"Some people don't ask to be saved. But that doesn't mean they want to drown."
---
Mio Katagiri had a quiet voice.
Not weak.
Not shy.
Just… gentle. Controlled. As if every syllable had been carefully weighed before leaving her lips.
Hana remembered how, in the old timeline, Mio's voice had eventually faded altogether. Even when she stood before hundreds of people at graduation, giving a speech that made everyone cry — it hadn't felt like her voice.
It had been a performance.
Now, in this second chance, Hana was determined to hear the real thing.
---
Morning Homeroom
"Mio, can you read the next passage aloud?"
Their literature teacher handed out photocopied sheets of a poem by Misuzu Kaneko. Mio stood. She didn't hesitate — her posture was perfect, her intonation exact.
But her voice didn't rise or fall with the meaning.
It didn't tremble. It didn't breathe.
It was polished silence.
Like a mannequin reciting a memory.
When she sat back down, Hana leaned closer and whispered, "That poem's sad, isn't it?"
Mio blinked. "I didn't notice."
"You read it like you didn't feel it."
Mio looked away. "Maybe I didn't."
But Hana saw it — the way Mio's hand tightened around the paper. The smallest flicker of something unsaid.
---
Flashback — Middle School, First Year
It had rained for three days straight. The school courtyard was a lake of puddles. Mio and Hana sat beside the window during lunch, bento boxes balanced on their knees.
"Do you believe people change?" Mio asked.
Hana looked up. "You mean like grow up?"
"No. I mean… actually change. Like becoming someone else."
Hana tilted her head. "Are you trying to become someone else?"
Mio shrugged. "Sometimes I think being me is too hard."
"…I like you the way you are."
Mio smiled at her. Not the perfect kind. The real kind.
That was the first time Hana had realized how beautiful genuine could be.
---
Present — After Archery Practice
Mio sat beneath the tree by the school gate again. This time, Hana didn't hesitate.
She dropped her bag beside her and sat down, shoulder just close enough to brush.
"You're quieter than usual," Hana said.
"I talk too much sometimes."
"You don't."
Mio plucked a petal from her lap.
"What are you thinking?" Hana asked.
"About how fast things bloom," Mio said. "And how quickly people forget them after they fall."
Hana was silent for a moment. Then:
"I don't want to forget you."
Mio's hands froze. Slowly, she looked up.
"You won't," she whispered.
"No," Hana said. "I mean it. I won't forget you. Not the image. Not the girl everyone praises. You. The you who sits quietly and wonders if anyone notices you're not okay."
Mio's lips parted. Her breath caught.
And then she said it, voice thin and vulnerable:
"I'm scared."
It was barely audible.
But it was real.
---
Later That Night — Rooftop Memory
In the old timeline, Hana had gone up to the rooftop after Mio died.
She remembered the shape of the wind, the quiet of the sky.
She remembered screaming into her hands.
Now, she stood there again, alone. But this time, Mio was alive.
And she had said she was scared.
It wasn't much.
But it was the first step toward the truth.
---
Flashback — Middle School, Final Year
Hana found Mio hiding behind the gym building.
She'd skipped practice. Her fingers were bandaged.
"I tripped," Mio had said.
But Hana had seen the bruise.
The dark one on her arm.
She didn't say anything that day. Just sat beside her in silence.
Years later, Hana would learn the truth.
But by then, it had been too late.
Now, she wasn't going to make the same mistake.
---
Present — Clubroom After School
Hana stayed late to clean up.
Mio returned for her forgotten water bottle.
"Hana," she said suddenly, just as she turned to go.
"Yeah?"
"…Thank you."
"For what?"
Mio hesitated.
"For not expecting me to smile all the time."
Hana stood in silence, throat tight.
"I'm not there yet," Mio continued. "I don't know if I'll ever be. But… it's easier, when you're around."
Hana nodded slowly.
And with that, Mio left — not smiling. Not pretending.
Just honest.
And that meant everything.
---
Closing Note — Hana's Journal
> April 15
Mio said she was scared.
That's more than she's ever admitted before.
She trusts me. A little.
I won't waste that.
Not this time.
---
End of Chapter 5
---