Noir opened the door with a cautious hand, the storm rushing past him like a warning. Rain misted his face as wind howled in the corridor. Standing there, soaked, hood pulled low, was Kairo , his old friend, and perhaps the only one stubborn enough to show up like this.
"Hey" Kairo said, giving a half-shrug. "I came to check on you. You didn't come today."
Noir's expression didn't shift. "Is this really a suitable time to make social visits?"
Kairo scoffed, brushing water off his jacket. "You're ungrateful, Noir. I'm standing in a damn storm. Am I supposed to just camp out here under the rain?"
His eyes flicked past Noir, trying to peer into the dim space behind him. "Or… do you have company?" His brow lifted.
Noir's voice stayed flat. "What do you want, Kairo?"
Kairo chuckled under his breath. "Still so serious. Damn. Fine." He reached into his coat and pulled out a slightly wrinkled envelope, edges water-dampened but the name still visible.
He handed it over.
Noir glanced at it, then at him.
"I don't know," Kairo said, lifting both hands in surrender. "Don't ask me. I just found it left with the groundskeeper. Said it was urgent. Apparently, it's for a girl, her name is
Mia. She's in the same school as your cousin, right?"
At that, Noir's gaze sharpened.
Kairo continued, casually. "The person who gave it over was real careful. Didn't want to be seen. Just said, 'Make sure she gets it.' That's it."
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed from inside.
"Noir…?" Mia's voice fragile, afraid, trembling like she'd just woken from a nightmare.
Noir's blood ran cold. Without thinking, he stepped back and slammed the door shut , locking it with a final click.
Kairo blinked in surprise. For a long moment, he just stared at the closed door. The rain dripped down his forehead, unnoticed.
He let out a low, almost bitter laugh.
"…Seems you're back to her," he muttered to himself. "I thought you'd decided to walk away. Forever."
He turned to leave, hands deep in his coat pockets, but paused.
Something moved.
He glanced across the street, eyes narrowing through the curtain of rain. Just under the old power pole half-shrouded by the storm and the shadows stood a figure. Still. Watching.
A raincoat hood was pulled up tight, but he recognized the posture. The shape.
He squinted harder, heart skipping once.
"…Isn't that Yui?"
His voice was nearly drowned by the rain.
Yui. Noir's ex. The girl who vanished without warning, without goodbye.
Kairo's eyes flicked back to the door behind him.
"…Then who the hell is the girl inside with him?"
The storm roared on, swallowing the street in rain and secrets.
He stood beneath the downpour, frozen, his eyes locked on the figure under the flickering streetlamp beside the power pole. Rain slicked the world in silver and shadow, but through the sheets of water, he could see her. Still. Watching. Hood pulled low, but not enough to hide the face he once knew too well.
"…Yui?"
Her name left his lips like a ghost slipping through clenched teeth, half hope, half dread.
Then, as if the storm itself had breathed her away, she turned. Slow. Effortless. And vanished down the side alley, into the shadows.
Kairo took one step forward, then stopped. Heart hammering. Hands trembling.
He fumbled for his phone, thumb slipping on the wet screen as he dialed.
Two rings.
Then a tired voice, low and alert.
"Ren."
Kairo didn't waste a second. "Are you at home?"
A pause. Rain crackled against the speaker.
"No. Still in the archive room. Why?"
Kairo's voice dropped lower. "I think you need to come to Noir's place. Now."
"…Why? What happened?"
"There's something going on." Kairo glanced toward the door behind him. "A girl's in his house. Crying. He wouldn't explain. I gave him a letter. Someone went through hell to deliver it to a girl named Mia. Said she's in the same school as Noir's cousin."
A silence that stretched too long.
Then Ren's voice, colder. Heavy with disbelief.
"And?"
Kairo turned his gaze back to the street. The alley where the girl had disappeared.
"I just saw Yui."Another pause. This time, sharper. Tense.
"That's not possible," Ren finally whispered. "You already know… there's no way they could be back together after that accident."
"I'm telling you_ I saw her." Kairo's voice shook. "Same coat. Same way she used to stand. She looked at me, Ren."
A long breath came through the line.
"…I'll be there in twenty."
Kairo didn't move. He stood under the downpour, eyes locked on the figure standing still beneath the power pole. The rain made it hard to see, harder to believe, but the silhouette was too familiar. Too still.
"Yui…?" he whispered, barely hearing himself over the roar of the storm.
The figure slowly turned, her face barely visible beneath the hood of a raincoat. Then, without a word, she slipped into the narrow alley beside the building, gone, as if swallowed by the storm itself.
--------------------------
Inside Noir's apartment…
The letter sat on the counter, untouched. Noir leaned over the sink, his jaw tense. Behind him, Mia slept soundly on the couch, her breath steady, her cheeks marked with the soft lines of dried tears.
He hadn't turned the lights on, save for the kitchen's dim glow. He didn't want too much light. Not now.
He walked to the window, watching the streets blur under the storm.
Then—
A knock at the emergency door.
He tensed. One beat. Then another knock.
He opened the latch a crack.
Ren stood outside, soaked through, eyes sharp. "You gonna let me in or make me stand out here all night?"
Noir opened the door silently and stepped aside. Ren entered, shaking water from his hair. "You look like hell."
"I could say the same," Noir replied, tone cool. Calm.
Ren's eyes scanned the room. "So? What's going on?"
Noir gave a shrug, keeping his back to the couch. "Nothing. Kairo overreacts. You know how he gets."
Ren frowned. "Overreacts? He told me you had a girl here."
Noir raised an eyebrow. "Did he?"
"Yeah. And he handed you a letter meant for someone named Mia."
Noir gave a quiet scoff. "People pass along letters all the time. You're telling me you ran through a storm for that ?"
Ren didn't laugh. His gaze drifted over Noir's shoulder toward the shadows behind the kitchen wall.
Noir stepped slightly to the side, blocking the view.
Ren narrowed his eyes. "He said you looked… shaken."
"I'm tired," Noir said simply. "And wet."
Ren stared at him a second longer. "Then why are you acting like you want me to leave?"
Noir didn't respond immediately. Then he gave a tired smirk. "Because I do."
Ren tilted his head. "You hiding something?"
"Just a headache," Noir replied evenly, then gestured toward the door. "Get home before the lightning starts making out with the power lines."
Ren didn't move. His eyes scanned Noir's again, then flicked toward the hall. Just for a second.
But Noir caught it.
And this time, there was no smile in his voice.
"Ren."
Ren looked back at him. "Yeah?"
"Trust me. Not tonight."
The silence between them hummed like the tension before thunder.
After a few seconds, Ren let out a quiet breath and walked to the door.
But just before he opened it, he paused.
"You know," he said, not looking back, "Kairo said she let him see her."
Noir didn't answer.
"She wanted to be seen."
Then Ren left.
Noir closed the door softly. Locked it.
He turned around slowly… and his eyes fell back on the letter.
And Mia on the couch, who had stirred slightly, her body curling tighter under the blanket.
Then, barely audible, she murmured in her sleep, "…Yona…"
Noir froze.
His breath caught for a moment.
She said it again, softer this time, like a name both feared and mourned.
"Yona.."
He stared at her, heart suddenly heavy with questions he didn't dare form.
And behind him, the storm raged on.
---------------------
The next morning came with soft light filtering through the curtains, casting a calm over the room that didn't quite match what lay beneath it.
Mia stirred awake slowly, her lashes fluttering as she blinked into the unfamiliar ceiling. Her fingers curled into the blanket draped over her.
Then she noticed the faint smell of toast and tea.
She sat up.
Noir was already there, sitting quietly on the single chair by the table, dressed in a clean shirt, arms loosely folded, watching her wake with unreadable eyes. The table between them was neatly set. Toast, eggs, tea… and silence.
She blinked again, confused. "Where… am I?"
"In my house," Noir answered simply, his voice calm.
She looked around, eyes wide now. "Oh no… oh my God, my parents, they're going to kill me."
She stood abruptly, nearly tripping on the blanket. "I have to go..."
"At least eat first," Noir said, not pressing, but firm. "You didn't eat anything yesterday."
She hesitated. Her stomach reminded her he was right.
"Okay… Just a little," she muttered, brushing back her tangled hair and sitting down at the table.
The meal was eaten in silence. The only sounds were the clink of her fork and the soft hum of the city returning to life beyond the storm-streaked windows.
When she finished, Noir rose and collected the plates without a word.
But as he returned, he placed something on the table in front of her.
A folded letter.
Her name was written in the center, Mia A , but no return address. No sender. No marking.
She frowned. "What's this?"
Noir didn't meet her eyes. "Someone left it. Kairo brought it last night."
"Who?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing.
He shook his head. "I don't know. But it's yours."
Mia hesitated… then reached out slowly, fingers brushing the cold paper.
She unfolded it.
The words inside were written in harsh black ink, no signature, just a few jagged lines burned into the paper like a curse:
"You don't belong to him.I will kill you this time."
Her breath caught.
The letter slipped slightly from her fingers.
Noir had gone completely still.
Mia looked up at him, face pale, lips trembling. "Is this a joke…?
Mia's fingers gripped the letter, her knuckles pale.
The silence between them stretched, heavy, filled with the weight of that single, terrifying sentence.
The paper trembled slightly in her grasp.
Then—
She felt warmth.
Noir's hand, firm and steady, gently covered hers.
Her breath caught.
She looked up, startled. His eyes met hers, dark and serious, unreadable, yet holding something deep and grounding.
He didn't blink.
His voice came low, the kind of quiet that made everything else in the world fall away.
"No one's going to hurt you."
Mia's eyes widened. Her heart stumbled in her chest, beating unevenly.
She didn't move. Couldn't. The way he looked at her, protective, unwavering, it unsettled something buried deep inside her.
But then her body remembered what her heart was trying to ignore.
She stepped back suddenly, pulling her hand away, her voice shaking.
"I...I have to go…"
Noir didn't stop her. He just watched.
Her eyes darted to the door, then back to him. "I shouldn't be here...I didn't even tell my parents...I can't… I can't stay."
She tried to sound firm, but her words wavered, like the air itself was pressing too hard against her.
Noir said nothing.
But he stepped forward once, slowly, just enough for her to feel the gravity of his presence.
"I know who wrote the letter," he said quietly.
She froze halfway to the door, eyes wide.
Turning, she looked at him uncertain, breath caught halfway through her chest. "You… know?"
He nodded once.
Her voice came in a whisper. "who?,..Who is it…? "
He didn't answer. The silence that followed said more than words ever could.
She stared at him, as if the truth might surface just by holding his gaze long enough.
Noir's eyes didn't blink. His jaw tightened.
Then, after a breath..."Aria."
The name dropped into the silence like a stone into water.
Mia's face lost all color.
She stared at him, lips parting, but no words coming out.
The silence stretched.
Long.
Heavy.
She finally whispered, as if trying to convince herself it couldn't be, "But she… she wouldn't…"
Noir didn't answer.
To be continue ...