In class, Emi finds a folded paper crane on her desk. Neatly creased, balanced perfectly on top of her notebook.
She unfolds it slowly, expecting maybe a note or nothing at all but inside is a doodle.
It's her, bundled in a ridiculous scarf three times too big, scowling dramatically at a rice cracker labeled "Axel's Favorite" with little angry lines scribbled above her head.
She blinks, then narrows her eyes across the room. Axel doesn't even glance her way. But there's a suspicious twitch at the corner of his mouth, the kind that betrays him just enough.
Kiyomi leans in with perfect timing. "Ohhh, did your secret admirer strike again?" she asks, eyebrows wiggling.
Emi sighs, flipping the crane shut with mock drama. "More like my resident troll."
"Honestly," Kiyomi whispers, "it's kinda cute. You two have this weird… thing going. Like an inside joke that keeps evolving."
"Yeah, well," Emi mumbles, stuffing the crane in her pencil case, "let's not encourage it." But her smile gives her away.
Emi lingers by the music room door, fingers grazing the frame. The soft, steady notes of a piano drift through the gap not flawless, but gentle, familiar. Comforting.
Curiosity tugs at her. She pushes the door open just enough to peek in.
She doesn't expect to find Axel inside. But he's not the one playing. He's seated near the back, head tilted, arms crossed, just listening.
Megumi-san, the senior music club girl with quiet hands and a sharper intuition than most, is at the piano. Her eyes flick up briefly as Emi enters, then go back to the keys without missing a beat.
Emi raises an eyebrow. "Didn't know you played."
Axel doesn't look away from the piano. "I don't. I just come here when it's too loud everywhere else."
He pauses, then adds with a faint smirk, "And guess what Megumi-san always plays for me."
Without missing a note, Megumi-san smiles. "It's my pleasure. He listens quietly that's rare enough to be worth playing for."
There's a note of fondness in her voice that Emi catches instantly.
Emi walks in, a little too casual. "Well… I'll play for him next time."
Megumi-san lifts her hands from the keys, the music fading, her smile curling slightly in amusement and maybe in understanding.
"I'd like to hear that," she says gently, standing to gather her sheet music.
Emi pretends not to notice the warmth in Megumi-san's voice… or the faint smell of dust and citrus in the room, like something old and soft and a little too intimate.
She sits beside Axel, not too close, not too far.
They don't talk. The silence stretches, filled with the echoes of notes still hanging in the air.
A shared calm settles not awkward, not charged. Just… present.
Like they were always meant to find this quiet space, right between the chords.
Megumi-san doesn't leave after all.
Instead, she returns to the bench, glancing at them with a teasing arch of her brow a silent you two stay put before her fingers settle back onto the keys.
This time, the melody is slower. Warmer. The kind that gently wraps around you like a thick scarf on a freezing day.
Emi shifts in her seat, arms hugging her knees. Axel leans back, head against the wall, eyes half-lidded.
Neither says a word, but both stay. Neither moves to break the moment.
Megumi's playing takes on something deeper not showy, but thoughtful. Like she's letting them sit in the space between her notes and making room for something to grow there.
It's strangely comforting.
At one point, Emi glances sideways. Axel's gaze is unfocused, distant. But the edges of his expression have softened like he's remembering something. Or maybe letting go of something.
Emi exhales slowly, barely a breath. The music fills everything else.
When Megumi finishes the piece, she doesn't say anything. Just smiles faintly, rising with the grace of someone who knows when she's done all she needs to do.
She gives Emi a tiny wink as she passes as if she's saying "Take good care of Axel okay!" not smug, not knowing. Just kind.
And then it's just Emi and Axel again, the quiet humming in the walls and a calm neither of them knows how to put into words.
Later Emi stops by the bakery with Axel again this time, not entirely by accident. The bell jingles softly, and the scent of fresh bread and cinnamon rolls wraps around her like a hug. Kirika's already there, seated near the window with a warm drink and that ever-knowing grin.
"Look who is here! My bro is here almost everyday helping. Yuika San but Didn't think I'd see you here again so soon," Kirika says, tapping the table. "Don't tell me it's the strawberry buns. Or is it someone else?"
Emi flushes, brushing her coat a little too carefully As Axel immediately gets to work helping Kirika-san with the delivery in the neighborhood.
"It's just warm in here," she mutters, sidestepping the question entirely.
Kirika hums into her cup, clearly not buying it. "Sure, sure. And I only come for the window view, not to eavesdrop on certain conversations."
Emi groans, sliding into the seat opposite her. "You're impossible."
Kirika leans forward, her expression softening just a little. "You know… it's okay to have reasons. Even if you don't say them out loud."
Emi fidgets with the edge of a napkin. The bakery hums quietly around them the low chatter of customers, the clinking of cups, the whirr of a mixer from the back.
Her mother, Yuika-san, glances up briefly from behind the counter. She doesn't say anything, but there's that look again the gentle, amused sort that says some things don't need to be explained.
Kirika watches her for a moment longer, then casually changes the subject. "Axel still pretending he's not a people person?"
Emi blinks, then snorts. "You should've seen him in music room today. Just sitting there. Not even playing anything. Like he thinks brooding is a full-time job."
"Oh, it is," Kirika grins. "He's very committed."
They both laugh, the kind that eases tension rather than hides it.
A few minutes later, Yuika-san comes over with a plate of steaming strawberry buns. "For the mood," she says, and gently adds just loud enough for Emi to hear
"Don't wait too long, Emi. Sometimes the good ones slip away while you're still figuring it out."
Then, with a faint smile, she added,
"But… it's alright to take your time. Just don't let it wait until the snow melts."
Emi lowers her gaze, cheeks pink.
Kirika, mercifully, just grins into her cup and leaned back in her seat, stirring her drink with exaggerated flair.
"Absolutely right!" she said, flashing Emi a grin. "Just don't let it pass you by with the snow. You know how fast it melts."
Then, without missing a beat, she added with a wicked glint in her eye,
"And let's be real my brother Axel is a total simp. He loves you. Like, a lot. It's actually kind of embarrassing."
Emi nearly choked on her drink, face turning bright red.
Kirika just laughed, utterly delighted with herself. "What? Someone had to say it."
Just then, the bell above the door jingled again. A gust of cold air swept in, followed by Axel, brushing snow off his coat.
He paused, narrowing his eyes at the sound of stifled laughter. Emi was still red-faced, Yuika-san laughing fondly and Kirika had her hand clamped over her mouth, trying (and failing) to look innocent.
"…What are you laughing at?" Axel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Yuriko-san, drying a tray behind the counter, smiled without looking up. "Oh, nothing. Just girl talk."
Kirika shot Emi a glance, still grinning like the cat that stole the last bun.
"Yeah," she said sweetly. "Definitely nothing about lobsters."
Axel blinked. "What?"
"Nothing," Emi said quickly, grabbing her bag. "Absolutely nothing."
Outside, snow begins to fall again soft, slow, like the world has no rush.
And for now, neither do they.