𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓.

── .✦ 10

(A/N: Don't forget to play the link above for more immersive read.)

The week passed in a muted haze, with classes suspended, the air at school still heavy from Osano Najimi's death. Police inquiries came and went like quiet storms, leaving rumors, worry, and fear to linger in their wake. Ayato Aishi remained a ghost, keeping to himself as he always had but now out of sight entirely, stirring questions for some and dread for others.

Y/n had taken a break from her phone, letting it lie untouched after sending brief messages to Taeko and Akira to explain her absence. As for Ayato... she couldn't bring herself to reach out. In truth, he was the very reason she felt the need to retreat, to figure out what tangled feelings and motives had brought her to this crossroads. 

Three days without the buzz of notifications or the hum of social media, yet her mind was anything but silent. Her thoughts were occupied with a quiet intensity that had driven her to the park, hoping for solitude and the clarity she so desperately sought.

She sat on a weathered bench by the lake, watching afternoon joggers pass by, breathing out white puffs of breath in the chill. A thick woolen coat hugged her shoulders, and a book lay open at her side, neglected. Every time she tried to read, her mind circled back to Ayato. She'd met him under circumstances she could hardly even comprehend now, yet it was as if she'd been bound to him ever since. She could reason away why she'd think about him. It was normal, after all, to obsess over someone you feared, someone who knew your life so closely it could disappear at their whim.

But this obsession felt too different. She hadn't just spent days worried for her life or her safety—she'd found herself genuinely concerned for him. 

'Why?' she wondered, closing her eyes as the sounds of chattering geese floated over the water.

The light played across the lake's surface, making it shimmer as a child tossed crumbs to the hungry birds, each piece catching the wind before splashing into the water.

'You can't care for someone who keeps your life on the line,' she reasoned with herself. But some part of her heart twisted in denial, reminding her of his moments of softness, his unexpectedly gentle touches, his loyalty to the few things that mattered to him. 

The realization struck her hard, and she found herself sinking deeper into her coat as if it might shield her from the enormity of what she'd discovered. 

'This couldn't be... right?'

The sheer ridiculousness of it rattled her, but even so, the thought refused to dissipate.

Why was it Ayato of all people?

Y/n's mind had been whirring for what felt like hours when a voice brought her back to the world around her.

"Is there anyone sitting here?"

Startled, she looked up and saw....Amao?

What was he doing here?

His familiar, soft expression greeted her warmly in the afternoon light. His smile brought with it a calm she hadn't realized she'd been needing, and she hurriedly grabbed her book, placing it on her lap in an attempt to appear composed as soon as she snapped out of her trance.

"Oh—no, go ahead," she managed, her cheeks warming (embarrassed she looked out of it) as he settled on the bench beside her.

A gentle quiet fell over them, punctuated by the soft sounds of nature around them, until Amao broke the silence with his ever-kind voice. "You looked deep in thought, like you were working through something big. What were you thinking about?" he asked, his eyes intent on her.