The bruises faded slowly.
But the silence lingered.
Azril walked the halls like a ghost—seen, but untouched. The same students who used to laugh behind his back now shifted aside when he passed. Not out of fear.
Out of something heavier.
Guilt. Maybe.
Or shame.
The school hadn't changed.
The uniforms were still stiff. The classrooms still echoed with the same dry lectures. The announcements still crackled every morning with meaningless updates.
But Azril had.
He noticed things now—things he hadn't before.
How Amir from Class 2A flinched whenever someone raised their voice. How Syafiq always offered his snacks to people but never ate any himself. How the librarian, Puan Lela, lingered near the science wing every afternoon, even though her desk was three floors away.
Everyone carried something.
Not everyone fought it in the mud.
Iman started sitting next to him more often. No questions. No pressure. Just presence. Her silence was different from the others—it didn't shrink from him.
It sat with him.
"You gonna keep fighting everyone?" she asked one day during break.
He sipped his drink slowly. "Only the ones who need it."
She gave him a look. "That a yes or a no?"
Azril shrugged. "Call it a maybe."
She sighed.
Then grinned.
"Idiot."
But her smile lingered longer this time.
By the end of the week, a notice appeared on the board outside the main hall:
"School Debate Team Trials: Open to All. Sign-Up by Friday."
Most walked past it.
Azril stared at it.
He remembered Mr. Rafiq's voice from last term, sharp and mocking: "You don't have the confidence, Azril. Debate needs presence."
He hadn't argued.
Then.
Iman caught him reading the notice and raised an eyebrow. "Thinking of joining?"
He hesitated.
Then: "Thinking of trying."
She nodded.
"Good."
And for the first time in a long while, trying didn't feel like a trap. It felt like a step.
A new kind of fight.
Not with fists.
But with voice.
That night, Azril sat by his window, bruises still tender, the rain starting again outside.
But this time, it was gentler.
And he didn't feel like running from it.
End of Chapter 10