It wasn’t anger in his voice. It was exhaustion. And that was worse—because it meant he truly believed this was enough . Mika walked home that night in the rain (because some clichés are true). And for the first time, she asked herself the right question:
Mika laughed. Not bitterly. Just knowingly . ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake
Mika tried. She dyed her hair lighter. She practiced laughing louder. She stopped finishing people’s sentences and started interrupting—because that’s what Saki did. It wasn’t anger in his voice