The Silent Shift

For the first time, Rika didn’t know how to respond.

She wasn’t used to people remembering things she said offhandedly—especially not someone like him. Ren Takahashi was supposed to be just another quiet seatmate. Someone who didn’t matter. Someone she didn’t have to think about.

But he wasn’t that easy to ignore.

She expected him to follow up with something—an awkward explanation, a deflection—anything. But Ren had already turned back to his notebook, uninterested in dragging the conversation any further.

The bell rang.

Rika exhaled lightly, brushing the moment aside and returning to her usual routine.

The next few days passed in the same quiet rhythm.

“Pass me the eraser,” she muttered during math.

Ren slid it over without looking up. “Here.”

When he finished writing the notes before her, he shifted his notebook slightly toward her side of the desk, just enough for her to see if she had missed anything.

She didn’t say thank you. And he never seemed to expect it.

It was the same as always. No forced small talk. No unnecessary attention.

And yet, something was off.

She wasn’t sure what.

Maybe it was the way he never made eye contact anymore—not that he did much before, but now? It was never. Maybe it was how he left class just a little faster than usual. Maybe it was the fact that he still sat next to her at lunch but didn’t turn even slightly in her direction.

It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t even obvious.

But the balance between them had shifted—so subtly that she couldn’t tell if she was imagining it.

She told herself she didn’t care. That it didn’t matter.

And yet, that irritation lingered.

Until she bumped into him.

—

Next Chapter Teaser

The hallways were packed between periods, students shoving past each other in a rush to their next class.

Rika was mid-conversation with a friend, half-distracted, when she turned the corner—

And crashed straight into someone.

Books slipped slightly from her grip. She caught herself and looked up, scowling.

“Watch it!”

Her irritation flared instantly.

But then she saw who she had bumped into.

Ren Takahashi stood in front of her. Silent. Expressionless.

For some reason, that only irritated her more.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t react. Didn’t even look the slightest bit annoyed.

Instead, after the briefest pause, he simply stepped aside and walked past her.

And in that moment, Rika refused to acknowledge that the irritation twisting inside her had nothing to do with the collision itself.