"Oh? Even Shuuya's here."

Mrs. Maeda almost dropped the bag of groceries in her hands in surprise. One of her twin sons and his girlfriend were in their living room.

Yuma was currently drying Shuuya's hair with a towel, and Shuuya had already changed into a shirt lended to her by Yuma—it was big enough for it to be a dress on her. He on the other hand, was still in his soaked clothing.

"Pardon the intrusion." Shuuya says quietly, but Mrs. Maeda shook her head.

"What intrusion! Make yourself feel at home!"

Mrs. Maeda was so excited at the sight of her daughter-in-law, but then frowned after seeing the sorry state her son was in.

"What happened? Why are you soaked?"

"Shuuya almost got kidnapped." Yuma informs, his face dark. Mrs. Maeda gasped and covered her mouth in shock, before setting down the bag of groceries and going to the teenager's side.

"Oh dear, that's horrible." She cups Shuuya's round face in her hands and expected her closely. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

Shuuya managed to give a small smile. "I'm fine. It's all thanks to Maeda-senpai."

"It was a good thing they crossed paths," came the voice of the other twin sitting on the couch. "Else we don't know what would've happened next."

"Have you already contacted the police?" Yuma asks his twin impatiently. Soma rolled his eyes.

"Haven't you asked this already? The police says there aren't any cameras that caught sight of the guy, and unless Shuuya-san comes forward and gives a detailed description, they can't search for him."

"Can't you see she's still uncomfortable?" Yuma glared at him.

Mrs. Maeda retracted her gaze from the two bickering men and turned to the girl in her arms who was silent.

"Dearie, are you hungry?"

Shuuya looks up and meets her soft eyes. She visibly relaxed in the presence of a mother.

"A little bit," She fesses.

"Then I'll cook dinner. You go ahead and rest in the couch." Mrs. Maeda then turned to the older twin on the couch.

"Get out of there and help me with the cooking."

Soma let out a loud exasperated sigh before reluctantly following her to the kitchen, leaving Shuuya and Yuma alone to themselves.

"...Are you still cold?" Yuma keenly observes her, and at the slightest change of her demeanor, he immediately noticed. "I'll go get a blanket."

"Wait," Shuuya grabbed his wrist to stop him, and it was her turn to look at him with eyes full of concern. "Change clothes. You'll catch a cold."

"..." he was about to protest, but knowing her, he couldn't even bring himself to. "Alright. Just holler if you need anything."

***

"Your parents aren't home?" Mrs. Maeda widened her eyes.

Shuuya continued to wash the dirty plate she was holding. "They went for a vacation. It's their 22nd anniversary."

"Oh..." Mrs. Maeda looked thoughtful for a moment, before collecting the washed plates to put back in the cupboard.

"Their dad and I also used to go on anniversary vacations. But that was a long time ago,"

"Busy?" Shuuya asks, curious. Even after they finished dinner, Mr. Maeda didn't even show. She couldn't help but guess what his job was.

"Mmm. He passed away nine years ago."

"!!" Shuuya gasped, and was about to apologize until Mrs. Maeda laughed.

"Silly girl, it's already been years." She pats the younger girl's head. "But I admit that sometimes, I miss him."

Shuuya doesn't know what to say next. She could only look down and continue to scrub the already scrubbed cup.

"It's late, why don't you stay for the night." Mrs. Maeda wipes off her hands on her apron. "Yuma!!"

"Yes!!" As if he was on stand by, the male almost immediately arrived in the kitchen.

"Can you lend your room to Shuuya? Just go get the extra futon and sleep in your brother's room."

"Alright," He nods before disappearing.

"Mrs. Maeda, you don't have to..." Shuuya whispers, but it was still unheard by the older woman.

"Like I said, you're no different from family."

Shuuya almost melted at her warm smile. She felt the sincerity, and she almost cried because of the hospitality she receives. It's no different from being embraced by her own mother.

—but at the back of her head, she was guilty. She knew that she was only being treated this way because they thought she was Yuma's girlfriend.

'Till when will we be able to keep up this farce?

***

"This is it. I apologize if it's a bit messy, but I tried my best to tidy up."

As the light switch was flipped on, the room became much more prominent.

"What do you mean messy..." Shuuya couldn't help but revel on the cleanliness of his room. Aren't highschool boys supposed to be messy?

There were no posters attached on the plain white walls, and there were no visible trash on the ground— even his bed was made. Heck, the metal trash can under the desk was empty.

His room in general was simple, it just consisted of a bed, a desk with a computer, a large bookshelf, and his closet. All either in plain white, black, or brown colors.

"Where is the messy part of this room?" Shuuya couldn't help but ask him. What was the definition of it to him? If this was messy, then her room must be a disaster.

"The clothes," He says as he nears the headboard of the bed. "I forgot to place these inside my closet."

"Just leave them there." Shuuya holds on to his shirt to stop him. "I didn't even notice it there, so it won't be a bother."

Yuma looked like he was about to insist, but her starry doe eyes didn't even blink on his. He eventually untensed and only sighed.

"Fine." He puts his hands on his hips and smiles. "The remote for the airconditioner's there on the desk. If you want anything just call, or go knock on the room at the end of the hallway. That's Soma's room, where I'll be sleeping in tonight."

Until now, he's still looking out for her. Her chest suddenly felt tighter at the thought. Shuuya blinked, before looking down and hugging herself.

"Senpai."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

She finally looks up, and sees him looking at her intently. Encouraged, she continued.

"For everything. For saving me. For bringing me to your house. For lending me your room."

She knows that he'll only laugh it off lightly and say 'it's my duty!' or something similar, but she was not about to let that happen. Before he could even open his mouth to reply, she cut in.

"You don't know how much this means to me. I...could've been taken, you know." She smiles sadly. "I owe you my life."

"You don't."

Yuma almost reached out to pet her head, but refrained from doing so in the last second—it was a good thing he immediately remembered that she disliked headpats. So he could only make a fist behind him, and smile at her.

"You don't owe me anything. I'm just glad that you're safe." He looks at her closely once again.

She looked tired, but ever since he came back in the past, this was first time he saw her most sincere expression. It's the same expression he liked from her the most.

"...you must be tired. Go ahead and rest."

"Okay." She gave him one last smile before climbing onto his bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Yuma was satisfied, and finally left his room all to herself.

Senpai...

That was all she could think of right after she laid down. Maybe it's because he's the last person she talked to, but immediately she figured it's probably because of the fact that she's in his room.

His sheets were unchanged— obviously it's because everything that happened so far was too sudden. Shuuya buried her head in his pillow and pulled the duvet tightly to herself.

"Smells like him." She mumbled to herself.

Frankly, everything in this room was him. Neither bad nor amazing, it was a unique smell that belonged only to the male. And strangely enough, it was comforting to her.

She couldn't help but think of the event that happened earlier once again.

She was lucky she met him on the way, else she couldn't imagine what'll happen to her next. Even now, her aching legs and feet reminded her of the strength she exerted just to get away from that man.

She was lucky she met Yuma, in general.

The first introduction between them wasn't really the best. But can she be blamed? He acted too much like a creep and an absolute weirdo. But now she can't deny his sincerity. Everything he did was for her own good...even them walking home together was something he had initiated.

Maeda-senpai's really kind.

Maybe she doesn't really mind the idea of being friends with him for real.