Daichi

A typical school day. Like hundreds of others. You go into the bathroom, automatically checking to see if your hair is sticking out, but the mirror remains empty - no time for reflections today. Not a word since the morning. To anyone. Not even to Daichi. You still don't talk.

The last fight left a heavy silence behind. It seemed that something between you had broken, and now every step, every glance was like walking on broken glass. You were both too proud and stubborn to make the first move. Or maybe you were simply afraid that the other would no longer want to meet you halfway.

The smell of smoke hits you suddenly, acrid, burning your memory. You wince, but immediately realize: this smoke is familiar to you. You recognize the bitter taste on your tongue right away. The third booth is ajar.

Daichi sits on the tiled floor, leaning against the radiator, smoking as if it were his last cigarette. The smoke swirls around him like a veil, enveloping his slender fingers, hiding his face. He looks up. "You are dear to me," his eyes seem to say. You freeze on the threshold. There is a lump in your throat. You want to say something, but the words get stuck inside, as if afraid to break out.

“I love you,” he suddenly says.

The voice is even. No challenge, no hint of a request. Just a statement of fact.

• If it's not mutual... I'll disappear from your life.

Silence. Only heavy breathing and muffled voices behind the door. The heart beats so hard that the pulse echoes in the temples.