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KIROKAZE

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⠂˖❥ Mai •。 she/her .𖤣𖥧𓋼
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Chapter 16 - He knows something
By the time they leave the bench, the sun is already starting to set. The campus glows orange for a few minutes before everything turns cold again.
Y/N keeps replaying Moka’s words in her head.
It was about one of his friends.
The closer they get to the dorm buildings, the quieter Riku becomes.
Yushi notices too.
“You okay?” he asks.
Riku nods.
“No,” Y/N says before he can lie again.
Riku exhales softly.
“I just hate not remembering.”
Y/N looks at him. “You are remembering.”
“Not enough.”
Before she can answer, voices echo from around the corner near the athletic building.
Y/N slows immediately.
Sion is standing with two other guys from the team, hood pulled up, hands shoved into his pockets. Nothing is happening until they hear one of the players say …
“Coach is still asking questions about that night.”
Sion’s expression changes instantly.
“Why?” he asks quickly.
The other guy shrugs. “Probably because people keep talking.”
“They should stop,” Sion says with a serious expression.
The conversation dies awkwardly after that.
Y/N exchanges a glance with Yushi.
One of the teammates notices them nearby and walks off, muttering something about practice.
The other follows.
Leaving Sion alone.
For a second, nobody moves.
Until sion looks up and spots Y/N.
His expression tightens almost immediately.
“…You again.”
Y/N keeps her voice calm. “Funny, I was about to say the same thing.”
Sion lets out a dry laugh, but it sounds forced.
“What do you want this time?”
Yushi steps slightly closer beside her. “Relax.”
“I am relaxed,” Sion snaps.
“We’re just asking questions,” she says.
“About Riku again?” Sion asks immediately.
Y/N tilts her head slightly. “You seem nervous every time we mention him.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You look nervous.”
Sion scoffs and looks away for a second, jaw tight.
“This is exactly what I meant before,” he says. “People need to let this go.”
Y/N studies Sion for another second before speaking again.
“You were close with him, right?”
Sion hesitates this time.
“…Yeah.”
“Then why does it bother you so much when people ask about him?”
Sion’s posture stiffens instantly.
“Because he’s dead,” he says sharply. “What’s the point?”
Silence.
Sion takes a step back, running a hand through his hair.
“I just mean-” he starts, frustrated now, “people are acting like something happened when it didn’t.”
Y/N’s eyes sharpen slightly.
“And how do you know that?”
Sion looks between them like he suddenly regrets stopping at all.
Then his phone buzzes.
He grabs onto the interruption immediately.
“I have to go.”
He starts walking away fast
“Sion,” Y/N calls.
He doesn’t turn around.
He leaves without another word.
Silence settles after him.
Yushi exhales first. “Okay, that was weird.”
Riku’s gaze stays fixed on where Sion disappeared.
“He knows something” …
———
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Chapter 15 - One of his friends
Silence lingers where she once was before disappearing into the crowded hallway. Y/N and Yushi don’t move, It feels like if they do, they’ll lose whatever that moment almost was.
Riku comes and stands behind them, staring at the empty space like he’s trying to pull the words back. “One of my friends…” he repeats under his breath. There’s something unsettled in his voice.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
But incomplete.
“We need to find her again,” she says.
Yushi looks up. “You think it was that important?”
"Yes, if it was something small," she explains, "she would've just texted it."
Riku swallows.
——
They don’t go back to the dorm.
Instead, they end up outside on a bench just far enough from the main paths that the noise fades into the background. The campus keeps moving around them as they sit down still thinking.
“What could it have been?” Yushi asks after a while.
Y/N doesn’t answer right away.
She’s staring down at her notebook again.
“One of his friends,” she repeats quietly.
“That doesn’t help much,” Yushi says.
“It does,” she replies. “It means it wasn’t about school, or practice, or something random.”
Riku watches her. “It was about a person.”
Y/N nods.
“And not just anyone,” she adds. “Someone close enough that she thought you needed to know immediately.”
Yushi leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So what, something bad?”
The word hangs there.
Y/N doesn’t say yes.
But she doesn’t disagree either.
“…Why would she know something bad about my friend?” he asks.
Yushi exhales slowly. “Maybe she saw something.”
“Or heard something,” Y/N adds.
Riku looks down, thinking.
“She doesn’t usually jump to conclusions,” he says. “If she thought something was wrong…”
“…then it probably was,” Y/N finishes.
Silence settles again.
Y/N taps her pen lightly against the page.
“Think about it,” she says. “She texted you, told you to hurry, said it was important”
“And then you never called,” Yushi adds.
Riku closes his eyes briefly.
“Yeah.”
Y/N looks back at the list.
“If it was about one of them,” she says, “then whatever she knew… it could connect to that night.”
Yushi glances at her. “You think she knew before it happened?”
“I don’t know,” Y/N says honestly.
“But I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
Riku exhales slowly, running a hand through his hair.
Y/N starts writing stuff down.
Serious. Urgent. About a friend.
She underlines it.
Yushi watches her. “So what now?”
Y/N closes the notebook.
“We find her again,” she says. “And this time we don’t let it get cut off.”
Riku looks up.
There’s something different in his expression now.
Not just confusion.
Not just searching.
Something closer to dread.
“…What if I don’t like the answer?” he asks quietly.
Y/N meets his gaze.
“Then we deal with it,” she says.
Yushi nods once. “We’ve come this far.”
Riku looks away
somewhere on that campus moka is carrying a piece of the truth. One she almost said, one that might change everything.
———
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The Call That Never Came
Moka checks the time again.
6:20 PM.
Her phone rests in her hand as she stares at the screen, rereading the last few messages.
Moka: did you eat
Riku: yeah don’t worry so much
Moka: okay well hurry up and call me I need to tell you something important
She presses her lips together slightly.
Riku always calls.
Even if he’s late.
Even if he’s tired.
He always calls.
Moka leans back in her chair, tapping her finger lightly against the side of her phone.
6:35 PM.
Still nothing.
She opens their chat again, like something new might appear just because she’s looking.
“He’s probably still at practice,” she says out loud, more to fill the silence than because she believes it. She stands up, pacing once, then twice, before sitting back down.
7:08 PM.
This time, she calls him.
The phone rings.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“Pick up…” she mutters.
It keeps ringing before it goes to voicemail. Moka pulls the phone away, frowning
“Seriously?”
She hangs up quickly, irritation bubbling up now.
Not worry.
Not yet.
Just annoyance.
She types fast.
why aren’t you answering
She stares at it.
Then deletes it.
Replaces it.
call me when you see this
Send.
7:21 PM.
Her leg bounces under the desk.
She keeps checking the screen every few seconds now, like she might miss it if she looks away.
Nothing.
No call.
No message.
The irritation fades.
Something else takes its place.
“He said he would call,” she says softly.
Riku doesn’t forget.
He doesn’t ignore her.
Not like this.
Moka tightens her grip on her phone.
7:34 PM.
She doesn’t call again.
She just sits there.
Waiting.
Watching the screen.
Hoping it lights up.
Hoping his name appears.
It doesn’t.
And the “something important” she wanted to tell him
stays unsaid.
———
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Chapter 14 - Important
It takes them a day to find her. They start with what they know. Class schedules, a few quiet questions that don’t raise suspicion.
Eventually, it leads them to a building on the far side of campus.
Yushi slows as they approach. “You sure about this?”
“No,” Y/N says honestly.
Riku stands a step behind her, quieter than usual.
“She should be in there,” Y/N adds.
Riku doesn’t move.
“…I can’t go in,” he says.
Y/N nods. “You don’t have to.”
Inside, it’s quieter.
Y/N spots her near the window.
She’s sitting alone, phone in her hand, not really using it just holding it.
Y/N walks over carefully.
“Hey.”
Moka looks up. “Yeah?”
“You’re Moka, right?”
A small pause.
“…Yeah. Do I know you?”
Y/N shakes her head. “No I just-”
She hesitates.
“I knew Riku.”
Moka’s expression shifts immediately.
“Oh,” she says quietly.
Yushi steps closer but stays silent.
Y/N sits across from her. “I didn’t know him well,” she adds. “But I’ve been trying to understand what happened.”
Moka looks down at her phone.
“…People keep saying that,” she says. “Trying to understand.”
Her voice isn’t harsh.
Just tired.
“What do you want to know?” she asks after a moment.
“Just what he was like,” Y/N says gently. “Outside of everything else.”
Moka exhales softly.
“He was annoying,” she says. “Always telling me not to worry so much.”
A small, almost invisible smile.
“He called me every day,” she adds. “Even when he didn’t have time.”
Y/N nods.
“That night,” she says carefully, “did you talk to him?”
Moka’s grip tightens slightly around her phone.
“No,” she says. “He didn’t call.”
The words are simple.
But they land heavy.
“Did you text him?” Y/N asks.
“…Yeah.”
Moka unlocks her phone and turns the screen slightly toward them.
Moka: did you eat
Riku: yeah don’t worry so much
Moka: okay well hurry up and call me I need to tell you something important
Y/N’s chest tightens.
“He didn’t answer after that?” she asks quietly.
Moka shakes her head. “No I called too.”
A pause.
“He didn’t pick up.”
Yushi glances at Y/N.
Y/N looks back at Moka.
“You were expecting him to call,” she says.
Moka nods. “He said he would.”
Silence settles between them.
Y/N hesitates for just a second
then asks,
“You said you needed to tell him something important… what was it?”
Moka looks down at her phone again.
Her expression shifts slightly.
Not sad.
Not confused.
Just… distant.
“…It was about one of his friends,” she says quietly.
She opens her mouth to speak again until the loud ringing of the bell goes off
“Sorry I have to go” she says looking back one last time before disappearing.
Leaving Y/N and Yushi to stare at her shadow.
———
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Chapter 13 - Who is Moka?
The room stays quiet for a while.
Yushi shifts slightly against the bed, like he’s been thinking about something for longer than he wants to admit.
He hesitates before asking
“Who’s Moka?”
The name lingers in the air.
Y/N glances up and adds. “You’ve mentioned her twice.”
Riku looks at them.
For a second, the question hits differently than the others.
“She’s my sister,” he says quietly.
Y/N’s expression softens just a little. “Younger?”
Riku nods. “Yeah.”
Yushi leans forward slightly. “You called her a lot?”
A small pause.
“Every day,” Riku says.
He looks down, like he’s following the memory as it comes back.
“And… that day,” he adds slowly, “she told me to call her. Said she had something important to tell me.”
Y/N looks up “Wait…what?”
Riku frowns slightly. “What?”
“You didn’t say that before,” she says. “About her needing to tell you something.”
Yushi sits up a little straighter. “That’s new.”
Riku blinks, caught off guard.
“…It must’ve slipped,” he says. “Sometimes things just… come back like that.”
Yushi glances at Y/N. “If she was rushing you to call it must’ve been really important …”
Y/n writes it down.
Moka - important call?
They can come back to it later.
For now
the room goes quiet again.
But this time, it feels different.
Y/N studies Riku for a moment before asking,
“What’s she like?”
Riku blinks, slightly surprised by the question.
Then his expression softens, just a little.
“She talks a lot,” he says. “Whenever we call. About everything, school, friends… random stuff.”
Yushi lets out a quiet breath.
Riku huffs faintly. “I used to complain about it sometimes.”
A small pause.
“But I still picked up.”
Y/N’s grip tightens slightly around her pen.
Because now the timeline feels even sharper.
“She never got that call,” Y/N says quietly.
Riku doesn’t answer.
He doesn’t need to.
The silence says enough.
Yushi looks down for a moment, then back up. “Does she know about your friends?”
“…Some of them,” Riku says. “I talked about the team sometimes.”
Y/N nods slowly. “Has she met any of them?”
A pause.
“…Anton,” Riku says quietly.
Riku looks toward the window again, his expression distant.
“You know…” he says slowly, “I kept thinking about it.”
Y/N looks at him. “What?”
“Calling her.”
His voice is quieter now.
“…Now I just watch from afar.”
Neither of them knows what to say to that.
So they don’t.
They just sit there.
Because now there’s something new in the room.
Not just questions.
Not just answers.
Something unfinished.
And somewhere, outside of all of this
there’s someone still waiting for a call that never came.
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Chapter 12 - The message
Later that day Y/N’s room feels quieter than usual.
Yushi sits on the floor, scrolling on his laptop, while Y/N flips through her notebook over and over looking at stuff from when they first started helping while riku stands near the window.
“Something’s off,” Y/N says finally.
Yushi looks up. “What part?”
“All of it,” she replies. “The timeline doesn’t sit right… it’s like we’re missing something”
Riku glances over. “What do you mean?”
Y/N taps her pen against the page, thinking.
“You said you stayed late right?,” she says.
Riku nods. “Yeah”
Y/N nods slowly looking back down at her notebook. “ here you said you were trying to hurry because someone named Moka would be mad if you didn’t call her” she says looking up
“ so we know you weren’t planning to stay,” she says. “You had somewhere to be.”
Riku’s expression tightens slightly. “Right.”
Yushi leans forward. “Then why didn’t you just leave?”
Riku hesitates.
“I was distracted,” he says. “Something stopped me.”
Y/N flips to another page in her notebook.
“Your message,” she says.
Riku frowns. “What message?”
“The one you sent before everything happened,” she continues. “The one you sent to Anton”
The name lands quietly.
“Oh… I asked if he was free after practice.” He said looking down. “ I remember wanting to hang out with him for a little.”
Y/N’s grip tightens slightly around her pen.
Yushi processes it quickly. “And he didn’t answer.”
Riku shakes his head. “No, I remember checking, but there was nothing.”
The room goes still.
Y/N looks up.
“Anton told me something,” she says slowly. “When I talked to him.”
Riku’s attention sharpens. “What?”
“He said he missed your last message,” she replies. “That if he had answered faster…”
Riku goes quiet.
“ Sorry I didn’t tell you that part when you asked what he said at the time…”
Yushi’s expression shifts. “So he knew about it.”
“Not only did he know he brought it up on his own“ Yushi adds, more focused now.
Riku looks down at his hands.
“I wasn’t waiting for him,” he says. “I remember that.”
Y/N nods immediately. “Right. You were trying to leave.”
“So the message didn’t keep me there,” Riku continues.
Yushi tilts his head slightly. “But something else did.”
Silence settles.
Y/N looks back at the names.
Sion still stands out
But Anton…
Anton doesn’t fit the same way.
He’s quiet. Grieving. Safe.
And yet..
“He feels guilty,” Y/N says softly.
Riku looks up. “Anton?”
She nods. “About the message.”
Yushi watches her carefully. “That’s normal.”
“Yeah,” Y/N says. “It is.”
But her tone says she’s not fully convinced.
Riku leans back against the wall, thinking.
“I didn’t stay for him,” he repeats quietly.
Y/N nods.
whoever was in that locker room that night…
wasn’t the person he texted.
And yet somehow
they’re still connected.
———
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Chapter 11 — not alone
Y/N walks into the dining hall. Conversations blend together, trays clatter, people laugh but it all feels distant, like she’s listening from underwater.
Yushi sits across from her, scrolling through his phone, half focused.
Riku stands nearby, watching everything like he’s trying to recognize a world that moved on without him.
“You okay?” Yushi asks.
Y/N nods. “Just thinking.”
About Sion and how easy it would be to stop there.
Across the room, a group of athletes walk in, loud and careless, talking over each other.
“Coach is still mad about the locker room thing,” one of them says.
Locker room.
The word hits
Riku freezes all at once.
His entire body goes still, like something locked into place.
“Riku?” Y/N says quietly.
He doesn’t answer.
His gaze is unfocused, fixed somewhere past the room
And then it shifts.
Water running.
Too loud.
lights buzzing overhead.
Riku is there
Standing near the showers this time, not the lockers.
The floor is damp beneath his shoes.
His heart is already racing.
“You don’t get it,” a voice says.
A little clearer.
Closer.
Not distant like before.
Riku turns
A figure stands a few feet away not fully visible. Still blurred, like something his mind won’t let him see.
But the shape is familiar.
“I worked just as hard as you,” the voice continues, sharper now. “You think you’re the only one who deserved it?”
Riku’s chest tightens.
“I never said that,” he hears himself respond.
“You didn’t have to.”
A step forward.
The sound of a shoe slipping slightly against the wet tile.
Then
A hand.
Grabbing his sleeve.
Not accidental.
Not light.
Firm.
Riku gasps
He’s back in the dining hall.
The noise crashes in all at once.
Voices , movement the clatter of trays.
“What did you see?” Y/n says
Riku’s breathing is uneven, like he just ran.
“It wasn’t just arguing,” he says. “He grabbed me.”
Yushi leans forward. “You’re sure?”
Riku nods, eyes wide. “Yeah
Y/N’s grip tightens around the edge of the table.
“That means physical contact,” she says. “Something they said didn’t happen.”
Riku swallows. “And it was near the showers. The floor was wet. I remember slipping but not falling.”
Yushi’s expression sharpens. “So whatever happened next…”
“…wasn’t immediate,” Y/N finishes.
Riku nods slowly.
“And the voice,” Yushi adds. “Still the same?”
Riku hesitates.
“…Yeah,” he says. “Same tone same anger.”
Y/N glances down at her notebook, even though she already knows what name is written there.
Everything still points in one direction.
But now
they have something more than a feeling.
Something real.
Something the report ignored.
Riku wasn’t alone.
He didn’t fall on his own.
And someone put their hands on him.
———
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Chapter 10 - too suspicious
The next day feels different.
Not anything obvious no big changes, no sudden tension but in the way things don’t quite line up.
Like something is slightly off…
Yushi meets Y/n outside the academic building, hands tucked into his pockets.
“You find anything else?” she asks.
“Nothing new,” he says. “Just more of the same. Reports that don’t say anything.”
Y/N nods. “Then we keep asking.”
Riku lingers beside her, quieter than usual.
“I want to see him again,” he says.
Y/N glances at him. “Sion?”
Riku nods. “Something about yesterday felt… wrong.”
“Yeah,” Yushi mutters. “That’s one way to put it.”
They don’t have to look far.
Sion is near the athletic building pacing, his phone in hand not using it just holding it.
He stops when he notices them.
For a split second, something flashes across his face.
Surprise.
Then it’s gone.
“Hey,” he says, like this is normal like yesterday didn’t happen.
Y/N approaches slowly. “Hi.”
“You’re asking people about Riku, right?” Sion says, before she can speak.
Y/N pauses.
“…Yeah.”
He nods quickly
“Why?”
The question comes out sharper than it needs to.
Yushi shifts slightly beside her.
“Just trying to understand what happened,” Y/N says.
Sion lets out a short breath, glancing away. “There’s nothing to understand it was already figured out.”
Riku’s expression hardens.
“You keep saying that,” Y/N replies calmly.
“Because it’s true,” Sion snaps “I mean… that’s what they said.”
Silence stretches.
Y/N watches him.
Not his words.
His reactions.
“You seem really sure,” she says.
Sion scoffs lightly. “What, you think there’s more to it?”
He says it like a joke.
But there’s something underneath it.
Tight and defensive
Y/N doesn’t answer right away.
Instead, she asks
“Where were you that night?”
Sion freezes.
Not long.
But long enough.
“I told you,” he says. “I wasn’t on campus.”
Y/N tilts her head slightly. “You remember exactly?”
Sion’s grip tightens around his phone.
“Yeah,” he says. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because most people don’t answer that fast,” Y/N says quietly.
Sion’s expression shifts.
Just slightly.
But it’s there.
Annoyance, nerves, something sharper.
“You’re asking a lot of questions,” he says.
Yushi steps in, voice calm. “And you’re giving a lot of quick answers.”
Sion lets out a dry laugh, but there’s no humor in it.
“Look,” he says, running a hand through his hair, “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’re not going to find anything. There’s nothing there.”
Y/N closes her notebook slowly.
“Maybe,” she says. “But I’ll decide that myself.”
She turns.
Yushi follows.
Riku lingers for half a second longer just enough to look at Sion
Then he’s gone too.
Sion stands there, unmoving.
The second they’re out of sight, his composure cracks.
Not completely.
Just enough.
He exhales sharply, dragging a hand down his face.
“…This is stupid,” he mutters.
But he doesn’t sound convinced.
Sion isn’t just being asked things.
He’s being watched.
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hiii love ur work but just letting u know because i assume ure unaware, the yushi pic in the cover for midnight wish is AI-generated there’s a similar pic of him in one of the ode to love teaser pics so i’d recommend using that or something else instead~
Omg is it really??? Sorry, I didn’t know that explains why I don’t remember seeing it all over my feed. Thanks for letting me know! I’ll change it once I get out of class today 😭❤️🩹
The next part of “Things That Don’t Stay Buried” won’t be posted today, but I’ll be sharing two chapters on Tuesday. I will be posting something else tonight instead for Yushi’s birthday :)
Me when I lie 😭❤️🩹 y’all I’m so busy after school I promisE the double upload will be out this weekend 😭
Midnight Wish
Theme: Fluff
Characters: Yushi x GNreader
Warnings: none
SYNOPSIS: Y/n sneaks in at midnight with a candle and a cupcake, but Yushi’s wish turns out to be something he already has
An:Happy birthday Yushi
Wish mlist
———
The clock ticked closer to midnight. Y/n clutched the small cupcake in their hands, the candle already lit, its tiny flame dancing in the quiet of Yushi’s room.
He didn’t know they were there.
Y/n took a deep breath and stepped forward, trying to keep their footsteps silent. “Happy birthday…” they whispered softly.
Yushi stirred in his bed, sleepy eyes blinking open. “Y/n…?” His voice was groggy, but there was a small smile forming.
“I… uh… brought you a little something,” Y/n said, holding the cupcake out. Their cheeks were pink from holding their breath so long.
Yushi sat up fully, eyes lighting up at the gesture. “You didn’t have to… but… thank you.”
“You’re not allowed to eat it yet,” Y/n teased, stepping closer. “You have to make a wish first.”
He leaned forward, resting his forehead lightly against theirs. “A wish?”
“Yeah birthday wish,” Y/n said, grinning softly.
Yushi closed his eyes taking a deep breath. Y/n watched him carefully, trying to memorize the curve of his lips and the way his hair fell across his forehead.
When he opened his eyes again, he whispered, almost shyly, “I… I wished for this.”
Y/n tilted their head. “What do you mean?”
He smiled gently, fingers brushing theirs. “You’re here.”
The world felt small in that moment just the two of them, a single candle, and the soft warmth of being together. Y/n laughed softly, leaning in. “Well… then I guess your wish already came true.”
Yushi chuckled, the sound sleepy but full of happiness. “Yeah… it really did.”
They blew out the candle together, leaving only the quiet glow of the city outside and the soft, shared heartbeat of a birthday that felt like a dream.
The next part of “Things That Don’t Stay Buried” won’t be posted today, but I’ll be sharing two chapters on Tuesday. I will be posting something else tonight instead for Yushi’s birthday :)
IM SAAAAATTT!!!!! IF SION DOES SOMETHING TO YUSHI OR Y/N TO TRY TO STOP THEIR INVESTIGATION
Sion try not to act sus challenge failed ❤️🩹
Loose Ends
Sion stays on the steps for a minute after she leaves.
He doesn’t move right away.
Just stares at his phone like he forgot why he picked it up in the first place.
“we were close.”
The words echo back in his head, and he lets out a quiet, humorless breath.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “Right.”
He pushes himself up and starts walking, shoving his phone into his pocket. His shoulders are tense now nothing like the relaxed posture he had a few minutes ago.
It shouldn’t bother him.
It was just a conversation.
Just some transfer student asking questions she shouldn’t even care about.
But the way she looked at him-
Not confused.
Not curious.
Measured.
Like she was checking his answers against something.
Sion clicks his tongue under his breath and cuts across the path toward the side of the building, away from the main walkways.
He said it fine.
No hesitation.
No mistakes.
Still…
His jaw tightens.
“Did you see him that night?”
The question replays, sharper this time.
Too direct.
Too specific.
Sion runs a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly as he walks.
“They already decided what happened,” he mutters, repeating it like it’s enough to make it true. “It was an accident.”
That’s what everyone says.
That’s what it is.
He slows slightly as he passes the edge of the building as omething makes him stop.
A faint metallic sound.
A locker door.
Sion’s head snaps up.
The hallway nearby is empty.
No one going in. No one coming out.
The sound doesn’t come again.
For a second, he just stands there, staring.
Then he scoffs under his breath.
“Yeah. Okay.”
He starts walking again, faster this time.
But the calm from earlier doesn’t come back.
Because now it’s not just the question bothering him
it’s the feeling that it wasn’t random.
That she didn’t come up to him by chance.
That someone, somewhere, is starting to piece things together.
Sion shoves his hands into his pockets and keeps moving, not looking back.
Not this time.
———
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Chapter 9 - Easy answer
The next day Y/n decides it time to try and find Sion as riku follows close behind. They’ve been walking around trying to find him for a while now. Just as they were about to call it quits they see him by himself walking out of the school lounge area looking down at his phone.
Riku goes quiet beside her.
“That’s him,” he says.
Y/N nods once.
She walks over before she can think too much about it.
“Hey.”
Sion looks up, slightly surprised. “Oh… hey.”
“You knew Riku right?” she asks, keeping her tone casual.
There’s a small pause.
“…Yeah,” Sion says. “We were close.”
Behind her, Riku stiffens.
Y/N shifts her weight. “I’ve been asking people about him, I didn’t really know him.”
Sion lets out a short breath. “Yeah… that’s probably easier.”
The way he says it is off not harsh, not soft. Just… quick.
Y/N tilts her head. “Easier?”
He shrugs. “He could be a lot sometimes.”
Riku frowns.
“In what way?” Y/N asks.
“Just… competitive,” Sion says. “He took things seriously more than most people.”
“Like what?” she presses.
Sion’s fingers tighten slightly around his phone.
“You know… football stuff,” Sion says, laughing softly.
Y/N watches him carefully. “Like the scholarship?”
He laughs again “I mean yeah but that’s normal, right? Guys get jealous doesn’t mean anything.”
The laugh doesn’t reach his eyes.
A brief silence settles between them.
Y/N lets it sit.
Then-
“Did you see him that night?”
Sion answers immediately.
“No.”
No hesitation. No thinking
Y/N doesn’t react. She just nods once, like the answer makes sense.
“Okay.”
Sion relaxes a little, shoulders dropping.
“I mean,” he adds, almost as an afterthought, “they already figured out what happened, right?”
Y/N glances at him. “What do you mean?”
“That it was an accident,” he says. “Or… you know.”
He doesn’t finish it.
He doesn’t have to.
Riku looks away.
Y/N studies Sion for a second longer.
“You sound pretty sure,” she says.
Sion shrugs again, but this time it’s tighter. “That’s just what everyone said.”
Y/N nods slowly and closes her notebook.
“Thanks,” she says.
She turns before the conversation can stretch any further.
Riku follows, quiet, tense.
They walk in silence until the building is out of sight.
“He’s lying ” Riku says.
Y/N exhales. “Yeah.”
When they finally get back inside yushi is already waiting in the room, “Well?”
Y/N thinks for a second.
Not about what Sion said
but how he said it.
“He didn’t even think about the answer,” she says. “It was just… there…like he’s said it before.”
Riku looks back toward the building, something unsettled in his expression.
Y/N looks down at her notebook.
Sion’s name sits there, already underlined.
Everything about him fits.
The tension.
The way he talks about Riku.
The way he answered too quickly.
It would be easy to stop here.
To decide this is it.
But something doesn’t sit right.
Y/N doesn’t cross the name out.
She doesn’t circle it either.
She just leaves it there
and turns the page.
———
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Pt2. What they decide to believe
Back in Y/N’s room, the door closes softly behind them. Yushi drops onto the floor near the bed, while Y/N sets her notebook down on the desk. Riku stands near the window, arms crossed, staring into space.
“So,” Yushi says. “Yu?”
Y/N nods. “He didn’t see anything but he knew the decision had already been made that it was ruled an accident.”
Riku exhales slowly.
“They didn’t ask questions,” Y/N adds. “Because they didn’t want the answers.”
Yushi glances at Riku. “That lines up with what I found.”
For a moment, everything is still.
Then Riku shifts.
“…I remembered something else.”
Y/N looks up immediately. “What kind of something?”
“It’s small,” Riku says. “But it doesn’t change.”
He closes his eyes.
“I remember the argument moving,” he says slowly. “It didn’t stay in one place.”
Yushi frowns. “What do you mean?”
“We weren’t standing by my locker the whole time,” Riku explains. “We moved down the row. Closer to the showers.”
Y/N’s stomach tightens.
“That’s not how it was written,” she says quietly.
Riku shakes his head. “They said I was found alone like nothing else happened but I remember stepping back hitting the bench.”
Fragments flicker-
A wet floor.
A sharp smell of cleaner.
Footsteps slipping.
“I didn’t fall right away,” Riku adds. “I remember trying to steady myself.”
Yushi sits up straighter. “So there was time.”
Riku nods. “And intent.”
The room feels heavier.
Y/N picks up her notebook. “That means the way they described it-”
“… left things out,” Yushi finishes.
Riku opens his eyes. “Someone didn’t just walk away.”
Silence settles in.
This memory doesn’t give them a name.
It doesn’t give them proof.
But it gives them something solid enough to push against the story they were told.
Whatever happened in that locker room wasn’t sudden.
It escalated.
And someone made a choice.
———
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