Signals Through the Static
The next day, the usual dull murmur of morning announcements buzzed through the school speakers, but Ren wasn't paying attention. He sat at his desk by the window in the second-floor classroom, half-listening as sunlight spilled across his notebook. He was sketching out a rough logic flow for a machine learning algorithm—not for homework, just… for fun.
That's when the class door slid open.
Aoi Hoshizaki stepped in, casually brushing her light-blonde dyed hair over one shoulder. Her uniform was crisp, her posture confident, and her expression unreadable—until her eyes landed on Ren.
For a second, her usual bold smile softened.
"Yo, Ren," she said as she passed by, her hand lightly tapping his desk. "You free after school? I might need your hacker brain again."
Ren stiffened, flustered by the casual touch and the attention of the school's undisputed beauty queen.
"Uh… y-yeah. Sure."
He wasn't the only one who noticed. Half the class turned to look—some confused, others clearly curious. Ren's classmates knew Aoi: the techy gal with charm, wit, and just the right amount of mystery. What no one knew was why she kept talking to him.
Ren shrunk deeper into his seat.
After school, the two met in the club room. Only a couple other students were there, distracted with soldering kits and debugging errors.
Aoi spun a chair backward and sat across from him, her eyes bright with energy.
"Okay, so I was messing around with my dad's old Raspberry Pi last night," she began, leaning in, "and I think I accidentally bricked the OS trying to dual boot with Kali Linux."
Ren blinked, processing. "...You what?"
"I know, I know, stupid flex. But I wanted to run a Wi-Fi sniffing tool just to see how it works."
Ren gave a low whistle, impressed.
"You're into that stuff too?"
Aoi shrugged, looking a little self-conscious for once.
"Yeah. My parents are both in cybersecurity. It's kind of expected, I guess."
Then, a quick smirk returned to her lips.
"But it's more fun when I learn from someone like you."
He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Compliments weren't something he was used to.
They huddled over her laptop, fixing the issue together. As they worked, their shoulders occasionally brushed. Aoi didn't flinch—Ren, however, nearly short-circuited every time.
"I like this," she said suddenly, not looking at him.
Ren looked up, startled. "What?"
"Working with you. You don't judge me. You don't talk much, but when you do, it's always something helpful. I feel... kinda chill around you."
Her tone wasn't flirtatious. It was honest.
Ren hesitated, then managed a rare moment of courage.
"I... I like working with you too. You're different from what I expected."
She smiled.
For a moment, neither said anything. The screen reflected softly in their eyes, a quiet intimacy humming beneath the buzz of the room.
The next few weeks passed in a similar rhythm. They partnered during club meetings. Aoi started sitting closer in class, and during lunch, she'd often stop by his desk to tease him about a new gadget or tech meme.
Still, neither admitted anything. Their closeness became something unspoken—visible to those paying attention, but undefined.
Ren wasn't sure what this was, exactly. But it felt… nice.
One afternoon, as they walked out of school together, Aoi suddenly asked, "Do you believe in destiny?"
Ren gave her a sideways glance. "Not really. I believe in logic and systems."
She grinned. "Typical."
Then she turned serious.
"But still. Feels like I was meant to meet you, hacker-boy."
Ren looked away quickly, trying to hide the smile tugging at his lips.