The drive back was quieter than the drive there.
Same van. Same driver. Same ten people. Different atmosphere — the weight that had been in the van on the way to Okinawa was gone, replaced by something that didn't have a clean name yet. Not resolved. Not finished. Just — lighter. The specific lightness of people who had put things down and not picked them back up.
Hana was asleep within fifteen minutes.
Nobody was surprised.
Saki sat beside her with the notebook she had acquired in Okinawa and wrote things in it with the focused composure of someone conducting important work.
Riku and Kenji talked about food. Kenji had somehow produced a snack. Nobody asked.
Yoru sat close to Kaito. Not holding his hand — just close. The proximity that had become its own language. She looked at the passing scenery and thought about a beach and okay said cleanly and a hand held at the waterline.
