Outside the window, Shizuka was pressed against the glass.

Both palms flat.

Her fingers spread wide, the tips whitening where they met the surface.

Her face close enough that her breath fogged the glass in small, uneven patches.

Strands of her silver hair clung to it. Her red eyes stayed fixed on him.

She had seen the phone light up.

She had watched his face when he read it.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

She hadn’t looked away.

She saw the moment it hit.

His shoulders tightened.

His back bent forward.

His breath broke into short, uneven pulls.

His teeth started to chatter.

"Kai."

Her voice came through the glass, low, muffled.

Close.

"Kai, open the window."

He didn’t move.

He sat on the edge of the bed, the phone still in both hands.

His fingers were locked around it now.

His head hung forward. His face had gone pale.

Empty.

Pulled somewhere she could not reach.

"Kai. Look at me."

Her palm pressed harder against the glass. The fog spread under it.

"Open the window."

The phone slipped from his hands.

It hit the floor.

He didn’t look at it.

His hands stayed in the air for a second.

Then they dropped slowly into his lap.

He looked at them.

Then at the wall.

Then at the sunlight on the floor.

The same sunlight that had been on his face when he woke up smiling.

His throat worked once.

It’s a lie.

The thought came in sharp.

It stayed.

A lie.

Wrong.

They confessed.

They blushed.

They kissed.

His breath hitched.

You don’t do that.

You don’t say I love you—

His fingers curled in on themselves.

and then say Goodbye.

His chest tightened.

Hard.

His nails dug into his palms.

His head lifted.

He looked at the window.

Shizuka hadn’t moved.

Her palms were still flat against the glass.

Her red eyes were on him.

Wide.

Open.

Watching everything.

Something tore through his chest when he saw her face.

He stood.

Too fast.

The bed shifted behind him.

Three steps.

The window slammed open.

His hand shot out and caught her jacket’s collar.

The fabric bunched in his fist.

He dragged her inside.

She stumbled forward. Her bare feet hit the floor.

Her hair fell around her face, strands sticking to her cheek.

"Was it you?"

"Did you do THIS?"

His voice broke on the last word.

It didn’t sound like him.

She didn’t answer.

She looked at him.

Up close now.

Her red eyes didn’t move.

"Answer me."

His grip tightened. The fabric twisted harder in his hand.

His other hand came up and grabbed her too.

He pulled her closer.

"ANSWER ME!"

His voice shook.

"Kai—"

"ANSWER ME!"

The shout ripped out of him.

His whole body shook with it.

Spiritual energy surged up through him.

Sudden.

Violent.

It flooded his chest, his arms, his hands, more than he had ever felt before.

It burned through him, raw and uncontrolled.

His fist drove forward.

It hit her face.

Hard.

Her head snapped to the side.

A sharp crack.

A mark split across her cheek, dark and burning.

Dark energy bled out from it in thin, twisting strands that didn’t fade.

She didn’t raise her hands.

Didn’t block.

Didn’t step back.

She looked at him.

"Was it because of Hana?"

His voice came out hoarse.

He grabbed her jacket again and slammed her into the wall.

The plaster cracked behind her.

"Was it because we were going out?"

He punched her again.

"You said full freedom—"

His voice broke.

"You said that!"

Her back hit the wall again.

His grip shook.

"Was it a lie?"

He dragged her forward.

"All of it?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

His breath came uneven now.

Sharp.

Fast.

"Did you kill her because—

He hit her again.

The heat in his hands stayed and spread, pushing up his arms, flooding his chest, spilling out with the strike.

His fist drove into her face.

More dark energy tore out of her.

Pitch black blood broke at the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin.

She didn’t flinch.

Her eyes stayed on his.

"WHY."

The word ripped out of him.

He drove her down.

Her back hit the floor.

He followed, knees locking at her sides, both hands twisting in her collar.

His face was wet.

It dripped off his jaw.

"She loved me."

His voice broke.

"She told me—"

His grip tightened.

"She never did anything to you."

His breath came sharp.

"She was just—"

He stopped.

His throat closed.

"She was just Hana."

The name cracked.

"And you—"

His fist came down again.

Hard.

His knuckles split against her cheek. Skin opened. Blood spread across his hand and didn’t stop.

He didn’t slow.

"I’ll kill you."

His voice split.

"I will kill you."

Another hit.

"I swear I will—"

Another.

Faster now.

Less control.

Her head snapped with each impact, then settled back into the same place.

Dark energy spilling out from her cuts.

Her blood pooled beneath her, thick, black, slow, filling the lines between the boards.

She didn’t raise her hands.

Didn’t turn her face.

Her eyes stayed on his.

He raised his fist again.

She moved.

Slow.

Her hand lifted.

Her fingers found his cheek.

Warm.

Wet.

He stopped.

Her palm pressed against his face.

Her thumb dragged once under his eye, wiping his tears.

Slow.

He stared at her.

Then he hit her again.

The hardest one.

His arm drove through the motion without stopping.

The energy surged out with it, bright, violent, forcing her head into the floor.

A dull crack.

She went still.

The dark energy surged once, then settled.

Then she turned her face back toward him.

Slow.

And looked at him.

He pushed back.

His breath tore out of him. His chest burned. His hands shook, still lit, streaked with blood.

The room smelled sharp.

Blood.

Something heavier under it.

Sunlight still lay across the floor.

Across her.

Across him.

He looked at her.

The blood.

The marks across her face.

Her silver hair spread out, dark where it had soaked through.

Her eyes still on him.

He looked at his hands.

Then back at her.

"Did you kill her," he said.

Quiet.

"Tell me the truth."

His voice wavered once.

"Did you actually kill her."

She looked up at him.

Her voice broke when it came.

"You already know the answer," she said.

A breath.

"Kai."

Her eyes held his.

"You already know."