They walked without urgency, footsteps slow, as if neither wanted to reach the end of the street.
Jay broke the silence first.
"You're quiet."
Miku glanced at him. "So are you."
"That's normal for me."
"I know," she said. "Today feels different though."
He nodded. "It is."
They stopped near a dim streetlight.
"I've been thinking," Jay said."That's dangerous," Miku replied softly.
He almost smiled.
"About us," he continued.
Miku waited.
"I don't know what you expect from me."
"I don't expect anything," she said. "I hope. There's a difference."
"And if I disappoint you?"
"Then I'll be disappointed," she said honestly. "Not destroyed."
Jay looked at her sharply. "You say that like it's easy."
"It's not," she answered. "But loving someone carefully doesn't mean loving them weakly."
They sat down on a nearby bench.
"Why don't you ever get angry?" Jay asked.
"I do."
"I've never seen it."
"Because I choose not to use it as a weapon."
He exhaled. "You make me feel like I'm failing a test I didn't know I was taking."
"You're not failing," Miku said. "You're just afraid to answer."
Jay stared at the ground. "I keep thinking you'll get tired."
"Of you?"
"Of this," he said. "Of almost."
Miku considered that. "I might."
His chest tightened.
"But not quietly," she added. "Not without telling you why."
"That doesn't make it hurt less."
"It makes it honest."
A long pause.
Then Jay said, "I don't know how to stay without losing myself."
Miku turned toward him. "What part of you do you think I'm asking for?"
"All of it."
She shook her head. "I'm asking for presence. Not possession."
He looked at her, confused.
"You don't have to bleed for me," she continued."You just have to stop pretending you don't feel anything."
Jay laughed under his breath. "You make it sound simple."
"It's not simple," she said. "It's just small."
Another pause.
"If I pull away again," he said, "will you hate me?"
"No."
"Will you leave?"
"Maybe," she admitted. "But not because you're broken."
He swallowed. "Because I didn't try."
"Yes."
Jay nodded slowly. "I'm scared."
Miku smiled—not happy, not sad.
"So am I."
He looked at her. "Then why are you still here?"
"Because fear doesn't get to decide everything," she said."And because staying—right now—feels truer than leaving."
Jay didn't reach for her hand.
But he didn't move away either.
And in that stillness, something fragile but real settled between them.