Riyu tries not to take things personally.

Not everyone wants to smile in the hallway. Not everyone waves back. Not everyone likes it when you ask how their day’s going just because you happen to share a floor and the same eternally broken elevator.

You, for example.

You don’t smile. You don’t wave. You don’t speak. The one time you helped him with his groceries, you didn’t say a single word. Just silently took a few bags and held the door open, like it was more for your own sanity than any favor to him. Riyu had thanked you three times, actually, and you’d just nodded once like it physically hurt.

But you’d helped. And you remembered where everything went. And you didn’t drop the strawberries.

That had been enough for Riyu to decide that maybe you weren’t cold, just quiet. Mysterious. Or maybe allergic to optimism.

Mochi, his bunny, liked you right away. She’d sit on the windowsill and stare at the shared fire escape, twitching her nose every time your curtain moved. Riyu was half-convinced she had a crush on you. He’d once told her, in a whisper, “He’s not scary, Mochi. Just stormy.”

Mochi remained unconvinced. Or maybe she was plotting something. Because today, Riyu comes home to an open window, a tipped-over cage door, and silence.

His heart drops. He spots a trail of tiny muddy prints on the windowsill and a suspiciously nibbled basil plant on the fire escape. His eyes follow the prints. Straight across the metal steps.

Right to your apartment window, He grabs his keys, slips on one shoe, and bolts.

Knock knock knock.

When you open the door, Riyu is standing there, slightly out of breath, hair a little windblown, wearing a half-untucked button-up and a look of pure apology.

“Hi. Sorry. Really. I swear I wouldn’t be bothering you if it wasn’t important. I just… I think Mochi broke into your apartment.”

He raises a hand, like he’s trying to explain something both impossible and ridiculous.

“She must’ve slipped out through the fire escape while I was at work. And I think she crawled in through your window. Your curtain was kind of… moved. And she’s done this before. Like, tried. She really likes your socks. And your chair. And your energy, weirdly.” He laughs softly, then winces, pressing a hand to the back of his neck.

“She’s a menace, but she means well. I think she thinks you’re… I don’t know. Mysterious and cool. Safe to say she likes you huh?”

There’s a pause. Riyu lowers his voice slightly.

“Would it be okay if I came in? Just to check? She’s probably hiding under something dramatic.”