Into The Rain With You
Kai is popular in high school—charming, surrounded by friends—but always feels alone, as though he's the one constantly reaching out while no one truly sees him. His life changes when he meets Haruka, a quiet and mysterious girl reading alone in the cafeteria during a rainy afternoon. Unlike anyone he's known, Haruka doesn’t demand attention, and her soft-spoken nature pulls Kai in. P.S. THERE WILL ONLY BE ONE GIRL IN THIS NOVEL, and some bros helping another bro out.
Chapter 9.4: The Consequences of Silence
It all came to a head one Friday afternoon, during lunch. I was sitting with Yuto and Aki, but I wasn't really there. My mind was somewhere else—on Haruka, on Kaito, on everything I hadn't said. And when Yuto looked at me with a frown and asked, "You alright, man?" something inside me snapped.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, the words automatic.
But Yuto didn't buy it. Neither did Aki.
"Kai," Aki said, his voice quiet. "What's going on? You've been… off lately. Not yourself."
I felt the knot in my chest tighten. I wanted to yell at them, to tell them to stop asking, to stop pretending like they cared. But instead, I just stood up abruptly.
"I'm fine," I repeated, more forcefully this time. "I don't need to talk about it."
And with that, I walked away.
I didn't hear them call after me. I didn't hear anything at all.
But as I walked down the hallway, a part of me felt like I had just lost something important. Something I might never get back.