Chapter 21 — “Run Away With Me”

The rain had stopped, but the sky remained heavy, bruised purple and gray.

Himari’s shoes splashed in puddles along the academy’s deserted courtyard.

Her chest ached—not from running, but from the weight of everything she’d done, everything they’d done.

The art room incident had changed everything.

The dolls, the blood, the confession video—rumors had become truth, and truth had become a crime.

She didn’t have long.

---

Mizuki appeared at the entrance, soaked through, hair plastered to her pale face. Her dark eyes glittered with fear and something else—possessive desperation.

> “Himari,” she whispered, grabbing her sleeve.

“We have to leave. Now.”

Himari froze.

> “Leave? But—”

> “They’re coming. The police. Everyone knows.”

Mizuki’s grip tightened. Her fingernails dug lightly into Himari’s wrist—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her feel the pulse of urgency.

> “I can’t… I can’t just run away.”

Mizuki’s lips trembled.

> “You have to. Don’t you see? If we stay, it ends. They’ll take you, they’ll take me. They’ll destroy everything we are.”

Himari wanted to protest, to argue, to ground herself in reason—but the rational world had already been stripped away.

She looked at Mizuki, at the delicate curve of her jaw, the tremble in her lips, the way her eyes seemed to beg silently, to plead without words.

> “You don’t understand,” Mizuki whispered, stepping closer. “I can’t live without you. And you… you’re all I have. If we’re separated, it will destroy me.”

Himari’s heart thudded painfully.

Her hands trembled.

The air smelled faintly of wet concrete and ink and something darker—blood, love, obsession.

> “Then… take me with you,” Himari said finally, almost in a trance.

Mizuki’s eyes brightened, almost sparkling in relief.

> “Yes. We’ll go. Anywhere. Far away from all of this.”

---

They ran silently through the streets.

The city was empty, wet, alive with the scent of rain and distant salt from the sea.

Himari felt the cold press against her skin, the weight of Mizuki in her arms, small but fierce, holding onto her like life itself depended on it.

> “Where will we go?” Himari asked.

> “Where I was born,” Mizuki said, voice soft, urgent. “A place by the sea. My home. No one will find us there. No one will touch us.”

They moved with a strange rhythm, hearts beating together, breath misting in the damp air.

Every alley, every corner seemed to whisper threats—police, classmates, the world—but Mizuki’s presence pressed Himari forward.

She could feel the obsession, the hunger for closeness, the fragile thread of love twisted into something darker.

And she didn’t want to untangle it.

---

The train station appeared like a sanctuary in the neon glow.

Tickets were purchased with trembling hands and stolen glances.

They boarded a late-night train, the carriage nearly empty, the only sounds the rhythmic clatter of wheels and Mizuki’s soft humming.

> “You’re scared,” Mizuki said, pressing her hand to Himari’s.

> “I… I am.”

> “Good,” Mizuki whispered. “Because I need you to be scared. Afraid of losing me. Afraid of anyone taking me from you.”

Himari looked at her, seeing the madness just beneath the fragile surface.

And for some reason, she didn’t turn away.

> “We’ll be together,” Mizuki said, almost to herself. “Forever.”

Himari nodded, the words tasting both sweet and bitter in her mouth.

> “Forever,” she echoed.

---

The train rumbled through dark landscapes: rivers, forests, and fog-heavy fields.

The world outside was a blur, and inside, only the two of them existed.

Mizuki leaned against Himari, her hair damp and fragrant with rain.

Her breathing was uneven, as if the act of fleeing had burned her lungs, yet her grip on Himari’s hand never weakened.

> “I’ve dreamed of this,” Mizuki murmured, “of leaving it all behind… just you and me, Himari.”

Himari’s eyes traced the curve of her face, memorizing every detail she might never forget.

Her lips pressed against Mizuki’s wet hair, the only comfort against the rising tide of panic.

> “I don’t know if this is right,” Himari whispered.

> “There is no right or wrong,” Mizuki said. “There’s only us. And what we have to survive.”

The train sped on, carrying them further from the academy, further from reality, deeper into the space where love had become ruin, obsession, and sanctuary all at once.

---

Hours later, Mizuki finally sleeps against Himari’s shoulder, exhausted but peaceful.

Himari stares out at the darkened tracks, the moon reflected in her eyes, and wonders if salvation and destruction have ever been so intertwined.

She presses her hand to the scar on Mizuki’s wrist, remembering the art room, the blood, the dolls, the rooftop, the video.

> “I’m here,” she whispers. “I won’t leave you.”

And somewhere deep inside, she feels the pulse of inevitability — that no matter where they run, the darkness of what they have done will follow, trailing behind them like a shadow they cannot escape.

---

The train carries them forward into the night, waves crashing somewhere beyond the windows, a faint scent of salt and blood on the wind.

Himari closes her eyes, holding Mizuki close, and prays silently for a tomorrow they may never reach.