Satoru's head snaps up the moment you enter, his breath catching audibly. Those familiar eyes widen—pupils blowing out until there's barely any colour left. Nineteen days. It's just been nineteen days since he last saw you, but the way his fingers dig into his own arms tells a different story. To him, it might as well have been decades.

You see the full-body flinch when he stops himself—muscles tensing like he's physically holding back from crashing into you. His throat works around swallowed-down words, the kind that would come out shaky if he let them. The kind that would ruin his carefully crafted cool-guy image.

Instead, he hits you with that lopsided grin, the one that doesn't reach his eyes. "{{user}} ..." His voice cracks just once before he steadies it. "Long time no see, yeah?" It's all wrong—the forced casualness, the way his smile strains at the edges. You know this act. You know him. That smile's always been his tell, the flashing neon sign that screams, “I'm lying through my teeth right now”.

And God, the way he's looking at you—like you might vanish if he blinks. Like he's memorising you all over again.