"I thought we’d go out for dinner after the presentation," Haruki said lightly, though his eyes studied Evelyn’s face intently.

Evelyn looked down, gathering the scattered pages of her presentation without answering right away. Her fingers trembled slightly, something Haruki didn’t miss as he lingered at the studio doorway.

"I... need to go home early tonight," she said at last.

Haruki nodded slowly, but that strange feeling returned—the one he couldn’t quite name. Evelyn was still kind, still warm in many ways. But she also felt... distant. Like someone quietly closing a window, not with force, but gently—so gently you barely noticed it was happening.

They left the studio together,...