---
A knock echoed through the hallway.
Harukoo looked up from his desk. He wasn't expecting anyone. His roommates weren't home. The dorm was unusually quiet.
Another knock, more hesitant this time.
He walked to the door, half-expecting Silva or maybe a friend from class. But when he opened it, his breath caught.
There, soaked from the rain, stood Maria and Yuki.
Their eyes were hollow, faces pale. Maria held an umbrella that did nothing to hide the trembling in her hands.
Yuki didn't say anything. She just stared at him.
"Harukoo…" Maria started, her voice barely above a whisper. "We… we needed to see you."
Harukoo didn't speak. He didn't invite them in.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice cool and even.
"We've tried messaging," Maria said. "You didn't reply."
"I know," he said flatly.
There was silence. Only the rain filling the space between them.
---
Maria's Breakdown
"I was wrong," she said suddenly. "I was so wrong. I hurt you without even realizing it. No—no, I did realize it. I just ignored it."
She looked at him with eyes red from sleepless nights.
"I thought… loving Yuki meant keeping your father's memory alive. But I was killing yours in the process."
Harukoo's jaw clenched. "You told me to leave, remember? On my birthday."
Yuki flinched. Maria burst into quiet sobs.
"I've thought about that night every day," she whispered. "You turned eighteen, and I couldn't even say 'Happy Birthday.' What kind of mother does that?"
"You're not one," Harukoo said bluntly.
---
Yuki Steps Forward
Yuki looked up at him, eyes swimming with a pain she couldn't voice.
"I used to be jealous of how calm you were," she whispered. "Like nothing ever got to you. But now I know that was just… you giving up on us."
She paused.
"I loved you, Harukoo. Still do. Not just as a brother."
He stiffened.
"I didn't know what to call it, so I ignored you. But every time I saw you walk past us, so quiet, so alone… something broke in me."
Harukoo looked away, fingers curling.
"But now you have people who care. Silva, your friends… you smile more. And I don't deserve to ask, but—" she bit her lip "—can we be part of your life again?"
---
The Response
Harukoo stared at them both for a long time. And then he spoke, calm but with steel in his voice.
"You only came to find me after I changed. After I stopped needing you."
Maria shook her head, crying. "No… that's not it."
"Then why didn't you come when I was crying myself to sleep every night in that house?"
Neither answered.
Harukoo stepped back. "You can go now."
"Please—just once—let us make it right," Yuki whispered.
He gave a sad smile. "You already made it wrong."
And with that, he closed the door.
---
Later That Night
Silva found him sitting alone on the bed, hands clasped. He looked tired—not from school, but from the confrontation.
She sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
He nodded, leaning into her.
"I just never expected them to show up," he said.
Silva kissed his cheek. "You don't owe them anything, you know."
"I know," he said. "But a part of me still wishes they had tried sooner."
Silva was quiet for a moment. Then, "Some people only realize your value when you stop trying to prove it to them."
Harukoo looked at her, eyes soft.
"I'm glad I met you."
She smiled. "I'm glad you became the kind of person who could be loved properly."
---
Back at Home
Maria sat on Harukoo's old bed, clinging to one of his worn-out jackets. She cried into it, whispering apologies into the silence.
Yuki stood in the hallway, staring at the photos lining the wall. None had Harukoo in them.
She grabbed a pen and scribbled one thing on the whiteboard near the kitchen—where Harukoo used to write reminders for the family.
> "Come home when you're ready. We'll be waiting forever if we have to." —Yuki
But the door stayed closed. And the boy they ignored had grown into a man without them.
---