Morning crept in softly, sliding through the thin curtains of Yuto's room. The faint hum of the city drifted in cars in the distance, the rustle of a delivery bike, someone calling to their child. Ordinary sounds. Yet somehow, the air felt heavier today.
He turned off his alarm before it could beep again. For a while, he simply lay there, watching the ceiling fade from gray to white as the sun rose.
Another day. Another gray day.
But lately, that gray felt… quieter.
He sat up, rubbed his face, and sighed. He didn't know what he was expecting maybe a notification from her, maybe nothing at all. Mika's name still sat in his chat list, the last message unread. A simple, ordinary text that now looked like a locked door.
He shook his head and got dressed.
At school, things were the same or at least, they looked that way. Aizen was half-asleep at his desk, muttering about exams, and Cid was already making jokes about their teacher's new haircut. The noise of their classroom buzzed like usual.
But to Yuto, there was a silence that shouldn't be there.
The seat beside him still empty.
He caught himself glancing at it before quickly looking away, pretending to flip through his notebook. Why do I keep doing that? he thought. It's not like she owes me anything.
Still, it was strange. The way she used to sit quiet, calm, her eyes half-hidden behind her hair somehow made the class feel steadier, even when they never spoke much. Her absence felt like missing punctuation in a sentence: small, but enough to change the rhythm.
"Yo, Yuto."
He looked up to see Cid grinning. "You good? You've been staring at empty space for, like, a solid five minutes."
Aizen, slouched over his chair, raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're finally falling for someone. Our boy's in love."
"Shut up," Yuto muttered, looking away. "It's nothing."
Cid laughed. "Sure, sure. 'It's nothing,' he says;
" that's what all the leads in romance manga say."
Yuto sighed, letting their teasing roll past him. Normally he'd laugh with them, but his thoughts drifted again to Mika's faint smile that day on the bridge, her distant tone when she said she didn't ask to be saved, the way her eyes softened for a second before turning away.
He opened his notebook, staring at a blank page. For a moment, his pencil hovered. Then he began to sketch random, loose lines that didn't form anything in particular. Just shapes, movement, maybe the edge of a girl's face before he realized what he was drawing and stopped.
He closed the notebook quietly.
Lunch came. The class was noisy as usual Cid arguing about manga rankings, Aizen half-napping over his bento but Yuto drifted toward the window, tray in hand.
Outside, the weather was strange again. Too bright to be winter, too dull to be spring. The light had that faded color, the one that used to make him wonder if the world itself was getting tired.
He ate in silence. The hum of laughter around him blurred into background noise.
I wonder what she's doing right now, he thought. If she's sick, or just… doesn't want to come.
The thought felt stupid, yet it stayed.
The walk home was quiet, too. The streets were lined with bare trees, their branches shaking softly in the breeze. Yuto's steps were slow, his bag hanging loosely from one shoulder. He didn't know why he chose to take the longer route the one that led near the river.
And then, he saw it.
The bridge.
The same one where she'd stood that morning the moment that changed everything. For a second, he stopped walking. The faint memory played in his mind like a short clip of an old movie the rush of wind, her expression, the way she said, "Who asked you to save me?" with trembling lips.
He looked down at the water. The reflection of the sky rippled in gray. No colors, no glow. Just stillness.
Why does this place feel different now?
He stood there for a while before continuing home.
That night, Yuto sat on his bed, half-leaning against the wall. His phone screen glowed faintly in the dark room.
Her chat was still open. The last message "I'll see you tomorrow" still unread.
He typed something. "Are you okay?"
Then erased it.
Typed again. "Haven't seen you in a while."
Deleted that too.
He sighed and locked his phone.
The room fell quiet except for the faint ticking of the clock. He stared at the ceiling again, feeling the same hollow pause that had followed him all week.
It wasn't worry not exactly. Just that strange emptiness that comes when you start to realize that someone's presence had started to matter to you, quietly, without you noticing.
Yuto closed his eyes.
"Why does it feel… so quiet?" he whispered.
Outside, the wind stirred softly as if carrying an answer he couldn't hear.