The sun filtered through the gauzy curtains, and for once, the house wasn't filled with yelling.
No Rika chasing Haruka for stealing her bread.No Yui slamming doors because Ren forgot laundry duty.No Emi's soft scolding.No Mei's humming in the kitchen.
Just… silence.
Ren sat on the edge of the sofa, clutching a mug of barely warm cocoa. He hadn't spoken to any of the girls since the festival. Just… nodded, smiled, avoided eye contact.
His phone buzzed.
[Mei] – "Are you home?"
He blinked.
Typed: "Yeah."
A reply came immediately.
[Mei] – "Come to the park behind the school. Just you."
She stood beneath a willow tree, hair tied up today, long sleeves rolled slightly to her elbows. In her hand: a small box of pastries. Convenience store ones, but still warm.
Ren approached, awkward.
"…Morning."
She didn't smile.
Didn't glare either.
Just offered a pastry.
He took it.
They sat in silence on the empty bench.
Birds chirped. Distant morning traffic passed. Somewhere, a dog barked.
Ren finally exhaled. "I didn't think you'd talk to me first."
"I didn't think you'd show up."
"I almost didn't."
Mei looked at him then.
Not cold.
Just... honest.
"Then why did you?"
He looked at the half-eaten pastry.
Then at his own fingers.
"Because you're the only one I think I truly hurt without even realizing it."
She blinked.
"I saw how much you held back. You were the one who watched it all happen. Watched me run. Watched me hesitate. And you didn't fight for attention. You just… stayed."
He lowered his voice.
"That's why I thought maybe you'd be the one to leave first."
"I thought about it," she said.
That hurt more than he expected.
"But I didn't. Not yet."
He looked up.
She was staring straight ahead.
"You know what hurts, Ren?"
He didn't answer.
She continued.
"It wasn't that you kissed Emi. Or that you stood on stage and chose to protect everyone. That was… noble, in your stupid Ren way."
"…Then what?"
"It was that you didn't come talk to me afterward."
That hit like a slap made of words.
"I voted for someone else to kiss you," she whispered. "Because I thought it would hurt less to lose quietly."
"…It doesn't."
"No. It doesn't."
He sat up straighter. "I don't have the right words yet. I'm still figuring out what I feel. But I know this—when you said 'don't be nice to me or I'll break'… I should've said something better."
She looked at him.
"…Then say it now."
Ren breathed.
Then said it.
"I'll never be nice to you out of pity. I'll be kind to you because you deserve someone who sees you—quiet and all. Who chooses to stay, even when you don't ask."
For a moment, the world held its breath.
Then Mei smiled. Just slightly.
"…Took you long enough."
She stood.
Turned.
Then looked back over her shoulder.
"Walk me home?"
"…Yeah."
They walked in step. No hands held. No big declarations. Just two hearts beating a little steadier.
That afternoon…
Ren found a note in his locker.
No name.
Just five words:
"Next time… talk to me."
The handwriting was sharp. Familiar.
Yui.
He smiled.
The healing wasn't over.
But it had begun.