Chapter 82: Return to School

And so, as the two finally arrived at school, a wave of freshness pervaded their spirits.

A small glimpse of normality after everything that had happened was a nice thing, and in a sense, also deserved.

Despite all the events that had occurred, Kai and Hina faced the return to school as if it were the first time.

For Kai, that normality had become something totally unfamiliar, so much so that he hesitated to enter.

It was Hina who urged him to go inside.

Meanwhile, Yuna rushed in, as if she wanted to avoid being seen by Kai and Hina.

After a few minutes, Kai and his girlfriend crossed the threshold of the entrance door, and to greet them was Naomi, in perfect condition and smiling as if nothing had happened.

She was talking with some of her friends near the school lockers, and as soon as she saw Kai and Hina, her eyes widened, and she ran towards them.

Kai was surprised and confused at the same time, not understanding how it was possible for Naomi to be there.

Since she had been saved by Sakura, there had been no news of her.

Nothing.

And there were still many mysteries to uncover about her disappearance, such as the real reason for her kidnapping, who called Hina that same day, or even what she was doing there.

Did Haruto have something to do with it? Was Naomi's kidnapping connected to Yuna's?

Kai was very intent on finding out.

When Naomi arrived close to them, a big smile appeared on her lips.

A smile of gratitude, combined with a loving and appreciative look.

Hina looked at her with a confused expression.

At first Naomi was very distrustful of Hina, and the latter understood this through small gestures from Naomi.

And she was also the one who told Kai about the bad rumors regarding her and her ex boyfriend who died in mysterious way.

"Kai! Hina!" Naomi exclaimed, looking them in the eyes.

"Thank you so much!!" she exclaimed again, with a voice full of gratitude.

"But why is she thanking Hina? Naomi didn't look her in the eyes…" Kai immediately thought, suspicious of his friend's words.

Kai remained silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

But Hina broke his silence by saying something unexpected.

She welcomed Naomi's smile, smiling back at her.

"You don't need to, Naomi." Hina replied, with a very friendly tone.

Kai didn't understand and kept asking himself questions but went along with it.

"Yes, you don't need to. The important thing is that you're okay." Kai added, in a calm voice.

Naomi thanked them again, until her voice was interrupted by the sound of the bell.

But there was something about Naomi that didn't seem right.

She didn't seem like herself.

Afterward, the three said goodbye and headed to their classes.

Nevertheless, Kai still couldn't shake off a kind of tension that continued to torment him.

It was making him nervous.

He couldn't relax or enjoy the moments at school.

Kai walked through the hallways, keeping a low profile, perhaps because he didn't want to look people in the eye, or maybe because he couldn't.

He had an entire universe inside him.

He kept walking until he reached his classroom.

He glanced at the door and sighed before entering.

As soon as his foot crossed the threshold, the noise of the class turned into silence.

Kai's classmates' eyes were fixed on him.

He felt embarrassed, but at the same time, he didn't care.

With a small yawn, he sat at his desk by the window.

Kai sat at his desk, trying to shake off the growing unease that had clung to him since the moment he walked into the classroom.

It wasn't just the stares from his classmates that had made him uncomfortable.

It was everything…the atmosphere, the subtle shifts in conversations as he passed by, and even the way the light filtered through the windows seemed different, almost unreal.

The minutes ticked by slowly.

The teacher's voice droned on from the corridors, but it was nothing more than a distant hum in the background.

Kai's eyes wandered to the clock, watching the second hand move sluggishly, like it was intentionally trying to stretch out the day.

He glanced around the room, noticing how each of his classmates seemed lost in their own world.

Mika, the class representative, scribbled something in her notebook, occasionally glancing at him with that same strange look she had given him earlier.

Other students whispered quietly to each other, though they seemed oddly distant, like something had shifted between them, too.

There was a tension in the air, one Kai couldn't quite place, but it made him feel like a stranger in a world he had once known well.

He sighed quietly and returned his gaze to the window, where the trees outside swayed gently in the breeze.

Everything feels off, he thought, unable to pinpoint why.

Just as he was about to lose himself in thought again, Mika approached his desk.

"Kai," she said, her voice softer than usual, "why have you been absent for so long?"

Her question hung in the air for a moment.

Kai blinked, trying to gather his thoughts. He could feel the eyes of the class on him again, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"I wasn't feeling well… physically," he lied, though the words felt heavy on his tongue.

He hated having to hide the truth, but what could he say? That he had been caught up in a whirlwind of violence, manipulation, and chaos? That his life was no longer the simple routine it once had been?

Mika studied his face for a moment, clearly unconvinced.

But after a brief pause, she nodded.

"I see," she said, her voice still uncertain. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better now. We need you for the school festival preparations. There's a lot to do."

"Yeah, I'll help out," Kai replied, hoping to end the conversation quickly.

Mika gave him a small smile and turned back to her seat, though there was something in her eyes that still made Kai uneasy.

It was as if she knew more than she was letting on.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, feeling the weight of the day press down on him.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur.

Kai tried to focus on the lessons, but his mind wandered relentlessly, slipping between thoughts of Hina, the dangerous situations they had found themselves in, and the strange new reality he was living.

His mind was like a storm, each thought crashing into the next, leaving him unable to think clearly.

It seemed like "normality" was not a thing he could have in that moment.

Kai thought that something could happen in any moment, and that's why he couldn't relax.

Several times, the teacher called on him, snapping him out of his daze.

"Kai, pay attention!" the teacher barked after catching him daydreaming for the third time.

"Sorry," Kai muttered, though his thoughts were already elsewhere again.

The normalcy of school, something he had once taken for granted, now felt foreign to him.

Everything seemed disconnected.

The noise of his classmates, the buzz of the fluorescent lights, even the smell of chalk in the air… it all felt like it belonged to a different life, one that he had somehow left behind.

As lunchtime rolled around, Kai kept to himself, barely touching his food.

He could hear snippets of conversation around him.

His classmate were laughing, chatting about the upcoming festival, making plans, but none of it seemed to reach him.

He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to engage.

At one point, he overheard something that caught his attention.

"…I heard Kai and Hina ran away together," one girl whispered to her friend, just loud enough for Kai to hear.

The friend giggled. "Yeah, a total runaway romance! I wonder what really happened."

Kai's grip tightened around his chopsticks, his appetite vanishing completely.

But one thing that he didn't notice was that Hina didn't message him or had launch with him.

That morning, Hina took her phone from her house, so she could send some messages to Kai, but she didn't.

"So, that's what people are saying…" He whispered to himself.

A small wave of annoyance and "anger" touched his heart

He shouldn't have been surprised, but it still bothered him.

His disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed, and now rumors were spreading.

He glanced over at Hina, who was sitting a few rows ahead, completely unfazed by the gossip.

Kai shook his head, trying to push the rumors from his mind.

He needed to get through the day without drawing any more attention to himself.

After lunch, the rest of the day dragged on painfully.

Each lesson felt longer than the last, and by the time the final bell rang, signaling the end of classes, Kai was exhausted.

But it wasn't a physical tiredness. It was something deeper, like his mind had been stretched too thin, weighed down by all the unanswered questions and the events that had led him here.

As the classroom emptied, Kai gathered his things, feeling the suffocating tension ease slightly now that the day was over.

He needed some air, somewhere quiet, where he could think.

Without a word, he made his way up to the rooftop, his usual refuge when he needed to be alone.

The fresh breeze hit him as soon as he stepped outside.

It was a relief, and for a moment, Kai allowed himself to close his eyes and breathe deeply. The rooftop was usually empty, a place where he could collect his thoughts in peace. But today, something felt different.

Kai opened his eyes and scanned the rooftop.

His heart sank.

Leaning casually against the fence was nothing more than… Haruto.

Kai froze in place, his mind racing. What is he doing here?

Haruto lifted his head, a slow smirk spreading across his face as he noticed Kai.

His eyes gleamed with something unreadable, something dangerous.

Kai's pulse quickened.

He didn't want to deal with Haruto, not today, not after everything that had happened.

But there was no avoiding it now.

He could feel the weight of Haruto's gaze on him, like a predator sizing up its prey.

"Well, well," Haruto drawled, pushing off the fence and taking a step toward Kai. "Look who decided to show up. Hello, my friend." He said, with a menacing tone of voice.

Kai's stomach churned.

He had been hoping for a quiet moment of peace, but it seemed fate had other plans.

Haruto's presence on the rooftop was anything but a coincidence.

And Kai had a feeling that whatever was coming next wouldn't be good…

"Haruto…." He whispered to himself while taking some steps back.

That wasn't possible.

If Akira informations were correct, Haruto would've been in the Harunaga District into the place that criminals used to hide.

But… he was there, with a school uniform… like nothing happened…