The afternoon light was thin, filtered through high clouds that never quite broke. Narumi stood near the entrance of the school, waiting.
When Hanabi appeared, she walked with the same careful quiet she always did. But there was something different in her eyes today. A tension he hadn't seen since the early days.
Narumi didn't waste time.
"Hanabi... I need to tell you the whole truth."
She tilted her head slightly, eyes cautious.
"About that day... when I ran. When I said my heart belonged to someone else—that wasn't the only lie."
She didn't interrupt.
"I found out. About you and Mugi."
Her breath hitched almost imperceptibly, but she held her ground.
"He told me. Everything."
A silence pressed between them like fog.
"You... sold your body."
The words hung heavy—cold, sharp.
Hanabi flinched. Looked away.
"That night I said I hated this... I wasn't angry because you were with him. I was angry because it wasn't me. I wanted to be the first person who touched you. The only one."
His voice cracked toward the end, not from judgment—but pain.
"You don't owe me anything. But I had to say it. I had to be honest, even if it hurts."
Hanabi slowly looked back at him. Her eyes were wet, but there were no tears falling yet.
"I know what I did. I'm not proud of it."
She sounded tired—but not defensive. Just real.
"I thought if I gave myself away, I'd feel something. That someone would choose me, even for a moment."
Narumi took a breath. His hands were clenched.
"I don't want that to be your story. I don't want that to be us."
She nodded faintly, but didn't move.
They stood in the shadow of everything unspoken. But now, it had all been said.
And the silence that followed didn't feel like the end. It felt like the ground they might start rebuilding from.