(After a night filled with laughter, warmth, and the aromas of food that mixed with the family's voices, Ahmed gently bid the Tanaka family farewell, then returned to his small, humble home.)
He opened the door of his apartment quietly, as if his heart didn't want to disturb a single moment of the happiness he had stored in his memory. He took off his shoes, set his belongings aside, then stretched out on his bed as if he were lying in the embrace of the whole world.
It didn't take long for sleep to overcome him. He closed his eyes, and Misaki's shy smile was the last thing he saw before he fell into a deep slumber. Even the silence of the night seemed kinder, as if the walls were keeping the secret of that look for him, and its echo resonated between the corners of his simple room.
And the next morning, he woke up early as usual, but something was different.
He stood in front of his small mirror, tidying his hair, and putting on his school uniform. His smile was wider than on any morning before. He didn't know exactly if it was for the memory, or for the anticipation, or just... because she existed.
He left his house with light steps, and the step of his heart was faster than his steps. He went to school, his eyes searching the horizon for Misaki... for her shadow, for her voice, for her morning.
As if the meeting had become an appointment for the heart, not for the lesson.