Into The Rain With You

The last week had been strange. There was a part of me that wanted to keep pretending everything was fine, to keep up the facade that I had everything under control. I had my friends, I had school, I had the routines that kept me from falling apart. But there was always this tension under the surface, something I couldn't shake.

Haruka had been quiet too. Not distant, but quieter than usual. Every time we passed each other in the halls, there was a brief moment where our eyes would meet, and there was that unspoken understanding between us.

I had noticed it more than once—when she looked at me, there was something in her gaze that I couldn't quite place. It wasn't pity, and it wasn't judgment. It was something deeper, something that made my chest tighten.

It was like she was waiting for me to reach out. And I wanted to—God, I wanted to—but there was always something holding me back.

And then there was Kaito.

Kaito was a different kind of presence. He had no expectations. He didn't ask me to explain myself or to be anything other than what I was in the moment. When I talked to him, it felt like I was talking to someone who had no illusion about who I was. He didn't need me to be "fine." But even with him, there were still parts of me I held back. Parts of me that I couldn't quite share.

I stared at the phone in my hand, my thumb hovering over Haruka's name in the contacts list. I wanted to text her, wanted to say something—anything—but I couldn't.

I didn't know what to say. How could I? She was everything I wasn't—strong, certain, always so calm. And me? I was just this mess of contradictions and confusion.

I let out a frustrated breath and tossed my phone back on my bed. I was too tired of thinking about it.