・・・ viii・・・

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Ao stared outside the window of his apartment.

The clock on the wall told him that it was already 6:18 p.m.

The sky was slowly turning dark.

In the distance, beyond the towering skyscrapers,
the sun began to disappear beneath the horizon.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock—

He felt someone settle down on the other side of the couch.

He turned.

"... Hey," Leo said quietly in English.

・・・ ix・・・

Ao didn't say anything.

At the corner of his eyes, he noticed that his friend was holding a book in his grasp.

It was the same one as before.

The one with the shepherd and the raven.

Ao continued to stay silent.

Without giving it any thought,
Leo began flipping through its pages mindlessly.

"I... just finished reading this," he mumbled.

For a second, there was a pause.

"I think I know why she came to love this story a lot."

Ao looked at him.

He blinked.

Leo shook his head and gently closed the book.

Then, he laughed weakly.

Silence.

Leo breathed in and sighed.

"Tomorrow... I think I'm going back to America."

・・・ x・・・

Leo's tone sounded hesitant.

Ao was surprised at what he heard.

After a moment, he finally chose to speak to him.

"... Why?" he asked quietly.

Leo looked away and didn't meet his eyes.

Instead, he stared down at the book.

He breathed out.

"Actually.... I... I lied to my mother.

She doesn't know that I'm in Japan right now.

I took a break from school and managed to do it without her knowing.

Last week... well, she finally heard about me.

She wants me to go back."

He tilted his head.

There was a silence again.

"You know...," Leo spoke softly, "I've decided that I'll continue studying here once I finish the year.

This seems like a really nice city. Dad has a branch company in Tokyo.

And you're here, too."

He turned to face Ao,
meeting him with his eyes.

"Would... that be okay?"

・・・ xi・・・

Ao tried to answer him.

He opened his mouth slightly, but the words didn't seem to surface.

Couldn't seem to surface.

Instead, very slowly,
he nodded his head once.

Of course.

Of course it is.

Leo looked relieved.

He turned away and closed his eyes.

"I see... I'm happy to hear that..."

・・・ xii・・・

"You know... I never really did intend to come back."

Leo suddenly whispered this under his breath.

Ao was surprised with his tone.

There was pain,

There was sadness.

There was... grief.

Leo continued.

"But... you see...
there was just this one person who made me realize how much of a coward I was for running away.

He... was the one who told me to come back.

The one who—"

Leo stopped abruptly.

His voice had broke.

He shook his head and breathed in.

"In the end... it was really all thanks to that person that I came back."

He suddenly looked up at Ao.

There was a forced, pained smile on his face.

"... I don't regret it, you know," Leo said.

"I'm happy that I did. I... really am."

Ao blinked once more.

He stared at the face of his friend.

His hands were trembling.
His eyes were watery.
His breathing seemed uneven.

But still, the boy named Kusakabe Leo continued to smile.

Ao didn't know what to say.

So instead, he simply nodded again.

For Leo, however,
that was enough.