A pause. Then, a soft voice, almost drowned by the water pipes: “Can you… not tell anyone I’m here?”
AOI (second year, art club, stays late to clean brushes) Aoi is the only one in the fourth-floor bathroom. The windows face west — sunset paints the sinks orange. She washes red paint from her fingers. gakko no monogatari 0.25
Silence. Then the stall door clicks open. A pause
Aoi picks it up. It’s warm.