Volume 1 chapter 2 : "Sky was crying Too, That Night I lost everything''

Second chapter 1st black and white illustration:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CdQ9StBz-JlEMQP6Mn0gX7kuSffX_6wH/view?usp=drivesdk

Second chapter 2nd black and white illustration:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLqZjllsbtcMEpF-1h3ZaJ70lD2UMYwM/view?usp=drivesdk

“People don’t shatter like glass.

They shatter quietly—like paper burning from the inside.”

That day, I learned what betrayal sounds like.

It sounds like your own heartbeat.

Slowing.

Breaking.

Then... stopping.

I had forgotten my umbrella.

Just like I had forgotten to expect anything good from this day.

Yet there I was, standing in front of the person I loved most.

Yui’s house. First anniversary. I had even brought a tiny gift wrapped in silver ribbon.

 Crushed slightly from the pressure of my hand, but still intact.

It had taken me two weeks to save enough for it.

 I was excited.

Stupid me.

When I entered the house, Yui’s voice echoed from upstairs.

Laughter. 

Flirty. 

Soft.

I didn’t think anything of it.

Not at first.

But then came the sound of sheets shifting.

 A muffled moan. A hushed voice.

That’s when my fingers froze on the door knob.

I opened the door.

I wish I hadn’t.

Yui. Naked.

And beside her — no, on her — was him.

Yuta.

My best friend.

“Soodddaaa… What are you doing here, bro?”

Yuta's voice cracked, surprise and look sad both at same time.

“…What… the hell… are you doing?”

“With my girlfriend?”

“In bed? Naked?”

My eyes weren’t lying.

But part of me still hoped they were.

That somehow this was a dream. A nightmare. 

A prank.

Anything but real.

“Wait a minute…” I said, trembling. “That time I introduced you to her… you looked at her weird.”

“You already knew her back then, didn’t you?”

Yuta sat up slightly," well bro I am really sorry but answer is yes"

“yeah. I met her before .”

“Actually… we were dating.”

His words hit like a blade twisted slowly in my chest.

“Then why… why did she say yes to me?” I asked. 

“Why would I agree to be with you if I was already with yuta?!”

Yui didn’t even flinch. She pulled the blanket lazily over herself, like I was a boring interruption.

“Guess we can’t keep hiding it,” she said flatly.

“Truth is… I never loved you.”

“Honestly, I always found you annoying.”

She smiled like I was nothing more than a stain on her floor.

“My mom always said, ‘Why do you hang out with that weird, awkward boy?’”

“You’re just irritating. Ugly. Pathetic.”

I stared at her.

Was this… really the person I loved?

“If you hated me so much…

 then what did you want from me?” I asked.

“You really don’t get it?” Yui said.

“you idiot. Your money.”

“But— I’ve been cut off from them.

 I haven’t spoken to them in over a year.”

“Yeah, well, I tried getting close to them. Tried to be the nice girl.

But today your parents told me to stop coming. Told me you were ‘dead’ to them.”

“That’s when I knew there was no point pretending.”

She leaned closer to Yuta, resting her head on his bare shoulder.

“No one’s ever gonna love a scary-looking guy like you. 

Those stupid glasses. That freak face.”

“You really thought you could be happy?”

“Hahahaha,” Yui laughed, smugly.

Look at this soda. Crying like a kid.”

“Yui…”

“You’re my girlfriend, right?” I muttered. “Why… 

why are you with him?”

“You seriously still don’t get it?” she snapped.

“I never loved you. 

Everything I said to you—lies. 

Every hug—fake. Every smile—forced.”

Yui looked bored.

“Hey, Soda,” she said, “why don’t you leave already?”

“If you wanted to die, you should’ve done it when your dad kicked you out for harassing your stepsister.”

“Honestly, I still think you did it. You’re that kind of creep.”

Silence.

My head… felt empty.

Nothing.

No anger.

No sadness.

Just…

Silence.

“I see,” I said, voice calm. “Thanks, Yui. Yuta. I wish you both a happy life.”

“Soda, wait—” Yuta called.

“Yui, sit down or I’m breaking up with you!” she snapped.

“Tch. You have badmouthed abount him very much,” he muttered. 

“Let the freak go. He’ll kill himself soon anyway.”she said.

I walked.

Then ran.

Then kept running.

The sky was crying.

Ironic, right?

That the world mourned more for me than the people I loved.

I ran through the streets.

Water splashing beneath my shoes.

Wind slapping my soaked shirt. 

Eyes blurry—not from the rain, but from something deeper.

“Why am I crying?”

“She just told the truth.”

“She never loved me. 

She used me.

 Simple.”

“So why the hell does it hurt so much?!”

I clutched my chest.

It felt like glass grinding inside me.

Every breath a scrape.

 Every step a crack.

“Ah… I get it now…”

I stopped.

Laughed.

Laughed like a lunatic.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Strangers passed me by.

“Is he… okay?”

“He’s laughing like a psycho…”

“That’s creepy.”

They’re right.

I’m creepy.

Ugly.

Worthless.

Just a stupid glasses-wearing background character no one cares about.

“Maybe I should die.”

“There’s a lake near that park…”

“It’d be easy.”

I took off running again.

I don’t know how far I ran.

But eventually, I reached the park.

And that’s where I saw her.

A girl.

Alone.

Sitting on a bench under a flickering streetlamp.

Rain pouring on her.

Her hair clinging to her face.

Her shoulders trembling.

She looked… unreal.

Like a scene from a storybook.

Like a goddess who had fallen from the sky, forgotten by heaven.

“Why… am I stopping?”

“I was going to die.”

“Then why… am I walking toward her?”

I don’t know.

But something in me—something broken—recognized something broken in her.

“Hey…” I said softly. “Why are you crying on a rainy night, beautiful girl?”

She looked up.

Eyes red. Face pale.

“What did you say?”

“I said… why are you crying on a rainy night, beautiful girl?”

“It’s not your problem,” she snapped. “Leave me alone.”

Her voice was sharp—but her hands were clenched, shaking.

She wasn’t angry. 

She was hurting.

I knew that feeling.

I knelt in front of her.

“I got betrayed too,” I said. “Just now. 

First love. 

First heartbreak.”

“I guess… that’s why I’m here.

 I have no one to talk to. 

And maybe… neither do you.”

She didn’t respond.

But she didn’t tell me to leave either.

“If you don’t mind,” I asked quietly, “do you have anywhere to stay tonight?”

“…No,” she said. 

“No home. 

No money. 

No one.”

“What happened?”

“If you really want to know… I’ll tell you.”

“My mother died a few days ago. Everyone said suicide.

But… they found poison in her body. It might’ve been murder.”

“I hated her. After my dad died in an accident when I was five, she changed.

 She hit me. Every day. I told her to stop when I turned ten. We fought a lot.”

“After that, I stopped speaking. Stopped smiling.”

“Now the relatives say I killed her.”

“My aunt took me in. 

But today, I overheard her talking to the police.”

“They’re coming to take me into custody.”

“So I ran. And now I’m here.”

I didn’t speak.

I couldn’t.

Because… I knew that kind of pain.

“You can stay with me,” I said.

 “If you want. My apartment’s small, but… warm.”

“I promise—I’ll never touch you without permission.

 I’m not that kind of guy.”

She looked shocked.

Then… relieved.

“But I don’t want to freeload,” she whispered.

“Then help with chores,” I smiled. 

“That’s the rent.”

“Deal,” she said, softly. “If I’m ever a burden, tell me. 

I’ll leave.”

“My name is Kiori Akata. 

Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Soda Akito.”

As we stood, I noticed her clothes.

Soaked.

See-through.

Her figure completely visible beneath the fabric.

I blushed.

“W-Wait! Take my jacket!”

“You don’t have to— I’m fine—”

“Please. You’re soaking wet. I can see everything…”

She froze.

Then blushed deeply.

I turned away.

She took the jacket.

“…T-Thank you.”

“Rain hides tears.

But it can’t hide loneliness.”

That night, I didn’t die.

And maybe…

it wasn’t because I was strong.

Maybe it was because someone else needed to be saved, too.

Chapter 2 – End

Banri Tada:
Chapter 3 arrives next sunday
Thank you so much for reading! If this chapter touched you, please share it. The next one is in progress, and we’re only just beginning.