Chapter 7: Some People Smile Like It Hurts
Rain again.
Yumi stared out the classroom window, chin resting on her palm, watching gray clouds melt over the rooftops. Most kids were complaining about wet uniforms and cancelled club meets.
But her heart felt oddly still.
I like the rain now, she thought.
It reminded her of him.
Akiro wasn't in class that day.
No explanation.
No messages.
Not that she expected one — they weren't official, whatever that meant — but still. His absence left the air wrong. Her rhythm off.
She tapped her pen against her notebook and glanced at the clock again.
Still five minutes before lunch break.
Still pretending not to care.
She found Reiko near the vending machines.
"Have you seen Akiro today?"
Reiko blinked. "You're not calling him Scarboy anymore?"
"Don't push me."
"I haven't seen him. Why?"
Yumi hesitated. "He's not replying."
Reiko paused. "Do you want me to be honest, or supportive?"
"Both."
"He gives off serious vanishing act energy. Just saying."
Yumi folded her arms. "He's not like that."
Reiko shrugged. "Then maybe you're the one who made him stay."
She went looking after school.
She didn't even realize she was doing it — her feet just took her there.
The alley behind the gym.
The park bench.
The old rooftop staircase door that was always half-locked unless you twisted the handle just right.
She found him there.
Sitting on the steps, hood off, hair wet, head tilted back against the wall, eyes closed.
His face looked calmer in the rain.
But his hands were trembling.
"Akiro…"
His eyes snapped open. He didn't flinch. He didn't snarl.
He just looked… tired.
"You skipped," she said softly.
"Didn't feel like showing off my trauma today."
She stepped closer. "What happened?"
He laughed. Bitter. Sharp.
"Old man came home drunk again. Broke a glass. Called me something new this time."
Yumi's heart dropped.
"Akiro…"
"I'm fine," he said. "This happens."
She sat beside him. Close. Quiet.
He didn't stop her.
She wanted to reach out, touch his hand, wrap her fingers around that shaking fist. But she didn't.
Not yet.
Instead, she whispered: "You don't have to be alone in it."
He looked at her, eyes dark, rain dripping down the bridge of his nose.
"…That's the part that scares me."
That night, she couldn't sleep again.
Because she realized something.
Akiro didn't push people away because he hated them.
He did it because if they got too close…
They might see he was still bleeding.