The rooftop confession stayed with him.
Kaiser thought rejecting her would make things easier.
No distractions. No emotional ties. Just focus—pure and unbroken.
Just like it had always been.
And at first, it seemed to work.
Shinoa stopped talking to him.
No greetings. No teasing. No presence.
She vanished from his daily rhythm.
He told himself it was good.
This is better, he thought. Now I can focus again.
But it wasn't.
---
He didn't notice it at first—the silence.
The empty hallway where she used to wave.
The absence of laughter behind him in class.
The missing bento on the desk beside his.
And one day, walking through the courtyard, he passed by the old bench under the sakura tree… and stopped.
There was no one there.
But in his head, he could still hear her voice—nagging, cheerful, alive.
That night, for the first time in years, Kaiser Klein couldn't sleep.
He stared at the ceiling, heart heavy with something he didn't know how to name.
Why do I miss her?
He didn't love her… did he?
No.
That wasn't it.
He missed the way she made him feel.
He missed the warmth. The chaos. The way she made the world feel less cold.
And in that silence, he was forced to admit something he had buried deep:
He was afraid.
Afraid of hurting her. Afraid of not being enough.
Afraid that someone like him—born from trauma, raised in shadows—could only bring pain to someone as bright as her.
So he pushed her away.
He convinced himself it was strength.
But maybe… it was fear.
---
While his mind tangled itself in guilt and silence, Rukia Delim stepped into the void.
She didn't need his permission. She just… showed up.
Bringing him food when he forgot to eat.
Dragging him to practice when he wanted to skip.
Talking about old memories like they were yesterday.
And at some point, her presence didn't feel forced anymore.
It felt… natural.
Rukia wasn't the same girl from their childhood. She was real now—open, complicated, flawed.
And somewhere along the way, her feelings for him… changed.
This time, it wasn't about the past.
It was something else.
Something real.
But Kaiser was too busy chasing ghosts to notice the heart forming quietly in front of him.