This story takes place after the manga. I do not own A Silent Voice or any of its characters. Many times in the story, there will be different types of quotes, so they will be explained briefly.

In the context of dialogue, regular quotation marks are used. In the context of being between dialogue or on its own, a thought will be denoted by quotation marks as well as italics. The same applies for sign language, so be sure to notice the words that follow, such as "Shoya thought," or "Shoko signed," to avoid confusion. There will also be texts and emails; these will be denoted by italics without quotation marks.

Author's Note (1/6/20): I am going through the fanfiction and correcting typos. On top of this, I am changing the preface to eliminate the connection it had with my other fanfiction, since I want them to be two separate fics. As of today, I've finished Chapter 5. I will begin making Chapter 6 in not too long, so please expect that sometime soon!

Shoya Ishida was lonely.

He couldn't help it. For the past several years, he had no friends and scarcely a purpose in life. As of recently, he gained a small friend group, but he watched most of them disappear to pursue their post-graduation dreams. What was most crushing to him was the departure of Shoko Nishimiya to Tokyo.

Much like he felt for everyone else, at one point, Shoya Ishida hated Shoko Nishimiya. The reason was very simple: she couldn't hear, and it caused problems for everyone. Of course, it wasn't her fault, but an elementary school Shoya had no concept of this; he viewed her as some alien with which he wanted to experiment on, so he tormented her. He destroyed several of Shoko's hearing aids, and eventually, the adults cracked down on this. Shoya lost all of his friends and his mother had to pay a hefty 1,700,000¥ to Shoko's mother for the hearing aids. He became isolated from the world, perhaps as much as Shoko was isolated from her classmates.

Shoya foresaw a boring life ahead of him, one spent all alone and miserable. He decided that he was better off tying up loose ends and ending it himself, before the boredom could set in. He quit his job, sold his furniture, and paid his mother the aforementioned 1,700,000¥. He had but one last goal before he was content with ending his own life. He had to face Shoko Nishimiya.

After the initial barrier between them was broken, the two found themselves to be mostly inseparable. Shoko even confessed her love to Shoya, but Shoya could not understand her due to a mispronunciation of the word "love." It was obvious to everyone, though. They texted frequently and went out frequently.

One night, during a fireworks festival, where everything seemed to be going lovely, Shoko attempted to commit suicide. Thankfully, however, Shoya was able to save her life, pulling her up onto the balcony, which he subsequently fell off of. He spent two weeks in a coma, but upon waking up, he knew that he would do it again, if it meant saving Shoko.

They met up at the bridge the night that Shoya woke up; they seemed to have had the same dream. They were back in their elementary school, as children, talking normally. Each of the two proclaimed their guilt for the terrible set of circumstances which befell the other. Shoya proclaimed his desire for Shoko to "help (him) live." Though he didn't outwardly say it, he felt certain that she already was his life. If she had died that night of the fireworks festival, he knew his life would be over. Whether he would have actively committed suicide or simply stopped trying to live, his life was over. In that sense, Shoko was already helping him live.

For this very reason, Shoya was absolutely crushed when they began to talk about their futures. They both desired to become hairdressers, and Shoya was content in attending a local college, but Shoko was planning to go all the way to Tokyo to learn. This was a heavy blow to Shoya, but he powered through it.

With Shoko gone, and really most of the rest of his friends gone, Shoya often found himself either hanging out with Yuzuru, Shoko's little sister, or texting Shoko. Sometimes he even did both.

One day, as Shoya was looking wistfully out of his bedroom window, obviously deep in thought. He was thinking about Shoko, and how he wishes that he went to Tokyo with her. Yuzuru caught this, and spoke up, as if she were reading his mind. "So, when are you planning on telling her?" she asked. It didn't take Shoya any time to realize what she meant and subsequently blush at her question. He knew that she was asking when he would ask Shoko to be his girlfriend, but he played dumb nonetheless.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Shoya said as he faced away from Yuzuru, in shame.

"Oh, come on! You really think that I, of all people, am going to fall for it? You're so wrong, dude." she teased. Shoya just stayed silent. "Look, if you aren't going to tell her, I will." Yuzuru said commandingly. At this, Shoya's expression turned from embarrassment into horror.

"Wh-what? T-tell her wh-what?" Shoya said, trembling in fear. "C-could you b-be more specific? I mean there are plenty of things I'd like to tell her! We are talking about Shoko, right?" Shoya said, steeling his nerves and playing more dumb than ever.

Yuzuru didn't say anything. She simply took out her camera, took a photo of Shoya, and began typing away furiously on her phone. Shoya bolted up and tried to get hold of the phone, but Yuzuru was too fast. "W-wait!" Shoya said as Yuzuru threateningly held a finger to the "Send" button. "P-please don't send whatever you were going to send…" Shoya begged.

"Are you going to keep playing dumb with me?" She asked. "You know, I've gotten to know you better than I know almost anyone else. So don't think you can just fool me."

Shoya gave up the act and hung his head in shame. "I know. I never really felt like I was fooling anyone, all I was doing was making a fool out of myself." he said dejectedly. "Even Tomohiro could tell, but I just persisted with this petty lie. Okay, I admit it."

Yuzuru smirked. "You admit what?" she asked. Now she was the one who was playing dumb. "You should be more specific, there are plenty of things you could admit!" she said, imitating what he said before.

"Okay, okay!" Shoya said defeatedly. "I am madly in love with Shoko! There, are you happy?" he said as he looked up at the victorious little girl.

"Hmm… I may be happy, but I think I know who would be happier…" she said devilishly. She pointed to her camera, which had been recording Shoya's confession. "Just like the ferris wheel, I'm gathering my evidence." she snickered.

Much to Yuzuru's surprise, Shoya wasn't upset. "Please, I know that you may want to, but please, don't show that to anyone. I really need to do this myself."

Yuzuru just smiled. "Oh, I won't show it to anyone… on one condition." she said, and Shoya looked up at her. "When you two have a kid, if it's a daughter, name her after me! Oh, and you have to tell her next time you see her in person. We're all tired of waiting."

"Th-that's two conditions!" Shoya said frustratedly. "A-and I don't know if we'll have kids, I mean I don't even know how she feels about me…" he said sadly as he rubbed his neck. He hoped she shared the same feelings for him that he had for her, but he was gnawed at by the uncertainty of it all, especially now that she was so far away.

Yuzuru just laughed and started to walk out. "You big dummy. Just go work on your confession skills, okay?" she said triumphantly as she began to walk home. Shoya was left dazed and confused. He decided to do what he enjoyed doing best when he was feeling confused, or lucid, or sad, or happy, or bored, or having fun, or- really any time. He was going to text Shoko.

"Damn, I'm hopeless…" he thought to himself as he opened up his messages. He began to text her about his day, skimming over the part with Yuzuru. Shoko usually was quick to reply, but now that she was in Tokyo and studying, she could only reply when she was free from work or studies, and Shoya never knew quite when that was. He typed,

Hey Shoko! How are you? Sorry, my day has been relatively uneventful, but I still just like to catch up with you, you know? :) Anyways, I know you're probably busy right now, so text whenever you can!

He hit send and fell asleep while waiting for a reply.

A few hours later, Shoya woke up to a text notification. "Yes! She finally texted me back!" Shoya thought to himself in delight as he opened up her message. Her message read,

Hello, I am sorry it took so long for me to respond! You're right, I was very busy, but I'm free now! And you say your day was uneventful? That's not what Yuzu told me! :)

Shoya stared at his screen. "Shit, shit, shit, she knows. Does she? Did you lie to me, Yuzuru? Did you tell your sister?" he thought as he texted back in a panic.

Oh, yeah! Well, Yuzuru and I mostly just took some photos, other than that and a little bit of chatting, the day was uneventful! We didn't even remember to feed the koi, sorry!

Really? Yuzu told me that you guys made some sort of bet, but she wouldn't fill me in on the details, LOL! Also, that's a shame, I wish I could have been there so that we could have all gone to feed them! Speaking of which, I'm going to be visiting home in two weeks!

"Two weeks…" Shoya whispered to himself. "So it's really just under 14 days, since it's nighttime, huh…" He had to mentally prepare himself for his confession. Also, he'd have to scold Yuzuru for trying to give him a heart attack by almost telling Shoko. He continued texting, and they both said their good nights to each other.

*** 13 Days Until the Deadline ***

The next morning, Shoya's mother was acting strange. She was giving him a smirk, one that he had seen several times before. He remembered it from when he brought up how he was going to give the "Meow-Meow Club" cat pouch to Shoko.. "Damnit, did Yuzuru tell her?" Shoya thought to himself. He was really getting tired of Yuzuru's lousy secret-keeping ability.

"Now, Shoya," his mother started, grabbing his attention. "Yuzuru didn't tell me anything…"

At this, Shoya was confused. "Why would she say that unless she knows what we were talking about?" he thought, a little irritatedly.

She continued. "...but I do have ears, you know? So, when are you going to ask Shoko out?" she asked smugly.

"I-in two weeks… it'll be in person." Shoya said while staring at his breakfast.

"Yes! I knew it, I knew it!" his mother exclaimed. "It's always been so obvious dear, I'm sure she's been waiting for you to ask for so long!"

"Who knows, I don't know how she feels about me…" Shoya said, unsure. His mom almost spat out her coffee from laughter, and she had to go to the sink. "Why do people keep laughing at me when I say that?" he thought to himself, very confused.

The day went by very normally, until Yuzuru came over to ask for homework help. Shoya was pissed at her, but he really wasn't in a position to refuse her. She had expertly blackmailed him already, and she'd probably do it again.

Yuzuru could tell that he was frustrated at her; he was giving halfhearted replies to her attempts at conversation, and he was scowling, facing the other direction. "I'm sorry, Shoya, but it had to be done! Everyone and their grandmothers have been waiting for you and Shoko to start going out! Besides, I didn't tell anyone anything!"

Shoya just sighed. "Yeah, I know. Thank you for your encouragement, I guess. Now let's focus on geometry." he said, changing the subject despite the fact that he was considerably less irritated at Yuzuru than he was before.

The two spent about an hour studying over geometry. To Shoya, it was pretty easy, but he had already taken that course. Yuzuru was new to it, so she struggled. After the study session,it was dark, so he walked Yuzuru home.

Shoya, of course, texted Shoko as soon as he entered back into his house. This time, she was much quicker to respond.

Hey, so we definitely need to hang out when you come visit! I've been thinking about it, and I was thinking we could go somewhere like a fair, or a park! Or wherever you want to go!

I agree, but hmmm… Probably not a fair, so how about we play Laser Tag? Yuzu suggested that we all play together! Does that sound okay with you? I definitely think it would be fun, I like the visuals and the cool, futuristic suits!

"Shit, I don't want to ask her out in front of Yuzuru, she'll be sure to make it difficult for me… but who am I to deny Shoko of laser tag, or to tell her no in general? Ahhh, this is getting difficult and confusing…" Shoya thought to himself as he scratched his head.

He continued texting Shoko for a little bit longer, but she had to go to sleep.

Shoya was stuck awake, continually thinking about her. It was late enough in the night where those who are awake tend to be loopy, and he was no exception. He couldn't help but think about her, since he always thought about her as it was. His eyes began to leak a little. "Damn, I really wanna keep talking to her…" he thought as he wiped his eyes dry. He started to send one last text, just to help alleviate the crushing feeling he was experiencing.

Hey, I know you're asleep! I just wanted to say thank you, for like everything! Remember what I said at the bridge?

He stopped himself from sending the message. "I should wait. This is what I'll tell her in person." he thought. He shut his eyes and drifted into the land of dreams.

In his dream, he was standing at the bridge. He was signing to Shoko all the things he wanted to tell her (You're amazing, you don't just help me live, you are my life, etc… ). She was blushing and signing the same back, but she suddenly saw something and became very offended. Instinctively, due to dream logic, Shoya looked up in the sky, where a gargantuan Yuzuru was controlling him with strings. He began to sign, "it isn't her telling me to say this, I wanted to say this!" but she didn't seem to believe it, so she walked away in a hurry.

*** 12 Days Until the Deadline ***

Shoya awoke with a start. After that dream, he knew he wouldn't let Yuzuru dictate his confession. This confession had to be from him, not from a blackmailed, persuaded, stressed puppet of himself. This, he knew for certain. However, the remaining question was: how exactly would he confess his love?

He began to ponder. He knew he couldn't ask many people for help; "Tomohiro isn't exactly a ladies' man... Satoshi doesn't care as much about girls as he does about kids... and Ueno would probably just spoil the surprise or not bother helping me…" he thought to himself. This left four people whom he genuinely trusted to help. "So my options are... Mom, Yuzuru, Ms. Nishimiya, and Miyoko…" he shuddered at the thought of asking help from Ms. Nishimiya to date her daughter. "Yeah, right, she'd probably kick my ass sooner than she'd help me ask her daughter out…" he told himself. "And really, it would be awkward asking for help from Mom or Yuzuru…"

Shoya sighed and pulled out his phone. It was time to ask Miyoko for a favor.