Chapter 4
Kazama's apartment. Evening time.
Rain taps against the window. A kettle whistles softly. The room is dimly lit by a warm lamp.
Shinnosuke stands awkwardly in the doorway, holding two convenience store puddings.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
(Raising pudding cups) Peace offering. Still your favorite?
Toru Kazama
(raise an eyebrow) I don't accept bribes. Especially ones that cost 98 yens.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
Then consider it...... A nostalgic blackmail.
Toru Kazama
(sighs but takes one anyway) you remembered.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
I remember a lot. Like how you hate wet socks, how you file your pencils in height order.... and that you always sleep on the left side of the bed.
Toru Kazama
(deadpan) don't bring up beds.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
Too intimate?
Toru Kazama
Too dangerous.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
(half smiles) danger's kind of my thing.
Kazama snorts, but there's a faint twitch of smile. They settle on the floor. Tea steams in mismatch mugs between them. Rains softens into a steady pattern.
Toru Kazama
So what now? You waltz in, bring pudding, and think everything's fine?
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
(Serious now) I came because I can't pretend anymore. I messed up.
Toru Kazama
That's..... Putting it gently.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
I left because I was scared. Not of you. Of what loving you meant.
Toru Kazama
(Mocking) Wow. So brave. Leaving someone who loved you without a word.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
I didn't know who I was if I let myself want you. I thought I'd lose myself.
Toru Kazama
You didn't just leave. You disappeared.
Toru Kazama
(hurt creeping in) I thought maybe I made. The whole thing up. The feelings. The way you looked at me.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
You didn't. I swear. You were real. You are.
Toru Kazama
So why now? Why this?
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
Because I've spent everyday since missing you. Writing stupid letters I never sent. Watching the stupid drama you liked even though it sucks.
Toru Kazama
wait—you watched "Whisper of the Winds"?
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
(Seething) All four seasons. Twice.
Toru Kazama
(Chokes on tea laughing) You really do suffer for love.
They both laugh. It's short but real.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
I didn't come back to make things perfect. I came back because being away from you felt worse than being broken beside you.
Toru Kazama
(Quiet) You can't just say pretty things and expect me to fall again.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
I know. I am not asking you to fall. I am asking you to stand next to me and see if maybe, one day, we'll fall together again.
Phone buzzers. Kazama reads a message.
Toru Kazama
(Smirks)
✉️ Masao:- "Is he still there? Should I call the cops or the weeding planner?"
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
(Laughs) Tell him to call Nene. She's officiating either way.
Toru Kazama
(Snorts) You're still annoying.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
And you're still pretending you don't care.
Toru Kazama
(Dead serious) That's the thing. I never stopped caring.
Pause. Shinnosuke looks at him.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
Then let me stay. Not as a guest. As someone who still wants to be part of your life.
Toru Kazama
You break things when you stay.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
Then let me fix them.
Beat. Rain outside.Then—Kazama scoots over, offers half his pudding.
Shinnosuke Nohara (MC)
You Got It.
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