Heart of Stone (The Suzuhara Family 3) ✅

Chapter Eight

November 16th, 2028

Itsuki knew this was a bad idea. He knew nothing would come of saying anything. But in the moment, the only thing that mattered to him was sticking it to Koryu.

Homeroom 1-5, 1-5...

He opened the door to homeroom 1-5. "Raiga Adachihara?" he called out.

There were only a handful of students eating lunch in the homeroom; the rest were probably in the cafeteria. Those who were in the homeroom went wide-eyed when they saw Itsuki and started quickly whispering amongst themselves. Itsuki then saw a boy with light brown hair with a crew cut rise from his glare. He was glaring at Itsuki. "What do you want, Kiminiro?"

Itsuki nodded his head towards the hallway. "I need to speak to you."

"Why?" Adachihara asked.

"It's personal," Itsuki responded.

The students on the homeroom began whispering louder. The gossip was going to spread around the first years soon enough. Adachihara lingered for so long that Itsuki thought that he wasn't going to come. But then he left his seat and came to the door. Itsuki stood along the wall, folding his arms over his chest as Adachihara closed his homeroom door behind. "I'm here. What do you want?"

"You're seeing Koryu Noda," Itsuki pointed out.

Adachihara flinched but only slightly. "What business is it—"

"He was still with me when he asked you out," Itsuki said. Adachihara's eyes widened slightly in shock. "If he was flirting with you before asking you out, then that means he was cheating on me. You should know that Noda doesn't give a damn about his relationships. He uses his partners and then abandons them. I wasn't the first. It's going to happen to you, and it'll happen to the guy he inevitably cheats on you with. Noda doesn't care about anyone but himself, but he'll tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get what he wants from you."

There was an uncomfortable silence after Itsuki finished. Adachihara stared at him unflinchingly, and his unwavering gaze bothered Itsuki. "So...you dated Koryu," Adachihara said.

"Yes," Itsuki said.

"The guy you tried to kill?"

Itsuki stiffened in shock and a sick feeling settled into his stomach. "The only reason I don't knock your lights out right now is because Koryu said you aren't worth it," Adachihara said coldly. "That, and it looks like he already got retribution from you. You destroyed his Porsche™️ and scared the hell out of him. Why should I listen to anything you say?"

"Because he doesn't give a damn about you," Itsuki said. "He's going to tell you that he loves you, but when he inevitably breaks up with you for the next new shiny toy, he'll tell you that he only said he loved you because "that's what people in relationships say". He told me that he doesn't think love is real, Adachihara. Yeah, I wrecked his car." He omitted saying that he tried to kill Koryu. "But he emotionally manipulated me into coming out of the closet, and then discarded me when he got bored. He's going to do the same to you. I'm just giving you a warning."

Another uncomfortable silence followed his words. Then Adachihara spoke, "Is that all, Kiminiro?"

"Yes," Itsuki said. Adachihara then abruptly turned on his heel and reentered his homeroom, closing the door sharply behind him. Itsuki scoffed and shook his head. "Idiot..."

It hadn't been difficult to locate Koryu's new boyfriend, after Kazz had mocked Itsuki about it. Despite his indifference to everything (and despite the fact that Koryu had cheated on him with Adachihara) Itsuki had decided to be courteous and warn Adachihara about Koryu's true intentions. He hadn't expected Adachihara to listen to him, but it was still disappointing.