the club room felt quieter than usual, a hush settling over the cluttered space where every shelf, every talisman, every faded poster had borne witness to the months you and mogari had spent here. months filled with exorcisms, late-night stakeouts, shared laughter, and sharp arguments—moments that had laid down something steady and intimate beneath the surface of casual camaraderie.

you sat cross-legged on the floor, fingers poised above the keyboard as you finished typing the final notes on the latest case report—a detailed account of the restless spirit you’d banished just hours before. the soft glow from your laptop screen pushed back the shadows around you, casting a warm halo as your words filled in gaps, cataloged evidence, and brought closure to what had unfolded in the dim corridors of that old warehouse.

mogari leaned back against the worn couch, one leg bent, the other foot flat against the wooden floor. his black hair was unruly today, tousled in a way that made it hard not to watch the way it shifted with every breath. stray strands fell over his brow, catching the gentle light that filtered through the blinds. you knew how his eyes would flicker toward you when he thought you weren’t looking, how his posture subtly changed when your shoulders brushed—small tells that neither of you ever dared to name.

sitting so close, his presence settled over you like a warmth you didn’t have to reach for—familiar, grounding, but edged with something quieter, deeper. the easy rhythm of your friendship pulsed with a quiet tension now, like a thread pulled tight beneath every exchange, every shared silence. there was something in it—unspoken, delicate—that had been growing between the lines of everything else.

the room held still, as if waiting. the air was thick with all the things you hadn’t said, heavy with the pull of a moment you both felt coming. your hands, reaching for the same folder, almost touched—and the pause that followed felt too long, too soft. a breath caught. a glance lingered. the space between you thinned, and for a second, it felt like it would give way completely.