Chapter 6:
๐ Chapter 7: Bruises, Questions, and Worries โค๏ธ๐ฉน
The Boy Who Brought Smiles
๐ธ THE BOY WHO BROUGHT SMILES ๐ธ
๐ Chapter 7: Bruises, Questions, and Worries โค๏ธ๐ฉน
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
Not because the school was empty.
Not because students were absent.
But because Kaito Nakamura had slept for exactly four hours.
๐ด
Every muscle in his body reminded him of yesterday's events.
His shoulder hurt.
His ribs hurt.
His cheek hurt.
Even breathing felt slightly annoying.
๐
"Ren."
Kaito muttered while staring at the classroom ceiling.
"Yeah?"
"You alive?"
Ren sat beside him.
One side of his face was covered by a bandage.
๐
"Barely."
"Good."
"That's the first thing you say?"
"It means you survived."
"Fair enough."
๐คฃ
The two exchanged a fist bump.
Immediately regretted it.
Both winced.
๐ฅ
"Ow."
"Ow."
๐
Neither mentioned the fight.
Neither wanted attention.
The fewer people that knew...
The better.
Unfortunately...
Life had other plans.
โ ๏ธ
The classroom door opened.
Students began entering.
One by one.
Groups of friends chatting.
People laughing.
Talking about homework.
Talking about summer vacation.
Talking about anything except the disaster waiting inside.
๐
Then someone noticed.
๐
A first-year student passing by stopped.
Looked at Kaito.
Looked again.
Then walked away.
Confused.
A second student entered.
Their eyes widened.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Soon...
Whispers started spreading.
๐
"What happened to him?"
"Did he get into a fight?"
"No way."
"That's Kaito."
"Exactly."
"Maybe he got hit by a truck."
๐
Kaito placed his head on the desk.
This was going to be a long day.
๐
The classroom door opened again.
And this time...
Yuna walked in.
๐๐ธ
She was carrying her bag.
A notebook.
And a small drink she'd bought on the way.
Everything seemed normal.
Until she saw him.
Her footsteps stopped.
Completely.
๐
The drink nearly slipped from her hand.
Kaito looked up.
And immediately knew.
๐
"Oh no."
Yuna pointed.
Slowly.
Silently.
Like someone witnessing a crime scene.
โ ๏ธ
"What happened to your face?"
The classroom instantly became silent.
Everyone wanted the answer.
๐
Kaito sighed.
"I walked into a door."
Silence.
Long silence.
Thenโ
"That's a lie."
๐
The entire classroom nodded.
Even the teacher walking past the door looked unconvinced.
๐
Yuna crossed her arms.
"You did not walk into a door."
"I did."
"You have bruises."
"It was a strong door."
๐คฃ
Yuna stared.
Kaito stared back.
The battle continued.
โ๏ธ
Eventually...
Yuna sat down.
Still unconvinced.
Very unconvinced.
๐
A few desks away...
Ren was trying not to laugh.
Terrible mistake.
Yuna noticed.
โ ๏ธ
Immediately.
Her eyes locked onto him.
Like a predator spotting prey.
๐ฆ
"Ren."
"No."
"You know what happened."
"No."
"You do."
"No."
"You absolutely do."
"No."
๐
Ren looked toward Kaito.
Kaito looked toward the ceiling.
Neither planned on helping the other.
๐
The bell rang.
Saving them both.
๐
Or so they thought.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
The first class was math.
Normally Kaito paid attention.
Today?
Not a chance.
๐ต
Every time he looked forward...
He could feel Yuna staring.
Every.
Single.
Time.
๐
After twenty minutes...
He finally turned.
"What?"
Yuna immediately looked away.
๐จ
Nothing suspicious there.
Not at all.
๐
Five minutes later...
She looked again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventuallyโ
A folded piece of paper landed on his desk.
๐
Kaito opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
"What happened?"
Simple.
Direct.
Dangerous.
โ ๏ธ
Kaito grabbed a pen.
Wrote a response.
And passed it back.
"I told you."
The note returned immediately.
Faster than expected.
๐
"That was a lie."
Another response.
"Allegedly."
The note returned.
Again.
๐
"Stop being difficult."
He smiled despite himself.
Then wrote:
"You sound like Mika."
Yuna's reply came instantly.
"That's not a compliment."
๐
For the first time that morning...
Kaito laughed.
A small one.
But enough.
โจ
And Yuna noticed.
She always noticed.
โค๏ธ
The rest of the lesson passed quietly.
But the questions remained.
Because Yuna knew something.
Something important.
Kaito smiled when he was happy.
He smiled when he was embarrassed.
He smiled when he was tired.
He smiled when he was sad.
๐ธ
The problem was...
Nobody could tell the difference.
Except maybe...
Someone who was paying attention.
โค๏ธ
And lately...
Yuna had been paying attention.
A lot more than she wanted to admit.
๐
By lunchtime...
She had made a decision.
A very dangerous decision.
โ ๏ธ
If Kaito wasn't going to tell her the truth...
She would find out herself.
๐๐ธ THE BOY WHO BROUGHT SMILES ๐ธ
๐ Chapter 7: Bruises, Questions, and Worries โค๏ธ๐ฉน
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโPart 2: The Rooftop Investigation ๐โค๏ธโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
Lunch break arrived.
๐
And with it...
The beginning of Yuna Hayashi's investigation.
๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
The moment class ended, Kaito grabbed his lunch and quietly left.
Like always.
Nothing unusual.
At least...
That was what he thought.
๐
Because thirty seconds laterโ
Yuna followed him.
๐ถโโ๏ธ
Not suspiciously.
Not secretly.
Not stealthily.
She had absolutely no stealth.
๐
Kaito heard her footsteps almost immediately.
But chose to ignore them.
Maybe she'd go away.
Maybe she'd get distracted.
Maybeโ
"Nope."
๐
The rooftop door opened.
And there she was.
Standing behind him.
Arms crossed.
Determined.
Dangerous.
โ ๏ธ
Kaito sighed.
"You followed me."
"Correct."
"You know that's weird, right?"
"Probably."
๐
The two sat down on opposite sides of the rooftop fence.
A warm summer breeze drifted through the air.
โ๏ธ
The city stretched endlessly beyond the school grounds.
Students laughed below.
Birds flew overhead.
Everything felt peaceful.
Except for one thing.
Yuna's stare.
๐
It was relentless.
Absolutely relentless.
๐
"What?"
Kaito finally asked.
"What happened?"
"We've had this conversation."
"No."
Yuna pointed.
"You've avoided this conversation."
โก
Kaito looked away.
Not because he didn't have an answer.
Because he didn't want to give one.
๐
For a moment...
Neither spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Just thoughtful.
Then Yuna opened her lunch box.
๐ฑ
Kaito blinked.
"That's a lot of food."
Yuna immediately closed the lid.
๐ณ
"Don't look."
"You brought enough food for three people."
"No I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
๐
Yuna glared at him.
Then quietly pushed part of her lunch toward him.
๐
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kaito stared.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you staring?"
"You packed extra."
"No."
"You did."
"No."
"You absolutely did."
๐
Yuna's face turned bright red.
๐ฅ
"Eat the rice."
"That's not a denial."
"Eat."
๐
For the first time all day...
The tension eased.
Just a little.
โจ
The two began eating.
The wind gently brushed against the rooftop.
The noise of the city felt distant.
Peaceful.
๐ธ
Then Yuna spoke again.
Much quieter this time.
โค๏ธ
"Were you scared?"
Kaito froze.
The question surprised him.
More than he expected.
๐
"What do you mean?"
"When you got hurt."
Silence.
๐
A long silence.
Kaito looked toward the horizon.
The memory returned.
The park.
The confrontation.
The anger.
The disappointment.
Everything.
๐ญ
"A little."
Yuna looked surprised.
๐
"A little?"
"Mostly tired."
"Tired?"
"Yeah."
He laughed softly.
A tired laugh.
๐
"The fight wasn't what bothered me."
Yuna listened carefully.
Every word.
โค๏ธ
"It was seeing someone I used to care about."
"And realizing she hadn't changed."
The breeze grew quieter.
Almost as if the world itself was listening.
๐ธ
For a moment...
Yuna didn't know what to say.
Because she could hear it.
The sadness.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Sadness.
๐
"Do you still love her?"
The question escaped before she could stop it.
โ ๏ธ
The moment it left her mouth...
She regretted it.
Immediately.
๐
"Sorry."
"You don't have to answer that."
"Forget I asked."
"Actually..."
Kaito interrupted.
๐
Yuna froze.
โค๏ธ
For several seconds...
He thought carefully.
Then shook his head.
"No."
A simple answer.
A genuine answer.
โจ
"I don't."
Yuna felt something she couldn't explain.
Relief.
โค๏ธ
And that realization terrified her.
๐ณ
Why was she relieved?
Why did she care?
Whyโ
๐จ
Abort mission.
Abort mission.
๐
Kaito looked at her.
Confused.
"You okay?"
"Yes."
"No you're not."
"I absolutely am."
"You just looked like your brain crashed."
๐คฃ
Yuna nearly threw a rice ball at him.
๐
The conversation drifted into lighter topics.
Books.
School.
Teachers.
Work.
Normal things.
The kind of conversations that somehow felt important.
๐ธ
Then suddenlyโ
The rooftop door burst open.
๐ฅ
"FOUND YOU!"
Both jumped.
๐ฑ
Ren stood there.
Breathing heavily.
Holding three drinks.
๐ฅค๐ฅค๐ฅค
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kaito looked confused.
"How did you even find us?"
Ren pointed dramatically.
๐ฏ
"You underestimate my power."
"You followed us."
"Correct."
๐
Yuna buried her face in her hands.
๐
Ren sat beside them.
Completely uninvited.
As usual.
๐
Then he noticed something.
Something very important.
๐
The extra food.
The shared lunch.
The atmosphere.
The smiles.
Everything.
โ ๏ธ
A grin slowly appeared.
A terrible grin.
๐
"Oh."
"No."
Kaito already knew.
"No."
Yuna knew too.
๐
Ren pointed dramatically at the lunch box.
๐ฏ
"Interesting."
"Ren."
"Very interesting."
"Ren."
"Extremely interesting."
"REN."
๐
The rooftop immediately became chaos.
And somehow...
For the first time since the fight...
Kaito forgot about the bruises.
Forgot about the past.
Forgot about everything.
โจ
Because sitting there...
With Yuna arguing.
And Ren causing problems.
The future didn't feel so heavy anymore.
โค๏ธ
To Be Continued...
๐ Chapter 7: Bruises, Questions, and Worries โค๏ธ๐ฉน
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
Not because the school was empty.
Not because students were absent.
But because Kaito Nakamura had slept for exactly four hours.
๐ด
Every muscle in his body reminded him of yesterday's events.
His shoulder hurt.
His ribs hurt.
His cheek hurt.
Even breathing felt slightly annoying.
๐
"Ren."
Kaito muttered while staring at the classroom ceiling.
"Yeah?"
"You alive?"
Ren sat beside him.
One side of his face was covered by a bandage.
๐
"Barely."
"Good."
"That's the first thing you say?"
"It means you survived."
"Fair enough."
๐คฃ
The two exchanged a fist bump.
Immediately regretted it.
Both winced.
๐ฅ
"Ow."
"Ow."
๐
Neither mentioned the fight.
Neither wanted attention.
The fewer people that knew...
The better.
Unfortunately...
Life had other plans.
โ ๏ธ
The classroom door opened.
Students began entering.
One by one.
Groups of friends chatting.
People laughing.
Talking about homework.
Talking about summer vacation.
Talking about anything except the disaster waiting inside.
๐
Then someone noticed.
๐
A first-year student passing by stopped.
Looked at Kaito.
Looked again.
Then walked away.
Confused.
A second student entered.
Their eyes widened.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Soon...
Whispers started spreading.
๐
"What happened to him?"
"Did he get into a fight?"
"No way."
"That's Kaito."
"Exactly."
"Maybe he got hit by a truck."
๐
Kaito placed his head on the desk.
This was going to be a long day.
๐
The classroom door opened again.
And this time...
Yuna walked in.
๐๐ธ
She was carrying her bag.
A notebook.
And a small drink she'd bought on the way.
Everything seemed normal.
Until she saw him.
Her footsteps stopped.
Completely.
๐
The drink nearly slipped from her hand.
Kaito looked up.
And immediately knew.
๐
"Oh no."
Yuna pointed.
Slowly.
Silently.
Like someone witnessing a crime scene.
โ ๏ธ
"What happened to your face?"
The classroom instantly became silent.
Everyone wanted the answer.
๐
Kaito sighed.
"I walked into a door."
Silence.
Long silence.
Thenโ
"That's a lie."
๐
The entire classroom nodded.
Even the teacher walking past the door looked unconvinced.
๐
Yuna crossed her arms.
"You did not walk into a door."
"I did."
"You have bruises."
"It was a strong door."
๐คฃ
Yuna stared.
Kaito stared back.
The battle continued.
โ๏ธ
Eventually...
Yuna sat down.
Still unconvinced.
Very unconvinced.
๐
A few desks away...
Ren was trying not to laugh.
Terrible mistake.
Yuna noticed.
โ ๏ธ
Immediately.
Her eyes locked onto him.
Like a predator spotting prey.
๐ฆ
"Ren."
"No."
"You know what happened."
"No."
"You do."
"No."
"You absolutely do."
"No."
๐
Ren looked toward Kaito.
Kaito looked toward the ceiling.
Neither planned on helping the other.
๐
The bell rang.
Saving them both.
๐
Or so they thought.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
The first class was math.
Normally Kaito paid attention.
Today?
Not a chance.
๐ต
Every time he looked forward...
He could feel Yuna staring.
Every.
Single.
Time.
๐
After twenty minutes...
He finally turned.
"What?"
Yuna immediately looked away.
๐จ
Nothing suspicious there.
Not at all.
๐
Five minutes later...
She looked again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventuallyโ
A folded piece of paper landed on his desk.
๐
Kaito opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
"What happened?"
Simple.
Direct.
Dangerous.
โ ๏ธ
Kaito grabbed a pen.
Wrote a response.
And passed it back.
"I told you."
The note returned immediately.
Faster than expected.
๐
"That was a lie."
Another response.
"Allegedly."
The note returned.
Again.
๐
"Stop being difficult."
He smiled despite himself.
Then wrote:
"You sound like Mika."
Yuna's reply came instantly.
"That's not a compliment."
๐
For the first time that morning...
Kaito laughed.
A small one.
But enough.
โจ
And Yuna noticed.
She always noticed.
โค๏ธ
The rest of the lesson passed quietly.
But the questions remained.
Because Yuna knew something.
Something important.
Kaito smiled when he was happy.
He smiled when he was embarrassed.
He smiled when he was tired.
He smiled when he was sad.
๐ธ
The problem was...
Nobody could tell the difference.
Except maybe...
Someone who was paying attention.
โค๏ธ
And lately...
Yuna had been paying attention.
A lot more than she wanted to admit.
๐
By lunchtime...
She had made a decision.
A very dangerous decision.
โ ๏ธ
If Kaito wasn't going to tell her the truth...
She would find out herself.
๐๐ธ THE BOY WHO BROUGHT SMILES ๐ธ
๐ Chapter 7: Bruises, Questions, and Worries โค๏ธ๐ฉน
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโPart 2: The Rooftop Investigation ๐โค๏ธโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
Lunch break arrived.
๐
And with it...
The beginning of Yuna Hayashi's investigation.
๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
The moment class ended, Kaito grabbed his lunch and quietly left.
Like always.
Nothing unusual.
At least...
That was what he thought.
๐
Because thirty seconds laterโ
Yuna followed him.
๐ถโโ๏ธ
Not suspiciously.
Not secretly.
Not stealthily.
She had absolutely no stealth.
๐
Kaito heard her footsteps almost immediately.
But chose to ignore them.
Maybe she'd go away.
Maybe she'd get distracted.
Maybeโ
"Nope."
๐
The rooftop door opened.
And there she was.
Standing behind him.
Arms crossed.
Determined.
Dangerous.
โ ๏ธ
Kaito sighed.
"You followed me."
"Correct."
"You know that's weird, right?"
"Probably."
๐
The two sat down on opposite sides of the rooftop fence.
A warm summer breeze drifted through the air.
โ๏ธ
The city stretched endlessly beyond the school grounds.
Students laughed below.
Birds flew overhead.
Everything felt peaceful.
Except for one thing.
Yuna's stare.
๐
It was relentless.
Absolutely relentless.
๐
"What?"
Kaito finally asked.
"What happened?"
"We've had this conversation."
"No."
Yuna pointed.
"You've avoided this conversation."
โก
Kaito looked away.
Not because he didn't have an answer.
Because he didn't want to give one.
๐
For a moment...
Neither spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Just thoughtful.
Then Yuna opened her lunch box.
๐ฑ
Kaito blinked.
"That's a lot of food."
Yuna immediately closed the lid.
๐ณ
"Don't look."
"You brought enough food for three people."
"No I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
๐
Yuna glared at him.
Then quietly pushed part of her lunch toward him.
๐
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kaito stared.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you staring?"
"You packed extra."
"No."
"You did."
"No."
"You absolutely did."
๐
Yuna's face turned bright red.
๐ฅ
"Eat the rice."
"That's not a denial."
"Eat."
๐
For the first time all day...
The tension eased.
Just a little.
โจ
The two began eating.
The wind gently brushed against the rooftop.
The noise of the city felt distant.
Peaceful.
๐ธ
Then Yuna spoke again.
Much quieter this time.
โค๏ธ
"Were you scared?"
Kaito froze.
The question surprised him.
More than he expected.
๐
"What do you mean?"
"When you got hurt."
Silence.
๐
A long silence.
Kaito looked toward the horizon.
The memory returned.
The park.
The confrontation.
The anger.
The disappointment.
Everything.
๐ญ
"A little."
Yuna looked surprised.
๐
"A little?"
"Mostly tired."
"Tired?"
"Yeah."
He laughed softly.
A tired laugh.
๐
"The fight wasn't what bothered me."
Yuna listened carefully.
Every word.
โค๏ธ
"It was seeing someone I used to care about."
"And realizing she hadn't changed."
The breeze grew quieter.
Almost as if the world itself was listening.
๐ธ
For a moment...
Yuna didn't know what to say.
Because she could hear it.
The sadness.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Sadness.
๐
"Do you still love her?"
The question escaped before she could stop it.
โ ๏ธ
The moment it left her mouth...
She regretted it.
Immediately.
๐
"Sorry."
"You don't have to answer that."
"Forget I asked."
"Actually..."
Kaito interrupted.
๐
Yuna froze.
โค๏ธ
For several seconds...
He thought carefully.
Then shook his head.
"No."
A simple answer.
A genuine answer.
โจ
"I don't."
Yuna felt something she couldn't explain.
Relief.
โค๏ธ
And that realization terrified her.
๐ณ
Why was she relieved?
Why did she care?
Whyโ
๐จ
Abort mission.
Abort mission.
๐
Kaito looked at her.
Confused.
"You okay?"
"Yes."
"No you're not."
"I absolutely am."
"You just looked like your brain crashed."
๐คฃ
Yuna nearly threw a rice ball at him.
๐
The conversation drifted into lighter topics.
Books.
School.
Teachers.
Work.
Normal things.
The kind of conversations that somehow felt important.
๐ธ
Then suddenlyโ
The rooftop door burst open.
๐ฅ
"FOUND YOU!"
Both jumped.
๐ฑ
Ren stood there.
Breathing heavily.
Holding three drinks.
๐ฅค๐ฅค๐ฅค
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kaito looked confused.
"How did you even find us?"
Ren pointed dramatically.
๐ฏ
"You underestimate my power."
"You followed us."
"Correct."
๐
Yuna buried her face in her hands.
๐
Ren sat beside them.
Completely uninvited.
As usual.
๐
Then he noticed something.
Something very important.
๐
The extra food.
The shared lunch.
The atmosphere.
The smiles.
Everything.
โ ๏ธ
A grin slowly appeared.
A terrible grin.
๐
"Oh."
"No."
Kaito already knew.
"No."
Yuna knew too.
๐
Ren pointed dramatically at the lunch box.
๐ฏ
"Interesting."
"Ren."
"Very interesting."
"Ren."
"Extremely interesting."
"REN."
๐
The rooftop immediately became chaos.
And somehow...
For the first time since the fight...
Kaito forgot about the bruises.
Forgot about the past.
Forgot about everything.
โจ
Because sitting there...
With Yuna arguing.
And Ren causing problems.
The future didn't feel so heavy anymore.
โค๏ธ
To Be Continued...
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