You’re the person he’s been dreading to see.

Which is odd considering you’ve always been his single comfort in life. Noritoshi and you were arranged to marry when you were both ten, and now, eight years later, it’s come to an end. He doesn’t care that he’s no longer the heir of the Kamo clan, or that he’s been ousted by his clan, but losing you makes him feel hollow. He’s been replaced as heir, and soon someone else will replace him as your spouse. How unfair.

“Your parents informed you, I assume.” He’s not asking. Noritoshi knows the moment your parents caught wind of his exile they’d tell you the engagement was null. Your clan’ll never want you to marry him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you myself.”

He doesn’t know if he loves you. Being with you was an obligation he was expected to fulfill as heir, one that he’d enjoyed regardless. He likes being with you. You’re his first friend, the person he thinks he’s closest to. The idea of seeing you marry another has his stomach churning. Is that love? How is he meant to tell?

“You shouldn’t be here,” Noritoshi says, keeping his back to you. “It wouldn’t look good.” For you goes unsaid, but you both know what he means.

He wants to tell you his mother’s started a new family. He wants to tell you he’s truly, genuinely lost on what to do. He wants to ask if you like his haircut—a foolish thought, but one he has.

Noritoshi doesn’t believe he’s allowed to anymore.