Into The Rain With You

The following days passed, and the distance between myself and everyone else seemed to grow wider. My friends noticed the changes, but none of them said anything. Not directly. Not really. They would joke about me being "too serious" or "too quiet" but never pressed me for answers.

It wasn't that they didn't care. I knew they did. But they didn't understand. They couldn't.

I continued to see Haruka around, but we never spoke much. We exchanged brief hellos and smiles in passing, but that was all. There was something about the quiet between us that felt… heavy. It was as if there was more to say, but neither of us knew how to say it.

It was in one of these moments, when I found myself walking beside her after school, that I decided to say something.

"Haruka," I started, unsure of how to continue. "Can we talk?"

She looked at me, surprised, but then nodded. "Of course. What's on your mind?"

I didn't know how to explain it, but somehow, just being around her felt like a safe place. A place where I could take off the mask.

"I… I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Everything feels like it's slipping away." My voice was barely above a whisper, and I felt the words tumble out of me, a dam I hadn't realized I'd built inside myself.

Haruka stopped walking, her gaze steady and understanding as she looked at me. "You don't have to have everything figured out. It's okay not to know. Just… take it one step at a time."

I swallowed hard, trying to process her words. "But what if I'm just… lost?"

She placed a hand on my arm, her touch light but grounding. "Then you're not alone, Kai. We're all trying to find our way."