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that it would reach Nagisa’s ears. No doubt that’s precisely what worried Yukina.
    “Aww…crap, the hell should I do…?”
    As Kojou exhaled weakly, he bent over a windowsill along the corridor.
    He could see the middle school yard beneath his vantage point, illuminated by the setting sun. Kojou raised his eyebrows with a “hm” sound as, right in the shadow of a building of another campus, he spotted the sight of a familiar schoolgirl.
    “Nagisa…?”
    The small silhouette was clad in a middle school uniform. Her long hair was, typically for her, tied neatly back. Though not quite a case of “speak of the devil and he appears,” there stood Kojou’s little sister, the topic of their conversation.
    And right beside her stood a boy wearing a sports club jersey.
    The moment he beheld the scene, Kojou’s mind went blank with anger and impatience.
    “…Bastard!”
    “Senpai?! W-wait, please! What do you think you’re doing?!”
    Yukina hastily pulled Kojou back before he leaped down from the window…on the building’s fourth floor.
    Kojou’s face twitched as he looked back at Yukina, his feet still on the windowsill.
    “Wh-what’s with… Why is there a guy with Nagisa?!”
    “…That’s a boy from our class, isn’t it?” Yukina answered the first of his questions with a composed tone. Yukina and Nagisa were middle school classmates; in other words, the schoolboy in the yard was from the same class as Nagisa.
    “Come to mention it, I think I’ve seen him before… His name’s Takashimizu or something.”
    Kojou muttered as he tracked down the vague memory. It was a face he’d seen many times on the grounds after classes when he was still in the basketball club. He was a soccer club member with tidy looks; Kojou recalled he was popular with the girls, too.
    What the hell does a guy like that want with Nagisa?
thought Kojou, losing his presence of mind.
    “Ah…a letter.”
    “Wha—?!” Kojou’s breath caught at Yukina’s blunt murmur. When he looked, Takashimizu was indeed holding a sealed white letter in his hand.
    “Wh-wh-what’s some guy in the same class handing Nagisa a letter for in a place with no one else around?!”
    “Not that it is my business…” Yukina slumped with a look of concern. She was apparently overwhelmed by Kojou’s alarmingly threatening attitude. “But is it not proper to hand over that kind of letter in a place away from prying eyes?”
    “What do you mean, ‘that kind of letter’…?!”
    “Is that not a love letter?”
    The instant he heard Yukina’s words, strength drained from Kojou’s entire body. A boy from the same class was handing Nagisa a love letter.
    That’s crazy, there’s no way
, Kojou told himself. Nagisa was still a child! It was practically yesterday she still had a knapsack on her back. She believed in Santa Claus until fifth grade, for God’s sake.
    “Um, er… Senpai?” Yukina nervously called out to Kojou as he continued mumbling to himself like a madman.
    A hollow smile came over Kojou’s face.
    “Ha-ha, there’s no way. It’s Nagisa. No boy’s gonna give her a love letter.”
    “No, er… Nagisa’s rather popular, actually.” Yukina revealed the unpalatable, shocking truth.
    “Th-that’s just with dogs and cats and stuff…”
    “That’s not what I mean. I mean with ordinary boys in class… I mean, she’s cheerful and cute, she’s easy to talk to, she’s very considerate, has a lot of friends… I don’t think there’s any reason she
wouldn’t
be popular.”
    Kojou was only half-present as he listened to Yukina’s words.
    Right about then, Takashimizu, having handed Nagisa the letter in the schoolyard, was walking away, full of himself at what he had accomplished.
    “It appears that today, all she’s done is accept the letter.”
    Yukina, who saw the immediate matter as closed, laid the situation out for the benefit of Kojou, who bent down in the corridor. Astounded at the sight of Kojou shaken like this,