Mia stepped back into the classroom, her movements stiff, almost mechanical. The door clicked shut behind her, but the usual chatter of students barely registered. The air inside felt heavier now, like the room itself sensed something was wrong.
Her face was pale. Her eyes, unfocused.
Yona noticed immediately.His eyes, which had drifted back to his half-finished notes, snapped up the moment she walked in. He didn't move, just watched. Silent. Intense. His gaze followed her as she walked slowly, head down, toward her seat at the edge of the room.
She didn't meet anyone's eyes.
Not his.
When she finally sat, her shoulders curled in on themselves, and her hands folded tightly in her lap like she was bracing against a storm only she could feel.
Yona stood.
Without hesitation, without a word, he walked toward her. The room seemed to quiet a little, just around them, as if everyone sensed something shifting.
He stopped in front of her desk.
She didn't look up.
"Mia," he said, voice low but heavy with tension. "Why?"
Still, she didn't raise her head.
His jaw clenched. He leaned forward slightly, not threatening, but not soft, either. "Why were you with Noir?"
No answer.
"The things between us… is it really that easy to throw away?"
Her hands tightened around the edge of her chair, but her gaze stayed locked on the floor. Her lips moved, barely a whisper:
"Go."
His eyes narrowed. He wasn't yelling, but the emotion in his voice cracked through.
"Is he that worthy to you?"
That made her look up.
Just a flash of eye contact, shiny, broken, and full of something close to panic.
Then she screamed.
"Go away from me! "
The classroom went dead silent.
Yona didn't say another word. His face didn't even flinch. He just stared at her for one more second, long enough for something behind his eyes to harden.
Then he turned.
Without glancing back, he walked straight to Lena, who had been watching from the far corner with unease painting her face.
Before she could say a word, Yona grabbed her hand tight, Firm.
"Come with me."
His voice was controlled. But the way he gripped her, it wasn't the softness of someone asking for comfort.
It was escape.
Lena blinked, confused, but didn't resist. Yona didn't wait for anyone's reaction. He pulled her with him and walked straight out of the classroom.
The door slammed behind them.
Back at her desk, Mia trembled, still frozen in place. Her breath came in shaky bursts. The shout still rang in her own ears like a siren she couldn't silence.
She didn't look up again.
Daiki stood slowly.
His movements were careful, hesitant like each step might shatter something fragile. He didn't say a word as he crossed the classroom, his eyes locked on Mia. She hadn't moved since Yona left, still sitting stiffly in her chair, face pale and distant.
When he reached her, she looked up، drawn by some invisible thread، her gaze meeting his.
Her eyes were full of fear. Not of him. But of everything.
Lost. Terrified. Hollow.
Daiki looked at her for a long moment,
But he didn't say a word.
He just turned and walked away.
--------------------------
Elsewhere—on the rooftop.
The wind was stronger up here. Open. Cold. The kind of breeze that cut through silence and demanded honesty.
Yona let go of Lena's hand the moment they stepped onto the rooftop. He walked forward a few paces, staring out over the city. His posture was tense like something inside him was cracking beneath the surface.
Lena watched him, unsure.
"…Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice soft, unsure if she was allowed to break the quiet.
Yona didn't answer right away.
Minutes passed.
Then finally, without turning, he said:
"Do you mind… if we have the chance together again?"
Lena's eyes widened. Her breath caught.
"…Huh?" she asked, stunned.
He turned, eyes serious, steady and intense.
She stared back. Disbelieving.
"…Are you asking me… out?"
Yona nodded once, without flinching.
There was a pause, then Lena whispered:
"And Mia…?"
Something dark flickered across his face. His jaw tightened.
"Don't mention her again."
Lena took a small step back. The words hit like a slap. Her voice shook:
"You… you're serious?.
He looked at her directly, the rooftop wind stirring his hair, eyes unreadable but unrelenting.
"And do I look like I'm joking?"
She looked down for a moment, heart pounding, her thoughts tangled and loud. Then—after a long breath, she looked back up at him.
"I… I don't mean… I…"
"Just say it," he interrupted. Firm. Not harsh, but pressing.
Lena tried to steady her voice, her heartbeat, her hands.
Then finally—
She nodded.
"…Yes. I want to."
------------------------------
The rooftop wind carried fragments of voices, Yona's, Lena's, but Ayumi was no longer near the school's highest point.
She walked alone now, steps sharp and calculated, her thoughts moving faster than her feet.
Too many unanswered things.
Ayumi didn't like being in the dark.
She moved through the eastern wing's lower halls, toward the old archives room, rarely used, mostly forgotten. It was where old records were kept: student files, club rosters, facility logs, forgotten reports from years past.
She slipped inside quietly.
The air was thick with dust, the silence humming. She closed the door behind her, locking it softly. The room was dim, save for a slice of light through the blinds.
Ayumi moved to the old file cabinets near the back. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she knew the name Noir wasn't new.
She'd heard it before.
In whispers.
In warnings.
In records nobody thought to read.
She pulled open a drawer labeled Faculty Security Incidents - Confidential.
Her fingers flipped through papers. Fast. Searching. Until....
There.
A name.
Faint. Nearly scratched out.
Noir Reikan.
It wasn't a student record. It wasn't even a teacher.
It was under Visitors.
Two years ago.
A report marked:
Unauthorized entry. No ID. Claimed to be related to a former student. Vanished before questioning. Warning issued.
Signed off by a now-retired vice principal.
Ayumi's eyes narrowed.
So he's been here before.
Her fingers trembled just slightly, not from fear, but from the sense of something long hidden starting to unravel.
Then something else caught her eye. Scribbled in the margin of the page, like a note no one meant to keep:
"Symbol matched to restricted archives. Same one on eastern wing sublevel door."
Ayumi's breath caught.
The symbol Noir showed Mia?
The building. The name. The symbol…
He had said that.
And Mia knew what it meant.
Ayumi shoved the paper into her jacket and closed the drawer softly.
She stepped out of the archive room, the door clicking shut behind her.
The hallway was empty, eerily still.
Only the soft hum of the overhead lights kept the silence from swallowing her whole.
She took one step forward, then stopped.
Her breath caught.
A memory surged to the surface.
Uninvited. Unstoppable.
The sting of rejection.
His voice, cold, sharp, cutting like a blade through everything she'd built up inside.
"Don't follow me again. You don't understand, and you're not meant to."
She remembered standing infront of his house that day, wind whipping her hair into her face as she tried to make him look at her.
Begging with her eyes.
Her voice had trembled, but she still said it.
"I like you."
And he hadn't flinched. Hadn't even hesitated.
"You're in the way, Ayumi."
It had crushed her. Quietly. Deeply.
She never told anyone. Just buried it.
But now—
Now something clicked.
Her eyes widened.
Her heart froze.
That boy…
The one who rejected her so ruthlessly.
The one she'd spent years trying to forget.
The one who vanished from her life...
Was Noir.
Same posture. Same eyes. Same voice… colder now, more composed.
But it was him.
And she hadn't noticed...until today.
Because today…
When he pulled out his phone, his sleeve shifted slightly.
And she saw it.
Just for a second.
The tattoo.
A small, black heart etched onto the inside of his right wrist.
She'd seen it before, once, long ago.
Back when she still believed she had a chance.
Her knees felt weak. She leaned back against the wall, one hand rising to cover her mouth.
"It's him…"
She whispered it aloud, like saying it would make it less surreal.
He changed.
Taller. Sharper.
More composed.
His uniform crisp, his presence commanding.
He wasn't the awkward, quiet boy from before.
Now he was the one all the girls whispered about.
The one people noticed the moment he entered a room.
Even Mia…
Ayumi's fingers curled into fists.
He changed everything. Except the heart on his wrist.
And somehow, she'd been the only one left behind.
Noir had become someone everyone wanted.
But he'd still looked at her like she was nothing.
Her breath shook. Her face was pale, but her eyes began to burn.
"I see now," she murmured, her voice low.
"You think I'm still that girl. The one who stood there and let you walk away."
She straightened, her steps deliberate now.
"But I'm not."
He may have changed his name, His look, His presence.
But Ayumi had changed too.
And now...she wasn't done with yet.
-----------------------------
Ayumi's steps started slow, but something ignited in her chest.
A fire, A storm.
She ran. Past the stairwell. Past the empty classrooms. Down the corridor with no one left to watch.
Her footsteps echoed, fast, frantic. Her ponytail whipped behind her, her breath quick and raw.
She didn't stop.
Not when she passed the vending machines.
Not when the school gates came into view.
Not even when...
"Ayumi?"
A quiet voice.
She barely registered it, until her legs carried her right past Yui , standing alone beneath the sakura tree by the gate.
Yui turned her head slowly, her gaze calm but curious. Her dark eyes followed Ayumi's form, sprinting like she was chasing something.
Yui didn't speak again.
She just watched.
until Ayumi disappeared around the corner and was gone.
And then, softly, almost to herself:
"So… you remember too."
She turned back toward the courtyard like nothing had happened.
Her lungs were burning, but she didn't care.
She knew where she was going.
Her feet found the path with muscle memory, even if her mind hadn't admitted it until now.
Her thoughts spun like lightning.
He didn't just reject me. He erased me.
Changed everything, and pretended I didn't exist.
But I know who he is now.
I know what he's hiding.
She turned one final corner, her breath caught in her throat as the familiar house appeared in view.
Noir's house.
Or rather...the boy she once loved.
The gate was closed, the curtains drawn. The place was quiet, neat, too perfect.
Ayumi stopped in front of it, chest heaving, eyes locked on the door.
Wind tugged at her sleeves. Her hands trembled at her sides.
She didn't know what she would say yet.
But she knew one thing:
She wasn't leaving until she saw him.
Then—
Footsteps.
Slow. Steady.
She turned her head sharply toward the corner of the street.
And there he was.
Noir.
to be continue .....