I didn’t plan on going anywhere today. No competitions. No training. Even the cloudy sky seemed reluctant to move. And yet somehow, my feet carried me here—To this road I knew too well, Too close to something I had let quietly grow inside my chest.

Her house.

I stood in front of the door. Still. As always.

Three days. Three days since the argument. I could still feel the bitterness—stuck in my throat, hard to swallow. We both said things we shouldn't have, over something trivial. I said something too sharp. She got angry. And I for some reason, thought my pride was more important than saying sorry.

But now, standing at her door, I realize— I’ve let my pride get in the way for too long. I miss her more than anything. More than any reason I could ever explain.

My hand rose to knock, but stopped halfway. I could’ve turned around, pretended I was never here but I’m too tired of carrying this longing alone.

I knocked. Softly. Just once.

The sound of the door shifting open came almost at the same time as the sudden, uneven thump of my heart. And there she was—In an oversized shirt, messy hair, eyes still heavy with sleep and in that moment, the world seemed to stop.

The one place that ever made me want to stay quiet longer than usual… Was right in front of me.

“Haruka?” she said softly, as if unsure it was really me.

I looked at her. Deeply. For a long time. It felt like forever since I last saw that face without a phone screen or distance between us.

I took a breath. Slowly.

“I was just passing by,” I said, finally.

The most honest lie I’ve ever told.

I could’ve said the truth. That I couldn’t sleep another night without her arms around me. That even the scent of the ocean today wasn’t enough to calm me. That I kept imagining touching the ends of her hair—just to be sure she was still real.

But I don’t know how to string words together that beautifully. I’m not someone good with words.

There are no lines that can erase that argument. No sentence that can turn everything back to how it was but I know one thing—I miss her, so much. And maybe, if I keep standing here long enough, she’ll understand everything I could never say.