Chapter 4: Rumors Spread Faster Than Feelings
Monday came fast — and with it, chaos.
Yumi stepped into the classroom and immediately felt the weight of the stares. Not subtle ones. Not glances. Full-on stares. Like she had a second head. Or had come to school holding hands with a ghost.
It took her two seconds to figure out why.
A note had been taped to her desk.
In ugly red marker.
"Yumi Hanazawa loves Scarface Kenzaki 💔 Gross."
She stared at it. She didn't move. She didn't flinch.
But her stomach twisted.
Across the room, Akiro sat in his usual place, back hunched, headphones in. He hadn't noticed. Or maybe he had — and just didn't care.
The class was unusually quiet.
She reached for the paper.
But someone beat her to it.
Akiro.
He walked past her desk like a storm in silence, peeled the note off in one fluid motion, crushed it, and tossed it in the trash. No words. No eye contact.
Just fury — tightly bottled.
The entire room tensed.
Akiro turned to her and muttered, "Don't look at them."
And then he walked back to his seat like nothing happened.
Yumi sat down. Slowly. Carefully. Her cheeks hot. Her throat dry.
He defended me, she thought. Like he didn't even think about it. Like it was… automatic.
But why?
Later that day, they crossed paths near the old vending machine behind the gym — the one no one really used because it still sold weird canned soup drinks.
Yumi stood awkwardly as Akiro pressed the button for iced coffee.
"Thanks," she said softly. "For earlier."
He didn't look at her. "It was stupid. Kids are bored. You're an easy target now."
"I wasn't before?"
"You were perfect before," he said flatly. "Perfect people don't get bullied. Just watched."
She blinked. "You think I'm perfect?"
He sipped his drink. "Not anymore."
"…Thanks?"
He smirked faintly. "It's a compliment."
She shook her head, laughing under her breath. "You're weird."
"You wore my hoodie for three days."
Yumi choked on nothing. "You saw?!"
"I saw your Instagram story."
Yumi covered her face with both hands. "I hate myself."
"You tagged it #cozy."
She let out a groan. "Okay. Okay, I deserve to be publicly executed."
Akiro chuckled — low and quick, like it escaped before he could stop it.
Yumi looked at him then. Really looked.
He doesn't smile often. But when he does… it's like watching something broken remember how to glow.
"…Do you want to hang out sometime?" she blurted.
Akiro blinked. "What?"
"Like… not at school," she said quickly. "Just… talk. Or whatever."
A long silence.
Then, quietly:
"Okay."
That night, she lay in bed staring at her ceiling, heart pounding in her ears.
He said okay.
The ugliest boy in school.
And maybe the kindest.
Maybe the loneliest.
Maybe the one who was about to shatter everything she thought she knew about love.