I didn't go to school.
I just… couldn't.
I sat on the windowsill, staring at the gray sky.
Messages from Yuna kept coming, one after another.
I didn't open a single one.
The phone buzzed again.
Kurume:
"Please… just give me a chance to explain."
"You don't have to forgive me. Just listen."
I turned off the sound.
Set the phone aside.
Inner Voice
"You knew it would hurt."
"You knew he could break your heart."
"And yet… you still believed."
I hugged my knees, resting my forehead on them.
There were no tears.
Only emptiness.
Memories
I remembered how he looked at me during the festival.
How he held my hand.
How he whispered softly:
"I'll never let you go."
A lie?
Or…
Just weakness?
I didn't know.
Later
Mom knocked on the door.
— "Everything okay?"
— "Mhm."
She didn't come in.
She left a cup of tea by the door.
I looked at my phone again.
On the screen — his name.
Kurume.
Again.
My thumb hovered over "Answer."
Almost.
But… no.
Not yet.