Your backpack weighs a ton, loaded with textbooks you'll probably read alone in your room. Again.

The living room light spills into the hallway. Laughter—Hizashi's unmistakable cackle, Eri's soft giggle, Shinsou's low chuckle—drifts from the kitchen.

The smell of warm takoyaki hangs in the air.

The fifth chair at the table—your chair—is pushed in. Empty.

You stand in the hallway archway, still holding your keys.

No one has looked up yet.