Days turned into weeks.
Life didn't stop — not for Aiyumi, not for Ren.
They were in the same college,
different classes, different friends,
but still walked the same road every morning.
He'd wait outside her gate,
just like before — helmet in hand, eyes on his phone.
She'd come running, slightly late as always,
and he'd silently start the bike.
No good morning. No small talk.
Just the quiet sound of the engine between them.
Aiyumi sat behind him —
hands resting carefully, not touching his shoulder like she used to.
The wind brushed past,
but the silence felt heavier than words ever could.
To others, they looked the same —
two best friends going to college together.
But she knew the truth —
he wasn't the same Ren anymore.
He talked less.
Laughed rarely.
And when she said something funny,
he just smiled faintly, as if remembering another version of her —
one he used to know,
before the distance grew.
Still, he never stopped waiting for her in the mornings.
Never let her go alone.
Never forgot to drop her safely home.
It was strange —
how he stayed beside her every day,
yet felt so far away.
Aiyumi tried to act normal,
joked around with her group — Haruna, Sayaka, Yua, Aiko, Nozomi, and Emi.
They noticed her fake smiles,
but never questioned too deeply.
They knew she needed time.
Sometimes, she'd sketch him quietly from memory —
not because she missed him as before,
but because her heart didn't know how not to.
Ren too…
even if he pretended not to care,
his every action betrayed him.
He remembered her favorite snacks,
the songs she used to hum,
and he still slowed the bike when passing sharp turns —
the same way he always did,
just to keep her safe.
They weren't apart,
but they weren't together either.
They had become two souls walking side by side —
bound by routine,
but divided by silence.
And in that silence,
both of them carried the same unspoken wish —
that things could go back to how they used to be…
before everything changed.