The first time they met was outside Mercari. They were in an old, tucked-away coffee shop called Miyazaki no Omai. The place was cramped, filled with the low hum of people whose heads were plastered behind computer screens and towering stacks of books.
The air here was a heavy, comforting mix of sweet and bitter, the scent of honey-glazed cakes clashing with the dark, roasted aroma of black coffee. Kai and Hina sat at a small corner table, two stacks of books acting as a protective wall between them and the rest of the world.
Hina watched Kai over the rim of her glasses. He was wearing a simple black hoodie, the hood pulled down, but he wore a hat and glasses to cover himself up.
"You're starting again," Kai said without looking up from his page, a small, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I am not," Hina countered quickly, her face heating as she ducked back into her book. "I was just... wondering why you are all dressed up like an undercover agent…" she let out a small giggle.
Kai let out a soft chuckle. "Hehehe, you think so, well, I'm just copying the person in this book, honestly, Hina." Hearing her name being called, she slowly rose from her own book.
"What?!"
"How can you like this character? He has the emotional intelligence of a rock."
"He's complicated," Hina defended, peering over with a sudden spark in her eyes. "Unlike your favourite hero, who just smiles through every tragedy like he's in a toothpaste commercial."
Kai winced, finally closing his book to look at her. "Ouch?"
"Yeah… being friendly to everyone is exhausting sometimes, you know," Kai admitted softly, reaching for his latte. "That's why I like it here. I don't have to sell anything to you."
Hina paused for a second; the air between them grew quiet, but not awkward. She felt her heart give a small, all-too-familiar tug. She adjusted her glasses, her voice dropping to a shy whisper. "Well... I'm not buying anything from you anyway."
"Good," Kai said, his blue eyes softening as he slid a small plate toward her. "Ohhh, then here help me eat this lemon tart. I can't finish it alone, and I know you've been eyeing it since we sat down."
"I was not!"
"Your stomach growled two chapters ago, Hina."
"Now you are lying, you just want to make me fat, don't you?"
"Hehehehe," Kai just laughed.
These Types of meet-ups continued week to week and started to become a habit.
One time, the rain drummed against the cafe windows, creating a cosy, blurred world. By now, they didn't even need to speak. Kai would slide a highlighter across the table when he found a particularly beautiful passage, and Hina would tap a finger on a character's dialogue that made her laugh.
At one point, Kai fell asleep, his head resting on his crossed arms. Hina reached out, her hand trembling, and gently tucked a stray blond lock of hair behind his ear. He stirred in his sleep, a soft, genuine murmur escaping his lips.
Hina pulled her hand back, her face flushing a deep crimson. 'Dangerous,' she whispered to herself. 'I think I'm falling, tch, I'm so scared to lose him too.'
...
Some other time, they were sharing a single pastry, a flaky almond croissant. Because they both reached for the last piece, their fingers brushed. In the past, Hina would have flinched away, but this time, she didn't pull back.
Kai's hand stayed there, warm and steady against hers. He looked up, his blue eyes searching hers with an intensity that made the air in the cafe feel thick.
"You have a crumb," he said softly, his voice dropping into that private; he used his thumb, gently brushing the corner of her lip.
Hina's breath hitched. The cafe's jazz music faded into a dull hum. At that time, all that mattered was the heat of his skin and the way he was looking at her, as if she had been transported into a novel where everything was just right.
…..
Hina sat in her room late at night, staring at her phone.
[Kai - BLS]:Just finished Vol 5. I'm devastated. We need to talk about that ending tomorrow. Sleep well, Hina.
She clutched the phone to her chest, a dizzying, warm ache spreading through her. She realised she no longer cared about the secret that started their friendship, she cared about the guy who sent her memes at 2:00 AM and the only person she could feel comfortable around.
…
Monday morning at Kawamari University always felt colder than the rest of the week, but today, the air felt particularly thin.
Hina was walking toward the library, her bag heavy with the volume she and Kai had finished over the weekend. She was smiling at herself, thinking about a joke her little sister had told her before they left the house, when she rounded the corner of the main courtyard.
The smile died instantly.
There, under the blooming cherry blossoms of the central square, stood the two people who defined the two halves of her life.
Kai was leaning against the stone planter. He had an effortless, wide smile, a relaxed posture, and the way he tilted his head to listen. And standing inches away from him, her hand resting with practised ease on his forearm, was Yuki Kamado.
Yuki was laughing. She wore a flowery dress, her eyes crinkling in a way that made her look innocent to everyone but the girl she bullied.
Hina ducked behind a pillar, her heart hammering against her ribs.
'No,' she breathed, her fingers digging into the strap of her bag until her knuckles turned white. 'Not him. Please, not him too.'
She watched as Yuki leaned in closer, whispering something that made Kai let out a bright, melodic laugh.
A wave of cold, familiar bitterness washed over Hina, drowning the warmth in her body.
'She's going to take him too,' Hina's internal voice hissed, a dark, jagged spiral of thought. 'Just like she took my research'
She saw Yuki toss her hair back, her nasty smile flaring for a split second. Hina didn't wait to see more. She turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Hina spent the rest of her day in distress; she couldn't think straight, so the lecturer had suggested that she go home earlier.
"I hate it, I hate this..." She prickled herself with a nail from the table.
And almost like it was grieving with her, the sky over the university was a bruised, sickly purple. By the time the final bell rang, the heavens opened up, dumping a freezing, relentless curtain of rain that turned the campus pathways into slick, black mirrors.
Hina didn't wait for the crowd. She kept her head down, her bowl-cut hair plastered to her forehead, and bolted toward the back gates.
…
"Hina! Stop right there!"
The voice sliced through the roar of the downpour. Hina stiffened but didn't stop. She splashed through a deep puddle, her breath coming in ragged, white plumes.
"I said, stop!"
A hand gripped the back of Hina's soaked sweater, yanking her backwards with such force she nearly lost her footing. Hina spun around, her glasses speckled with rain, to find Yuki standing there. Yuki looked like a drowned, angry bird. Her perfect hair was ruined, and her eyes were narrowed into slits of pure venom.
"Where is it?" Yuki hissed, the rain lashing against her face. "The biology report. You didn't leave it in my locker this morning. You have been avoiding me for the last month. What the hell is going on? Have you forgotten about our little deal?"
"I'm not doing it anymore," Hina said, her voice trembling but surprisingly loud against the thunder.
Yuki stepped closer, her shadow looming over Hina despite the rain. "What did you just say to me?" She let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Oh, I see. I've seen the way you look at him, Hina. I've seen you watching Kai from the shadows like some starved dog."
Hina's blood ran cold.
"You think a guy like that would ever actually look at you?" Yuki sneered, poking a sharp finger into Hina's shoulder. "If I show him those pictures, you'll never even be able to stand in the same room as him, let alone talk to him. He'll look at you with disgust."
"What's wrong with you? Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you leave me alone?" Hina cried her tears being washed away by the rain.
"Tch, this is not about you had you done what I told you." Yuki spat.
Something inside Hina stirred a venomous rage that had been turning for the last two years.
"Give me your phone," Hina shot at Yuki, her voice dangerously low.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, give me the phone!" Hina lunged forward.
The two collided in the mud near the edge of the campus canal. The river was swollen and churning, a muddy brown torrent rushing beneath the stone railing. They scrambled, slipping on the wet grass, hands clawing at clothes and hair. Yuki was stronger, but Hina was fueled by years of suppressed rage and the terrifying fear of losing the one good thing she had.
"Get off me, you freak!" Yuki screamed, raising her hand to strike Hina across the face.
Hina didn't flinch. As Yuki swung, Hina ducked and drove her shoulder into Yuki's chest with every ounce of weight she had. It was a desperate, panicked shove, a physical rejection of every moment of pain Yuki had ever caused her.
Yuki's heels hit the slick, mossy edge of the low stone wall. Her eyes went wide, her hands clawing at the air for a second before she tumbled backwards.
Woooosssshhhh!
A heavy splash echoed over the sound of the storm.
Hina stood at the edge, gasping for air, the rain soaking her to the bone. Below, in the dark, churning water of the canal, Yuki surfaced, gasping and screaming as the current pulled her toward the bridge.
Hina watched her for a heartbeat, her chest heaving.
The adrenaline that had fueled Hina's shove evaporated instantly, replaced by a cold, paralysing dread. Her face went ashen, the colour draining away until she looked as ghostly as the rain-lashed statues on campus.
She lunged toward the stone wall, her fingers scraping against the rough, wet masonry. "Yuki!" she shrieked, her voice cracking against the roar of the water.
Below, the canal was a churning ribbon of brown and grey. Yuki surfaced ten feet downstream, her manicured hands clawing desperately at the slick concrete embankments.
"Hina! Help! I can't... I can't swim with this coat!" Yuki's voice was high and thin, punctuated by gasps of frigid water. "Please! Hina!"
Hina's hand hovered over the railing, her eyes scanning for a branch, a rope, anything. But then, a jagged, dark thought pierced through the panic.
'Why?'
The internal voice wasn't a scream; it was a cold, steady whisper.
'Why save the person who made your life a living grave? If she disappears... the pictures disappear. The threats disappear. The fear of Kai seeing you through her eyes... it all goes away.'
Hina looked down at her own trembling hands.
'The world is better off without her,' the thought hissed, a poisonous lure. 'You didn't kill her. The rain did. The river did. Just walk away, and you're finally free.'
"Hina! Please!" Yuki went under again, her head bobbing up a second later, her eyes wide and bloodshot with pure, unadulterated terror. "I'm sorry! I'll delete them! Just help me!"
With a jerky, mechanical movement, Hina stepped back from the ledge. She grabbed her bag.
"Hina! NO! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Hina didn't look back. She turned and began to run. She ran until her lungs burned like she was inhaling glass, her shoes splashing through the rising puddles. The sound of Yuki's pleading was eventually drowned out by the thunder and the rhythmic, frantic beat of Hina's own heart.