The sky outside Emi's window was a soft watercolor of fading pink and cold blue. She sat cross-legged at her desk, sketchbook spread open, pencil tapping against her lip in thought. The pages had started as a winter journal simple entries about the New Year trip, about snowball fights and shrine bells but had slowly become something else.
She flipped back through the sketches. Kiyomi laughing, half-hidden in a scarf. Ito scowling with snow in his hair. Kirika posing dramatically by a bonfire. And Axel appearing in more pages than she remembered drawing. Axel with his messy hair, Axel yawning while holding cocoa, Axel standing by the shrine gate, smiling at something she couldn't quite remember.
Her pencil hovered over a blank corner, then drew him again not from a memory this time, but from how her mind shaped him when she wasn't thinking.
A voice popped in from the doorway.
"Wow," Kirika-san said with a mischievous grin, leaning in with her hands on her hips. "That's, what, your fifth 'accidental Axel' this week?"
Emi jumped, slamming her notebook shut. "I-It's not like that."
Kirika raised an eyebrow. "Mmhm. You keep saying that, but your sketches are saying 'married with two cats and a cozy house by the sea.'"
Emi turned red and threw a pillow at her.
Unfazed, Kirika caught it and plopped down on Emi's bed. "Seriously though," she said, folding her arms behind her head. "At this rate, if you don't tell him soon, I'll confess for you. Or worse…"
She paused dramatically.
"…I'll start calling myself Emi's future sister-in-law. Repeatedly. Loudly. In public."
"You wouldn't dare."
Kirika smirked. "I absolutely would. So come on, Anyways let's go to the bakery Yuika -San requires your assistance too today that's why I came here to call you."
Emi groaned and flopped face-first onto her pillow.
The school felt unusually alive that morning. Even under the gray sky and patches of leftover snow, students bustled through the halls with red ribbons, gift bags, and carefully disguised chocolate boxes.
Emi had her gift hidden in the folds of her scarf a small, carefully wrapped box with chocolate she actually learned to temper herself this year. She wasn't even sure if Axel liked chocolate that much, but she figured… well, it's not really about the chocolate.
She clutched her box of chocolates tightly. She had spent hours the night before not just making the chocolates, but wrapping them, unwrapping them, then wrapping them again when the ribbon didn't feel right. Now, her hands were cold and slightly shaking.
Outside the classroom, Regi caught her pacing and snatched the box from her scarf pocket with a smirk.
"Hmmm, let me guess. For someone tall, grumpy, and tragically clueless?"
Emi lunged to grab it back, whisper-hissing, "Give it!"
"You know," Regi added slyly, "Megumi made chocolate too. Two, actually. One for me—"
"Her childhood friend," Emi muttered.
"—and one for Axel." He winked. "You better not take too long, Emi-chan. That girl plays the long game."
She scowled at him. "So do I."
Later She found Axel near the lockers, digging through his bag, headphones around his neck. She approached quietly.
"Hey," she said.
He looked up, eyes lighting up in that lazy, familiar way. "Hey."
"I, um…" She fumbled with the box. "These are for you. Not… you know, not obligation-chocolates or anything. Just—chocolates. For you."
Axel blinked at the small package, then took it gently. "Thanks," he said, smiling just a little. "I was actually hoping you'd show up with some."
"You were?"
"Yeah." He looked like he wanted to say more, but before he could, a voice cut through the air like a cheerful breeze.
"Axel-kun!" Megumi-san, radiant as ever, walked over with perfect timing, holding a box of her own. "Here. I made these with Regi-kun, but I had a few extras. Don't eat them all at once."
She winked at Emi. "Unless Emi-chan's got dibs. Hmm?"
Regi popped up from behind, grinning. "Don't mind her. She's in her big sister with a crush mode today."
Megumi elbowed him lightly. "You're lucky I like you, Regi. These are yours, too."
Emi watched as Megumi handed Regi his box — a neat one, wrapped in pale blue and tied with simple twine. The two exchanged a glance too practiced to be accidental.
Regi smirked at Emi. "So. You made your move too, huh? About time."
Emi tried to swat him, but he dodged with a laugh.
Megumi leaned toward Emi with a teasing whisper. "Better hurry up. If you don't confess soon, I might just take him for myself."
"Megumi-san!"
"Kidding," she grinned. "Mostly."
She gave a casual wave to Axel, who raised his hand politely, a little confused but amused. Then Megumi and Regi walked off, exchanging snark the way only old friends could.
Emi gave a polite smile, but her ears were burning as she turned back to Axel, flustered. "Don't—don't take anything she says seriously."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "So I shouldn't take your chocolates seriously, either?"
Emi opened her mouth, but he gave a crooked grin before she could respond.
"I'm kidding," he said. "Mostly."
Later That Evening – Emi's Room
The journal lay open again. This time, Emi wasn't sketching. Just staring at the page. A new page. Blank again.
Outside, the snow had started to melt at the edges, puddles forming near the gutter. Winter wasn't over yet, but the world had begun to shift.
Kirika poked her head in, holding two mugs of cocoa. "Chocolate day go well?"
Emi nodded. "I think so."
"You look flushed," she said without looking.
Emi slumped into the seat.
"I gave it to him," she said. "Then Megumi gave hers. And I panicked."
Kirika's brow rose. "You panicked? Emi, you're the girl who once kicked a guy for calling her short in middle school."
"This is different!" Emi groaned.
Kirika placed the mugs down and flopped beside her.
After a moment, she said, "You know, you don't have to do it perfectly. Just honestly. Boys are kind of dumb when it comes to signals. My brother especially."
"I'm not sure I even want to say anything yet."
"Totally valid. But…" She paused. "If you don't say something before the snow melts… I will."
Emi looked at her, half amused, half horrified. "You're really not kidding."
Kirika took a sip and winked. "Nope."
Emi glanced out the window. The snow really was starting to thin out in places. The rooftops looked patchy, the sun more persistent each day.
"Just say it," Kirika added. "Or I'll say it for you. In song. Loudly."
Emi laughed through her blush. "I'm starting to think you enjoy torturing me."
Kirika grinned. "Absolutely. But also—"
She pointed at her bun like a sword.
"My brother Axel is a simp. And he loves you so much. You're the only one who hasn't noticed."
Emi's face went crimson.
Then the bell above the bakery door jingled.
Axel stepped in, snow still on his shoulders, blinking at them.
"What are you two laughing at?"
Kirika shoved the rest of the bun in her mouth and said through crumbs:
"Noooothing."
Later that night, Emi sat with her journal again. She sketched from memory a cat, a scarf, the shape of a shy boy's shoulders holding her chocolate like it mattered more than he'd admit.
Axel, again.
Too many pages. Too many bridges.
She looked out the window.
The snow hadn't melted yet.
But it was starting to.