Chapter 4: Echoes Between Us
The train ride back to Sogen was quieter.
Kyoto faded behind them—its temples, blossoms, and memories packed away like postcards in a suitcase. Outside the window, the sky was overcast now, the sun veiled behind drifting clouds.
Kyoshi glanced at Hikari. She had her headphones on, resting her head lightly against the window, eyes half-closed, lips mouthing silent words to whatever music was humming in her ears. Her phone glowed dimly in her lap with a half-written message still unsent.
She looked peaceful.
But something in the air had changed since Arashiyama.
Maybe it was the way her hand had brushed his earlier and then quickly pulled away. Or maybe the way her laughter had slowed when they passed a couple holding hands near the bamboo grove.
Kyoshi stared at his sketchbook. Page after page was filled with her now—her smile near the shrine, her profile against the torii gate light, her face half-lit by moonlight outside the inn. He hadn't meant to draw her so often. It just… happened.
And that scared him a little.
Later that evening, they arrived back at campus. The sun had fully set, and streetlamps threw long shadows across the stone walkways.
"Thanks for coming with me," Hikari said as they stood at the college gate.
Kyoshi shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket. "Thanks for letting me."
A silence lingered again—longer this time.
"You know…" she began, looking down at her shoes, "I don't usually get along this easily with people."
He raised an eyebrow. "You? You're like… friends with everyone."
She gave a small, humorless laugh. "Everyone knows me, Kyoshi. That's not the same."
He didn't know what to say. So he said the truth. "I like the version of you I got to know."
She looked up at him.
Then she said it. Softly. Carefully.
"Do you ever think… maybe we're getting a little too close?"
The words hit him like a cold wind.
His throat dried. "What do you mean?"
She hesitated. "I mean… I like this. I like you. But I also don't want to ruin it. You're the first person I've talked to like this in a long time. And part of me wonders if… maybe we're walking into something neither of us knows how to handle."
Kyoshi stared at her. His pulse thudded in his ears. "Are you scared?"
She met his gaze. "Yeah. A little."
He exhaled, heart heavy, voice quiet. "Me too."
She stepped closer. For a moment, it looked like she might reach out, might take his hand, might say something else—but then her phone buzzed. A message.
She checked it. Her expression shifted—barely, but enough for Kyoshi to notice.
"Sorry," she said. "I have to go."
He nodded, trying to keep the feeling buried beneath his skin. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."
She turned, walking off into the night, her shadow flickering under each passing streetlamp.
Kyoshi stood there alone, the wind tugging gently at his hoodie.
The Kyoto trip had lit a spark between them.
But even the smallest spark can cast a long, uncertain shadow.