Chapter 6: The Name She Didn't Say
Rain came that night—slow at first, just tapping against the window of Kyoshi's small dorm room like hesitant fingertips. He sat on his bed, back against the wall, sketchbook closed on his lap.
He hadn't drawn since Kyoto.
Every time he picked up his pencil, his hand hovered, unsure. He would start a line, a curve, a shape that looked vaguely like her eyes, her lips, her hands—then stop.
Something in him hesitated now. Something that hadn't before.
Hikari had changed after Kyoto. Not completely, not suddenly—but it was in the little things. In the way her replies came later. In the way she laughed at his jokes, but softer. In the way she avoided his eyes sometimes, like she was guarding a thought too sharp to speak.
And today—nothing. Not a word. Not a message. Just absence, echoing louder than anything else.
Friday.
The sky was still grey. The clouds heavier.
Kyoshi walked to class early, but his feet wandered elsewhere—past the campus bookstore, past the garden where Hikari once shared her drink with him, toward the small bridge behind the literature building where she liked to sit and read.
And there she was.
Sitting alone. Headphones in. A notebook open on her lap.
But she wasn't reading.
She was staring blankly at the page.
Kyoshi stepped closer. "Hikari."
She flinched slightly and pulled off one side of her headphones. "Hey."
Her smile was immediate. Too immediate.
"You didn't show up yesterday," he said.
"I… needed space."
The words hit harder than they should have.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, quietly.
"No," she said, looking away. "It's not you."
Kyoshi's voice lowered. "Then what is it?"
A pause. Her fingers tightened on the edges of her notebook.
"There's someone I used to be close with," she said finally. "Someone I thought I'd moved on from."
He didn't speak.
"His name is Ren," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "We were together last year. It didn't end well. He left... without warning. And now, out of nowhere, he's back on campus. He messaged me after we got back from Kyoto."
The name dropped like a weight between them.
"Are you… still in love with him?" Kyoshi asked.
She didn't answer.
And that silence said enough.
Kyoshi looked away, jaw clenched, breath sharp. "So I was just a distraction."
"No," she said quickly, finally looking at him. "You're not a distraction. You're—"She stopped herself. "I didn't expect to feel what I feel around you. It's real. It is. But… I don't know if I've buried Ren or just locked him in some part of me I didn't want to face."
Kyoshi stepped back slightly, his heart twisting. "So what happens now?"
"I don't know," she said, and her voice cracked. "I wish I did."
The rain started again—soft, falling through the trees.
Kyoshi stared at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
He turned, walking away before the storm in his chest broke through his face.
Behind him, Hikari didn't call out.
And in the silence that followed, the spark that once felt so bright began to flicker.