Chapter 11: You Can't Keep Loving a Disappearing Act
It started small.
Akiro didn't message her that night.
Or the next morning.
No morning text. No sarcastic reply. No hoodie-wrapped silhouette waiting at the gate.
At first, Yumi told herself it was fine.
He needed space sometimes.
He lived in a world stitched together with cracked silence. It was part of the deal.
But by lunch, the silence wasn't poetic anymore. It was loud.
And Reiko noticed.
"You're doing that leg bounce thing," she said.
Yumi blinked. "What?"
"You only do it when you're anxious. Or when someone ghosts you."
Yumi forced a smile. "He's not ghosting. He's probably just…"
But the words stopped in her throat.
He's probably just what? Hurt again? Gone? Tired of pretending he could be loved?
She stood up so fast her chair screeched.
"I'll be back."
She checked the gym steps. The park. The stairwell.
Nothing.
Then, on instinct, she went to the convenience store.
He was there.
Back corner. Hoodie on. Eyes red.
Sitting on the floor like the concrete was safer than the world above it.
She didn't speak right away.
Just crouched beside him, handed him his usual bitter coffee, and waited.
He took it with a quiet, shaking hand.
"…Sorry."
"For?"
"Not being someone you can rely on."
Yumi felt something sting deep in her chest.
"That's not what I want from you."
He looked at her like he didn't believe that was possible.
"Then what do you want?"
She hesitated.
Then:
"I want you to show up."
His jaw clenched.
"I want you to let me care about you without disappearing the second it gets hard."
Still silence.
"I want the guy who laughed when I made him eat a heart-shaped cream bun. Who traded hoodies with me because I looked cold. Who stayed when I cried under the umbrella."
He turned his face away.
"…I don't know how to stay."
Her voice cracked:
"Then learn."
He didn't kiss her.
He didn't hug her.
But he looked at her like it hurt not to.
And for the first time, she realized:
Love doesn't break when someone leaves.It breaks when they believe they were never worth staying for.