"Kazuki!"
She didn't slow down at all. By the time I turned toward her properly, she was already in front of me, closing the distance so easily it felt like it had never been there. Her steps were quick and light, almost bouncing with energy she didn't bother hiding.
"You're early," she said, stopping just a step away.
Her voice carried the same warmth it always did, but hearing it up close felt different somehow. Stronger. It slipped past my guard before I had time to react.
"I just got here," I replied.
"That's a lie," she said immediately, narrowing her eyes. "You look like you've been waiting."
"I haven't."
"You have."
"I haven't."
She held my gaze for a moment longer, like she was weighing whether to keep arguing, and then a small grin spread across her face.
"You have."
I let out a quiet breath. "You're annoying."
"And you showed up early," she shot back without missing a beat. "So we're both acting weird today."
I didn't respond. There wasn't much to say to that.
Her attention shifted all of a sudden. It wasn't gradual either. One moment she was focused on the conversation, and the next her eyes had sharpened, like she had noticed something off.
"Wait."
She took a small step back, then another, studying me in a way that made me slightly uncomfortable before I even understood why. Before I could ask, she started walking around me slowly, like she was inspecting something from every angle.
"…What are you doing?"
"Hold on," she said, lifting a hand slightly, as if she needed silence to think.
She circled once, then stopped in front of me again and leaned in just a little. Close enough that I could feel the shift in distance.
"…You actually tried today?"
Her tone hovered somewhere between disbelief and amusement.
I frowned slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," she said, straightening up, "you don't look like you just rolled out of bed and gave up on life."
"…I never look like that."
"You always look like that."
"I don't."
"You do."
I clicked my tongue and looked away. "…It's just clothes."
"Mhm," she hummed, clearly unconvinced.
Her gaze lingered on me for a moment longer. This time it wasn't teasing. She was just looking, quietly, like she was noticing something she hadn't before.
I shifted slightly under it. "…What?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, smiling again. "Just noticing."
"…Don't."
"Too late."
She turned and started walking as if the conversation had already ended. "Come on," she said, glancing back at me. "We're not standing here all day."
I followed, falling into step beside her.
And just like that, we started moving.
Shibuya was as busy as ever. It didn't slow down for anyone. People moved in constant waves, voices overlapping, footsteps blending together until it all became one continuous stream of noise and motion.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, we walked side by side.
Not too close, not too far. Just… together.
For a while, neither of us said anything. It wasn't awkward. It didn't feel forced. The silence just existed, settling naturally between us.
Then I started to notice it.
Not all at once, but gradually. Subtle things. Small shifts.
People were looking.
Not at me.
At her.
Their heads turned as we passed. Not dramatically, just enough to notice. Their attention lingered for a second longer than usual, like something had caught their interest.
She stood out. Of course she did.
Anyone would notice.
Anyone would look.
I didn't react. I wasn't used to reacting to things like that.
But she noticed.
I could tell from the way her steps changed ever so slightly. The tension in her shoulders, barely visible but still there. Her hand moved to her sleeve, brushing against it in a small, absent motion.
Her pace slowed for half a second before matching mine again.
"…Hey."
Her voice was quieter now.
I glanced at her. "…What?"
She hesitated, just briefly.
"…Nothing."
She looked forward again, but something had shifted. The lightness from earlier wasn't completely gone, but it had dimmed, like something small had thrown it off balance.
I didn't fully understand it.
But I felt it.
My gaze lingered on her for a moment before I looked away.
She had noticed the people.
And then, without saying anything, she had noticed something else too.
Me.
The fact that I hadn't said anything when I saw her. Not when she walked up, not when she stood right in front of me, looking the way she did.
No reaction.
No comment.
Nothing.
She glanced at me again, quick and subtle, then looked away.
"…Idiot."
She muttered it under her breath. Quiet, but not quiet enough.
"…What?"
"Nothing," she said again, a little too fast.
There was a short pause.
Then she let out a soft breath, and just like that, her expression eased again. Not completely back to how it was before, but close enough.
Because this was expected.
It was me, after all.
Kazuki. The one who didn't say much. The one who didn't react. The one who might notice things, but wouldn't say them even if he did.
She smiled again.
Not as bright as before, but still real.
"Let's go," she said lightly.
I nodded.
Not realizing that somewhere along the way, I had already missed something important.
The streets were louder than anything I was used to, but it wasn't just noise. It was movement, constant and overwhelming, like everything around me had its own rhythm that I couldn't quite follow. People passed by in quick, effortless steps, weaving around each other without hesitation. Bright signs hung above the storefronts, their colors blending together until it was hard to focus on just one. Music drifted out from somewhere nearby, mixing with laughter and distant chatter.
And somehow, I was right in the middle of it.
With her.
"Come on, Kazuki!" Hikari called out, already a few steps ahead. She turned back without slowing down and grabbed my sleeve like it was the most natural thing in the world. "You walk like you're attending a funeral."
"I'm walking normally," I said, though I didn't bother resisting as she pulled me forward.
She glanced at me, unimpressed. "No, you're walking like the concept of joy personally offended you."
"I don't think that's a real thing."
"It is now," she replied without missing a beat.
Before I could come up with anything to argue back, she had already dragged me into the nearest store.
The shift in lighting hit me immediately. The inside was brighter, almost uncomfortably so, and for a moment I just stood there trying to adjust. Clothes lined the walls in neat rows, different colors and styles packed tightly together. It all felt… excessive. Like too many choices for something that didn't need to be complicated.
Hikari, on the other hand, looked completely at home.
"Ooh, wait, this would look good on you!" she said, already holding up a shirt in front of me like she'd been planning it the whole time.
I glanced at it briefly before looking back at her. "That's not my style."
"You don't have a style," she shot back immediately.
I frowned. "That's not true."
"Then what is it?"
I hesitated for a second, trying to come up with something that made sense. "…Neutral."
She stared at me like I'd just said something deeply concerning. Then she laughed, not even trying to hold it in.
"That's not a style. That's a personality trait."
I opened my mouth to respond, but she had already stepped closer, lightly pressing the shirt against me while narrowing one eye as if she could already picture the result.
"Honestly, you'd probably look good if you stopped dressing like a background character," she said.
"I like being a background character."
"Well, I don't."
The answer came so simply that it caught me off guard.
I paused, looking at her, but she didn't explain what she meant. She just smiled faintly, like it wasn't something she felt the need to justify, then turned away and put the shirt back.
"Oh, wait here," she said suddenly.
"…Why?"
"I want to try something."
Before I could ask anything else, she disappeared between the racks, leaving me standing there alone.
I shifted my weight slightly, glancing around without much interest. A few minutes passed, though it felt longer with nothing to do but wait.
Then her voice called out.
"…K-Kazuki?"
It was quieter than before. Not hesitant exactly, but different enough to make me turn immediately.
For a moment, I didn't say anything.
She stood a few steps away, half-hidden behind the fitting room curtain, holding onto the edge of it like she wasn't completely sure she should step out. Her gaze flickered between me and the floor before she spoke again.
"Um… how does this look?"
She stepped forward slowly.
The outfit was different from what she'd been wearing before. A soft, cream-colored blouse that hung loosely around her shoulders, the sleeves slightly longer so they covered part of her hands. The skirt was light, moving subtly even with the smallest shift in her posture.
It was simple.
But it fit her in a way I didn't expect.
"…You look…" I started, then stopped.
For some reason, I couldn't finish the thought.
She noticed immediately. Her fingers tightened slightly around the fabric of her sleeve as she looked away.
"…It's weird, right?" she said quickly, like she was trying to fill the silence before it got worse. "I don't usually wear things like this, so I thought maybe it didn't—"
"No."
She froze.
I took a second, actually looking at her properly this time instead of trying to find the right words too quickly.
"…It suits you," I said.
The silence that followed felt different from before.
"…Oh."
Her voice was quieter now.
She looked away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear in a small, almost absent gesture, like she didn't know what to do with herself.
"O-Okay… good," she muttered.
But the tips of her ears had already turned red.
Really red.
She turned toward me suddenly, like she had just made up her mind.
"Wait here," she said quickly. "I'll try another one."
Before I could respond, she had already slipped back behind the curtain.
I stood there, hands in my pockets, staring vaguely at the racks around me. Clothes I didn't understand, styles I didn't care about. This wasn't really my kind of place. I shifted my weight slightly, wondering how long this was going to take.
A minute passed. Maybe two.
Then—
"…Kazuki."
I looked up.
She stepped out again, slower this time.
The outfit was different. Darker. More fitted. It gave off a completely different impression from before, something a little more mature. More… intentional.
But even so, she didn't look completely confident. Her fingers lingered near her waist, lightly gripping the fabric as if she wasn't sure what to do with her hands.
"…What about this one?" she asked.
I didn't answer right away.
Because the answer felt too simple for what I was actually noticing.
It wasn't just the clothes.
It was her standing there, waiting.
The way she held herself, trying to look composed but not quite pulling it off.
The way her eyes stayed on me, quietly searching for a reaction, like my opinion mattered more than she wanted to admit.
"…This one too," I said finally.
She blinked. "Too?"
"…Yeah."
For a moment, she just stared at me, like she was trying to figure out if I was being serious.
Then a small smile appeared.
It wasn't exaggerated or playful like usual. Just something soft and genuine, the kind that didn't ask for attention.
"…Okay," she said quietly, almost like she was talking to herself.
She went back in one more time.
When she came out again, she didn't say anything at first.
She just stepped forward and looked at me.
There was something different now. Not teasing. Not trying to get a reaction.
Just waiting.
There was a quiet expectation in her eyes that hadn't been there before, and for some reason, it made it harder to speak.
"…You don't have to force yourself," she said softly. "If it's weird, you can just say it."
"You look good."
The words came out before I could think about them.
She froze.
Completely.
For a second, I thought I'd said something wrong.
Her hand tightened slightly around the edge of the curtain, and she stared at me like she hadn't expected that answer at all.
"…You said it normally," she said under her breath.
"…What?"
"You didn't hesitate this time."
I looked away, suddenly aware of how direct that had sounded.
"…I just said what I saw."
There was a short silence.
Then—
"…Thank you."
Her voice was quiet, but it felt more real than anything she'd said before.
The next shop had a completely different atmosphere.
It smelled faintly sweet, and the lighting was softer. Glass displays lined the walls, filled with small accessories that caught the light with every slight movement. Rings, bracelets, necklaces. Everything felt more delicate, more precise.
She moved toward them without hesitation, like this was the part she actually enjoyed.
"Hey," she said, picking up a thin necklace and holding it up. "What do you think?"
I hesitated.
This again.
"…It's fine."
She turned to look at me slowly. "Fine?"
"It looks normal."
She narrowed her eyes slightly, studying me.
"You're really bad at this."
"I told you that already."
She let out a small sigh, half annoyed, half amused, and turned back to the mirror. This time, she lifted the necklace to her neck, holding it in place as she looked at her reflection.
"…What about now?" she asked, her voice quieter.
I actually paid attention this time.
The way the chain rested against her skin.
The way the light caught the small pendant and reflected softly.
The way her fingers lingered there, like she was unconsciously aware of how it looked.
"…It suits you," I said.
She paused.
Just for a moment.
"…Oh."
Her reaction was subtle, but it was there.
She quickly turned away, trying to recover. "I mean, yeah. Obviously. I picked it."
But her ears had turned slightly red.
And she didn't take the necklace off right away.
*Food Stall*
"Let's eat this."
"We came here to shop."
"We came here to enjoy life," she corrected immediately, already grabbing my sleeve and pulling me toward a nearby food stall.
I frowned slightly as I followed. "That wasn't the plan."
"It is now."
Before I could argue, she had already ordered something and turned back to me, holding out a small dessert on a stick.
"Try it."
"I don't—"
"Try it."
I looked at it, then at her.
She was watching me like this was important. Like my reaction actually mattered.
So I took a bite.
"…It's sweet."
She nodded like that confirmed something. "That's the point."
"I don't usually eat things like this."
"Well, now you do."
She smiled, satisfied.
And for some reason, I didn't argue.
We kept walking after that.
One store turned into another. Then another.
Time passed without me really noticing.
She kept pulling me into things, showing me different items, asking for my opinion like it mattered more than it probably should have.
And every time she asked, I answered.
Not smoothly. Not confidently.
But honestly.
At some point, a thought slipped in without warning.
…This isn't exhausting.
I frowned slightly to myself.
Why isn't this exhausting?
There was no pressure. No need to pretend. No urge to leave.
Just… being there.
With her.
…Maybe it's because it's her.
I didn't like that thought.
So I didn't think about it too much.
"Hey, Kazuki."
I looked over.
She had slowed down and was walking beside me now. Not pulling me forward. Not dragging me into another store.
Just… matching my pace.
"You're talking more today," she said with a small smile.
"…Am I?"
"Yeah. Not a lot. But more than usual."
I thought about it.
She wasn't wrong.
"…Maybe."
Her smile widened slightly.
"I like this version of you."
"Don't get used to it," I said immediately.
She laughed softly, like she expected that answer.
But even after that—
her words stayed with me longer than they should have.
And for once, I didn't feel the need to push that feeling away.