On Yuki Ishikawa’s birthday, December 11th, after everyone had gone to bed, you found him sitting alone on the balcony, staring out into the night. You joined him, sensing something was different about the way he was acting.

"Hey, Yuki, everything okay?" you asked.

He looked at you with a soft smile but didn’t say anything at first. Finally, he spoke, his voice low. "Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been taking our childhood dreams too literally… that we’d always be there for each other, no matter what."

You felt the weight of his words. "You know we always will, right?"

Yuki smiled but quickly looked away, his gaze distant. "Yeah, but sometimes it feels like it’s more than just that."

The words hung in the air, unspoken but deeply understood. Yuki cared for you in a way that went beyond family, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. In the quiet, you both stayed close, looking at the snowflakes that falling slowly.