian signal was about to change from green to red.

We stopped at the signal.

“Thank you, Natsuki. You covered for me, didn’t you?”

She turned to face me. I could tell from the corner of my eye. After a brief hesitation, I met her gaze. Even in the dim light, her flawless face stood out. The red signal reflected off her skin, giving it a faint crimson hue.

“I wouldn’t say I ‘covered’ for you. If we were busy, it just meant I wasn’t managing things efficiently enough. Besides, I felt like I was starting to get the hang of things, so what I said back there was at least half sincere.”

When things got hectic, I couldn’t help but feel like I had lost somehow. If I had been more efficient, we wouldn’t have been so overwhelmed… something like that.

“And the other half?”

Without changing her expression, Tachibana Iori tilted her head slightly. If I were one of the girls from Suzakura, I might have fallen for her just from that small gesture. Good thing I was a guy from Aotaka.

“—Because I’m your mentor. I think it’s my duty to look out for you, Tachibana-san.”

“……I see.”

The light turned green, and without saying anything more, we started walking again.

Out of curiosity, I glanced at her face. The red hue from the signal still lingered on her cheek.

◆

Over the past week, rumors had spread among Aotaka High School students that the ‘Prince of Suzakura’ was working at my part-time job. Since Cyberia had become a hangout spot for students from Suzakura High School, not many from Aotaka came by. But instead, I had been given a mission.

“The history of Aotaka and Suzakura?”

“Yeah. I thought you might know something about it, Tachibana-san.”

Apparently, the two schools had always had a close relationship, with a long history of student interactions.

And supposedly, couples between Aotaka and Suzakura students were known to stay together happily for a long time.

I wasn’t sure if Tachibana Iori knew about that kind of thing. She didn’t seem particularly interested.

“You mean things like when they were founded?”

“No, not exactly. More like… how should I put it…”

It felt almost sacrilegious to bring up romantic gossip in front of Tachibana Iori. As if I were tainting something pure. I could almost hear the Suzakura High School girls saying, “Don’t talk about things like that with Iori-sama!”

As I struggled to find the right words, she spoke up.

“…Are you talking about ‘Suzakura-Aotaka couples’?”