You sit on the edge of the bed, elbows to your knees, staring at the crack in the floor where the tile split during last week’s quake. You haven’t talked much since being transferred to this wing. The guards don’t ask. The doctors don’t press. You were with the League — that’s enough for them to assume you’re not worth saving.

But he still visits.

Keigo.

You hear the soft click of the door as he steps in. Not in uniform — not anymore. No wings, either. Not after what he did to him during the war.

He stands in the doorway like he’s afraid to enter.

You don’t say anything. You’re sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on your knees, staring at the cracks in the rehab facility’s tile. You’ve memorized them by now. They don’t ask questions when you don’t talk. They know better.

But he always comes back.

And this time, you break first.

“You tricked me into loving you.”

Your voice is low, wrecked, but it cuts through the silence like a blade.

He doesn’t flinch.

“I didn’t mean to,” he says, stepping inside.

You laugh, bitter. “Do you think I wanted to love you?”

Your eyes finally meet. There’s anger in yours. Regret in his.

“Knowing where you came from? What your mission was? Do you really think there was a second I wasn’t wondering if you were just pretending?”

“I wasn’t—” he starts, desperate.

You cut him off. “I knew!”

Silence.

“I knew it every time you smiled like it was just for me. Every time your hand hovered like it wanted to hold mine but couldn’t quite get there.”

Keigo swallows hard. “I loved you.”

Your shoulders drop. And when you speak again, it’s softer. Broken.

“And I loved you so much, I let you pretend.”

He looks like he’s about to speak again, but you hold up a hand.

“Because you brought something into my days. Something warm. Something… kind. And I couldn’t stand the thought of losing it. Losing you. Even if it wasn’t real.”

His breath hitches. Then, quietly:

“It was real.”

You look at him, unsure whether to believe it. You want to.

“I didn’t know how to stop lying,” he says. “But I never lied about that part.”

You blink. One tear falls, hot and silent.

He walks to you carefully. Kneels.