Kaito wasn't expecting a visitor that night.
After the whirlwind of Chisato's confession, the rumors, and the unraveling of everything he thought he understood about human relationships, he had barely begun to process it all.
But then—
A knock at his door.
It was almost midnight. The dorm was silent. The world outside, wrapped in a cold darkness, felt distant and unreal.
Kaito hesitated, then pulled the door open.
And there he was.
Haru.
His roommate, the one person who had somehow made the suffocating walls of their shared dorm feel like home. The one who had left for an overseas exchange program months ago with a wide grin and a promise to "come back with cool stories."
Except—
Haru didn't look like someone returning from a great adventure.
He looked furious.
Haru pushed past Kaito without a word, dropping his bag onto the floor. His usual carefree energy was absent, replaced by a tension that filled the room like a storm about to break.
Kaito barely had time to react before Haru spun around, his voice sharp.
"What the *hell* is going on?"
Kaito blinked. "What?"
Haru let out a harsh laugh. "I go overseas for a few months, and I come back to *this*?" He gestured wildly. "Your face is all over the internet! People are talking like you're some kind of—"
His words faltered.
Like you're some kind of *scandal*.
The weight of it hit Kaito all over again.
Yuuki. The rumors. Chisato's obsession.
Haru's voice softened, but it didn't lose its edge. "I thought you hated attention."
Kaito exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I do."
Haru stared at him for a long moment. Then, finally, he dropped onto Kaito's bed, leaning back against the wall.
"Alright," he said, his voice quieter now. "Start from the beginning."
Kaito didn't want to tell it.
Not because he didn't trust Haru. He did. More than anyone.
But saying it out loud meant facing it.
The rumors. The messages. The realization that someone he had trusted Chisato had been pulling the strings.
And the fact that even now, even with the truth exposed, the whispers hadn't stopped.
But Haru had come back.
For him.
So Kaito took a deep breath. And he told the story.
He didn't leave anything out.
Not the picture at the café. Not the disgusting rumors. Not the messages from Chisato, the carefully crafted manipulation, the way she had convinced herself that she was *saving* him.
And through it all, Haru didn't interrupt.
He just listened.
But the longer Kaito spoke, the darker Haru's expression became.
And when Kaito finally fell silent, Haru's voice was dangerously low.
"She stalked you."
Kaito hesitated. "…Yeah."
Haru's hands clenched into fists. "And the school just let it slide?"
"They don't know the full story," Kaito admitted. "Yuuki wanted to handle it quietly."
Haru scoffed. "Of course she did."
Kaito frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Haru didn't answer right away. Instead, he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
"Yuuki's not just any girl," he said finally. "She's Yuuki."
There was something unreadable in his tone.
Kaito felt a flicker of irritation. "And?"
Haru exhaled, shaking his head. "Nothing. Just… be careful."
Kaito stiffened.
That was the same thing Chisato had said.
Haru didn't let it go.
Over the next few days, he made it his mission to dig deeper. He started asking questions. He went through the school forums, the online threads, every whisper of rumor that had circulated about Kaito and Yuuki.
And then—
He found something.
Something Kaito had missed.
"You need to see this," Haru said, shoving his phone into Kaito's hands.
It was an old forum post.
From before the scandal.
Kaito frowned. "What am I looking at?"
Haru's voice was tight. "The rumors about Yuuki didn't start with the café picture."
Kaito's blood ran cold.
The post was from months ago.
@Anonymous:Yuuki's always been like this. She plays with people, gets bored, and throws them away. Just watch. It's only a matter of time before her new toy breaks.
Kaito swallowed hard.
The date.
It was before he and Yuuki had even become friends.
And the comments beneath it—
@Anonymous2:I heard she did the same thing to a guy last year.
@Anonymous3:She's dangerous.
@Anonymous4:Someone should teach her a lesson.
A chill ran down Kaito's spine.
This wasn't about him.
This had started long before he ever got involved.
Which meant—
Someone else had been watching Yuuki all along.
And Chisato… might not have been the only one pulling the strings.
Haru's jaw was tight. "Who else did she reject?"
Kaito's stomach twisted.
He had assumed the worst was over.
But this?
This was something else.
Yuuki wasn't just being targeted because of her connection to Kaito.
She had been a target long before that.
And if they had only uncovered part of the truth…
Then the real enemy was still out there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Kaito felt a cold dread settle over him.
This wasn't over.
Not even close.
The weight of the discovery pressed down on Kaito like a suffocating fog. He scrolled through the old forum posts again, fingers slightly trembling. The words on the screen blurred together in a mixture of sickening rumors, cruel accusations, and something worse—something deliberate.
This wasn't just school gossip. It was a pattern
Someone had been watching Yuuki. Tracking her. Turning people against her long before Kaito ever stepped into her life.
His mind reeled. Who else had she rejected? How long had this been going on?
Haru sat across from him, hands clasped tightly, knuckles white. His carefree, teasing nature was gone, replaced by something sharper, something lethal.
"She's been dealing with this alone," Haru muttered. "For years."
Kaito swallowed hard. The pieces were coming together, but they formed an ugly picture.
Chisato wasn't the true mastermind.
She had been part of it, yes—her obsession with Kaito had driven her to twist the truth, to control the narrative. But the seed of all this? The relentless, systematic harassment of Yuuki? That had started long before Chisato entered the picture.
Which meant someone else was orchestrating this.
Someone smarter.
Someone patient.
And they were still out there.
The air in the dorm room was thick with tension. Kaito looked up from the phone and met Haru's gaze.
"What do we do?"
Haru exhaled sharply. "We find out who's behind this. And we stop them."
The certainty in his voice was reassuring, but Kaito wasn't convinced.
"How?" Kaito asked. His voice was quieter, hesitant. "Whoever's behind this… they're careful. They're not like Chisato. They don't *want* to be seen."
Haru leaned back, arms crossed. "Maybe. But mistakes always leave a trail."
Kaito frowned. "You think there's more?"
Haru nodded. "People don't just do this for fun. If someone's been stalking Yuuki this long, there's a reason. An obsession, maybe. A grudge. Something."
Kaito hesitated.
He had seen obsession firsthand. He had felt it in the way Chisato clung to him, convinced she was the only one who could "save" him. But this…
This wasn't the same.
This was deeper.
More calculated.
He thought of Yuuki—the way she smiled so easily, the way she brushed off the rumors, the way she carried herself like none of it could touch her. But now, he saw the truth.
She wasn't unbothered.
She had been fighting this battle alone.
For years.
And now—
Now, he was caught in the crossfire.
Kaito found himself standing outside Yuuki's dorm that night, heart hammering against his ribs.
He hadn't planned on coming here. Not this late, not after everything. But his feet had moved on their own, and now, he was here.
He knocked.
Silence.
Then—footsteps.
The door cracked open, and Yuuki peeked out, eyes shadowed with exhaustion.
"Kaito?"
He swallowed hard. "Can we talk?"
She stared at him for a moment before sighing and opening the door wider. "Yeah. Come in."
The room was small, neat, **empty**. The way she lived—minimalist, untouched by personality, like she was afraid to leave too much of herself behind.
Kaito sat on the edge of her bed, hands clasped together. Yuuki stood near the window, arms crossed, waiting.
"I know," he said finally.
Yuuki stiffened. "…Know what?"
Kaito hesitated. "That this didn't start with me."
Her fingers curled slightly.
Haru was right. People didn't just wake up one day and start tormenting someone. There was a reason. A pattern. A history.
Yuuki had been through this before.
She just never told anyone.
"Who was it?" Kaito asked. His voice was soft, careful.
Yuuki turned away, looking out the window. "It doesn't matter."
"It does," he insisted.
She let out a bitter laugh. "Why? So you can play hero?"
Kaito clenched his fists. "So I can understand."
Yuuki was silent for a long moment. Then—
"It started in high school."
Kaito held his breath.
"There was a guy," she said. "Older. Popular. He liked me. I didn't like him back."
Her voice was flat. Detached.
"But he didn't take it well," she continued. "At first, it was little things. Rumors. Lies. Then it got worse."
Kaito felt a chill run down his spine. "Worse how?"
Yuuki exhaled, turning to face him. Her eyes were dark, unreadable.
"He made sure I was alone. That no one would trust me." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "And it worked."
Kaito's stomach twisted.
"His name?" Kaito asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Yuuki's smile widened slightly.
"Kazuki."
The name landed like a hammer.
Kaito knew it.
Everyone did.
Kazuki Tanaka.
Student council president. Former top student. Charismatic. Respected.
And the one person no one would ever suspect.
Kaito barely heard Yuuki's next words.
"He graduated and moved on," she murmured. "Or so I thought."
The realization hit him like ice water.
He never moved on.
He had just been waiting.
Watching.
And now, with Kaito in the picture—
It wasn't just about Yuuki anymore.
Kaito felt his hands shake.
"We need proof," Haru had said earlier. "We need to find out who's behind this."
Now, they had a name.
And Kazuki—
Was about to learn that he wasn't untouchable anymore.