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Chapter 65 - Chapter 65 : Kana's Fury

The school office was quiet.

Too quiet, considering the way the vice principal's voice had thundered minutes earlier. Kana sat with her arms crossed, glaring at the floor, a bruise forming under her eye. A scratch ran down the side of her cheek.

She didn't care.

The suspension slip sat untouched on the desk in front of her.

"Fighting again," the administrator had said. "Third time this semester."

Kana didn't explain. She never did. The teacher she'd shouted at hadn't bled. The boy who called her a "broken brat" had.

She didn't regret it.

---

That evening, she walked home with her hands shoved in her hoodie pockets and her bag slung low across her back. Every step sounded too loud on the pavement. The sun had started to fall behind the apartment blocks.

But she didn't go home.

Not yet.

She ended up at the old skatepark, where the concrete was cracked and rusted rails poked through overgrown grass. She climbed onto the tallest platform, the one she used to launch herself off when she thought flying meant anything, and sat there. Alone.

It started to drizzle.

She didn't care.

---

She heard the bicycle before she saw him.

The chain clinked faintly, tires grinding through gravel.

Satoru Kojima came to a slow stop at the edge of the skatepark, rain soaking into his hoodie, one hand gripping the handlebar loosely. His arm was still bandaged, and he moved like his ribs ached.

Kana didn't look at him.

He didn't say anything.

After a moment, he leaned the bike against the fence and climbed up to sit next to her.

They sat in silence. Rain tapped against the concrete.

Finally, she spoke. "He said people like me never become anything. That I was just pretending to be tough."

Satoru's gaze stayed on the horizon. "Is that why you punched him?"

"No," she said. "I punched him because he wasn't completely wrong."

He looked at her now. "You think that's true?"

"I don't know," she muttered. "I'm angry all the time. And I don't know where to put it."

Satoru nodded slowly. "I get that."

Kana's voice cracked. "You're not angry."

"I am," he said. "I just don't use it to break things. I use it to stand up."

Another long silence.

Rain began to fall harder.

"I got suspended," Kana mumbled. "Mom's gonna kill me."

"Not if I talk to her first."

She glared. "Don't you dare."

He smiled, faintly. "Alright."

---

They sat like that until the rain soaked them through.

She didn't cry, not really. Just wiped at her nose with her sleeve and hunched her shoulders forward.

But when he stood to leave, she didn't tell him to go away.

And when he said, "I'll see you around," she didn't answer.

She just watched him ride off into the mist.

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