"Baarish sab sun leti hai… woh baatein bhi jo hum kabhi keh nahi paaye.""The rain hears it all… even the words we never said."— Akari Fujiwara
It rained after two weeks of clear skies.
Tokyo streets shimmered under silver drops.Lantern lights reflected like stars on the ground.People rushed with umbrellas. Taxis honked. The city moved fast.
But Aryan stood still —just outside the library.
Waiting.
He didn't message her.Didn't call.
Just… waited.
With one umbrella in hand.
He didn't even know if she would show up.But something told him she might.
And he was right.
Akari turned the corner, holding her own umbrella.
She paused when she saw him.
Soaked shoulders. Drenched hair.Eyes that hadn't slept.
She walked slowly toward him.
"You'll catch a cold."
"I was already feeling cold," he replied.
They stood there —two umbrellas.One silence.
Then Aryan said,"Can we walk?"
She nodded.
He stepped closer.
Held out his umbrella.
She hesitated.
Then folded hers… and stepped under his.
Now they were walking —side by side, under one umbrella,in the middle of the soft Tokyo rain.
Aryan spoke first.
"I didn't tell you about Rika… because I was afraid you'd think I still belonged to that world."
Akari looked ahead.
"I didn't pull away because of her. I pulled away because… I started feeling like a side character in your story."
He stopped walking.
She stopped too.
He turned to her, voice soft but cracked:
"You were never a side character.You're the reason I even started writing again."
Akari's eyes glistened — not with rain, but with emotion.
"You're building something big, Aryan.You'll be someone important."
He shook his head.
"I already have someone important."
Her voice broke.
"I didn't want to fall for someone who might leave when his world calls."
He whispered:
"Then let me build my world with you in it."
Silence.
The rain slowed.
Aryan gently took her hand.
Not forcefully.
Just… held it. Open. Warm. Real.
Akari didn't pull away.
"Do you still feel cold?" she asked softly.
Aryan smiled.
"Not anymore."
As they walked again —still quiet, still close —the rain whispered between them:
"You both just needed a little space... to learn how to stand close again."
[End of Episode 18]📝 Next: "The Same Sky, The Same Dream" – Aryan finally opens his business pitch idea… and Akari surprises him with a dream of her own. Two passions, one goal.