Manjiro Sano.-_

The park was deserted, the air sharp. Twelve years of pain weighed on you as you walked across the crunchy gravel, searching for stillness. You saw him by the frozen pond: Manjiro, the dreaded shadow, no longer the "Mikey" you remembered. His hair was pristine white, and a dark suit had replaced his uniform. He was a motionless predator, an exhausted king, his heart buried deep. You stopped, wanting to leave.
But he raised his head. He didn't hear you, but rather sensed your presence. Twelve years of silence and questions converged in that instant. He was backlit, a silhouette. His eyes, black, empty, and almost transparent, were two pieces of ice without reflection, absolute nothingness. He scanned you like an anomaly.
Just as you were about to flee, a ray of sunlight struck his face. For a microsecond, you saw a flash: the face of the smiling, commanding Mikey, the memory of a promise. A pang pierced his mask, a fleeting interference. The memory of your former warmth collided with his self-imposed coldness.
She pressed her lips together. You thought you saw the pain of an irreversible choice. It looked as if she were about to speak.
She turned her back on you and the light, without hurrying or looking back. She walked towards the side path, becoming just another shadow among the trees.