Chapter 5: He Doesn't Smile, But He Listens
Saturday afternoon felt strange.
Yumi Hanazawa, the girl who once laughed at boys writing poems for her in the hallway, was now standing awkwardly at the edge of a public park... waiting for Akiro Kenzaki.
She'd dressed casually but not too casually. Not that it mattered. She told herself it wasn't a date.
It was just… "hanging out."
Just two classmates sharing air.
So why does my stomach feel like it's trying to crawl up my throat?
She spotted him near the benches — black hoodie (a different one), gray jeans, headphones around his neck, sipping iced coffee like it was fuel.
He noticed her the same way he noticed weather. Calm. Unshocked.
"Hey," he said, nodding once.
"Hi," she replied, more breathless than she meant to be. "I wasn't sure you'd actually come."
"I wasn't either," he said.
She laughed, and he raised an eyebrow — as if surprised she found him funny.
This is going to be the weirdest almost-date of my life, she thought.
They walked in silence for a bit.
The park was mostly empty. Spring hadn't fully arrived, and everything still looked a little dead — trees bare, wind sharp, sky cloudy. But it suited him, somehow. He looked like he belonged in the cold.
"I haven't been here since middle school," Yumi said, watching a crow hop near a trash bin.
"Same," Akiro replied. "Last time, someone shoved me into the pond."
She glanced at him, horrified. "Seriously?"
He shrugged. "They said the fish deserved better scenery."
There was a pause.
Then she laughed — hard.
Akiro blinked. "What?"
"I'm not laughing at you," she managed, wiping her eyes. "I'm laughing because you tell that like it's a weather report."
He tilted his head. "It was raining that day."
She giggled again.
God, he's funny. In the driest, saddest, most beautiful way.
They sat on a bench beneath a dying tree. He offered her half his drink. She wrinkled her nose.
"This tastes like battery acid."
"It's bitter."
"It's awful."
"I like it."
"…Of course you do."
He smirked again. Not a smile. Not fully. But enough.
She let the quiet settle.
Then asked softly: "Is it always like this? For you?"
His eyes flicked to hers.
"Like what?"
"Being invisible. Or… hated. Or just… pushed to the side."
Akiro was silent for a long moment.
Then he said: "It's quieter. That's all. People leave you alone once they stop pretending you matter."
She stared at him, heart sinking. "That's not true."
"It is. But it's okay. You get used to it. Like cold water."
Another long silence.
And then:
"I don't want to leave you alone," she whispered.
He looked at her, fully, for the first time since they sat down. His gaze wasn't harsh. Just tired. Curious.
Like he was trying to believe her.
"…Why?"
She didn't know the answer.
Not in words.
So she said the only thing that made sense:
"Because when I wear your hoodie, I feel like I finally shut out the world."
He blinked. And for a flicker of a moment…
He smiled.
Really smiled.
Not wide. Not perfect.
But real.
And in that second, Yumi knew.
She wasn't falling anymore.
She had already fallen.