Metanoia;
 
“Glad you're back, the snowfall was a little more than expected today.”
 
Hisao sighs as he tosses his sopping coat up on the rack.  Discarding his shoes caked in a mix of semi-frozen slush and dirt on the entry room’s tile.  Though the snow had relented and the temperature grown more mild, it still made the opening to the dorm’s stairwell a mess.
 
He tilts his head up showing a single struggling errant hair atop his head.  Hanging so precariously low it threatens to actually blend in with the rest of it.
 
“Yeah,” his voice soft, “and how was your day Hanako?”
 
I look down and clasp my hands.  Today was okay I guess, classes weren't particularly bad.  “It was alright.”
 
He takes a slow stride to the living room.  After both classes and work he’s probably tired.
 
We've been living together for the past year and a half, since we decided to go to the same college.  The end of our days at Yamaku were golden, why not continue it?
 
“So dear, what is our plan for dinner?” he calls from the living room, almost simultaneous with the TV flickering to life.
 
I still stand in the entry room.  Unclasping my hands to grab the purse I had previously set on the chest of drawers by the door.
 
The end of our days at Yamaku were golden.
 
I walk quietly into the living room and take a seat on the couch by Hisao’s recliner.  His little comfort zone.
 
He loved that recliner, a graduation gift from his parents.  If they knew how much time he would spend in it they would have reconsidered I’m sure.
 
When he first told his parents the two of us would be sharing a dorm in university his mother nearly died of shock.  We met, I was as polite as I could muster - and she repaid the formality.  I don't believe Ms. Nakai dislikes me.  She just... like many others averts her eyes in our interactions, and when she believes she is at a safe distance tries to steal glances.  Like so many others.
 
It worked out though, and now we live and study at the same university.
 
But I've never really had a comfort zone.  Even here.  Especially not now.
 
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to eat Hisao.” gently breaks the drone of the TV.  I can’t help but stare down at my shoes.  When I described this particular pair of heels to Lilly she thought they were brilliant.  They're just about perfectly matched with this dress.
 
Lilly was so supportive, she thought our relationship was great.  Always wanting to hear more, and always so curious about the love life.  I always felt like a child to her until she went to hear about my ‘exploits’, then for a brilliant moment I became her big sister.  She would go wide eyed and abandon her normal formality to catch up with the day’s gossip.  Always with kind input, thoughtful to both Hisao and I.  “Do not let him ever stop both of you from growing.” she would say when we had our quarrels.
 
“Uh, I wasn't planning on it.  Don’t we have anything here?” Hisao responds as the commercials crash in.
 
I could make excuses for him.  He’s tired.  The weather really isn't nice.  We aren't exactly rich.  But this isn't the future I... or either of us want, right?
 
Does he even realize this is what he does almost every night?
 
‘Do not let him ever stop...’
 
“Hisao, let’s go.  It’s a friday night.  Please?”  My hands fidget at the hem of my skirt.
 
The end of our days at Yamaku were golden.  Did he lose his spark?  Over the past two years it’s only stalled.  Over two thousand moments, all these threads, all in a gradual decrescendo?
 
Am I worth less than this?  An unchanging room, reruns, and a handful of drinks at the end of the day?
 
I rise my gaze up to his face.  His ahoge finally flat.  His face stone.  No smile, no hatred, no glory, no love - except his eyes.  Sharp and studying.  The eyes of a mystic, peering right through me.  The eyes that learned not to shy away.
 
He still doesn't say anything.  The TV’s rambling silenced.
 
“I’m sorry.” he begins softly.
 
“I've had a rough day.  I should have paid more attention,” the stone shatters.  “You look beautiful tonight.”
 
He takes my hand, “Let me get changed, I can't let you outclass me by too much.”