Love & Hate

The familiar chime rang as the glass doors of the konbini slid open. I was about to start my shift after tutoring Hasegawa, or rather, Megumi.

"Kaito! Where have you been?" Haruna whined, leaning across the counter as soon as she saw me walk in.

"Sorry, Haruna, I was out on errands."

"And those errands caused you to be late for two whole hours?!" she huffed, narrowing her eyes in an accusatory glare.

"Y-yeah," I mumbled, adjusting the sleeve of my blazer that Reina had hung on just hours earlier.

Haruna took a few moments to look at me, raising her eyebrow, as she scanned my face, noting my pale complexion and the dark circles under my eyes. She knew I was lying, but she also knew better than to push too hard right now.

"Whatever," Haruna sighed, tossing her head towards the staffroom. "Just get dressed already. I’ve been handling the register alone, and my feet are killing me."

The shift dragged on in a blur, stocking the freezer, wiping down dusty shelves, and staring at my phone while waiting for customers—the usual routine.

Then, in the middle of the night, we heard a call pulling out in front of the konbini.

Through the massive storefront windows, a bright light coming from the headlights of a car swept across the street as it parked right up front of the konbini’s entrance. The moment the car went into a full stop, the door flew open and a familiar figure hopped out.

"Hey Kaito," Haruna said, nudging my shoulder. "...Is that who I think it is?"

My eyes widened; there was no mistaking it—long dark hair, pale skin, and that distinct Seiryu Academy emblem on her blazer. It was Reina.

Why is she here? I thought about it, as panic began to rise in my throat. I told her that we were done. Why is she still doing this? Why can’t she just let it go?

My body moved on pure instinct, rushing to the staff room at the back of the store.

"Kaito? Where are you going?" Haruna called out, shocked by my reaction.

"Please don't let her know I'm here!” I hissed, grabbing the door handle and swinging the door wide open.

"What? Why—"

"I'll explain later; just say I'm not here!" I pleaded, slamming the heavy staff room door shut just as the glass doors slid open.

Standing in the cramped staff room, I pressed my back against the cold wall. Beyond the thin walls of the konbini, I could hear Reina’s hoarse voice frantically call out my name as she burst through the doors, completely out of breath.

I couldn’t hear everything, but I heard Haruna’s firm tone through the drywall. I caught the bitter fragments of her words when Reina refused to leave.

She told Reina everything, including how I came here every day with no energy, how I barely spoke a word to her, and even mentioned the night I stormed out of the konbini mid-shift. She blamed Reina for everything.

She was protecting me, but she was also venting the frustration of watching her friend slowly decay over the last two weeks.

After what felt like an eternity, I heard the door chime ring out once more. A few moments later, the staff room door creaked open, and Haruna stood in the doorframe, slumping her shoulders. “She’s gone, Kaito.”

I walked out, checking the aisles just to make sure Reina wasn’t hiding anywhere. Once I was sure the store was empty, I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

When I turned back to the counter, Haruna was standing there with her arms crossed, her eyes locked onto me like a hawk.

"You've got some serious explaining to do, mister," she said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet register. She tapped her foot against the tiles. "And this time, I’m not allowing you to just stay quiet."

So, I told her everything.

I told her about the photo that started it all, the professional distance plan, the weight of complete radio silence, the "kiss" I saw at the library, and finally, our bitter confrontation in the hallways earlier that evening.

Haruna listened to every word without interrupting, her expression shifting from irritation to profound disbelief. When I finally finished, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and let out a heavy sigh.

"Honestly, Kaito... you two are supposed to be the smartest people at the academy," she said, slowly shaking her head. "Yet you are both absolute, total idiots when it comes to each other."

I looked down at the tiled floors, staying completely silent. She was right.

Haruna walked out from behind the counter and approached me, placing her hands firmly on my shoulders. “From your side, I get it. I understand why you’re angry... but have stopped to look at it from her perspective?”

“What... What do you mean?”

“I mean, you said it yourself, that you live in completely separate worlds.”

"We do," I muttered, my voice cracking from exhaustion. "And I intend to keep it that way from now on. I just want her out of my life entirely.”

“Is that really what you want?“ she countered. "Because I can tell by the look on your face right now that there’s a part of you that wants to forgive her," 

“Forgive her?" I scoffed. “Haruna, I already threw a million yen at her and told her that we were nothing! Is that not enough proof—"

"You said those things out of anger because you were hurt, Kaito," Haruna interrupted, her grip tightening reassuringly on my shoulders. “And the fact that a girl who lives in a mansion just traveled across the city at three in the morning to track you down at a random convenience store proves she's hurt just as badly."

I fell silent.

“Go home, Kaito," she said softly, giving me a gentle push towards the exit. “If she's waiting for you, don't run this time. Actually, talk to her."

Haruna basically forced me out of the konbini. With nowhere to go but back to my apartment, I slowly made my way back.

My body was screaming for sleep, but my mind was a chaotic storm as I walked up the rusted, creaking stairs of my run-down apartment complex.

But as I rounded the corner into the narrow corridor, I froze.

Sitting on the cold concrete floor, right in front of my door, was a heap of silk and dark wool. Her knees were pulled tightly to her chest, her face buried in her arms.

"Reina...?" I croaked, the sound like sandpaper against stone.

At the sound of her name, her head snapped up.

She was completely disheveled. Her hair was a mess, and her uniform was all crinkled. But it was her face that made my breath hitch. Her cheeks were flushed a deep, vivid scarlet, and her eyes, which were usually so sharp and so calculated, were now overflowing with tears.

Did she come straight here right after the konbini?

The moment she registered it was me, the dam completely broke. A ragged, choking sob tore from her throat, a sound so raw it felt like a physical blow to my chest.

"Kaito..." she cried, her voice trembling so violently she could barely form the syllables. She scrambled to her feet, her heels slipping slightly on the concrete, and threw herself forward.

Before I could even react, her hands bunched into the fabric of my damp hoodie. She fell against me, her forehead pressing into my chest as another wave of tears ran through her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to—I didn't want it to be like this..." she sobbed, the words muffled against my clothing. " I was just scared, Kaito, but I didn't want this... I didn't want you to shut me out completely..." Her tears were soaking straight through the thin fabric of my hoodie.

“Reina, stop," I muttered, trying to pry her fingers off me, but she just held on tighter with a strength I didn’t know she had. "Let go of me. Just... Go home, Reina. Go back to your mansion and keep your damn professional distance."

"No!" she screamed, a fierce, desperate cry as she pressed her head against my chest, refusing to budge. "I won't! Don't look at me like that! Don't look at me like I'm a stranger!"

"You are. Now let go; I'm too tired to deal with you right now."

"Kaito... please..." she wept, her voice breaking completely as she clung to me even harder. "I'm so, so sorry. Please, just let me stay... I'll explain everything... please..."

I looked down at her, at the absolute train wreck of the girl who spent the entirety of two weeks shutting me out. I was shaking in anger, but my body was too exhausted to fight back.

"Fine," I growled, my hand trembling violently as I reached past her, jammed the key into the slot, and threw the door open.

"Inside. Now."

I grabbed her arm firmly, dragging her inside the apartment, and slammed the door shut behind us.

Reina stumbled inside, dropping her bag onto the floor, but she didn't step away. She stood in the center of my cramped studio, her shoulders shaking, her hands still curled into tight fists at her sides.

"Why are you even here?" I yelled, the last of my composure finally breaking under the rage. "Why can't you just let me hate you in peace?!"

"Because I can't live with the thought of you hating me!" she screamed back, her voice cracking as fresh tears spilled over.

I slammed my palm down onto the small wooden desk near my bed. "After everything you did, you seriously expect me to just forgive you?"

"I know that I hurt you, and I hate myself for it, Kaito! I hate every single thing I did!" She looked up at me; her hair was even more of a mess now, and her eyes were as red from all the crying. "I was a coward! I was so scared, and I let my pride get in the way of what was actually important."

"Oh, so now I matter? Reina, a few days ago you called me a liability," I scoffed, breaking eye contact and pacing across the small room. "And now you come running back telling me that I'm important!? YOU can't just flip the script whenever you want!”

“I didn’t mean it... I didn’t mean any of it. Every day I was being judged by the students, teachers, and even the student council...” She desperately closed the distance, her hands reaching out into the air. "I didn’t want you to be caught up in it too, so I tried to push you away. I was trying to protect you..."

“Protect me!?" I stepped into her space as another wave of anger flared up inside me. "You threw me away and got Asano as a replacement. What kind of sick concept of 'protection' do you have, Reina!?"

“I didn’t throw you away! And I didn’t replace you!" Tears streamed fresh down her face as she shook her head violently. “I don’t care about Asano! I just thought if people saw me with someone else, it would help the rumors disappear—"

“Stop lying!" I shouted, the memory of the library slicing through me like a physical blade. "Even if you were telling the truth, it wouldn’t change what I saw. You... you kissed him."

"HE DIDN'T KISS ME!" Reina shrieked, her voice shattering the quiet of the room. She was shaking violently as she stared at me. "I swear to you, Kaito, he didn't touch me! I’ve never... I've never kissed anyone in my entire life!"

"Like I'm supposed to believe that" I hissed, my anger blocking any sense of dignity left. The people nexy door could probably hear us, but that wasn't even on my mind.

"Reina, if you’re still insisting on telling lies, you should just leave—"

"I... could never replace you, because... you’re the only person that I have feelings for..." she cried out, her voice breaking completely under the weight of the confession. "I love you Kaito, It’s only ever been you!”

Before I could even think of a response, Reina lunged forward. She caught the lapels of my hoodie, pulling me down to her, and crashed her lips directly against mine.

I held her shoulder tightly, trying to push her away, but as the kiss deepened, my strength weakened. All the anger that I’ve built these past two weeks slowly began to fade, melting under the heat of her touch.

She was pressing into me with everything she had, as if she were trying to pour every ounce of her regret, her terror, and the absolute, raw truth of her words straight into my chest.

Everything suddenly fell into silence; only the quiet hum of the refrigerator and the trickling of rain on the windows were the only sounds left in the world.

There was just us, completely ruined by each other.

When our lips finally parted, we were both completely breathless. Reina’s fingers remained tangled in the fabric of my hoodie, trembling as she looked up at me, her face flushed a bright, burning crimson.

"Do you... believe me now?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

I looked down at her, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. "You're an idiot, Kujo," I whispered, a tiny, fractured smirk ghosting across my lips. "A total, arrogant, brilliant idiot."

"I know..." Reina whispered, stepping once again into my space and hugging me tightly, burying her face directly against my chest.

My arms hesitated for a fraction of a second before they wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against me. "Why?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Why go this far? You could have walked away from that hallway and never looked back."

"Because a perfect life is empty," she whispered, her voice sounding small in the tiny room. "Everyone expects me to be the perfect person, yet Kaito. You're the only one who saw me for who I really am."

She pulled back just enough to look at me, her hands reaching down to tightly intertwine her fingers with mine. “If I lose you... If I let my stupid pride drive, you away completely... then I'm just a ghost in a giant house."

I squeezed her hands back, my chest tightening. "You're too stubborn to be a ghost, Reina."

She reached for her bag and pulled out the envelope I forced into her hands earlier in the hallway. "I don't want the money, and I don't want to be at the top anymore," she said, handing over the envelope. "Not if it means I have to be alone. I'd rather be fifth with you than first without you."

I let out a laugh, taking the envelope from her and setting it aside on the desk. "You’d be a terrible fifth, Reina. Your ego wouldn't handle it for a week."

"Then get back to first," she rebutted instantly, with the fire of determination rekindling back in her eyes. "Midterms are in a few days, right? Beat me and take the top spot.”

Now that the adrenaline from the kiss earlier had finally worn off, the bone-deep exhaustion from the last two weeks finally kicked in. My knees felt weak. I stumbled backward and lay down on the edge of my narrow bed, letting my legs hang tiredly off the side.

"I'm still tired, Reina," I admitted, my voice dropping to a whisper. "I'm so tired."

"I can tell," she said softly, lying down beside me, leaning her head against my shoulder. "Then don't fight today; let’s just... stay here for a while.”

We lay there for a while under the dim light of my studio apartment, not saying a single word. The ceiling blurred above us as, for the first time in two weeks, we just enjoyed each other’s company...

After several minutes, Reina shifted beside me, sitting up slightly and brushing a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear as she looked down at my face. "Hey, Kaito?" 

"What is it, Reina?"

"I love you..."

I felt my chest tighten all over again. I tried looking away, trying to hide the sudden spike of embarrassment. “You... you already said that earlier...”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say it back," she whispered, a small triumphant trace of her usual confidence returning to her lips as she leaned over me.

I turned my face back toward her, meeting her gaze in the dim light. “...I love you too, Reina.”

A soft smile broke across her face, and before the words could even fully settle in the space between us, she leaned down, closing the distance one more time to press her lips back against mine.

This time, there was no desperate panic, no lingering anger, and no suffocating guilt. All of it had burned away, replaced by a deep, aching longing that enveloped us both.

The kiss was slow, deliberate, and extraordinarily deep, parting my lips with a gentle, blooming warmth that made the rest of the world fade completely into meaningless background noise.

The envelope fell from the bed, tumbling on the floor as the crisp bills flooded across the carpet with a soft thud.

None of us moved to pick it up. We just ignored it completely; all that mattered to us right now was the steady beat of our hearts against one another and the simple truth that we weren’t fighting alone anymore.