Chapter 3: Stars Can't Lie
There was something different about Yumiko lately. Suraj could feel it—not in the way she talked, but in the way she looked at him. Her eyes didn't just watch him—they clung to him. Every movement he made, every breath, she was there. Close. Closer than ever.
It wasn't just affection. It was something stronger. Wilder. Possessive. Like she couldn't stand the thought of being separated from him—not for a second. He'd seen her watching him sleep once, her face unreadable. He'd laughed it off. But inside, he wondered.
He didn't mind. Not really. But there was a heat behind her gaze that made his chest tighten, and sometimes... it scared him.
Still, he didn't pull away.
One night, beneath a quiet sky peppered with stars, the two of them sat shoulder to shoulder on the grassy hill behind the school forest. The moon was a sliver of silver, barely hanging on. The wind carried the scent of wildflowers, and everything felt slower under the weight of the night.
This place had become their sanctuary—the one place in the world that didn't demand answers. No one asked questions here. No one judged. It was just them, and the sky.
Suraj glanced at Yumiko. She was staring upward, eyes locked on the sky.
"Do you miss your home?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.
Yumiko smiled faintly. "A little. But I have you now."
He blinked, caught off guard. "Did I ever tell you that I like you or something?"
She let out a soft laugh. "Silly. You don't remember, do you?"
His mind darted back—through the fear, the violence, the silence—and there it was: that moment in the woods, when he'd clutched her hand and whispered words he didn't even understand then.
"I said it, didn't I?"
She nodded, smiling. "You did. And I never forgot."
He looked away, cheeks burning. "Well... I meant it."
Yumiko turned toward him. "I love you, Suraj. And I always will."
His throat caught. "I love you too."
The stars above blinked slowly, as if they were holding their breath. Suraj pulled Yumiko into a hug. Their hearts beat in sync, their breaths warm against each other's necks.
They lay there for a while, talking about constellations that didn't exist, wondering what stars looked like from Hakagiri, laughing over silly dreams and hypothetical futures.
Suraj turned toward her again. "If you keep being this loving... I don't think I'd be able to live without you."
Yumiko's smile faded into something deeper. "I can't even bear the thought of it."
A pause.
"If someday I'm not here," Suraj said softly, "just... forget me, okay?"
Her eyes sharpened instantly. "How could you say that?"
"I'm not going anywhere right now. I'm just saying, if—"
"No." She cut him off, voice trembling. "I won't let you go. If someone tries... I'll destroy everything. I will save you. Always."
She cupped his face, her fingers trembling. "I love you, Suraj. More than my home. More than my life."
He held her close, burying his face in her shoulder. "I love you. And I always will."
And for that moment, wrapped in each other's arms under the blanket of stars, they believed love was enough to silence fate.
But fate was already listening.
And it never stayed silent for long.
—
Later that night, Suraj couldn't sleep.
He replayed her words over and over in his mind. I'll destroy everything. She'd meant it. He knew she had. He could still feel her breath on his skin, the fierce way she'd clutched him, like he was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
He sat by his window, staring at the moon.
Could love really be this intense? This... consuming?
Yumiko had no one else. No family. No friends. No world beyond him.
And slowly, he was realizing something terrifying: he might be the only thing tethering her to sanity.
At school the next day, Suraj felt it again—the weight of her presence. She wasn't even nearby, and yet, she was everywhere in his thoughts.
During break, he slipped away to the forest. She was waiting there, like always.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked.
He hesitated. "Not really. I kept thinking about... us."
Yumiko tilted her head. "Are you afraid of me again?"
"No," he said, quickly. Then, quieter: "I'm afraid for you."
She frowned. "Why?"
"Because you have too much of me. And I don't know what will happen if I break."
Yumiko stepped closer. "Then don't break."
He tried to smile. "Easier said than done."
"I mean it," she said, her voice tightening. "You're everything. I don't care what happens to the rest of the world. Just don't leave me."
He saw it now, clear as the sun: she was spiraling into obsession. Her love, so pure and protective at first, had started to blur with something darker. Something that didn't know how to let go.
"Promise me," she whispered, "you'll never leave."
He nodded. Not because he meant it. But because he couldn't hurt her.
As the day faded into night once more, they returned to their spot beneath the stars.
Suraj tried to change the topic, to talk about harmless things. Their favorite colors. Their worst memories. Songs they'd never heard.
"I think your eyes are darker than space," Yumiko said suddenly.
He chuckled. "That's not a compliment."
"It is to me. You have gravity."
"You're weird."
"And you're mine."
The moment stretched. Time slowed.
Suraj lay down, staring at the stars. "Hey, Yumiko?"
"Yeah?"
"If you could go back... to Hakagiri... would you?"
She shook her head. "Not unless I could take you with me."
"But what if you couldn't?"
"Then I'd rather die here."
He rolled toward her, staring into her eyes. "You mean that?"
"I do."
He took her hand gently. "Then I guess I'll have to live long enough to make sure you don't regret it."
"I never will," she whispered. "As long as I have you."
They stayed like that for hours, speaking quietly into the night. And though Suraj's heart was full, somewhere deep down, he wondered if love this intense could ever survive the real world.
Because when love turns into obsession—something always breaks.