Midnight conversations

The quiet hum of Kyoto at night was different from Tokyo's neon chaos. Here, the streets were softer, bathed in the warm glow of lanterns, the air thick with the scent of rain-soaked earth and incense from unseen shrines.

Emma and Ren walked side by side, their footsteps in sync on the stone path leading away from the crowded streets. The day had been unexpected—full of small moments that made her forget she was supposed to be working. Now, as they wandered beneath the flickering lights, Emma felt something unspoken settling between them.

"So," she began, glancing up at him. "Are you always this quiet, or do I just make you nervous?"

Ren let out a short breath that could've been a laugh. "You don't make me nervous."

Emma smirked. "Good to know."

A comfortable silence stretched between them. She watched as Ren slipped his camera from around his neck and turned it toward the river, snapping a shot of the reflection of the lanterns on the water's surface.

"What made you start photography?" she asked.

Ren lowered the camera slightly, as if considering the question. "I liked seeing things that people missed."

Emma tilted her head. "Like what?"

He turned to her, his eyes dark and unreadable in the dim light. "Moments. The way someone looks at a person they love when they think no one is watching. The way light falls on an empty street at dawn. The things people walk past every day without noticing."

Something in the way he said it made Emma's chest tighten. "That's… beautiful."

Ren glanced at her, a small flicker of amusement in his gaze. "You sound surprised."

She laughed softly. "I guess I wasn't expecting you to be so poetic."

Ren didn't respond right away. Instead, he lifted the camera—and took another picture of her.

Emma huffed. "Again?"

"You looked like a moment."

Her heart skipped.

It was dangerous, the way he spoke—like every word held weight, like nothing he said was careless.

She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "What about you?" she asked. "Has anyone ever captured you?"

Ren hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't like being on the other side of the lens."

Emma narrowed her eyes playfully. "That doesn't seem fair."

He smirked. "Life's not fair."

She rolled her eyes but let it go. Instead, she turned her attention back to the river, watching as the water carried the city's golden reflections downstream.

After a while, she spoke again, her voice quieter this time. "Do you ever feel like you're exactly where you're supposed to be?"

Ren didn't answer right away. When he finally did, his voice was softer than she had ever heard it.

"Only right now."

Emma's breath caught.

She turned to look at him, but he was already walking ahead, camera slung over his shoulder, like he hadn't just said something that made her entire world shift.

And for the first time since she had arrived in Japan, she felt it too—the sense that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

With him.