Chapter 20 — “Breaking Point”

Evening. Rain against the glass. The sound of the sea bruising itself against the cliffs.

The art room smells of turpentine, oil, and something faintly metallic.

Mizuki stands before the canvas — her newest painting, half-finished: two girls holding hands beneath a collapsing sky.

It’s almost beautiful. Almost peaceful.

Then the door bursts open.

Himari stands there, drenched, breathless, her eyes wild enough to make the rain hesitate.

The silence that follows feels heavier than thunder.

> “Why did you do it?”

Her voice is low, shaking.

Mizuki turns slowly, her lips parting in a calm that feels unnatural.

> “Because you were slipping away.”

---

The argument blooms like a wound.

Himari shouts that Mizuki ruined everything — their secrets, their love, their world.

Mizuki answers that love can’t be ruined if it was already broken.

Their words crash together like waves.

The rain outside grows harder, hammering the windows.

Paint spills across the floor, a slow river of crimson and blue.

> “You made them think I’m a monster!” Himari screams.

“You said it yourself,” Mizuki whispers. “You’d die if I left.”

The room tilts. The air tastes of copper.

Himari grabs Mizuki’s arm; Mizuki pulls away, trembling.

> “Stop controlling me!” Mizuki cries.

“Then stop making me need to!”

They stare at each other, both realizing too late how far they’ve fallen — how much they resemble the painting behind them: two girls trapped under a sky that’s already collapsing.

---

Mizuki’s eyes shine with tears and madness.

She reaches for something on the table — her cutter.

> “Don’t you dare—” Himari begins, but Mizuki cuts across her words, voice trembling, soft:

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Her hands shake.

> “I just want the pain to stop.”

The blade flashes once.

A line of red blooms across her wrist — delicate, deliberate.

> “Mizuki!”

Himari lunges forward, grabbing her, their bodies colliding, knocking over brushes and jars. Glass shatters.

The sound echoes like breaking promises.

Blood spills into the puddle of paint, turning it the color of roses in decay.

They fall together to the floor. Mizuki gasps for breath, pale, trembling.

Himari presses her hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

> “You wanted me to stay,” Mizuki whispers faintly.

“Now I can’t leave.”

> “Don’t you dare die on me,” Himari chokes, voice cracking. “Not after everything. Not like this.”

---

The thunder outside roars, rolling across the cliffs like a scream.

Lightning flashes through the windows, staining the walls white for an instant — and in that instant, Himari sees the painting.

The two girls beneath the storm.

Smiling.

Unbroken.

Her tears finally fall, mixing with the blood and paint.

> “You said it was sacred,” Himari whispers. “Our love. Our promise.”

“It still is,” Mizuki breathes. “Even if it kills us.”

Her eyelids flutter.

Himari shakes her, terrified.

The door slams open — footsteps, gasps, the distant cry of a classmate.

Someone screams her name.

But Himari doesn’t look up.

Her world has already narrowed to this single moment — her hands clasped over Mizuki’s, red and trembling, as if holding the last warmth of life.

---

The painting on the easel sways in the gust from the open door.

Rain splatters across its surface, blurring the faces, the colors, the sky.

To the others, it looks like a tragedy.

To Himari, it looks like forever.

Outside, the storm breaks fully.

Inside, the art room is a grave of color and sound — blood, paint, glass, and the faint heartbeat of a love that refused to end quietly.

When the lights flicker and fade, the last thing visible is the canvas:

Two girls smiling beneath a storm.