The following afternoon was exceptionally quiet.

An odd thing to say.

Especially during summer vacation.

The cake shop wasn’t very busy.

Just a few random customers here and there throughout the day.

The air was filled with the smell of freshly-baked bread and cream.

All was quiet.

Too bad for Aoi, since her mind wouldn’t stop working.

Not a good sign.

Not a good sign at all.

Every time her mind worked, it inevitably ended with her thinking about Kuro.

Specifically.

About yesterday.

About how he just walked away.

About how he decided to choose her over himself.

That memory refused to leave her mind.

And that bothered her.

A little.

"Aoi-chan."

Sachiko’s voice broke the silence of her mind.

"Hmm?"

"You’ve been staring at the same cake for five minutes now."

Aoi blinked.

True.

She had been staring at the same cake.

Rather embarrassing.

"Sorry."

The old lady smiled knowingly.

"Getting distracted?"

"No."

"Thinking about the boy?"

Immediately, Aoi looked away.

A suspicious move.

Very suspicious indeed.

Sachiko chuckled.

"I’m taking that as a yes."

The rest of the shift passed excruciatingly slowly.

Finally.

The time came to close the shop.

The lights dimmed down.

The customers cleared out.

Evening fell upon the city.

While Aoi cleaned the counter, a familiar voice called out from behind her.

"All done?"

She turned around.

Kuro stood by the entrance of the shop.

Waiting.

For some reason, the sight immediately lifted her spirits.

A fact she tried to ignore.

"What are you doing here?"

"Going home."

Kuro shrugged.

"Figured I’d wait."

It was such a simple answer.

But she couldn’t help but feel a warmness within herself.

Troubling, really.

A few minutes passed.

And there they were, sitting outside the shop.

A small bench overlooked the street.

The evening sky was bright orange.

Occasionally, passers-by would walk by.

The occasional car drove by on far-off streets.

The atmosphere was calm.

Comfortable.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

Neither was troubled by the silence.

Until eventually.

Aoi broke the silence.

"Why didn’t you hit them?"

Kuro turned his head.

"The college students."

"Oh."

He answered without hesitation.

"Because it wasn’t worth it."

Aoi frowned.

"They insulted you."

"I’ve heard worse."

"They annoyed you."

"Definitely."

"They were idiots."

"No arguments there."

Aoi turned her head away.

Not the answer she wanted.

Which Kuro knew very well.

Since he continued speaking.

"If something had happened."

Aoi turned back toward him.

"The shop would be involved."

Silence.

"The owner would be involved."

Still, Aoi remained silent.

"And you would be involved."

A gentle breeze blew past them.

Kuro kept speaking, calmly.

"I did not want that to happen."

Gripping her schoolbag a little tighter, Aoi stayed silent.

"You could have ignored that."

"I could have."

"But I didn’t."

Again, it seemed so natural.

So obvious.

Without hesitation.

Without embarrassment.

Without shame.

Aoi stared at the street.

For some reason,

Her heart sounded especially loud.

Kuro leaned back a little.

Smiled.

"Moreover."

Aoi turned to face him.

"You are important to me."

Silence.

The world stopped.

No more cars.

No more people.

Nothing except those words remained.

You are important to me.

Regular words.

Ordinary words.

Words that struck much harder than any others.

Immediately, Aoi looked away.

Since looking at him suddenly seemed like an extremely dangerous thing to do.

Very dangerous, indeed.

Unfortunately for her,

Her ears had already turned red.

Which Kuro totally missed, as per normal.

"Important?"

The word slipped out before she could think.

Kuro nodded.

"Of course."

He remained utterly sincere in his expression.

Making it even harder for her.

"We’re family."

Critical hit.

Direct damage.

Massive damage.

Aoi almost felt her soul leave her body.

Family.

The worst enemy.

The strongest rival.

The ultimate obstacle.

Kuro continued talking.

Blissfully unaware of the effect of his words.

"You work very hard."

Aoi listened silently.

"You help everyone."

A gentle breeze blew past her.

"And honestly,"

Kuro chuckled.

"I’d prefer dealing with annoying college students than seeing you get fired from your job."

Silence.

An exceedingly long silence.

Aoi gazed at the ground.

For the first time that day.

An honest smile appeared on her face.

Small.

Tender.

Beautiful.

Entirely unnoticed.

Since Kuro was looking into the sky.

An idiot.

A total idiot.

Although.

For some reason.

Aoi found that quite comforting.

Their discussion eventually moved onto less sensitive topics.

Work.

Summer vacation.

Akari’s last disaster.

Usual stuff.

When they finally stood up, the sun had set.

Night had come.

The way back seemed surprisingly short.

Way too short.

Incredibly too short.

Finally.

They arrived at the family house.

Kuro opened the gate of the property.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

A quick farewell.

Except Aoi watched him for a few seconds before entering the premises.

Afterwards, she closed the door.

Immediately, she changed her appearance.

That gentle look disappeared.

That tender smile vanished.

That warm feeling was gone. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She now wore a much colder expression.

Much colder.

Since there was still unfinished business.

The college students.

Aoi went upstairs.

She entered her bedroom.

Put down her schoolbag.

Picked up her phone.

A few moments later.

She left.

Once again.

The cool night air surrounded her.

City lights gleamed softly.

Everyone thought that she was taking a walk.

Everyone was terribly wrong.

Very wrong.

Meanwhile.

Several blocks away.

Four college students laughed happily outside of a convenience store.

Totally relaxed.

Completely assured.

Utterly oblivious.

One of them checked his phone.

Freezing.

A text.

From unknown number.

"We need to talk."

The student frowned.

Lifted his head.

A familiar girl stood under a nearby streetlight.

Long dark hair.

Serious look.

School uniform.

Aoi.

The boys glanced confusedly at each other.

One of them laughed.

"Well."

"Seems like she’s coming to apologize."

The other three laughed along.

Big mistake.

Because as Aoi slowly approached them,

The light illuminated her eyes.

And for the first time.

There was not an ounce of warmth in those eyes anymore.

Only cold.

Silent.

Absolutely terrifying cold.

The type that appeared only when somebody threatened something she loved.

Including Kuro.

The whole walk home that evening, Aoi couldn’t stop thinking about what Kuro had said.

"You mean a lot to me."

Simple.

True.

Totally natural.

Something he would say without realizing its impact on the listener.

She raised her eyes to the night sky.

And then she recalled something else.

An old memory.

An ancient memory.

From many years ago.

Before the family was a family.

Before she knew the meaning behind these emotions.

Small park.

Younger Aoi was sitting under a tree.

Reading a children’s book.

While others around her were playing, she was quietly reading all by herself.

She loved books.

Books were simple.

Easy to understand.

But people were not.

That is why that particular day some people found her.

A few bigger children approached.

Laughing at her.

Teasing her.

Making fun of her sitting all by herself.

Making fun of her for reading books.

Aoi was angry.

And helpless.

Being small, she couldn’t do much to defend herself.

The bigger kids laughed.

Until someone intervened.

"Give it back."

Recognizable voice.

Young Kuro was standing nearby.

The bigger children looked at him.

"What?"

He repeated himself.

"I said give it back."

His voice didn’t raise.

However, his words sounded loudly enough.

At first, they laughed even harder.

And then he took a step forward.

No one laughed anymore.

Even as a child, Kuro was special.

He had an aura that made you rethink your attitude.

Now the bullies looked at each other and then dropped the book.

And left.

Problem solved.

The young Aoi watched them leave.

Then looked at the rescued book.

Then at Kuro.

Taking the book, he handed it back to Aoi.

"Are you alright?"

Nodding, Aoi thanked him.

"No problem."

That should have been the end of the story.

To Kuro.

To Aoi.

This became one of her best memories.

Because no one had defended her like that before.

Because no one had been there for her before.

Young Aoi hugged her book tightly.

Then looked at him.

With a completely serious face.

"Kuro."

"Yeah?"

"When we grow up."

He blinked.

Puffing her cheeks, Young Aoi gathered all her courage.

And declared confidently:

"Marry me."

Silence.

Kuro stared.

Then started laughing.

Not at her.

Just because the statement came so suddenly.

"So that’s your thank you?"

"Yes."

He smiled.

"A strange thank you."

Young Aoi crossed her hands on her chest.

"I am serious!"

Her confidence lasted for three seconds.

Then she became very embarrassed.

He laughed again.

Their conversation stopped right there.

Coming back to the present day.

Aoi hid her face behind her palm.

Even years later.

Even now.

Recalling it was embarrassing.

Why?

Because she had been totally serious!

A tiny smile graced her lips.

Kids’ vows were meant to be forgotten.

But somehow.

This one remained fresh in her memory.

And after hearing Kuro say that she meant a lot to him...

This vow started becoming closer to reality.