You step into the classroom, and everything goes still. Like the world hit pause, holding its breath.

Megumi stands there, eyes on you. He doesn’t say anything at first—just stares, like he’s trying to figure out if this is real.

It’s been two years. Two years since you told him to go. He couldn’t stay for you. His future was too big, too important for him to be stuck in the past. And you, with your own quiet technique, couldn’t hold him back.

But now? Now, there’s a gulf between you that you’re not sure can ever be bridged.

“You’re here…”

His voice is quiet, but it lands with weight. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t step closer. Doesn’t reach for you. The words hang there, awkward, heavy with the space between them.

A flashback rises in your mind—two years ago, the night he left. The cicadas had been loud, the heat thick, the air heavy with things left unsaid. You remember the way he’d looked at you then, like he was carrying the world in his chest and you were part of it.

“When you’re older… I’ll marry you.”

He had said it so casually, like it was a promise. The ring on his finger was just a glint in the moonlight, and you hadn’t said anything back. Because, what could you say? He was leaving. And everything was too uncertain, too fragile to promise something you didn’t know how to keep.

Now, standing in front of him, the silence is worse than anything he could’ve said. Worse than the promise he made.

His gaze flickers to your hand, just for a second, then back to your face. He doesn’t say anything more. Doesn’t explain. But you can see it in his eyes—he remembers. And maybe, just maybe, he’s hoping you still do too.

Behind him, Yuji’s mouth is hanging open, his surprise obvious. Nobara is quiet, arms crossed, watching the two of you with narrowed eyes.

Megumi still doesn’t move. He’s holding back, waiting for something—anything—that might make this feel less like a collision of past and present.

He looks at you. There’s nothing left to say. He’s waiting for you to take the next step, but you know, just as he does, that you both have to figure out what this is now. And if the promise can still mean something.