episode 5

The next morning felt almost the same. The same sunlight, the same quiet room, the same routine. But Aru didn’t move the same way anymore. There was a small pause in everything he did, like he was noticing things he had never noticed before. Standing in front of the mirror, he fixed his hair carefully, adjusting it until it looked perfect. Just like always. Just like he was supposed to. He looked at himself for a moment longer than usual. Everything was normal. Everything made sense. And yet, something inside him felt slightly out of place, like a quiet thought waiting to be understood.

At breakfast, his mother smiled. “You look beautiful.”

Aru smiled back. “Thanks.”

His father didn’t say much, just nodded as usual. The atmosphere felt normal, steady, unchanged. But Aru felt like he was watching it from just a little distance, like he was part of it and not part of it at the same time.

At school, his friends greeted him loudly. “Aruuu!”

He smiled and joined them. Their energy pulled him in instantly—laughing, talking, sharing stories. They trusted him completely. They didn’t question him. They didn’t doubt him. To them, he was exactly who he had always been. And he responded the same way he always did, smiling at the right moments, laughing at the right jokes.

“You’ve been acting a little different,” one friend said suddenly.

Aru blinked. “Different?”

“Not in a bad way,” another added quickly. “Just… quieter sometimes.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah. Like you’re thinking a lot.”

Aru laughed it off. “Maybe I’m just tired.”

“Or maybe it’s someone,” one teased.

Aru shook his head, but his eyes shifted slightly. He didn’t answer properly, and his friends noticed—but they didn’t push. They trusted him enough to let it go.

During class, Aru tried to focus. He really did. But his thoughts kept drifting. And without realizing it, his eyes moved again—toward Rei. Sitting near the window, calm as always, writing quietly. Nothing about Rei demanded attention, yet somehow, he stood out more than anyone else.

Aru quickly looked away.

“…Why do I keep doing that?” he thought.

It didn’t make sense. He had never paid this much attention to anyone before. But now, it felt automatic.

When lunch came, his friends surrounded him again. “You’re staying with us today.”

Aru smiled. “Yeah, I am.”

But even as he sat with them, something felt incomplete. The laughter felt real, but not complete. Like something was missing.

“You can go,” one friend said suddenly.

Aru looked up. “What?”

She smiled gently. “You keep looking somewhere else.”

Another laughed. “Yeah, we’re not blind.”

“…Is it that obvious?”

“A little,” they nodded.

Aru hesitated. “You guys are really okay with it?”

“Of course,” one said. “We trust you.”

“And you always come back,” another added.

That was enough.

Aru stood up again, this time without confusion, without hesitation. His steps felt more certain than before, like he already knew where he belonged in that moment.

Rei was under the tree again.

“You’re late,” Rei said.

“You’re early,” Aru replied, sitting beside him.

Silence settled, calm and familiar.

“My friends know I come here,” Aru said after a moment.

Rei nodded. “And?”

“They don’t mind.”

“That’s good.”

Aru looked at him for a moment. “You don’t ask much.”

Rei glanced at him. “You don’t explain much.”

Aru smiled slightly. “…Fair.”

The breeze moved softly around them.

“Do you ever feel like you’re being watched?” Aru asked suddenly.

Rei tilted his head. “Watched?”

“Not by people… just… like something is expecting you to be a certain way.”

Rei didn’t answer immediately. Then quietly, “Yeah.”

Aru let out a small breath. “…I thought I was the only one.”

Rei looked at him, more seriously this time. “You’re not.”

That simple answer stayed.

After a moment, Aru asked, “Do I look different?”

Rei studied him again, carefully. “…Yeah.”

“How?”

“You look more relaxed here.”

“…That’s it?”

Rei thought for a second. “…And more honest.”

Aru went quiet again.

Honest.

That word stayed longer than anything else.

“I don’t think I’m lying though,” Aru said softly.

“I didn’t say you were,” Rei replied.

“Then what do you mean?”

Rei looked away slightly. “…I don’t know how to explain it.”

Of course.

That answer again.

But this time, Aru didn’t feel frustrated. Instead, he felt like Rei was trying to say something neither of them fully understood yet.

After school, they walked together again. The sky was warm with sunset colors, and the world felt slower around them.

“You’re different today,” Aru said.

Rei glanced at him. “How?”

“You’re talking more.”

“…Only with you.”

Aru looked ahead. “…Why?”

Rei answered simply, “Because it’s easy.”

That word again.

Easy.

Aru felt his chest tighten slightly—not in a bad way, just unfamiliar.

They stopped at the crossing like always. Neither of them moved immediately.

“…See you tomorrow?” Aru asked.

“Yeah,” Rei nodded.

This time, it didn’t feel uncertain. It felt expected.

That night, Aru stood in front of the mirror again. The same reflection stared back. The same face. The same life. Everything was still exactly the same.

But he wasn’t.

“…Why do I feel like I’m more real with him?” he whispered.

The question stayed.

And this time—

It didn’t fade away.

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