---
The next day, Ayano had already made up his mind to fix everything.
Since morning, there was only one thing on his mind—
Nao.
He saw Nao in the corridor before classes began.
Her hair was neatly tied, her bag slung over her shoulder.
Ayano quickened his pace.
"Nao—"
Before he could get any closer, several of Nao's friends arrived first.
They called her name cheerfully, linked arms with her, and carried her away in laughter.
Nao didn't turn around.
She didn't see Ayano at all.
Ayano stopped where he was.
His hand hung in the air,
then slowly fell to his side.
"…Ah."
He gave a small, bitter smile.
---
In class, the distance remained.
Nao sat surrounded by her friends.
Ayano sat at his desk, staring at the blackboard without really seeing it.
He wanted to approach her.
He wanted to speak.
But every time a chance appeared,
someone else was always faster.
That day passed.
The next day was the same.
And on the third day—
---
Nao was with her friends after school.
They studied together, laughed, talked about trivial things.
She should have felt fine.
But in the middle of all that noise,
her chest tightened again.
That feeling returned.
Empty.
Uneasy.
Like something had been left behind.
Nao looked at the table, then at the clock.
"…I'm tired," she said suddenly.
"Sorry, I think I'll go home first."
Her friends were a little surprised, but they didn't stop her.
Nao walked home alone.
Her steps were quick.
Her face was tense.
---
When she reached the house and opened the door—
Silence.
No sound from the television.
No scent of food.
"Nao… I'm home."
No answer.
She set her bag down and walked through the house.
Living room—empty.
Kitchen—neat.
Bedroom—no one there.
Her heart began to beat faster.
"Ayano…?"
Finally, she opened the door to the second-floor balcony.
---
There—
Ayano.
Standing with his back to the room, leaning against the railing.
His empty gaze was fixed on the evening sky, slowly darkening.
Nao felt anger surge up inside her all at once.
She strode forward.
"Ayano."
Ayano turned around. Startled for a moment, then he smiled faintly.
"You're home already."
Nao didn't return the smile.
"You lied," she said sharply.
Ayano fell silent.
"You said you wanted to fix things between us," Nao continued, her voice trembling with emotion.
"But the distance between us is still this far. Nothing has changed."
Ayano lowered his head.
"I—"
"I'm the one who tried to come home early," Nao cut in.
"I'm the one who felt strange, who felt like I was losing something. And you're just standing here alone?"
Ayano clenched his fists.
"…I don't deserve to be close to you."
Nao froze.
"What?"
Ayano let out a small laugh, one that didn't sound happy at all.
"I'm just a coward. Useless. I always make the wrong choices. I—"
SLAP.
The sound rang out clearly.
Ayano staggered half a step, staring at Nao with wide eyes.
Nao was trembling.
Her hand was still raised.
Tears spilled down uncontrollably.
"Don't say that!" she shouted.
"Why do you talk like you don't matter at all?!"
Her voice broke.
"If you really think that… if you think you're just a burden…"
Her breathing was ragged.
"Then why did you teach me how to talk to other people in the first place?!"
Ayano went completely still.
"If I was going to end up this far from you," Nao continued through her tears,
"I would rather have stayed the way I was before."
She grabbed his uniform.
"I'd rather be nervous, awkward, and only have you—
than feel alone like this!"
Her sobs fell one after another.
"…I don't want to be far away from you."
---
Ayano couldn't say anything.
Those words hit him harder than anything else ever had.
Nao stood right in front of him, crying.
And for the first time—
Ayano truly understood.
That stepping back was not protection.
That leaving someone alone, in the name of kindness, was still a wound.
He closed his eyes.
"…I'm sorry," he whispered.
And this time—
not to end the conversation,
but to begin again.
---
Ayano stepped forward.
Without hesitation, without excuses—
he wrapped Nao in a tight embrace.
Nao stiffened for a moment, then her body gave in.
The tears she had been holding back burst against Ayano's chest.
"I'm sorry," Ayano whispered.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
His hands trembled as he rubbed her back.
"I was wrong. I was completely wrong."
"I left you alone and called it kindness."
Nao clutched his uniform, crying even harder.
"I'm a coward," Ayano continued, his voice hoarse.
"I was afraid of taking a place in your life. I was afraid you'd stop moving forward because of me."
He took a deep breath.
"But I never once regretted teaching you how to talk to other people."
"Not for a single second."
Nao lifted her face, eyes red and wet.
"That… wasn't a mistake," Ayano said firmly.
"You're brave. You're strong. All of that belongs to you."
He lowered his head, his forehead touching her hair.
"There was only one mistake," he continued quietly.
"I chose to leave… when I should have stayed."
Nao sobbed softly.
"I never asked you to leave," she said.
"I just… wanted you here."
Ayano nodded.
"I know."
And this time…
"I'll stay."
---
Their embrace lasted a long time.
The evening breeze blew gently, carrying the distant sounds of the city.
Nao slowly calmed down.
"…If you leave again," she said in a small voice,
"I'll be angry."
Ayano smiled faintly, his eyes still wet.
"That's fair."
They sat side by side on the balcony floor.
No grand words.
No excessive promises.
Just a warm silence.
---
That night, they ate together in the kitchen.
Nao cooked, and Ayano helped—though he was scolded more often than not for cutting the vegetables too thick.
"You're weird," Nao muttered, but her smile returned.
Ayano chuckled.
"I know."
The days that followed didn't change drastically right away.
Nao still spent time with her friends.
Ayano still gave her space.
But now—
Nao always came home with stories.
Ayano always listened.
Sometimes they studied together in the living room.
Sometimes they sat quietly on the balcony, looking at the night.
And when Nao was tired,
Ayano didn't disappear.
He stayed.
---
One afternoon at school, Nao went up to the rooftop.
Ayano was already there.
"You came," Ayano said.
Nao smiled faintly.
"This is my home too."
Ayano looked at her for a long moment.
"Then," he said quietly,
"I'll stop pretending I'm not important."
Nao lightly punched his arm.
"Too late."
Ayano laughed.
But from that day on—
They walked side by side again.
Not holding each other back.
Not pushing each other away.
But instead…
choosing each other.
And that was enough.
---
Friday morning arrived with softer light than usual.
Nao woke up early.
There was no tightness in her chest like there had been days ago, but it wasn't completely light either.
Her feelings were somewhere in between—
calm, yet still warm with the remnants of last night's tears.
As she sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the slightly open window, one thing felt clear:
She hadn't forgotten.
Not her home.
Not Ayano.
---
She left for school as usual.
Her uniform was neat, her steps steady.
At school, Nao returned to being the Nao everyone knew—
smiling softly when greeted, answering when spoken to, laughing along with her friends' jokes.
She hadn't changed drastically, nor did she seem gloomy.
But there was one subtle difference she herself noticed.
Every time she laughed…
there was a small pause afterward.
As if there was always a place she remembered to return to.
---
During lunch break, her friends invited her to eat together.
Nao joined them, sitting among them, listening to conversations that jumped from one topic to another.
She responded, added comments when needed—everything felt normal.
Too normal, to the point where she briefly thought,
"So this is what it feels like when everything returns to its place."
But in the middle of the laughter, her thoughts drifted for a moment.
The balcony.
The embrace.
Ayano's trembling voice when he apologized.
Her hand unconsciously tightened around her spoon.
"Na?"
One of her friends called her.
Nao flinched slightly.
"Hm? Ah—yeah."
She smiled, this time more consciously.
She didn't want to disappear from this moment.
Ayano himself had said—
Nao had the right to have fun, the right to have her own world.
And for the first time,
Nao tried to truly live that way without guilt.
---
Classes went on as usual.
In class, Nao answered the teacher's questions with a steadier voice than she'd had weeks ago.
Some of the boys even glanced at her longer than usual—
not because of some big change, but because the way she spoke now was different.
Clearer.
More confident.
Unafraid to meet someone's gaze.
Nao noticed it…
and in her heart, she knew who had taught her that.
Ayano.
---
When the final bell rang, her friends invited her out again—
to a small café, or just to walk around for a bit.
Nao almost said yes.
Almost.
But this time, she looked out the classroom window.
The evening sky was golden.
There was a gentle pull guiding her home,
not forceful,
but soft.
"I'll go home first," she said at last.
"Huh? That's rare."
"Yeah. Home."
Just that one word.
Home.
---
The walk home felt different.
Nao's steps were quicker, but not rushed.
When she reached Ayano's house—
the house that had long been her home too—
she stopped for a moment.
She took a breath.
As if making sure she was truly ready to enter.
---
The door opened with a soft sound.
"Ayano?" she called.
No immediate answer.
Nao took off her shoes and stepped inside.
The scent of the house was familiar—
calm, warm, with a faint hint of tea.
She walked through the living room, then toward the balcony.
---
And there was Ayano.
Sitting quietly, looking at the evening sky.
Not with a gloomy face,
but with the expression of someone thinking too deeply.
When he heard her footsteps, he turned—
slightly startled.
"Na… you're home."
Nao nodded.
"Yeah."
There was no sharp awkwardness.
Just a small remaining distance, like a wound not fully healed yet.
Nao walked closer and sat beside him.
Not clinging.
Not pulling away.
---
"Today was… normal," Nao said suddenly.
Ayano smiled faintly.
"That's good."
"I laughed. Talked. Studied."
She looked ahead.
"But I didn't forget."
Ayano fell silent.
"I came home because I wanted to," Nao continued softly.
"Not because I had to."
Those words made Ayano's shoulders relax slightly.
As if the burden he'd been carrying was finally set down, even if not completely.
"I'm happy," Ayano said honestly.
"That you can live like that."
Nao turned to him.
"I'm happy too. But…"
She hesitated.
"If you distance yourself again, I'll get angry."
Ayano smiled—tired, but sincere.
"I don't want to distance myself anymore."
Nao didn't reply.
She simply leaned in a little—
just a little—
until their shoulders touched.
No embrace.
No grand promise.
Just a quiet evening
and two people finally learning the right distance between them.
---
That Friday ended without drama.
Without tears.
And for the first time in a long while,
Nao came home—
and that home truly existed.
---