Side by Side

The library was quiet in the way Haru liked best.

Not perfectly silent, but close—pages turning, pens moving, the soft thrum of a clock somewhere above. It was the kind of place where he didn’t feel like the world was rushing past him.

He sat at a table near the window, notebook open, pencil resting between his fingers.

Across from him, Mio leaned over her textbook, brows faintly drawn together in focus.

They weren’t talking.

And that was okay.

Haru glanced up briefly, careful not to linger. Mio’s hair caught the afternoon light, the ends brushing against her collar as she shifted. She felt… comfortable like this. More than before. Like she belonged in the quiet beside him.

He didn’t know when that changed.

Just that now, when she sat near, the world didn’t feel so heavy.

Mio paused her reading and stretched, careful not to knock anything over. She noticed Haru watching the sunlight through the window, his expression distant but peaceful.

She hesitated.

Then lifted her hand.

Slowly. Carefully.

Are you tired?

The sign wasn’t perfect. A little stiff. A little uncertain.

Haru’s breath caught.

Not because of the question—but because she’d signed it.

His eyes widened slightly as he looked from her face to her hands.

Then he smiled. Small. Genuine.

He nodded and signed back easily.

Just a little.

Mio’s heart skipped.

He’d understood her.

She tried another.

Me too.

The moment passed quietly, but something settled between them.

Comfort.

They went back to studying, side by side. No pressure to fill the space. No need for more words.

At one point, Mio dropped her pencil. It rolled toward Haru’s foot.

She froze, embarrassed.

Haru bent down, picked it up, and gently set it back near her notebook.

Their fingers brushed briefly.

Mio’s breath hitched before she could stop it.

Haru noticed.

Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she looked away, pretending to focus very hard on her notes.

He wondered if he imagined it—the quick warmth, the subtle tension.

But he felt it too.

When they packed up, walking out together as the sunlight faded into evening, neither of them spoke.

They didn’t need to.

For the first time, Mio realized something quietly, without panic or fireworks.

Being near him… felt right.

Too right to ignore.

And for Haru, walking beside her, the world felt just a little more welcoming than before.