Daiki burst through the rooftop door with his usual chaotic energy, his voice echoing before his body fully appeared. "Guys! You won't believe what I just heard!"
Yona and Mia both turned at the same time, startled by the noise, neither of them noticing Noir—silent, distant, already there by the railing, his back to them, as if standing in a separate world entirely.
Daiki ran up to them, breathless, completely oblivious. "I just heard—listen to this—someone said Noir actually has a girl who's in love with him."
Yona's eyes widened slightly. He subtly shook his head at Daiki, lifting his hand in a silent signal to stop, eyes flickering toward the figure at the edge of the rooftop. But Daiki, as always, was too caught up in his own excitement to notice.
"And get this—" Daiki lowered his voice just a little, but not enough—"it's not even the girl he always picks up. This one's someone else. But they said she never loved him back. Brutal, huh?"
Mia glanced around anxiously, catching the tension in Yona's eyes. "Daiki—shhh," she whispered urgently.
But Daiki frowned. "Why are both of you acting so weird?"
Yona sighed, then reached out, grabbed Daiki's head gently but firmly, and turned it toward the edge of the rooftop.
Daiki's voice died in his throat as he finally saw him.
Noir .
Standing alone, eyes fixed on some faraway point beyond the school buildings, body still and tense. He hadn't moved at all during the entire exchange. But now, slowly, he turned his head—just slightly—just enough for them to see that he had heard everything.
Daiki's jaw dropped as his gaze snapped between Noir, Mia, and Yona. "Oh... crap."
But Noir didn't speak.
Instead, his phone buzzed in his hand. He stared at the screen for a moment, then answered it, voice low and sharp—almost bitter.
"What is it now?" His voice cracked like a whip through the rooftop silence.
A pause.
Then, louder—angrier—"I told you not to call me here."
Mia watched him with wide, unsettled eyes. There was something raw in his voice, something that didn't match the cold exterior he usually wore. It was grief. Rage. Maybe betrayal.
"No. I don't care," he said into the phone, his voice breaking for a moment. "She made her choice."
Another pause. His hand tightened around the phone.
"Tell her I'm not coming back."
He ended the call without waiting for a reply and stood there in silence, his back to them once more, the wind tugging lightly at his shirt, his frame suddenly looking... tired.
For the first time, Noir looked small.
Daiki slowly backed up, guilt written all over his face.
-------------------
The phone call ended, and silence hung in the air like a blade.
Noir stood motionless for a beat—then his hand clenched tighter around the phone until his knuckles turned white.
With a sudden, furious motion, he hurled it to the ground.
The phone cracked hard against the concrete rooftop, shattering into pieces, the sound sharp and final. Daiki jumped, stepping back instinctively, and even Mia flinched. But Yona… Yona stayed still.
Noir turned around slowly.
His eyes—storm-dark and burning—locked on them. No, not them.
On Yona.
His steps were heavy, deliberate, each one louder than the last against the rooftop floor.
Mia moved slightly in front of Yona without thinking, her voice soft, uncertain. "Noir…"
But he didn't look at her.
Not once.
His gaze never wavered from Yona.
"You," he said, low and cold, like the air before thunder.
Yona didn't speak.with a slow controlled motion , he reached out and gently moved Mia to the side, never taking his eyes off Noir.
His eyes narrowed, jaw tensing, as if bracing for something he had known might come.
"What are you doing here?" Noir asked, his voice still calm but shaking underneath—like something buried deep was pushing to the surface.
"I could ask you the same," Yona said quietly.
Noir scoffed, stepping closer. "Still pretending, huh?" His eyes flicked to Mia just for a moment. "Still hiding behind people who don't know what you really are."
Mia looked between them, confused. "What… what is going on?"
But Yona didn't answer.
Noir took another step. "You thought I wouldn't notice you? Thought I wouldn't recognize you because you changed your name?"
Yona's silence said enough.
Daiki stood frozen, wide-eyed, looking from one boy to the other like he had accidentally walked into a storm.
"Everything falls apart where you go," Noir continued, his voice rising. "Just like before. Just like back then."
Mia stepped in between them now, eyes wide, heart pounding. "What are you talking about? You two… know each other?"
Yona's voice came low, almost guilty. "It's not what you think."
Noir's laugh was bitter. "It
or a long moment, no one spoke.
The pieces of Noir's shattered phone lay between them, silent evidence of a past no one fully understood—except the two boys facing off, eyes burning with history.
Whatever had happened between them… it wasn't over.
Not yet.
----------------------
Just as the silence began to settle, the rooftop door creaked open again.
Aria stepped inside.
She froze the moment her eyes met the scene— Noir standing tense and furious, shards of a phone scattered near his feet, Yona and Mia unmoving, and Daiki blinking between them all like he'd witnessed a ghost.
Her gaze locked on Noir first, reading the rage in the hard lines of his shoulders, the wildness in his eyes. Then she turned to Yona and Mia, her expression guarded, searching. Her gaze softened briefly when it landed on Yona… but only for a second. She looked away quickly, as if she didn't want to be seen at all. Without a word, she moved to the far end of the rooftop, distancing herself from everyone.
Then the door opened again.
Lena.
She stopped the moment she stepped in, her surprise visible as her eyes scanned the rooftop. "What's going on here?" she murmured more to herself.
Yona turned his head sharply to her. Their eyes met.
A beat passed.
Then she looked away, her gaze sliding straight to Noir, who hadn't moved since throwing his phone—still seething, still silent.
Lena approached him, slow and careful, and when she was close enough, she whispered something only he could hear.
"Something happened?"
Noir didn't answer. His jaw clenched, his eyes burning past her, but never meeting hers.
Lena's voice lowered again, calm, almost coaxing. "Let's go."
Still no reply.
But this time… he moved.
Without a glance at anyone, he turned and walked toward the stairs, his boots echoing against the concrete.
Lena followed quietly, her expression unreadable. But behind them… Aria remained.
She stood motionless, her eyes wide as she watched the two disappear through the door. Her hands clutched at the sleeves of her sweater, as if to keep herself still.
Yona looked over at her, concern rising in his voice. "Ari—"
But Aria flinched.
She didn't wait to hear the rest. She turned on her heel, her eyes shimmering with something she refused to let spill, and left.
No words.
Just the soft patter of her steps and the echo of absence she left behind.
Daiki scratched the back of his head, completely baffled. "Okay…" he said, glancing between Yona and Mia. "What just happened?"
Neither of them had an answer.
Mia's lips were slightly parted, still trying to breathe through the tension in the air. Yona's hand was half raised, like he still wanted to call Aria back but knew he was too late.
Daiki looked at the broken phone, then toward the now-empty stairwell, and let out a breathy laugh.
"Ugh. This day is so strange."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and left, whistling lowly to himself.
Now it was just Yona and Mia.
The rooftop, once a place for quiet lunches and soft laughter, now felt like the eye of a storm neither of them had seen coming. Mia slowly turned her head to Yona, but the question in her eyes never found its voice.
And Yona?
He just stared at the door where Noir had gone, the weight of old memories pressing hard against his chest.
Something had been awakened.
And it wasn't done with any of them yet.
-----------------------------
The rooftop felt colder after everyone left, even though the sun still hung in the sky.
The silence between Yona and Mia stretched. Neither of them moved, as if afraid that stepping forward would shatter the fragile balance holding them together.
Yona finally spoke, his voice soft, but strained.
"Mia… about what Noir said earlier," he hesitated, eyes downcast, "you don't have to believe it."
Mia turned to him slowly. The tension in her eyes hadn't faded—it was written in the tightness of her mouth, the way her shoulders refused to relax.
Her voice came quiet, almost hollow. "Can we talk about this later?"
Yona blinked, taken aback.
"All of this…" she gestured vaguely to the rooftop, the broken phone, the stairwell where Noir and Lena had disappeared, "It's too much. It's stressing me out."
Yona nodded, his lips pressing into a thin line. "Sure."
That single word hung heavy between them, and no one spoke after that. They left the rooftop together, but something about their steps felt off—no longer in sync, as if a thread between them had loosened.
The rest of the school day dragged on beneath a fog of quiet dread.
In every classroom, whispers lingered like shadows—some students had seen the scene on the roof, others heard about Noir's outburst or Lena's strange involvement. Curiosity crackled beneath the surface of everyday chatter, but no one dared speak too loud.
Mia sat through her classes like a ghost, barely hearing the teacher's voice. Her notebook remained blank, her pen idle. Her mind drifted—not to Yona, not even to Noir—but to Aria's face, to the hurt hidden in her eyes, to the quiet way she had left.
Yona wasn't much better.
He kept staring out the window, thoughts tangled, his chest tight with things he couldn't name. The image of Noir's furious eyes kept replaying in his head, over and over—like something from their past was clawing its way back to the surface.
Daiki, usually loud and restless, was unusually quiet too. He glanced at Mia and Yona from time to time but didn't say a word.
The air in the classroom was thick, like the entire school had stopped breathing.
And then, finally… the bell rang.
The day was over.
Students poured out into the hallways like water finally breaking through a dam. Some laughed to shake off the strange energy. Others whispered. Most just wanted to get out.
Mia gathered her things slowly, her hands trembling slightly.
Yona didn't ask if she wanted to walk home together.
She didn't offer.
They just exchanged a quiet glance—brief, heavy—and then turned away from each other, heading in opposite directions.
No words.
Just the aching silence of something unfinished.
To be continue .....