It was an ordinary afternoon.
But the air… no.
The air felt different.
Ayumi was walking home from school.
Her bag was light. Her hair loose.
A bundle of fresh carrots in a bag — something her mother had asked for at the market.
She passed by the villa.
That villa — the one she now knew better than her own backyard.
Something was different.
A window slightly open.
The door no longer tightly shut.
A figure in the shadow.
She stopped.
Her heart...
didn't explode.
Didn't race.
It simply beat.
As if it had finally found its place.
Feitan was there.
In front of the doorway.
A small bag slung over his shoulder.
His jacket wrinkled. His hair slightly longer.
But his eyes…
Those were the same.
Dark. Focused.
Still.
But alive.
Ayumi didn't say anything.
Feitan didn't move at first.
Then, slowly, he took a step.
Just one.
It was enough.
She followed.
No urgency.
No grand gesture.
When they were close,
Feitan lowered his gaze slightly.
— "You're back," Ayumi said, simply.
Feitan nodded.
Then added:
— "Do you remember when I told you I didn't know who I was?"
She smiled gently.
— "Yes."
Feitan looked into her eyes.
With a softness he had learned only with her.
— "I think… I found a piece. The one that knows how to stay."
Ayumi stepped closer.
She took his wrist.
And there, in the silence of the street,
between two breaths still searching for each other,
she simply said:
— "Then stay."
And he stayed.
Not forever.
Not out of duty.
But by choice.
Like all real things do.
The ones that survive.
Even when no one believes in them anymore.