Yumiko didn't sleep that night.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him—Jash, standing beneath the streetlamp, rain sliding off his umbrella, eyes steady as if he had all the time in the world. As if he'd been waiting for her long before she ever arrived in this city.
Morning came too quickly. Gray light filtered through her curtains, dull and restless, matching the unease in her chest. She told herself she wouldn't think about him today. She told herself she would go back to being invisible.
Promises, she learned, were easy to break.
She stepped outside, the air cool and damp, and immediately felt it again—that strange pull, like the world itself had shifted slightly off balance. Her steps slowed. Her heart thudded.
"Yumiko."
Her breath caught.
No one here was supposed to know her name.
She turned slowly. Jash stood a few steps behind her, hands in his pockets, expression calm—too calm for the way her pulse spiked.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, voice trembling despite her effort to stay composed.
He studied her for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. "I've always known it."
"That's impossible," she said, shaking her head. "You just met me."
Jash took a step closer, stopping when she stiffened. "You think that because you're looking at time the way everyone else does."
Yumiko's chest tightened. "You're not making sense."
He smiled faintly, not teasing this time—something softer, almost regretful. "I wasn't supposed to meet you like this."
A thousand questions crowded her mind, but fear swallowed them all. She backed away, the city suddenly too loud, too close. "Please… stop following me."
For the first time, something unreadable flickered across his face. Pain? Guilt?
"I'm not here to hurt you," Jash said quietly. "I never have been."
"Then why me?" she whispered.
His gaze locked onto hers, unwavering. "Because even before you existed… you mattered."
The words hit harder than any confession. Yumiko felt the ground tilt beneath her feet.
Before she could respond, he stepped back, giving her space. "I'll give you time," he said softly. "But I won't disappear."
And then he turned and walked away, leaving Yumiko standing there, heart racing, mind unraveling.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing.
One thing was clear now.
Jash didn't just know her.
He knew her past.
Her name.
And something about her future she wasn't ready to face.
And no matter how much she wanted to run—
She knew she was already caught.