It started, as these things often did, with breakfast.
Kaito complimented Elena's new herb arrangement on the windowsill. "This looks really nice," he said, the kind of casual observation he made about a dozen things a week without thinking twice.
Yoru, pouring tea three feet away, set the pot down slightly harder than necessary.
Nobody noticed. Yet.
Twenty minutes later, Tsukasa mentioned that she and Kaito had stayed late at the library again, working through a difficult section of coursework.
Haruka, buttering toast, did not look up, but her knife moved with noticeably more force than toast required.
By lunch, Satsuki had observed Kaito laughing — genuinely laughing — at something Saori said over a video call, and found herself, for reasons she did not examine too closely, suddenly very invested in reorganizing her spreadsheet's color-coding system.
