Morning, getting out of bed.

Suse opened her eyes and immediately saw her boyfriend in front of the wardrobe, tying his tie.

As usual, his movements were meticulous, precise, almost like a Junker noble.

Rising from the bed, she noticed her school uniform and winter tights casually placed on top of the blanket in front of her.

Must have been Kagura Hikaru grabbing them for her while changing his own clothes.

Yesterday morning, she would have accepted it without a second thought.

But this morning, she instinctively began to overthink and tried to infer his mood while preparing her clothes—based on their placement and the number of creases.

Did Kagura Hikaru really love her after all?

Suse began agonizing over questions she previously never—or perhaps consciously avoided—considering.

She was good at analysis.

If she wanted, she could think like Sherlock Holmes and deduce someone's career from something as small as a button.

But she had never applied this level of scrutiny to people in her life.

It wasn't polite, and accidentally uncovering someone's private matters makes it awkward to maintain the relationship.

Yet this morning, she took it seriously.

And the focus of her scrutiny was her boyfriend.

Perhaps, this was what people call a "crisis of trust" between couples, she thought.

Her analysis led to the conclusion—

Kagura Hikaru's attitude toward her clothes was quite casual.

He didn't walk closer to place them neatly on the bed but instead tossed them over from the wardrobe.

This suggested he trusted her deeply, not worrying about upsetting her.

Conversely, it was an intimate gesture.

The clothes didn't appear to be treated harshly; the minimal creases showed that Kagura Hikaru held no resentment toward her.

Him taking the initiative to fetch her clothes was further proof that he was willing to take care of her in small ways.

It seemed that her boyfriend did care about her.

Reaching this conclusion, Suse breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she laughed at her own absurd train of thought... and felt a hint of caution.

Trust is fragile, like human nature.

No one is perfect; if she kept demanding high standards from those close to her, someday the illusion would shatter—she'd naturally return to solitude.

Put simply, excessive doubt leads to cracks in relationships, resulting in a breakup.

That was the one thing she absolutely wanted to avoid.

Suse forced herself to suppress the unease in her heart.

She mustn't act neurotic like someone with obsessive tendencies.

Kagura Hikaru might just be excessively reliant on her due to his trauma; even if he recovers in the future, their feelings and relationship wouldn't change.

Suse understood very clearly that her worries fundamentally stemmed from an excess of care.

She cared too deeply.

Theoretically, this placed her at a disadvantage in the relationship.

And, in practice, it did.

The mere uncertainty in Kagura Hikaru's demeanor threw her completely off balance.

To the point where, that morning, even until she left home, she remained utterly distracted.

She didn't even notice when Kagura Hikaru wrapped a scarf around her neck.

Christmas was approaching.

The weather had turned distinctly colder.

Every breath felt like inhaling a puff of powdered mint candy into her nasal cavity.

Chilled to her very core.

People on the street exhaled puffs of white vapor as they walked.

The ground felt slippery underfoot; it seemed the pavement had already begun to frost over.

The coldest part of winter had arrived.

Help us out by reading on *.

Kagura Hikaru thought as he exhaled another puff of white vapor into the air, watching it rise and dissipate into the sky.

Moments of time seemed to drift away with it.

Christmas is almost here.

The events of that Christmas two years ago remain vivid in his memory.

It felt like a blink of an eye, and yet, two years had already passed.

Now, Kagura Hikaru could face those unpleasant memories with calmness.

All that remained was a touch of melancholy introspection.

He used to always wonder what he would do if he returned to that moment—what changes he would make.

But recently, those thoughts no longer crossed his mind.

Change is not always a good thing.

The present is perfectly fine.

If only time could freeze here forever.

Never flow forward, never change.

Let their lives, everyone's lives—

Be preserved in this moment, like amber.

At the train station.

Beyond the ticket gates, Kagura Hikaru quickly spotted Karen waiting for the train, her back turned toward them.

The station was filled with commuters as well as students like them, many of whom wore Yuqiu High School uniforms.

But he could still pick her out easily from the crowd.

The key was her distinctive silhouette.

Specifically, her soft, fluffy shoulder-length hair, the slender calves revealed beneath her winter coat, the thick white thermal tights.

The way her head swayed, her shoulder-strapped school bag hanging plainly, her neat and refined leather shoes.

Were there any features that didn't stand out?

"Karen, good morning."

Kagura Hikaru approached her to greet.

Karen turned around in surprise, smiling: "Oh, Kagura, good morning… and Little Hinata, good morning too."

"Not fair, Karen-chan."

Suse clasped her hands behind her back, teasing slightly: "You call Mister Hikaru 'Kagura,' but for me, it's 'Little Hinata.' I'm your loyal fan who bought your albums and went to your concerts; don't you think that's just a tiny bit unfair~"

Karen's scalp tightened.

She forced an awkward smile: "Um, if Little Hinata… would like…"

"You can just call me Suse, okay?"

"Uh, Suse… um, Suse."

"…And there's still a 'Little Hinata' attached," Suse sighed melodramatically, smiling, "Looks like I'll have to keep working harder—aiming to be Karen-chan's best friend like Mister Hikaru is."

"Best friend? That's way too much...!"

Karen flushed nervously, waving her hands as if terrified Suse might misinterpret.

"Huh? Isn't it?"

But Kagura Hikaru, on the other hand, looked genuinely taken aback.

His expression showed genuine surprise, though he quickly smoothed it over into calm indifference. Yet, there was a noticeable dimming in the subtle glow behind his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, Karen seemed stung. She almost leaped in to clarify: "Of course, Kagura, you're my best friend!"

"Best friend?"

"The best friend! …Maybe, sort of like Zhen Chun!"

She added the last part sheepishly.

"Speaking of Ruzaki, her performance at the concert the day before yesterday was exceptional," Kagura Hikaru said.

"Yeah, we thought so too! The drumbeats were so powerful; when the drummer got pumped up, so did we. Haha, the atmosphere live was just amazing, wasn't it?"

"It was indeed excellent."

Suse silently watched as the two shared an animated conversation, seemingly lost in their own world, entirely leaving her aside.

It was obvious they weren't doing it on purpose; they were simply engrossed.

But still—why was her boyfriend chatting so deeply with another girl while by her side?

Just that fact alone was utterly strange to her.

Suse wavered again.

Her thoughts started spinning into chaos once more.

Could it be, could it be that Mister Hikaru really…

"Suse, Suse?"

She wasn't sure how long had passed until Kagura Hikaru shook her back to attention.

The loud chatter of the station flooded her ears in an instant.

"Don't zone out, the train's here."

"Mm…."