Sakurai Saki opened the apartment door.
He quietly changed his shoes in the entryway.
From the living room, Nakano Nino cautiously peeked her head out. Her eyes lowered, she glanced at him without saying much.
"Welcome back…" she murmured.
She didn't ask why he was home so late. She knew better than anyone—her presence here was precarious. A guest without a place, a shadow in someone else's home. If Sakurai told her to leave, she had nowhere else to go.
"Here," Sakurai said, taking out a small box from his bag and holding it out to her. "Contact lenses."
Nino stepped forward but hesitated before taking them. She already knew what they were. That was exactly why she wavered.
Seeing her freeze up, Sakurai mistook her reaction for guilt.
"I brought you here, didn't I? That means I'm not heartless," he said flatly. "Just because I don't constantly ask how you are doesn't mean I'd let you die in front of me. So if I get you something, don't make a big deal of it."
He placed the box firmly into her hand.
"Got it?"
Without waiting for a reply, Sakurai walked to the living room.
He hung his jacket on the coat rack and stashed his bag in his room. When he came back out, he found Nino sitting silently on the sofa.
He glanced toward the kitchen—untouched bread still sat on the counter.
Same as yesterday. She hadn't eaten.
Without comment, he walked over, picked up the bread, and tossed it lightly to her.
She caught it, startled.
Sakurai sat beside her and turned on the TV.
A variety show filled the room with cheerful noise. His favorite hosts were on today.
Nino sat motionless, the contact lenses still unopened in her hand.
"…"
After a moment, she peeled one out and placed it carefully on her fingertip—only to stop again, trembling.
From the TV, laughter and banter poured in. Sakurai chuckled along with it, his mood visibly lifting.
Nino turned her blurry gaze toward him. Even without her lenses, she could tell he was smiling.
That expression…
So rare. So warm.
Sakurai noticed her looking.
"A smile's important," he said, still facing the screen. "Someone once told me that if you can't even smile… then there's no point in living."
He paused.
"But don't take that the wrong way. I'm not telling you to go die either. If you're gone, the people who care about you… they'll be sad."
People who care…?Nino's chest tightened.Besides you, who else is left?
Her fingers curled tightly around the box in her lap.
My world… only you remain.
"Put them on," Sakurai said, not unkindly. "You've got to look forward, you know?"
Even if he didn't know what she'd been through, he understood this much—staying lost in the past only led to drowning in it.
"…Mm."
Nino finally moved. She gently pulled her eyelid up and placed one lens into her left eye.
Her vision cleared.
She inserted the second one.
With both eyes now sharp, she blinked and slowly raised her gaze.
She looked at his feet… then his torso… and finally his face.
"..."
It really was him.
Nino's lips curved into a crooked smile—one uglier than tears. Her vision blurred again, but this time with heat.
You knew, didn't you, Nino?That voice was so familiar.You just didn't want to admit it.Like a child pretending not to see.
You're so stupid…
"What's wrong?" Sakurai asked, his tone puzzled. Seeing the tears spilling down her cheeks, he instinctively pulled out a handkerchief and reached forward, gently dabbing at her face.
"Why are you… why are you so kind to me?" Nino buried her face in her hands, trying to wipe away her tears. But the more she rubbed, the more they fell.
Her heart ached with guilt.
I yelled at you. I broke your things. It was my fault.
So why… why did you still bring me back?
Why are you still… so good to me?
"I'm sorry," she whispered, choking back sobs."I did something terrible… I really am sorry…"
"Please don't make me leave. You're all I have left…"
Her voice cracked.
Sakurai stared at her, momentarily stunned by the intensity of her breakdown.
He hesitated. Then he said, softly:
"Don't cry."
Truthfully, he didn't understand girls. Not at all.
"We only met the day before yesterday, right?" he said. "For now, you're staying here. I'm not going to kick you out."
Nakano Nino froze at his words, tears still silently sliding down her cheeks.
For a moment, she didn't know what kind of expression she should make.
The guilt gnawing at her heart, mixed with the care he'd shown her these past few days… it all left her torn between laughing and crying.
To meet him—of all people—at the brink of death.
Wasn't it laughable?
But it also made her want to break down.
If he regains his memories…
What would he do to her then?
And what should she do?
He would definitely hate her. There was no doubt.
…So this lifeline wasn't a straw at all.
It was a thorn.
Deep down, Nakano Nino had always suspected the truth.
After all, they'd met more than once.
They'd argued, exchanged harsh words… how could she not recognize his voice?
But precisely because she had that suspicion—she never dared get closer.
She couldn't bring herself to confirm it.
If it was just the body, the build, the gestures—she could still lie to herself.
But a face…?
A face couldn't be denied.
"Can someone who's drowning fall in love with a thorn?"
Nino knew the answer to that.
Yes.Absolutely, tragically—yes.
"I'm sorry," she murmured again, choking back another sob. "I'm really sorry…"
Then she forced the words out.
"I'll leave tomorrow. So please… don't hate me."
Better to go now, before he remembered everything.
Better to disappear before he told her to.
Her voice quivered with both fear and a fragile hope. "If—if we meet again someday… could you smile at me?"
She looked up at him, eyes glistening.
"Just a smile. That's all I ask… nothing more…"
Please don't yell at me.Please don't look at me like I disgust you.
Please…Just a smile.
Sakurai Saki stared at her, baffled.
"…I don't hate you," he said at last. "There's no need to talk like that."
What's with this girl? Did something break in her brain?
"Mm." Nino smiled faintly—like the last petal on a windblown blossom.
She wiped away the remnants of her tears.
The hours passed.
Midnight crept in.
Nakano Nino lay curled on the sofa, gazing blankly at the living room ceiling. Her eyes were hollow.
Earlier that day, when Sakurai left the apartment, she could already touch things.
She'd even shouted out the window—and for the first time, people on the street turned to look.
But their eyes glazed over as quickly as they'd turned. Her presence was still faint—tenuous, like a half-remembered dream.
Still…
That faint recognition was enough for her to realize one thing:
The abnormality was fading.
Her body was slowly returning to normal.
But what came next?
What would happen when she was truly visible again?
Nakano Nino closed her eyes.
Her thoughts tangled in the dark, twisted threads of uncertainty.