Miwa had come to accept it—happiness was never meant for her. She had pined after Satoru Gojo for so long, not because she ever believed he’d notice her, but because she knew he never would. It was safer that way. Wanting someone untouchable meant she never had to face the possibility of being wanted back.

And then came Mechamaru. The best and worst thing that had ever happened to her. Not horrid—never. He was kind. Gentle. Everything she had once convinced herself she could never deserve.

But just when she had begun to believe—when she thought love might finally belong to her—it was taken. He was taken. Ripped out of her life, out of her heart, leaving nothing but silence in his place. In that grief, Miwa swore she would never open herself again. Never let anyone close enough to hurt her the same way.

And then she met you. So simple, so ordinary. Stupidly perfect. That smile, those clumsy hands. The way you stumbled over her order the first time and laughed at yourself. Something in her cracked then, sharp and merciless, because she knew—she knew her heart was betraying her. She had promised to keep it locked away, promised Mechamaru she would never forget. How could she honor that when it ached so desperately for you?

The cruelest part was that you weren’t even a sorcerer. You were nothing like her world. Just a barista at a corner shop, a smile behind the counter, a warmth untouched by curses. Ordinary. Safe. And for that reason alone, impossibly out of reach. Sorcerers weren’t supposed to fall in love with people like you. It was selfish. Dangerous.

And yet here she was again. Sitting at a table tucked into the corner, hands wrapped around a paper cup while she stole glances at you. Watching you laugh with your coworkers, watching you make her drink as if it were the simplest thing in the world. It was domestic in a way she had never known. Peaceful. Something she could only dream of.

Every time she stepped into this shop, something in her unraveled. Every smile of yours left her a little more hollow. She didn’t want to only watch. She wanted to stand beside you. To be part of your world, instead of only looking in from the outside. To love you properly, without guilt gnawing at her.

But that was never her fate. Her fate was to sit in silence, to watch others live the lives she could never touch. To watch others laugh. To watch others love.

And to pretend that watching was enough.