The sound of cicadas filled the quiet streets of Koganei, a quaint suburb on the outskirts of Tokyo. The late summer sun was still warm, casting a golden hue over the neighborhood. Haru Takahashi stood on the porch of his uncle's modest home, clutching his worn-out suitcase. His brown eyes scanned the surroundings, a mixture of apprehension and determination evident in his gaze. It had been a tough decision to leave his small hometown, but he knew this was his chance—an opportunity to prove himself, not just to his family but to the world.

“Koganei seems peaceful enough,” Haru thought to himself as he felt a light breeze brush through his dark hair. He adjusted the straps of his bag and knocked on the door.

The door creaked open, revealing his cousin, Shota Hashimoto, grinning widely. “You finally made it! Took you long enough, Haru. Come on, Auntie's been waiting!”

Haru stepped inside, his nerves settling as he was greeted warmly by his uncle and aunt. The cozy living room smelled faintly of fresh miso soup and steamed rice, a stark contrast to the chaos of Haru’s previous life. His uncle patted him on the back, reminding Haru of how much support he had been given by this family. Shota, ever the jokester, leaned against the kitchen doorframe, still in his school uniform.

“By the way, Haru, you’ll be attending the same high school as me. Lucky, huh? I get to introduce you to all the cool spots,” Shota winked.

Haru chuckled, feeling a flicker of excitement for what awaited him at Koganei High. As much as he didn’t like to admit it, he needed this fresh start. The death of his father had left him burdened with responsibility, but this was his chance to focus on his education and make a future for himself.

The first day at Koganei High was a whirlwind of introductions and unfamiliar faces. Despite his initial shyness, Haru quickly impressed the teachers with his sharp intellect and calm demeanor. Word spread that the new transfer student was not only brilliant but also quietly confident—a combination that intrigued many, including Akemi Tanaka.

Akemi sat a few rows behind Haru in class, her calm, reserved nature often a sharp contrast to the boisterous energy around her. She watched Haru from the corner of her eye, noticing how he seemed almost unfazed by the constant chatter. He was different—serious, but not cold. Akemi, despite her composed exterior, found herself curious about him, though she couldn’t quite place why.

It wasn’t until after school that they had their first encounter.

Akemi was hurrying through the hallway, balancing her textbooks in one arm while rummaging through her bag for a missing pen. As she turned the corner, she collided headfirst with Haru, sending both their books scattering across the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” Akemi exclaimed, immediately crouching down to gather her scattered papers.

Haru bent down to help, his calm expression softening. “It’s okay. Here, let me—” His voice trailed off as he handed her one of the notebooks.

Their eyes met for the briefest of moments—hers wide with apology, his steady and untroubled. It was a fleeting exchange, but something lingered between them. Akemi thanked him quickly, flustered by the unexpected interaction, and hurried away without looking back.

Later that evening, Akemi’s best friend, Aiko Yamamoto, was sprawled out on Akemi’s bedroom floor, chattering away about her day. Aiko, always the extrovert, had a way of filling the silence with her energetic personality. But tonight, Akemi’s mind kept wandering back to that brief encounter with Haru.

“So, I heard about the new transfer student,” Aiko said suddenly, as if reading her mind. “Takahashi, right? He’s in your class. What’s he like?”

Akemi shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. “He’s… quiet. Smart, I guess.”

Aiko’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “Hmm, sounds like someone made an impression.”

“Not really,” Akemi muttered, though even she wasn’t entirely convinced.

Days passed, and Akemi and Haru’s paths began crossing more frequently, though neither actively sought the other out. Haru found himself tutoring Shota in the evenings at home, which often meant bumping into Akemi at school since she and Shota were close friends.

Despite their growing familiarity, there was always a quiet tension between them—a sense that something more lay beneath the surface, yet both were too guarded to explore it.

Akemi found herself drawn to Haru’s quiet strength, his ability to remain calm in the face of pressure, much like her. She respected his determination, though she wouldn’t admit it out loud. At the same time, Haru admired Akemi’s fierce independence, her unwavering resolve to excel in everything she did. But with both being too focused on their personal goals—Akemi with her studies, Haru with his family obligations—romance was far from their minds.

One late afternoon, as the school was emptying out, Akemi found herself once again in the library, pouring over a pile of textbooks. She wasn’t expecting anyone, least of all Haru, who suddenly appeared at the entrance, his presence commanding attention despite his quiet demeanor.

“You’re always studying,” Haru commented, approaching her table. “Mind if I join?”

Akemi glanced up, slightly surprised. “Sure.”

The two sat in companionable silence for a while, the only sound being the occasional rustle of pages. It wasn’t until the sun began to set, casting an orange glow through the library windows, that Haru spoke again.

“I’m leaving soon,” he said quietly, his tone unusually solemn.

Akemi looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

“My father passed away last year,” Haru explained, his gaze fixed on the fading sunlight. “I need to go back to my hometown to help my mother.”

The news hit Akemi harder than she expected. She hadn’t realized how much she had come to rely on his steady presence at school, nor how much she would miss it once he was gone. But she remained silent, not knowing what to say.

“When are you leaving?” she finally asked.

“Tomorrow,” he replied, standing up from the table. “I didn’t want to go without telling you. Goodbye, Akemi.”

And just like that, he was gone, leaving Akemi staring after him, feeling a strange sense of loss she couldn’t quite explain.

That night, as Akemi lay in bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about Haru’s departure. There was something unfinished between them, something she hadn’t fully understood until now. But it was too late. Haru was gone, and all she could do was hope that their paths might cross again someday.

**End of Episode 1**

Years had passed since Haru Takahashi’s sudden departure from Koganei. Akemi Tanaka had graduated from high school with top honors and was now preparing for her first day at Tokyo University. The city’s vibrancy was overwhelming yet exhilarating—so different from the calm and simplicity of her old neighborhood. She had matured in these years, but one thing remained constant: her dedication to her goals.

Life at university was fast-paced, with new faces, new challenges, and new opportunities. Aiko Yamamoto, still the extroverted force of energy she always had been, had followed Akemi to the same university. The two girls had been inseparable for as long as anyone could remember. Aiko, as cheerful as ever, would often drag Akemi to social events, insisting she “loosen up” and meet new people. Akemi, though introverted, valued her friendship with Aiko more than anything else.

“Akemi, come on! It’s our first week! You can’t just study all the time,” Aiko teased, her bright eyes practically glowing with excitement. “There’s this welcome event tonight. Everyone will be there. Including Shota!”

“Shota’s here too?” Akemi asked, surprised. She hadn’t seen Shota since high school, but she remembered how close they had been as friends. They’d always been comfortable around each other—Shota’s easy-going personality complemented her calm nature.

“Yes! He’s doing sports science,” Aiko grinned, her voice full of mischief. “And you’ll never guess who else is on campus…”

Akemi’s curiosity was piqued, but she shrugged nonchalantly. “Who?”

Before Aiko could respond, her phone buzzed, and she waved the question off. “You’ll see tonight. Come on, you’re coming, right?”

Despite her reservations, Akemi agreed. She had been too absorbed in her studies for too long—maybe it wouldn’t hurt to reconnect with old friends and take a break.

---

That evening, the welcome event was bustling with activity. The courtyard of Tokyo University was filled with students, chatting, laughing, and exchanging introductions. Akemi, standing on the fringes of the crowd, felt slightly out of place. Aiko, as usual, was in the center of attention, animatedly talking to a group of new acquaintances.

As Akemi scanned the sea of faces, she caught sight of Shota, standing by the refreshments table, laughing with a few friends. Aiko waved energetically in his direction, urging Akemi to follow her.

“Akemi! It’s been forever!” Shota called out as she approached. His familiar grin immediately put her at ease. They exchanged a few words, catching up on each other's lives, but it was hard for Akemi to concentrate. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Aiko’s cryptic comment from earlier.

And then, as if fate itself had intervened, Akemi’s gaze fell on a figure standing near the entrance to the courtyard.

Haru Takahashi.

Akemi’s heart skipped a beat, and she blinked, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. He stood there, quietly observing the crowd, much like he had done all those years ago in high school. But this was a different Haru. He looked older, more refined, but his serious demeanor was unchanged. He still had that air of calm confidence that had always intrigued her.

Aiko caught Akemi staring and smirked. “I told you, didn’t I?”

Akemi barely registered Aiko’s words as she continued to stare at Haru. The flood of emotions surprised her—she hadn’t thought about him in a long time, but now that he was here, all the memories came rushing back. The sudden departure. The unanswered questions. The unfinished chapter of their friendship.

Haru, noticing her gaze, finally locked eyes with her. For a moment, everything else faded away. His expression was unreadable, but Akemi couldn’t help but feel like there was something he wanted to say, something that had been left unsaid all those years ago.

Before she could react, Aiko nudged her playfully. “Go say hi. It’s been, what, four years?”

Akemi hesitated. She wasn’t sure what she would say or if Haru even wanted to talk to her after all this time. But before she could make up her mind, Haru was already making his way over to her.

“Akemi,” he said softly, his voice deeper than she remembered, but still familiar. “It’s been a while.”

She nodded, still processing the fact that he was standing in front of her. “Yeah… a long time.”

There was a brief, awkward silence between them. Haru shifted his weight slightly, as if unsure how to continue. Akemi, always calm and composed, found herself struggling to keep her emotions in check. This was the person who had left without a word, and yet, seeing him now made her realize how much she had missed their quiet friendship.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Haru finally said, breaking the silence. “I heard you were at Tokyo University, but… I didn’t know we’d end up on the same campus.”

“I didn’t know you were here either,” Akemi replied, her voice soft but steady. “I thought you stayed back in your hometown.”

“I did, for a while,” Haru explained. “But after some time, I decided to come back and finish my studies. My mother’s doing better now, so I had the chance to return.” He paused, his eyes studying her face. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been good,” Akemi answered, though she wasn’t sure if that was entirely true. Seeing Haru again had stirred up feelings she hadn’t even realized she’d buried. “You?”

Haru nodded. “Same. It’s been… complicated, but I’m managing.”

Before the conversation could go any further, Shota appeared, throwing an arm around Haru’s shoulders with a grin. “Look at this! The whole gang’s back together again.”

The lighthearted interruption broke the tension, and Haru gave Shota a small smile. “Good to see you, Shota.”

Aiko, always the social butterfly, was quick to join the conversation. “We need to do something to celebrate this reunion. How about we grab dinner together tomorrow? The four of us?”

Shota and Aiko exchanged excited glances, clearly on board with the idea, but Akemi hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to dive back into this old dynamic, especially with Haru in the picture now. But before she could voice her doubts, Haru nodded in agreement.

“Sure. That sounds good,” he said, his gaze flicking back to Akemi as if waiting for her response.

Caught off guard, Akemi found herself nodding along. “Yeah, okay.”

---

The next day, the four of them met at a small ramen shop near campus. The atmosphere was much more relaxed than the previous night, with Shota and Aiko providing plenty of laughs and lighthearted banter. Haru, while quieter, seemed more at ease, and Akemi found herself slipping back into her old role as the listener, content to watch her friends interact.

But every now and then, she would catch Haru watching her, his expression unreadable. It was as if he was trying to figure her out all over again, and Akemi wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

As the evening wore on, the group split into pairs—Shota and Aiko off to one side, talking animatedly about their classes, while Haru and Akemi ended up sitting by the window, the city lights flickering outside.

“I’m sorry I left the way I did,” Haru said suddenly, his voice low enough that only Akemi could hear. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”

Akemi looked at him, surprised by the apology. It was something she had long accepted, but hearing him acknowledge it brought back memories of the confusion and sadness she had felt back then.

“It’s okay,” she said, though part of her still felt the sting of that abrupt departure. “I understand why you had to leave.”

Haru’s eyes softened. “I wanted to say goodbye. But everything happened so quickly…”

Akemi nodded, her heart heavy with the weight of things unsaid. There was so much more she wanted to ask him, but she didn’t know where to begin.

“Do you think…” Haru started, hesitating for a moment before continuing. “Do you think we could start over? As friends?”

Akemi glanced down at her drink, unsure of how to respond. They had been friends once, but so much time had passed. Could they really go back to the way things were?

But then she looked up at him, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, and realized that maybe it didn’t have to be the same. Maybe it could be something new.

“Yeah,” she said softly, offering him a small smile. “I think we can.”

**End of Episode 2**

As the semester progressed, Akemi and Haru slowly began to rebuild their friendship, though things were different now. The weight of time hung between them, and while they had agreed to “start over,” Akemi couldn’t shake the feeling that their relationship was more complicated than it appeared. Shota and Aiko, meanwhile, were growing closer with every passing day, their flirtatious banter turning into something more tangible, much to Akemi’s amusement.

One breezy afternoon, Akemi found herself alone in the university library, buried in a mountain of notes for her upcoming midterms. The soft hum of the air conditioning and the faint rustling of pages provided a calming backdrop, helping her focus. She had always been the kind of student who thrived on routine—methodical, determined, and efficient.

Her concentration was broken by the familiar sound of a chair scraping across the floor. She looked up, her gaze meeting Haru’s. He sat down across from her, placing a few thick textbooks on the table.

“Midterms already?” he asked with a slight smile.

Akemi sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah. It feels like I just started here, and now I’m drowning in work.”

Haru chuckled softly, flipping through one of his books. “That’s university life for you. It only gets tougher.”

Despite the casual tone of the conversation, there was a quiet tension between them, an unspoken understanding that things had changed. Akemi had tried to convince herself that she could just be friends with Haru again, but the more time they spent together, the more she realized that things weren’t as simple as she wanted them to be.

She caught herself watching him sometimes—his calm, thoughtful expressions, the way he listened so intently when she spoke, and how he seemed to know exactly when she needed space and when she needed support. It was hard not to notice how different Haru had become. He wasn’t the same boy she had known in high school. He had grown into someone more composed, more confident, but there was still that quiet, introspective side of him that she had always admired.

“I heard you’re top of your class,” Haru said, pulling Akemi out of her thoughts. “Not surprising, though.”

Akemi smiled slightly, though she felt a twinge of embarrassment. “I’m just trying to keep up. You were the same back in high school, remember?”

Haru gave a small nod but didn’t respond right away. He seemed distracted, his gaze wandering out the window toward the university courtyard below. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to her.

“Do you ever wonder… what would’ve happened if I didn’t leave?”

The question caught Akemi off guard. She blinked, unsure how to respond. Of course, she had thought about it, but she had never expected Haru to bring it up. The past was the past, and she had always assumed that Haru had moved on, just as she had.

“I do sometimes,” Akemi admitted quietly. “But… things happened the way they did. You had to go. I understand that.”

Haru’s gaze softened, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—regret, perhaps, or maybe longing. “I didn’t want to leave like that,” he said softly. “But there was no other choice. My family needed me.”

Akemi nodded, understanding the burden he had carried. “It must’ve been hard.”

“It was,” Haru replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “But I always wondered if things would’ve been different… if I had stayed.”

The silence that followed felt heavy. Akemi didn’t know what to say. She had spent so many years trying to forget the hurt of his departure, convincing herself that it didn’t matter, that they were just kids back then. But now, hearing him speak so candidly about it, she realized that she had never truly let go of those unresolved feelings.

Before she could respond, a familiar voice called out across the library.

“Akemi! Haru! There you two are!”

Aiko’s cheerful voice shattered the quiet atmosphere as she bounded over to their table, her energy seemingly boundless as always. Shota trailed behind her, offering a grin that was both sheepish and knowing.

“Are we interrupting something?” Shota teased, glancing between Akemi and Haru with a raised eyebrow.

Akemi flushed slightly, shaking her head. “No, just studying. You two are a little too loud for a library, though.”

Aiko plopped down in the chair beside Akemi, unfazed by the reprimand. “Oh, please. You’re always studying. Take a break! Shota and I were just about to head to this cute little café near campus. Come with us!”

Haru leaned back in his chair, a hint of amusement in his expression. “You’re always trying to drag us out, Aiko.”

“Because you two are hopeless!” Aiko shot back with a grin. “Come on, we’ll treat you to coffee. You need some fresh air.”

Akemi hesitated, glancing at Haru. There was still that lingering tension between them, but maybe Aiko was right—they needed a break. And it wouldn’t hurt to spend time with friends. Haru caught her gaze and gave a small nod, as if to say he didn’t mind.

“Alright,” Akemi said, standing up and gathering her books. “But just for a little while.”

---

The café Aiko had mentioned was a cozy spot tucked away in a quiet alley off the main road. Its warm lighting and soft jazz music created a relaxing atmosphere, the perfect contrast to the stressful hustle of university life. The four of them settled into a booth near the window, the evening sun casting a golden glow through the glass.

Aiko, always the chatterbox, dominated the conversation with stories about her classes and the latest campus gossip, while Shota chimed in with his usual witty remarks. Akemi found herself laughing more than she had in days, grateful for the distraction.

Haru, however, remained mostly quiet, though his eyes were often on Akemi. She could feel his gaze, even when she wasn’t looking directly at him, and it made her heart race in a way she didn’t fully understand.

“So, Akemi,” Shota said suddenly, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What’s it like being the top student again? Still killing it in every class?”

Akemi rolled her eyes, though a small smile tugged at her lips. “It’s exhausting, honestly. I don’t know how you manage to balance sports and studying, Shota.”

Shota grinned, leaning back in his seat. “Talent, obviously.”

Aiko nudged him playfully. “More like dumb luck.”

The playful banter between Shota and Aiko had become increasingly common, and Akemi couldn’t help but notice how comfortable they were with each other. There was a closeness there, a chemistry that hadn’t been as obvious before.

Haru, noticing Akemi’s distraction, leaned in slightly. “They’re good together, aren’t they?”

Akemi nodded, her gaze softening as she watched her friends. “Yeah. I think they’ve been good for each other.”

Haru’s expression grew thoughtful, and for a moment, it seemed like he was about to say something, but the arrival of their drinks interrupted the moment.

As the conversation continued, Akemi found herself thinking about what Haru had said earlier in the library. About wondering what could have been. It wasn’t just curiosity anymore—there was something deeper, something unresolved between them. But the more she thought about it, the more conflicted she became.

Did she want things to go back to the way they were? Or was it better to keep things the way they were now—friends, nothing more?

---

Later that night, Akemi walked back to her dorm alone, her thoughts swirling. The city streets were quiet, the lights from the nearby shops casting long shadows on the pavement. She couldn’t stop thinking about Haru’s words, about the way he looked at her as if he was waiting for something.

When she reached her dorm room, she found herself sitting by the window, staring out at the city skyline. Her mind kept going back to the years they had lost, the time they had spent apart. She had convinced herself that it didn’t matter, that they had moved on, but now she wasn’t so sure.

A soft knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.

She opened the door to find Haru standing there, his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.

“Can we talk?” he asked quietly.

Akemi hesitated, her heart racing. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this conversation, but something told her it was time.

She stepped aside, letting him in.

**End of Episode 3**