Like It’s Normal

By the third week of the semester, Haru started realizing something strange.

He was no longer counting steps between classes.

At first, he thought it was just habit breaking down. But as he walked through the hallway—students rushing past, conversations flowing around him—he noticed his shoulders weren’t tense. He wasn’t scanning faces as urgently as before.

Mio waited near the door of his classroom, pretending to scroll through her phone.

She always did that now.

When Haru finished packing his bag, she looked up immediately, as if she had been waiting for that exact moment.

“Ready?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

They walked together, not talking much. But silence with Mio felt different from silence alone. It didn’t press against him.

“How was math?” she asked after a moment.

Haru smiled faintly. “Still bad.”

She laughed, covering her mouth. “Same. I thought I understood it and then—nope.”

He watched her expression as she talked. She always made sure he could see her face. Always.

That effort—quiet but constant—made his chest feel lighter than he knew how to explain.

This is what normal feels like, he thought.

And the thought scared him a little.