The dining hall of the Arakami estate felt larger than usual that morning.
Not physically. The table was the same length, the chairs the same number, the morning light slanting through the same windows at the same angle. But one of the chairs was conspicuously, loudly empty, and that absence carried a presence strong enough to register like a sound that had suddenly stopped.
Akane noticed Leo noticing it.
"He left before sunrise," she said, reaching for the bread without looking up. "Private carriage to the Gate Hub. Didn't tell anyone. His rooms were empty when Yuki went to check."
Leo looked at the empty chair. "How is Yuki?"
"Fine." Akane's tone was carefully neutral. "She understands how he is. She always did." A brief pause followed. "She's also somewhere between mortified and relieved, which is a complicated thing to be this early in the morning."
