Theoretically, Iino should have been happier.

She ranked highest academically among her peers, even now in her second year. She became the student council president in a landslide victory (though, to be fair, she had been the sole candidate). She even played the biggest role in organizing this year's cultural festival—the very one she happened to be looming over at this moment from the clock tower's roof.

Down below smiling faces gathered around the bonfire, a scene nearly identical to last year's final night of the festival. Friends and couples alike danced by the fire, others seated and laughing together. What was so funny, Iino couldn't begin to guess.

She did feel pleased. It brought her endless joy to know that her efforts were the reason why so many of her peers were able to freely enjoy themselves tonight. Even so, she couldn't escape from the strange emptiness she felt.

"I thought I saw a suspicious person standing up here," a voice announced from behind.

Iino spun around to find Ishigami at the top of the staircase. She gaped at him until her mind caught up with the sight in front of her.

"You could see me from all the way down there?" she asked, dumbfounded.

Ishigami snorted, approaching Iino and standing next to her. He looked down at the bonfire, then over to Iino.

"I just saw you walking up here."

"Oh," she nodded. "Why'd you follow me?"

He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I thought the view might be nice."

She shot him a strange look before redirecting her attention back to the bustle of the festival. Her mouth opened to speak, but instead she only sighed. Old habits almost had her commanding him to go away, but seeing the crowd around the fire made her not want to be alone.

"Okay, what's going on with you?"

Taken aback, she looked Ishigami square in the eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been sighing all day long."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"You have been," he confirmed. "And not to mention…" he shut his mouth abruptly mid-sentence.

"What?" she probed.

"It might be weird to say."

A mixture of annoyance and curiosity stirred inside of her. "Just say it."

He maintained his silence for some time before coming out with it. "Well, okay. You've had a sad look on your face all day."

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. "Really?" she asked, unsure of how else to respond.

He nodded. "Is something wrong?"

Iino took a moment to consider. Most of all, it stunned her that Ishigami had even picked up on such a thing. She typically made a conscious effort to conceal her weaknesses in front of others, so the fact that Ishigami had seen through the cracks of her facade unnerved her. Still—how was she supposed to answer?

In truth, the ice between her and Ishigami had melted considerably since the previous year. For starters, she'd grown more tolerant toward his habit of gaming or reading manga at school. Whenever they found themselves in the student council room alone a civil, if not friendly, conversation would often ensue. Further evidence of their cordiality included the fact that Iino had sought out Ishigami to be her vice president, a proposal that he accepted. Even so, the two were only just that, cordial, and their conversations rarely went as far as regular Line messaging or anything. Sometimes she tinkered with the idea of sending him a random hi, but always changed her mind at the last minute.

"It's hard to explain," she landed on for an answer.

"Want to try?"

She gave a mirthless laugh. "What, you want me to spill my guts to you or something?"

"You can if you want," he offered casually.

Every dreary thought that had passed by throughout the day began to form a pile at the center of her mind, and she found that the pile was much larger than she realized. No, I can't burden him with my issues, she decided. But when she tried to tell him this, the thoughts themselves spilled out.

"It's strange. I have everything I want—school wise, that is—and when I look at that group down there it's like it doesn't even matter." She added in haste, "don't misunderstand! I'm really happy that everyone else is happy. It just feels like there's something...missing."

Ishigami absorbed her words in silence. Since long before the festival he'd felt that something was weighing on her. He wanted to say something cool and reassuring, but he was at a loss.

"Do you know how Shirogane confessed to Shinomiya last year?" she asked, slicing through his thoughts.

He nodded and smiled at the memory. At that time he was down by the fire and unaware of the significance behind the heart-shaped balloons that fell from the sky, but eventually Shirogane had told him the whole story.

"Shinomiya told me about it herself. Well, I asked after we found out that they were dating. Can you believe Shirogane went so far? It's kind of amazing."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"I got to thinking about that and decided to come up here. I even started to wish that someone would make a grand gesture like that for me someday...Oh!" she blurted with a grin. "I guess someone actually has made a grand gesture for me before."

"Really?" he raised a brow, casting a side glance in her direction.

"It was back in middle school. You might not remember, but those days were pretty rough for me. Just when I started to think I couldn't take it anymore, someone left an anonymous letter at my desk. 'Your efforts will be rewarded someday,' it read. Isn't that just so romantic?" she sighed wistfully. "I still cherish it to this day. That person has helped me more than they could ever imagine."

Iino was so engrossed in her millionth retelling of this tale that she failed to notice Ishigami freeze into stone beside her. When she did, a look of concern washed over her.

"I-Ishigami? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" he asked, wide eyed. Quickly he sobered up and shook his head, snapping himself out of his daze. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm okay."

His words did nothing to convince her. "Are you sure?"

Ishigami paused. "Iino, there's something I've never told you before."

"What is it?" she asked uneasily.

His hesitation couldn't have been more clear. Finally, as if ripping off a band-aid, he came out with it.

"I'm the one who wrote that letter."

Iino gawked at him. "Huh?"

He shifted his weight from foot to foot. "It wasn't right how people treated you back then. And, well, I had some insane obsession with serving justice back then, so I… well…"

She turned her body so that she was facing him full on. "Are you kidding?"

"What? Of course not."

"You seriously wrote that letter?"

He nodded, growing uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

"How could you never tell me this?!" she lashed out on instinct. "The letter that I read every night before bed in middle school, that I still use as a bookmark, whose author I fantasized about meeting, was written by you?!"

It was his turn to become a deer in headlights. "I didn't know you did all of that," he mumbled.

The words that poured from her mouth in a torrent registered in her brain at his comment. Instantaneously, her face blossomed into a bright shade of red.

She deflected her humiliation by pressing on with her interrogation.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Her shrill voice reminded Ishigami of the ultra-uptight Iino of the past and sent him over the edge. "Because that would make it seem like I was asking for a thank you," he snapped without noticing Iino wince. "I wasn't. I didn't need, or want, recognition. I'm just telling you now because you brought it up!"

Only when Iino didn't immediately fire back at him in retaliation did he realize that maybe he'd shocked her into silence. All of a sudden she seemed smaller than usual, and she kept her eyes glued to her feet. He held off on making an apology until the wait for her response became unbearable.

"Look, Iino, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

With great effort she lifted her eyes to meet his. She shook her head as her eyebrows drew in, almost imperceptibly.

"No, you're right."

"Huh?"

"A real hero doesn't need recognition, or ask for anything in return."

Ishigami wanted to point out that he never referred to himself as a hero, but bit his tongue. He couldn't stop the slight blush that surfaced his cheeks, however.

"Oh," he said.

Iino took a moment to think about the whole situation now that her mind had started to calm down somewhat.

For months, Iino Miko had been ignoring her feelings. Whether it was sadness, loneliness, or frustration, she confronted none of it. She hadn't even touched her poetry journal in months out of fear of what the pen might reveal. In truth, she knew what was going on inside of her. Why she looked forward to her little talks with Ishigami, why she always found herself wanting to text him at random moments, why now—after the initial shock—she felt glad that it was Ishigami who wrote that note in middle school.

She hadn't known all along, but after she had the revelation, she still buried the feelings in the deepest trenches of her heart in hopes that they would fade away. It was time to face reality: they weren't going anywhere.

Heroes don't need recognition, right? Even so…

"There are some things I haven't told you either," she admitted. Enough with the secrets. If her two upperclassmen could have been so bold on this very clock tower just a year ago, why couldn't she? Didn't she also deserve a remarkable cultural festival?

Ishigami eyed her with some suspicion. "Really? What?"

"Well… They almost weren't going to let you move onto high school at Shuchi'in."

He sighed out through puffed cheeks. "I knew that."

"Did you ever wonder why they lifted your punishment even though you never turned in your reflection?"

Her words plunged him deep into his thoughts, but he came up with nothing.

"I guess I just got lucky."

"Not quite. I protested your punishment."

It felt as if a weight had been lifted off of Iino by saying those words. Now that she'd torn off the bandage, her nerves up and vanished.

Taken aback, he furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I went straight to the guidance counselor and told him he was wrong. It was wrong. You were still turning in your homework everyday… The principal happened to be passing by and I pleaded my case to him. I mean, I don't know if my words had any real impact on the situation actually—"

"I'm sure they did," he cut her off before she could doubt herself further. "Iino, I don't know what to say. I really had no idea."

"Only Koba-chan knows," she shrugged.

Ishigami wondered how to properly express his gratitude. It would probably take more than a mere thank you to show her what her actions really meant to him, but for now it was all he could offer.

"Thank you, Iino."

She smiled, ducking her head and motioning to tuck her hair behind her ears despite it already being tied back in twintails.

A girly squeal followed by a chorus of laughter pierced the air from down below. Both Iino and Ishigami looked out at the bonfire.

"I almost forgot there was a festival going on," Ishigami laughed. The mood had gotten so heavy between the two of them that the rest of the world ceased to exist.

"Me too," she joined him in his laughter. Even after it died out, a smile remained on her face.

Ishigami glanced over at her. "Why don't you go join the festivities?"

"I'm okay with just watching from afar."

"You sure? You did the same thing last year, too," he pointed out. "You practically organized this whole thing, you deserve to enjoy it just as much as everyone else."

She met his eyes and held his gaze. "I am enjoying it."

He didn't think he could stop himself from blushing if he tried. "You know, I was going to ask if you wanted to walk around the festival with me yesterday."

Iino's eyebrows raised in surprise. Ishigami cleared his throat, not because he felt the need to cough, but because with every passing second he started to lose his nerve. He had to press on before he talked himself out of it.

"I reasoned that you were too busy, but I really just chickened out," he revealed, hoping she'd catch onto what he truly meant.

"Like… a date?"

He nodded.

"I would have said yes."

"Damn," he cursed, earning a quiet giggle from Iino. "There's always next year."

She smiled so brightly that Ishigami couldn't help but grin himself.

"But maybe we could also go on a few before next year too," he suggested nonchalantly.

"I wouldn't mind that." After suppressing her feelings for so long, Iino's heart felt like it would burst. She could hardly believe that Ishigami felt the same way as she did. He didn't say it outright, but that's what a date implied, right? Still, she wanted to hear him say it. Especially after everything they'd told each other already.

As if reading her mind, Ishigami placed a hand on his forehead and sighed.

"This must rank among the lamest confessions of all time."

"So you are confessing?"

He raked his hands down his face and dropped them at his sides. "Sorry I couldn't get a million heart-shaped balloons to fall from the sky."

The edges of Iino's eyes crinkled as she laughed. "The pendant you gave me last year was just fine."

"Oh god," he paled in terror. "That technically could have been a confession, couldn't it?"

"I thought it was! For a split second, anyway."

Ishigami abruptly stared up at the waning moon and the few stars that shone brightly over Tokyo. "A lot changes in a year, huh."

The sudden change of topic threw Iino off guard. Even so, she followed his line of sight up toward the sky and hummed in agreement.

"I like you, Iino."

Her head whipped back to the side. In the moonlight she made out the faint blush that painted his cheek and realized why he'd looked up in the first place. She didn't know if she even needed to say it back at this point, but if Ishigami could gather the courage, she needed to as well.

"I like you too."

The corners of his lips ticked up in an instant. Another bout of laughter filled the air from the festivities below and Ishigami instinctively looked over the edge of the roof.

"Should we go down?"

She shook her head. "Let's stay up here a little longer."

It amazed Iino how different she felt now as opposed to just half an hour ago. All of her earlier feelings seemed so silly now. Then, a flood of questions broke the dam in her mind. How long had Ishigami liked her? Would he still have confessed to her tonight if she hadn't gone up the tower? Would it be weird if she suddenly reached out to hold his hand?

At once, she banished every pesky thought away. She only ever dreamed of her current situation; rather than spend it lost inside of her own head, she resolved to live in the moment.

Feeling bold, she inched sideways until the gap between her and Ishigami's shoulders closed, an action that caused Ishigami to freeze in place. Hesitantly, he lifted his arm up, and with a gust of confidence he wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

How long the pair stood like that, neither could say. It was a shame that the night would eventually come to an end, but the both of them found comfort in the fact that next year wasn't too far off—not to mention all of the days in-between.

A/N: Not really sure how I feel about this one overall... I just wanted to write a scenario in which they found out about one another's involvement in their respective pasts and came up with this. I just hope it doesn't take a year in the manga for these two to get together :p