I woke up at the same time as usual, not really looking forward to today. Lately, nothing has been that exciting. The same routine, the same classes, the same council work... It's all gotten so boring. Sometimes, I wonder what I am even doing here. But, amidst all this nothingness, one ray of light stands out from the void.

"Minato... Good morning..."

These two words weirdly mean a lot to me. Yumeka has been talking to me more and more lately. I am a bit ashamed, but I kind of am looking forward to it every time a new day starts.

"Hello there Yumeka! How have you been?"

"Okay... Probably..."

"T-That's good! I think! I k-"

"So, Minato... What are we doing today...?"

What do we do? I... don't know? Why is she asking me that?! ... Thinking about it, it kind of makes sense as to why she would. Every day, I either lead her around, or she follows me without even asking (When she's not missing somewhere at an important time that is). Things definitely have not been as hectic as before though, I wonder if that Redish Ponytail girl has been busy causing mischief somewhere else. (Wait, if this is chapter 52 should I not be part of their Club by now?)

"I'm not sure to be honest. We don't have any Council duty today, so I think you're free to do whatever you want."

Yumeka looked a bit down after hearing what I said. Does she actually like doing Council work? I wonder why that would be, she is always daydreaming and running around right when we need her, but maybe that is what is fun for her? I never really saw her with any friends, maybe she sees the Council as the place where she fits in at school...

"I-It's fine though! You can tag along with me if you want!"

Her eyes quickly sparkled, as she said:

"Really? But, tag along for what?"

I... Had not thought about this at all. This really is a mess is it not? Usually, I would rather go home and stay by myself, but actually spending time with Yumeka is something I can not really pass on.

"If you want... We could just hang out and visit outside?"

"Outside...? Like, on the roof? I often stay there."

"No no, not on the roof. We can't even go there, we lost our key a long time a-"

". . ."

"Yumeka."

"You had it this entire time?! The teachers got so mad at us for it! Students aren't even supposed to go up there, it's dangerous! You really shoul-"

Yumeka, once again, stopped my sentence. And then, she strongly grabbed my arm.

"Come."

"W-What?!"

She suddenly started to walk, faster and faster.

"Come on, come on!"

"Y-Yumeka! We shouldn't run in the ha-"

Yet another time, my sentence was stopped. Not from what had happened, but from what I saw. From the corner of my eye, for a fleeting moment, I saw a slight smirk on Yumeka's face. A face I had never seen before. A sight I never thought I would be able to behold. But, I had no time to think more about it, for the first time, Yumeka was the one dragging me along.

I became a bit tired after stepping up a few flights of stairs, but Yumeka showed no sign of stopping. The strong grip she had on my arm...

"W-WAIT!" BONK!! I bumped into Yumeka, who had abruptly stopped moving. Her grin turned back into her usual cold face as soon as she turned towards me.

"Slow down, now."

Ah, we were approaching the teachers' room. She really was paying attention, is she that used to doing this? As for me, I could not be further from being concentrated on what we were doing.

"This is the last one. Careful, Minato."

She noticed that I was unfocused and exhausted. She usually is always dreaming in her own little world, but she knows when to be considerate and attentive. We made our way up the last flight of stairs. I had never been this high up in the school. My heart was beating incredibly fast, but I had no idea if it was because I was scared of going somewhere I had never been, because of all this running, or because of Yumeka herself... I always feel weird whenever she is alongside me. I do spend a lot of time caring for her, I overheard a lot of people saying I look like her big sister or even her mother. Are we really that close?

We now were alone in a small room. The only thing in it was a big, menacing door made of steel. Yumeka rummaged through her pockets, and pulled out a big key from one of them, a key I had not seen in a long time.

"SO YOU REALLY-" Yumeka immediately put her right hand over my mouth, while putting her other index finger in front of hers.

"Shhhhh! You're really making this harder you know..." She said, removing her hand from my face. I am glad that she instantly turned away to look at the door after this moment, it prevented her from seeing how red my face had become. I am certain that she is totally playing with me now... At least her cute grin was back, almost as if she was chuckling to herself.

Slowly, she put the key into the door's lock, and began frantically shaking it around, as if struggling to open the door.

"Sorry, it takes a while sometimes. I'm used to it.

"T-That's fine. Are you really sure we should be doing this?

"Mhm." The lock made a sound. Click! "Ah. Finally."

The door opened, and I was immediately hit by a powerful gust of wind. And then, my entire sight became blinded by the light.

For a few seconds. I thought I had seen an angel. Someone magically smiling, with nothing other than a bright light shining behind their back.

~~ ❀ ~~

"So um, do you often come here?"

"Guess so."

"Have you been doing it for a long time? We really got in trouble for that key you know."

"Sorry. And I think so."

... Talk about awkward... So she has been coming here a lot? I really wonder why.

"Everything feels really nice here. So quiet... I love being able to have an unobscured view of the sky, getting lost in how vast its blue is. Staring at the clouds, bathing in the sun. It's like my own little corner of the world."

So she really was alone most of the time... I feel a bit sorry for her, but I guess she was alone more so on purpose other than anything else? If so, I wonder she had me join her today.

"I thought you'd like it here. I mean, you had nothing else planned for today, right?

I was read like a book once again... Am I that easy to figure out? . . . Yumeka was sitting here next to me. Laying on the ground, staring into the distance. The warmth of the sun was soothing.

. . .

"I guess that if you're here, it also makes you an important part of my little world, doesn't it?

I think my heart skipped a beat. "W-What? What do you mean by that, I don't thi-

Yumeka swiftly stood up, and was now staring at me from above.

"Minato..."

"Y-Y-Yes...?

My heart was now racing more than ever. More than in front of the door, more than when we were running.

"Look, look." said Yumeka, pointing at something down below. I stood up and also looked over the fence. We could see three silhouettes running, a red one, a black one, and a pink one a little further ahead. "They're here."

You could once again hear the wind passing. A wind also stronger than before.

"Pff!" I chuckled. I quickly grabbed Yumeka's arm, and started dashing towards the door that leads downstairs. "Let's go then!" I exclaimed, laughingly. I think that, at that time, Yumeka was also laughing.

This is probably enough for now. If anything, even if for just a moment, I wished for these peaceful days to never end.

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