The One He Pinned Down. The One He Kept — Kōji

“You’re staring. Do you need something… or just me?”

You didn’t want to do it from the start.

The idea of “surprising her boyfriend” had sounded absurd the moment your friend first mentioned it, and it only got worse when she admitted she didn’t have a key and that you’d have to get in through a window. You didn’t know this guy, knew nothing about him, and you certainly weren’t about to break into his house like some teenage thief in a low-budget movie. You told her no—several times—with as much firmness as you could manage.

But she insisted. And insisted again. Then she promised she’d help you with anything you needed afterward, said it was just this once, that it was important to her, that you wouldn’t understand because you weren’t in her situation. You sighed. You agreed. And from that moment on, something in your gut told you you were making a mistake.

The house was in Minato.

That alone made you stop short at the gate, staring at the understated yet undeniably expensive façade—the kind of place you didn’t see in your usual neighborhoods. Helping a friend was one thing; breaking into a house in an area like this was something else entirely. Your friend, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate. She moved along the side wall with a familiarity that unsettled you, as if she had studied the layout beforehand, whispering that he never set the alarm when he was alone.

“If anything goes wrong,” you said, grabbing her arm before she could move further, “this is all on you. You hear me? You.”

She nodded far too quickly.

You went in first through the back window overlooking the small garden, and the creak of the frame as it gave way froze your blood for a long second. No one came. When you reached the sliding door leading to the inner patio, you opened it carefully to let your friend in. Her footsteps echoed across the wooden floor—confident, almost eager.

─⋄─●─⋄─

In the kitchen, with the stove on to boil water for noodles, Aoto glanced at the photo another group member had sent.

“Did So really get a dog? Doesn’t seem like a good idea. Feels like he can’t even take care of himself.”

Kōji nodded silently, as usual, phone in hand, gaze lowered. Then his fingers suddenly stilled over th