The apartment was quiet that night. Too quiet.
Renji had never liked silence—it reminded him of the moments after a breakup, when the voice he was used to hearing every day was gone, leaving only an empty echo. He turned on the TV for background noise, but the talk show hosts' laughter felt hollow.
So instead, he reached for the book Mio had given him.
The Quiet Places Where Love Hides.
Unlike the fragmented stories of the last one, this book was filled with small scenes: a man finding comfort in a smile from a stranger, a girl realizing she was in love while sharing an umbrella, two people laughing together over nothing.
They weren't grand love stories. Just… little pieces of warmth.
Renji found himself reading late into the night. Every time he thought about closing the book, some line would hold him a moment longer:
> "Love doesn't always arrive with fireworks. Sometimes it comes quietly, sitting beside you when you don't notice, and stays even when you try to push it away."
Renji closed the book slowly, his fingers lingering on the page. "…Quiet, huh?"
He thought back to Mio's grin, the sparkle in her eyes when she teased him. A bookstore clerk he had only just met, yet she'd already made the silence a little less heavy.
He shook his head quickly. "No, no. Don't be stupid. She's just… different. That's all."
Still, the thought clung to him as he drifted off to sleep.
---
The next evening, Renji found himself back in the alleyway. He didn't even pretend he was there by accident.
The little bell chimed as he stepped inside the bookstore.
"You're early," Mio said from behind the counter, her lips curving into that familiar mischievous smile. "Finished the book already?"
Renji held it up. "Yeah. I don't know why, but I couldn't put it down."
"Mm. That means it spoke to you," she replied simply, taking the book from him and brushing her fingers across the cover almost reverently, as if the book itself was alive. "So? Which page?"
Renji hesitated. "…The one about the umbrella."
Mio tilted her head, waiting.
"It said something like… 'Love is hiding in the small gestures we overlook.'" He scratched his cheek, embarrassed. "I don't know, it just… felt real. I've been chasing love like it's supposed to be this big, dazzling thing, but maybe I've been blind to the little things that actually matter."
For once, Mio didn't tease. She just smiled softly, a gentler smile than usual. "That's a good answer."
Renji blinked. "…That's it?"
"That's it."
He expected a snarky comment, but the warmth in her expression made his chest tighten in a way he didn't want to admit.
"Anyway," she said suddenly, her grin returning, "if you keep this up, I'll start charging you for therapy sessions."
Renji snorted. "Then maybe I should stop coming."
"You won't," Mio said with absolute certainty, her eyes glittering like she'd just told him his own future.
Renji froze, staring at her. She turned back to the counter casually, humming to herself as though she hadn't said anything strange.
He wanted to ask how she knew, or why she spoke like she could read him better than he read himself. But instead, he just smiled faintly.
"…Yeah. You're probably right."
---
When Renji left that night, the rain had started again, gentle this time. He didn't bother with an umbrella.
As he walked, he realized something unusual: for the first time after a breakup, he wasn't counting days, or replaying memories of his ex, or wondering what he did wrong.
He was thinking about the way Mio's smile had softened, just for a moment, when he talked about the umbrella.
And without meaning to, Renji laughed quietly to himself.