The night was colder than usual. Kaito could feel the chill settle in his bones as he stood outside, his breath misting in the air. His mind was still reeling from Yuuki's revelation.
Kazuki Tanaka.
The name carried weight. It wasn't just some anonymous online troll or a jealous classmate. This was someone who had been **careful**, someone who had spent years weaving a narrative against Yuuki.
And now Kaito had walked straight into his web.
The reality of it felt suffocating. He had thought the rumors, the harassment, the twisted stories were just another case of college gossip spiraling out of control. But this?
This was something else.
Someone had been watching Yuuki for years. Studying her. Making sure that no matter where she went, she could never truly escape.
A hand landed on his shoulder. Kaito flinched.
It was Haru.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Haru muttered, his voice unusually serious.
Kaito swallowed. "Maybe I have."
Back in the dorm, Haru sat cross-legged on his bed, his expression unreadable. He had been silent the whole way back, waiting for Kaito to speak first.
"Kazuki Tanaka," Kaito finally said, the name tasting like poison on his tongue.
Haru let out a slow breath. "Yeah. I know him."
Kaito's head snapped up. "What?"
Haru sighed, rubbing his temples. "Not personally, but… I've heard the stories. The golden student. The one everyone loved. But—"
He hesitated.
"But what?"
Haru's fingers tightened around the bedsheet. "There were whispers. Back when I was in high school. People used to say that girls who rejected him had bad things happen to them."
Kaito felt his stomach drop. "What kind of bad things?"
Haru's jaw tightened. "Expulsions. Sudden transfers. Families moving out of town. Always something different. But the result was the same."
"They disappeared," Kaito whispered.
Haru nodded.
Kaito felt like he was going to be sick.
Yuuki had survived. Barely.
But now, because of Kaito—because of their connection he was back.
The next day, the tension on campus was suffocating. People whispered when Kaito walked past, their eyes darting toward him before quickly looking away. The rumors hadn't died down. If anything, they had gotten worse.
Kaito and Yuuki caught in bed together.
Kaito using Yuuki for sex.
Yuuki manipulating Kaito.
They're both disgusting.
The words burned into his brain. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palm.
And then, there was the message.
A simple email. Untraceable. No sender.
"Drop her. Before it's too late."
Kaito stared at the screen, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
This wasn't just some random troll. This was a warning
Kazuki was watching.
And he wasn't done yet.
Yuuki refused to talk about it.
"It's fine," she had said, brushing off Kaito's concern like it was nothing. "This has happened before."
That was what made it worse.
The way she accepted it. The way she carried the weight of years of torment like it was just another normal part of life.
"Why don't you ever fight back?" Kaito had asked her, frustration creeping into his voice.
Yuuki had smiled.
And it was the coldest smile Kaito had ever seen.
"Because," she whispered, "the world is evil."
She looked out the window, her eyes distant.
"You think if you tell the truth, people will believe you?" she continued. "You think if you expose him, everything will magically be okay?"
Kaito had no answer.
Yuuki turned to face him, her expression unreadable. "The world doesn't care about the truth, Kaito. It cares about who tells the better story."
And Kazuki's story was already written.
The perfect student. The golden boy. The one no one would ever suspect.
And Yuuki?
She was just another girl who got in his way.
Kaito felt anger rise in his chest. "That's not—"
"It's reality."
Yuuki leaned back, arms crossed. "You want to fight him? Go ahead. But he's already won. He's been winning for years."
Kaito clenched his fists. "Then I'll change the ending."
Yuuki let out a breath of laughter.
But she didn't say no.
Haru was waiting for him outside. "You're going after him, aren't you?"
Kaito nodded.
Haru smirked. "Good."
It was the first time Kaito had seen him look dangerous.
They weren't going to play by Kazuki's rules anymore.
It was time to start a war.