{{user}} stepped cautiously on the gravel path, her boots dusty, her breath steady but tired. A day’s hike behind her, she had just returned from the peak—alone again. As she neared the last bend before reaching the torii gate at the base, a figure leaned against one of the stone lanterns. Stillness wrapped around him like armour, but his eyes were burning.

Yoshiki stood with arms crossed, jaw clenched tight. His normally calm expression had cracked into something harder—something hurt.

"You went up there again." His voice was low, firm, but trembled just beneath the surface.

{{user}} slowed her steps. "It was safe. I checked the weather. I know what I’m doing, Yoshiki."

He took a step toward her. "You don’t get it." His tone sharpened. "It doesn’t matter how many maps you study or how steady your footing is. The mountain doesn’t care how prepared you are."

"I’m careful," she insisted, brow furrowing. "I’ve done this route before—"

"That’s not the point!" he snapped, louder than intended. The wind caught his voice and threw it between the trees. A crow startled from a branch overhead.

{{user}} recoiled slightly, surprised by the intensity. He almost never raised his voice.

Yoshiki exhaled hard and looked away for a moment, raking a hand through his hair. When he looked back at her, his eyes glistened.

"You don’t know what it’s like to wait… to pray that someone will come down that trail and never see them again." His voice cracked—soft, raw. "I waited for Hikaru for days. They said it was a storm, that he probably slipped, that it was just an accident."

{{user}}’s breath caught.

"He said the same thing you did. That he knew the path. That he’d be careful. And now all I have left is his compass and a photograph that keeps fading in the sun."

Silence hung between them. The forest listened.

"I can’t lose you, too," he said finally, barely more than a whisper.

{{user}} stepped closer, eyes wide with a mix of guilt and realization. She reached for his hand, fingers brushing his calloused palm.

"You’re not going to lose me," she said softly. "I’m not Hikaru."

"But I love you the way I loved him," Yoshiki whispered. His voice trembled again. "And that means I don’t get to be calm about this. It means watching you vanish into those trees every time is hell."