Chapter Three: 絡み合った
A fragile hearth amid the gathering storm,
Shadows dance where quiet vows were made;
A gilded trap beneath a handsome form,
While silent eyes watch from the velvet shade.
The dusk had fully surrendered to a deep black of the night by the time the compact silver Myvi pulled up alongside the curb. The headlights cut twin beams of gold through the quiet suburban street, illuminating the neat stone wall and garden gate of the Tendou residence.
In the driver's seat, Asahina Koharu rubbed her eyes with a weary sigh. Her uniform blazer was slightly creased from a full afternoon of work, but despite her fatigue, her face carried the familiar, resilient warmth that Miyuki had relied on her entire life.
"I really am sorry about this, Miyuki." Koharu said, turning in her seat to offer her daughter an apologetic smile. "My coworker had a sudden emergency... her husband had to rush her to the hospital and the supervisor was frantically calling anyone who could cover the night shift. Since I was already on site, I couldn't just turn them down."
Miyuki paused with her hand on the door handle, looking at her mother with a mixture of concern and gentle pity. "Mom, you've been worked since eight this morning. Working a double shift through the night... are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"Don't worry about your old mom, Miyuki." Koharu chuckled softly, waving a hand dismissively. " This coworker is in labor after all so it couldn't be helped. The floor manager had also guaranteed me some overtime payment for this shift. Plus, everyone is looking forward to see the baby, not to say that the extra shift covers our summer budget nicely. Besides, Aoi-san was more than happy to let you stay over when I called her earlier."
"Aoi-san is always kind like that, mom." Miyuki murmured, stepping out into the cool night air.
As Miyuki went to slide the passenger door shut, Koharu leaned across the console which a sudden, mischievous glint sparking in her tired eyes. A playful smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
"See you tomorrow, sweetheart." Koharu teased, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "Though... aren't you a little lucky? Getting to spend a whole night under the same roof as your handsome boyfriend?"
Miyuki froze, her cheeks instantly catching fire. "M-Mom!"
Koharu let out a light, delighted laugh. "Just remember, young lady. " She clears her throat. " You two are still in high school! It's far too early for you two to be doing *that*, clear?"
"Mom, stop it!" Miyuki stammered, her face burning a brilliant crimson as she slammed the car door shut perhaps a little harder than intended.
Through the rolled-down window, Koharu offered a cheerful wave before shifting into drive and pulling away down the street. Miyuki stood on the sidewalk for several seconds, holding her warm cheeks with both hands, trying to suppress the embarrassment fluttering in her chest before turning toward the house.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Miyuki walked up the short stone pathway and knocked softly on the front door.
It took less than ten seconds for the heavy wooden door to swing open. Framed in the warm, golden light stood Tendou Aoi. Her long, vibrant orange hair hung loosely over her shoulder in a soft braid, framing a radiant, youthful face that instantly melted away the chill of the eight thirty two at the night coldness.
"Miyuki-chan!" Aoi exclaimed as her arms wrapped onto the younger lade, her bright eyes crinkling with genuine delight. "Come in!" She welcomes her as she pulls up her arms from Miyuki.
"Good evening, Aoi-san," Miyuki bows politely, stepping into the immaculate genkan and sliding off her shoes. "Thank you so much for having me this night all of sudden."
"Oh come on, young lady! You know you're always welcome here," Aoi said with a dismissive, affectionate wave of her hand. She turned toward the interior corridor, where the unmistakable, mouth-watering aroma of simmered pork belly, dashi, and freshly steamed rice filled the air. "You arrived at the absolute perfect moment. I just finished with tonight dinner."
Aoi untied her apron, draped it over a hook, and then turned back to Miyuki with a subtle, knowing grin.
"Miyuki-chan, can you do me a favor? Go upstairs to Takumi’s room and tell him dinner is served."
Miyuki blinked, her hands instinctively tightening around the strap of her overnight bag. "Umm... couldn't you call him down instead, Aoi-san?"
"Heh!" Aoi chuckled, placing her hands on Miyuki’s shoulders and gently nudging her toward the wooden staircase leading to the second floor. "A mother's voice calling for dinner gets ignored nine times out of ten. But if his lovely girlfriend goes up to get him, he'll be down faster than Clock Up. Go on!"
" Clock Up?"
Miyuki confused about that words but she felt herself being lightly pushed forward, leaving her with no choice but to start climbing the polished wooden stairs.
Each step felt strangely heavy. A quiet, fluttering nervousness began to swirl in the pit of her stomach. It was a bizarre sensation.
To be fair...
She and Takumi had grown up together, playing in each other's yards and even walking together to school and also sharing meals for a full decade. Yet, as she stood in the quiet second-floor hallway, staring at the closed wooden door at the far end, reality settled in.
She had never actually stepped foot into his personal bedroom as his girlfriend.
She walked slowly down the corridor, the faint scent of cedar wood and clean linen growing stronger. Stopping in front of the door labeled with a small wooden plaque bearing his name, Miyuki raised her hand to knock.
Before her knuckles could touch the wood, she noticed that the door was not fully latched. It rested open by a fraction of an inch, revealing a narrow vertical sliver of warm yellow light spilling from within.
Miyuki swallowed the lump in her throat, her heart beating a rapid rhythm against her ribs. She reached out, gently pressing her fingertips against the frame.
"Takumi-kun?" she called out softly, her voice carrying a delicate hesitation. " Pardon me for disturbing..."
She pushed the door open—
" Heeeeeennnnshin!"
She saw her boyfriend making a weird pose before the mirror, her eyes quickly go to something like belt buckle on his waist.
A huge buckle to even called a belt, with something she could tell as lion face.
*Set*
*Open*
Takumi's face snaps to turn to Miyuki who's standing at the door frame of his room, with the blank expression.
*L* *I* *O* *N*
*Lion!*
*Snap!*
A flash blink from Miyuki's phone.
Takumi, in other hand, freeze in some kung fu-like stance, awkwardly forming a smile.
" O-Oh, Miyuki-chan. You... arrived already?"
Miyuki nods small as she have a check on the photo she'd just took earlier on her phone.
" Your mom called you for dinner." Miyuki points her thumb to downstair.
---
The dining table in the Tendou household was bathed in the cozy, amber glow of a low-hanging pendant light. Small porcelain dishes of simmered vegetables, glazed pork, miso soup, and white rice lined the table, creating a picture of warm domestic comfort.
"Mmm... Aoi-san, this is wonderful!" Miyuki said softly after taking a bite of the pork belly. "The flavor is so rich."
"Eat as much as you like, Miyuki-chan!" Aoi beamed, resting her cheeks in her hands as she watched the two teenagers across the table. "You look a little pale lately. You must be studying too hard for those midterm exams."
Takumi swallowed a mouthful of rice and set his chopsticks down. "She really is. You know? Mom, she even slept in library yesterday."
"Look who's talking." Miyuki replied, offering him a playful, sidelong glance. "You were typing so fast on your laptop I thought the keyboard was going to catch fire."
Aoi’s eyes lit up at the mention of the laptop. She turned her bright, curious gaze toward Miyuki. "Ah, that reminds me, Miyuki-chan, has Takumi shown you his novel project yet?"
Miyuki nodded softly, setting her tea cup down. " He is, Aoi-san. He's been working on the draft every day on club hours."
"Right?" Aoi said, a wave of visible maternal pride flushing across her features. She leaned across the table toward Miyuki, her voice dipping into an enthusiastic whisper. "He told me this morning that he's planning to start uploading the chapters onto a major webnovel platform! Can you believe it? My little Takumi, an author on the internet!"
Takumi’s face flushed an instant, brilliant shade of crimson. "M-Mom! Please! Don't make a huge deal out of it!"
"Why shouldn't I, Takumi¬?" Aoi countered with a light huff, resting a hand on her chest. "I read the first three chapters you left on the kitchen counter yesterday! After read that, I have no doubt that once people online find it, his work will be loved by everyone in no time."
Takumi rubbed the back of his neck, slumping slightly in his chair as he stared down at his bowl. "It's not that great, Mom... It's just a hobby draft. The webnovel market is saturated with incredible writers. A story like mine will probably just get buried under thousands of other uploads..."
" Come on... Don't sell yourself low, my son!" Aoi turned directly to Miyuki, seeking an ally.
"Miyuki-chan, you've read his writing. Tell him! Don't you agree that he has incredible talent?"
Miyuki looked across the table at Takumi. He looked so vulnerable in that moment.
His shoulders slightly hunched, his eyes fixed on his food, desperately trying to mask his nervous anticipation behind a shield of self-deprecation.
A gentle, authentic smile spread across Miyuki’s lips. "Aoi-san is right, Takumi," she said, her voice soft but filled with unwavering sincerity. "Your prose is clear, and the way you write your characters makes people genuinely care about what happens to them. I know it'll reach thousands overnight."
Takumi raised his head, meeting her gaze. The tension in his shoulders visibly melted away under her praise, replaced by a quiet, grateful warmth that brought a shy smile back to his lips.
"Thanks, Miyuki-chan..."
Aoi grinned triumphantly, clapping her hands together. "See? There's no doubt about it! Now, finish
your dinner, both of you. You have plenty of studying—and writing—ahead of you tonight."
---
An hour later, the dining table had been cleared, and Miyuki found herself sitting on the woven rug in Takumi’s room.
The room was neat and organized, smelling faint of wood polish and papers. A low wooden study desk occupied the center of the floor, covered in opened textbooks, color-coded highlighters, and reference sheets for their modern history and literature exams.
And some spot for some hobbies.
Like, there's mini cars, a purple pendrive with letter J, locks combined with fruits, and even some capsul-like objects with some mold or like motive like a robot.
And lot and lot of belt buckles.
For nearly two hours, the only sounds in the room were the scratching of mechanical pencils against paper, the soft turning of pages, and the occasional hum of Takumi’s laptop cooling fan.
Takumi sat cross-legged opposite her, staring intently at his glowing laptop screen. The webnovel submission page was fully filled out.
The title, genre tags, synopsis, and the text for Chapter 1 were all properly formatted in the portal boxes.
Yet, his finger hovered frozen over the touchpad, his cursor trembling right over the bright blue icon labeled [Submit Chapter].
"Takumi-kun?" Miyuki looked up from her history notes, leaning her chin on her hand. "You've been staring at that single button for ten minutes."
Takumi let out a long, shuddering breath, running a hand through his brown hair. "I know... it's just... err... once I press this, it's out there. People are going to read it. What if they will not like it? What if it's nobody will even spend a second look at this much less wanting to read this? What if—"
Miyuki didn't let him finish.
Leaning forward across the low desk, she reached out and gently laid her hand over his on the touchpad. Before Takumi could react, she applied a firm, decisive downward pressure with her index finger.
" And... Sent!"
The laptop screen blinked once. The blue submission button dissolved, replaced by a green confirmation banner that flashed brightly:
[Chapter 1 Published Successfully!]
Takumi’s eyes nearly burst out of his head. "M-Miyuki-chan?!" he gasped, clutching his head in utter panic as he stared at the green text. "W-What did you just do?! I wasn't mentally prepared yet! I didn't do a final spell-check on the last paragraph!"
Miyuki sat back on her heels, placing her hands behind her back. A bright, mischievous smile lit up her face as she gave him a playful, confident wink.
"You've spell-checked that paragraph five times, Mr. Author." she said smoothly. "If I didn't press it for you, you'd still be staring at that button until you have kids."
Come on." She taps her hand on Takumi's shoulder. " You worked hard for this. Have faith to your own talent."
Takumi stared at her in stunned silence for a few seconds. The initial wave of panic slowly subsided, leaving behind a sudden, overwhelming sense of relief. He let out a breathless, helpless laugh, shaking his head as he leaned back against his bed frame.
"You're unbelievable sometimes, you know?" He said softly, his eyes sparkling with affection.
"It worked after all, didn't it?" She replied, her eyes curving into sweet crescents.
To take a break from the grueling study session, Takumi reached into his closet and pulled out a worn, blue plastic deck box. He walked back to the desk with a nostalgic grin, setting it down between their textbooks.
"Study break time, honor student." Takumi declared, shuffling a brightly colored deck of *Yu-Gi-Oh!* trading cards, a hobby they had shared since their elementary school days. "Let's see if your luck is as strong as your grade."
Miyuki smiled, accepting her custom-built deck from the box. "Don't cry when my Exodia wipe out your life points."
They cleared a small space among the notebooks and laid down their field mats. For the next twenty minutes, the room was filled with the familiar, comfortable rhythm of their childhood—drawing cards, declaring attacks, and lighthearted banter over ridiculous monster effects.
Yet, as Takumi bent over his hand, carefully calculating his monster's attack power and strategizing his next turn, Miyuki’s movements slowed.
She stared across the low table at his face. Illuminated by the warm lamp light, his soft face were completely open, relaxed, and devoid of any defense. He was so undeniably kind, so gentle, so entirely devoted to the quiet, peaceful life they shared.
Suddenly, like an unwelcome ghost creeping into a warm room, Yuri’s sharp voice from the library echoed with terrifying clarity inside Miyuki’s mind:
*“A good relationship doesn't run on magic, Miyuki-chan. It runs on effective communication... Don't ever take his kindness for granted just because it comes easily from him...”*
And right behind Yuri's voice came the terrifying, icy whispers of her nightmares
The mocking crowd, the sudden appearance of the blonde boy named Masato Ren, and the horrific sight of Takumi’s bleeding, ruined face.
A cold, heavy knot tightened deep in Miyuki’s stomach. A wave of intense internal conflict rushed through her chest.
She looked at Takumi, really looked at him.
She felt an urgent, desperate need to break the quiet routine, talk to him about the weird emptiness in her heart, about the haunting dreams that were beginning to bleed into her reality, about whether their ten-year bond was truly enough for both of them.
Her lips parted. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Takumi-kun..." Miyuki began, her voice barely above a whisper, carrying a sudden, serious weight that hung heavy in the room. "I..."
Takumi set a card face down on the mat and looked up, his bright, clear eyes meeting hers with completely innocent curiosity.
"Hm? What is it, Miyuki-chan?"
Miyuki’s chest heaved softly. She opened her mouth to force the words out... to ask him if he ever felt their relationship was stagnant—
"Oh! Before I forget." Takumi spoke up, his face brightening as if a sudden thought had just struck him, completely cutting off her train of thought. "I forgot to tell you earlier. Our second-year history class is having an official study field trip to Saitama tomorrow morning."
Miyuki blinked, her planned confession instantly shattering into fragments. "A... study trip to Saitama?"
"Yes." Takumi nodded, gathering his discarded trap cards from the mat. "It's a mandatory historical tour for Class 2-B. We're visiting the old castle ruins and the local museum... and stadium. We'll be leaving right after first period and maybe we'll be back on late evening."
He leaned forward slightly, a teasing, playful smirk breaking across his lips as he looked at her. "What's with that look, Miyuki-chan? Are you going to be lonely without your boyfriend around for one day?"
Miyuki sat frozen for a fraction of a second, caught completely off-guard by the sudden news. The sudden revelation that he would be away tomorrow sent a strange ripple through her mind....
Part disappointment, part an unexpected, guilty sense of breathing room.
She quickly forced her composure back into place, burying her internal turmoil beneath a smooth, practiced smirk of her own. She crossed her arms, tilting her head back with mock disdain.
"Me? Lonely? Oh please." Miyuki scoffed lightly, her voice carrying a light, sarcastic tilt. "If anything, I might actually get some peace and quiet to study properly without you distracting me with your novel. Besides, I have Yuri and my other friends to hang out with. I'll be completely fine."
Takumi let out a warm, bright laugh, unaffected by her teasing. "Ouch. Cold as always, Miyuki-chan."
He picked up his deck, tapping the edges against the table to align the cards neatly before sliding them back into the plastic box. As he did, his expression softened into a quiet, reflective look.
"Speaking of friends, Miyuki-chan..."
Takumi murmured, his gaze drifting toward the framed photograph sitting on his bookshelf which is a photo of three young children standing together at a local park, covered in mud and laughing under the summer sun. "...it really has been a long time since we last saw Yuto, hasn't it?"
Miyuki’s eyes followed his gaze toward the photograph.
Yuto. Another of her childhood friend, the boy who had moved away to another district three years ago during middle school.
"Yeah..." Miyuki agreed softly, her tone dipping into a genuine, nostalgic calm. "It really has."
"I wonder how he's doing at his new school right now." Takumi said quietly, setting the card box aside with a gentle sigh. "We should all get together again sometime..."
Miyuki didn't answer. She simply looked at the photograph, then at Takumi, as the quiet darkness outside his window pressed against the glass, carrying the silent, inescapable arrival of tomorrow.
----
The concrete beneath her feet felt unnaturally cold like ice despite it was the sunny afternoon.
Miyuki walked down the town sidewalk under a sky the color of bruised slate. The street was devoid of traffic, the shops quiet and dark, save for a single warm light glowing at the end of the block.
Her chest felt crushed under an unbearably suffocating weight that each step she take requiring a monumental effort of will.
She stopped in front of the window of *Hanamichi Cafe*.
Through the glass, bathed in the soft amber light of the cafe interior, sat Takumi.
He was laughing softly, holding a porcelain cup, his face lighter than she had seen it in months.
Sitting across from him was a girl with long, cascading golden hair that caught the light like spun silk...
a girl Miyuki instinctively recognized as Rin.
A sharp pang of jealousy flared in Miyuki’s throat.
She wanted to bang on the glass, to demand reason another girl was sitting in her place, enjoying the quiet warmth that belonged to her. But as her fingers pressed against her sternum, the anger dissolved into a sickening and corrosive feeling of self-loathing.
She had no right to be angry.
A agonizing surge of guilt tore through her chest, making her gasp for air that wouldn't come.
Disjointed, terrifying images flashed across her vision like shattered glass:
The cancel campaign in the school hallways, the vicious slurs scrawled in red marker across Takumi’s desk, his locker kicked open and stuffed with trash, and her... the " hurt damsel-in-distress fairy tale
princess" standing at the edge of the crowd, watching him drown in public ridicule after she allowed the entire world to label him an abuser.
"What are you doing here, Miyuki?"
The voice was hollow, devoid of any human warmth.
Miyuki spun around. Standing behind her on the pavement was Tendou Aoi. Her vibrant orange hair was pulled back, but her face was utterly blank, her eyes dark and lifeless like painted black glass.
Miyuki tried to force a natural smile, her lips trembling violently.
"A-Aoi-san... Good evening. Is... is Takumi...kun... inside?"
"He is." Aoi replied. Her voice dropped into a register so cold, so venomous, that the air between them seemed to freeze. "But he is not here for you, young lady."
Miyuki took a tentative step toward the café door. "I... I just wanted to speak to him for a moment—"
"You are no longer allowed to be near my son." Aoi cut in sharply.
Miyuki froze, her blood turning to ice.
"Asahina Miyuki." The moment her full named were uttered, she feels like a criminal on the court.
"Do you really think I don't know what you did behind my son all this time?" Aoi's empty eyes narrowed, flashing with a terrible, quiet fury.
"Long before Takumi found out about you sneaking around... I saw you. I saw you with other boy, the boy who was not Takumi. I saw the way you looked at him, and that... sickening smile like you have the entire world belonged to you."
"No... Aoi-san, please..." Miyuki gasped, tears welling in her eyes.
"When I saw you with that blonde haired boy, I thought you two had broke up peacefully, pained as it could be. Knowing on how long you two been together" Aoi continued, her voice cutting like a razor.
"But then my son came home on that supposedly date on his birthday... crushed. Broken. Seeing him sit in his room staring at the wall on the day you were supposed to have your date confirmed everything."
She points her finger to Miyuki. " You... you cheated on him behind his back, Miyuki. You destroyed his trust. You trempled on his kindness to you all these time like it was nothing."
"I'm sorry!" Miyuki sobbed, the tears finally bursting past her eyelashes, scalding her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Aoi-san! I didn't mean to—"
"It is far too late for apologies..." Aoi said softly, stepping closer, her shadow swallowing Miyuki whole.
"Don't ever show your face around us ever again."
---
The scene fractured instantly.
Miyuki was no longer on the street. She was sitting in the passenger seat of her mother's car.
The engine hummed low and steady. Beside her, Koharu gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were stark white. Koharu’s jaw was set in a rigid line, her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead, radiating a quiet, suffocating fury that Miyuki had never seen in her entire life.
Her mom was clearlyholding back words that would break them both.
*Flash.*
The car vanished. Miyuki was standing in a sterile, white hospital room. The sharp smell of antiseptic burned her nostrils.
Lying on the hospital bed was Koharu, her face pale, hollowed, and sickly under the harsh lights. She looked at Miyuki with eyes brimming with profound, heartbroken disappointment.
"Why... Miyuki?" Koharu whispered, her voice frail and cracking. "How could you betray Takumi like that? After everything his family did for us?"
"Mom... I'm sorry..." Miyuki wept, clutching her mother's cold hand. "I'm sorry..."
Suddenly, Koharu’s eyes snapped wide open.
With a desperate, violent burst of strength, she ripped the IV line from her arm and swung her legs out of the bed, her hospital gown fluttering.
"Mom! What are you doing?!" Miyuki shrieked.
"I have to go!" Koharu cried out, steepled over in pain as she dragged herself toward the door.
"I have to go to the Aoi's house! I have to bow my head and beg Aoi for forgiveness for crap you have done! Even if it kills me!"
"Mom!"
Two nurses rushed through the door, grabbing Koharu’s arms, trying frantically to pull her back onto the bed as Koharu wept and struggled, her screams echoing down the sterile corridor—
*Flash.*
The hospital dissolved into howling wind.
Miyuki stood at the edge of the high school rooftop. Below her, the drop was a dark, bottomless abyss.
The cold wind tore at her skirt and hair.
Looking down into the dark, a profound terrifying clarity washed over her. She had ruined Takumi. She had broken her mother's heart. She was a poison to everyone who had ever loved her.
"Maybe..." Miyuki mumbled to the empty sky, her foot sliding half an inch over the ledge.
"...maybe if I die, maybe everything will be fine."
"Stop making Takumi-kun suffer more than you already have, Asahina Miyuki."
Miyuki gasped, snapping her head around. Standing by the rooftop door was Rin
Her golden hair whipping wildly in the gale. Her blue eyes were cold, filled with disdain.
"If you jump now, you will just made him suffer even more. Haven't you taken enough from him?"
---
Miyuki’s eyes burst open.
A sharp, violent gasp escaped her throat. Her heart slammed against her ribcage like a trapped bird, her body drenched in a cold, trembling sweat.
She was lying on a soft mattress, surrounded by the faint, comforting scent of cedar wood.
The dim, silver glow of the moon filtered through the window blinds, illuminating the posters on the wall.
She was back to Takumi’s room.
Lying right beside her, sleeping soundly under the shared blanket, was Takumi. His chest rose and fell in a slow, peaceful rhythm, his face completely calm in the moonlight.
A sudden, overwhelming wave of emotion surged up from Miyuki’s chest. A choked sob tore through her lips before she could stop it, tears pouring silently from her eyes.
Takumi shifted. His eyelids fluttered open, his brown eyes cloudy with sleep as he looked at her.
"Miyuki-chan...?" he mumbled, his voice raspy. "What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"
Miyuki couldn't speak. She couldn't form words through the agonizing relief that flooded her heart.
Instead, she threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face directly into the crook of his neck, pressing her body against his chest.
She clung to him with a desperate, terrifying grip, as if he might dissolve into thin air if she let go for even a second.
Takumi blinked away his sleepiness, his body reacting instinctively.
He didn't ask further questions. He simply wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close against him, resting his cheek gently against her hair.
"It's okay..." Takumi whispered softly, his hand beginning a slow, gentle patting rhythm against her back. "I'm right here. It was just a dream, Miyuki-chan. I'm right here."
Miyuki sobbed quietly against his cotton shirt, feeling the solid, real warmth of his chest beneath her cheek, listening to the steady, comforting beat of his heart.
As Takumi continued to pat her back, soothing her into stillness, Miyuki reached down with one hand, slipping her phone out from under her pillow.
The screen illuminated her tear-stained face in the dark.
She opened her messaging app, navigated to the contact page of Masato Ren, pressed the options icon, and hit [Delete Contact].
A prompt flashed:
*Are you sure you want to delete this contact?*
Miyuki pressed [Yes] without any kind of hesitation.
She turned off the screen, let the phone slide onto the floor, and pressed her face deeper into Takumi's chest, letting his quiet warmth drown out the remaining shadows of the night.
---
The morning sun broke over the city in a blaze of clear and radiant ray of light.
Miyuki walked alone down the tree-lined sidewalk toward the school gates, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. The cool morning air felt refreshing against her skin, and though her eyes were slightly heavy from the night's emotional storm, her heart felt lighter than it had in weeks.
"Miyuki-chan¬!"
A loud, familiar voice called out from behind.
Miyuki turned to see Yuri jogging up the incline, her short green hair bouncing rhythmically, her messenger bag slung casually across her chest.
"Good morning, Yuri-chan" Miyuki said, offering a soft smile as her friend slowed to a walk beside her.
Yuri glanced around, her sharp green eyes instantly noticing the absence of a certain tall, tangerine orange haired boy who usually walked half a pace behind Miyuki.
"Oh?"
Yuri raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint instantly sparking in her eyes.
"Where's your knight today, little bird? Did you have fight?"
"Takumi-kun isn't here today." Miyuki replied smoothly, stepping through the main school gates.
"His history class is on a study trip to Saitama until this evening."
A wide, wicked smirk spread across Yuri's face. She didn't hesitate for a single second to pounce on the opportunity.
"Oh? Is that so?" Yuri put her finger under her chin, raising her voice loud enough to echo across the crowded courtyard.
"So our top honor student is going to be a lonely, abandoned girlfriend for a whole day?! How terrible! What will you do without your precious Takumi-kun to hold your hand, little bird~?!" Yuri spinning around Miyuki.
"Yuri-chan! You... You're too loud!" Miyuki gasped, her face instantly flushing a bright, furious pink.
Nearby students turned their heads, chuckling quietly as they watched the exchange. Group of secondyear students smiles warmly at Miyuki’s embarrassed reaction, teasing whispers floating through the morning air.
"Look at her, she's totally red!"
Which followed by several snap noises from their phones.
" Cut it out already, Yuri-chan!" Miyuki covered her burning face with both hands, picking up her pace toward the shoe lockers as Yuri followed close behind, laughing delightfully at her friend's rare loss of composure.
Despite Yuri's teasing, the reality of Takumi's absence set in hard as the day goes on.
Without him next to her, without his quiet laughter during lunch break, and without his gentle presence in the hallway, the school day felt strangely hollow and endless. Miyuki found herself wandering aimlessly down the third-floor corridor during the afternoon self-study period, her hands tucked into her blazer pockets, completely bored.
*Buzz.*
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Miyuki pulled it out and tapped the screen. It was a direct message from Mio:
> [Tachibana Mio]:
*Asahina-san, if you have some free time, could you drop by the Literature Club room? I have something I need your help for.*
Miyuki stared at the message for a moment.
She felt a brief hesitation remembering their conversation yesterday, but assuming it was just a quick errand, she typed a brief reply and turned down the club wing corridor.
She reached the door marked *Literature Club* and slid it open. "Pardon me..."
The room was completely quiet. Sunlight streamed through the bladed window blinds, casting long geomatric lines of amber and shadow across the empty desks. Mio was nowhere to be seen.
Assuming Mio had stepped out briefly, Miyuki walked over to the main conference table in the center of the room and took a seat, setting her phone on the polished wood.
*Click.*
The soft sound of a chair dragging across the floorboards made Miyuki look up.
Sitting directly opposite her was a boy she had never meet in person before. He had styled, disheveled blonde hair, sharp features, and wore his school blazer loosely over an unbuttoned dress shirt. A cocky, confident smile sat comfortably on his lips.
Miyuki’s eyes went wide. The breath hitched in her throat.
The blonde boy leaned back, placing his elbows on the table. "Hey there. I'm—"
"Masato Ren." Miyuki blurted out, her voice sharp and cold.
Ren stopped mid-sentence, his smirk deepening into a look of genuine intrigue. He tilted his head, resting his chin in his hand. "Well, well. You already know who I am? That saved us some time."
"What are you doing here?" Miyuki demanded, her hands tightening into fists in her lap as an instinctive alarm bell screamed inside her head. "Tachibana-senpai called me here, where is she?"
" Tachibana-san mentioned you were having a little trouble in your relationship." Ren said smoothly, his tone dripping with an easy, practiced charm as he leaned forward across the table. "She thought you might need someone to talk to. Someone who... actually knows how to treat a girl like you. I'm just here to offer some... you know... useful advice."
He slowly pushed himself up from his chair, rounding the edge of the long wooden table, closing their distance with slow, deliberate steps.
Every cell Miyuki’s body screamed *danger*.
The suffocating memory of her nightmare. The smug smile, the cold arrogance, the bloody destruction of Takumi’s life. All of it flooded her mind with terrifying intensity.
Before Ren could reach her side of the table, Miyuki stood up so fast her chair screeched loudly against the floor.
She turned on her heel and rushed toward the door.
"Hey, hold on—"
A broad, firm hand shot out, wrapping tightly around her wrist.
Miyuki froze, a visceral shock electrifying her spine. She looked back to see Ren standing right behind her, his grip firm, though his expression remained casually amused.
"Relax, sweet girl." Ren chuckled softly, lowering his voice into a soothing, seductive murmur. "I'm not going to do anything to you. Just hear me out for five minutes—"
"Let go of me, Masato-senpai!"
With a fierce, desperate twist of her arm, Miyuki wrenched her wrist free from his grip.
She couldn't bear to hear another word. She yanked the sliding door open and bolted out into the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her.
Inside the quiet club room, Ren stood alone near the doorway. He looked down at his empty palm, then at the open door, a slow, dark smirk stretching across his face.
" Quite persistant, aren't we?" Ren muttered to himself, letting out a soft, amused laugh as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. "This one actually could fight back... Interesting. But she's damn cute. This'll definitely be worth the effort to break that nerd's heart."
---
Miyuki ran blindly down the quiet corridor, her chest heaving, her high heels clicking loudly against the floor.
Her mind was a chaotic storm. Tendou Aoi’s cold, cruel words from her nightmare echoed with deafening volume inside her head:
*“You cheated on him behind his back... You destroyed his trust...”*
*What's the meaning of this?!*
* Could all of these weird dreams are more than just dreams?*
She turned the corner onto the main second-floor hallway, panting heavily, trying to slow her frantic pace.
Standing alone near the central staircase was Yuri.
Yuri was leaning back against the window, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Her short green hair shadowed her face, but her sharp eyes were locked directly onto Miyuki with an unreadable, menacing intensity.
Miyuki stopped dead in her tracks, catching her breath. "Yuri-chan...? What are you doing—"
*SMACK!*
The sound echoed like a gunshot through the empty hallway.
Miyuki’s head snapped to the side from the sheer force of the blow. A sharp, stinging heat exploded across her left cheek. She stumbled back a step, holding her burning face with a trembling hand, staring at her friend in absolute shock.
Yuri stood before her, her hand slowly dropping back to her side. Her face was dark, her green eyes burning with a low, terrifying fury that Miyuki had never seen before.
"What were you doing in that room, Miyuki-chan?" Yuri demanded as her voice is dangerously low and practically vibrating with suppressed rage.
" W- What are you talking about?" Miyuki stammered, tears of shock pricking the corners of her eyes.
"I saw that, you liar!" Yuri spat, stepping closer, her chest heaving. "I saw you walk into the Literature Club room, and I saw Masato Ren walk in right after you. Don't try to lie to me!"
"I didn't do anything!" Miyuki cried out, her voice cracking as she held her red cheek. "I swear I didn't do anything! Tachibana-senpai texted me to help her with something! I had no idea that guy was going to be in there!"
Yuri’s eyes searched Miyuki’s face, her gaze cutting deeper than a scalpel.
"Do you remember what I told you in the library yesterday?!" Yuri snapped, her voice echoing off the concrete walls as she pinned Miyuki to the wall.
"I told you not to take Takumi’s kindness for granted! I told you not to do something you’d regret for the rest of your life! And the very this day Takumi-kun isn't around, I saw you alone in a room with another guy, and it's Masato Ren?!"
"I ran away, Yuri-chan!"
Miyuki screamed back, tears finally breaking free and running down her face.
"The second he tried to say a word to me, I pulled away and ran out! I didn't want to be anywhere near him! You have to believe me!"
Silence fell over the corridor, broken only by the sound of Miyuki’s ragged breathing.
Yuri stared at Miyuki’s tear-stained face, watching the raw, desperate panic in her eyes.
Slowly, the tight, furious tension in Yuri’s shoulders relaxed slightly. The terrifying edge in her eyes softened into a look of heavy, exhausted frustration.
She let out a long, ragged sigh, running a hand through her short green hair.
"Fine..." Yuri murmured quietly. "You're a terrible at lying after all, Miyuki-chan."
Miyuki let out a shaky, breathless sigh of relief, wiping the tears from her cheek with her sleeve. "I really didn't know..."
"You need to stay as far away from that bastard as humanly possible," Yuri warned, her voice dropping into a stern, serious whisper. "Do you have any idea who Masato Ren actually is?"
Miyuki lowered her hand from her face, looking at Yuri in confusion.
" That guy is already has a girlfriend," Yuri stated flatly. "And you want to know the worst part? That girl, our senior was stolen from a guy back from junior high school, that it caused him to be on same class as us, despite that he's supposed to be third year like that girl and Masato Ren"
Miyuki’s expression remained unchanged. Her face didn't show a single flicker of surprise or shock.
Only a quiet, somber recognition.
Yuri’s eyebrows knitted together as she noticed Miyuki’s complete lack of reaction.
" Hmm... you don't look surprised at all. Did you already know that?"
Miyuki shook her head slowly, looking down at the linoleum floor. She placed her trembling hands over her face, letting out a frail, exhausted breath that sounded like a cry for help.
" No..." Miyuki whispered, her voice barely audible through her fingers.
"It's just... lately, Yuri-chan... I've been having these terribly weird dreams. Dreams where everything... everything falls apart about me and I even dream on doing bad things to Takumi-kun..."
Yuri watched her friend in quiet concern, opening her mouth to ask more.
" Oh? What were they, then? Preminition?"
Miyuki could simply nods weakly.
Neither of them noticed.
Standing at the far end of the corridor, partially hidden in the deep shadows of the stairwell, was a figure.
A girl with long, cascading golden hair that caught the afternoon sunlight is watching them both in absolute motionless silence.
