**[HIKARI]**
I couldn't sleep.
Kazuki's words looped in my head like a broken record I couldn't shut off.
*"You have 87 days left."*
*"I love you."*
*"You're going to die."*
At first, I tried to laugh it off. Pretend it was just him being dramatic, angry, trying to scare me because I hurt him.
But it didn't feel like a joke.
And the look in his eyes…
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone. The screen was blank, but I kept checking it. Hoping for a message. Dreading it.
I told myself I hated him. I told myself he was crazy.
But my chest… felt hollow. Like something precious had cracked and slipped through the cracks of my ribs.
I didn't want to admit it. But a part of me believed him.
And that part was terrified.
---
**[KAZUKI]**
I didn't go to school the next day.
My body ached from Ren's fists. My face was swollen, lip split.
But none of that compared to the ache in my chest.
I told her. I told her everything.
And she walked away.
It was supposed to be a relief.
But all I felt was regret.
I'd barely slept through out the day and it was evening already. My thoughts kept looping — her voice cracking, the look on her face when I told her the truth, the way her hand slipped from mine like I was poison. Maybe I really am cursed.
A soft knock pulled me out of it.
"Kazuki?" My mom's voice. I didn't answer.
The door creaked open. She peeked inside, her expression hesitant. "You have a visitor."
Visitor?
She opened the door wider. "It's that girl. Natsumi-chan. Your classmate. Should I tell her to go?"
I blinked.
"…No. Let her in."
---
### **[Living Room – A Few Minutes Later]**
I stayed on the couch, waiting. When Natsumi walked in, she didn't say anything at first. She just looked at me — at the bruises, the cuts. She didn't flinch. She didn't ask what happened.
"You look like hell," she said gently.
I gave a humorless half-smile. "I feel worse."
She sat down on the floor in front of me, like it was the most normal thing in the world. No awkwardness. No judgment. Just presence.
"You didn't come to school today. I figured…" she paused, "maybe you needed someone."
I looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."
"I know."
Silence stretched between us for a moment. It wasn't uncomfortable. Just quiet. Like she was waiting.
Then, her voice softened. "When I first saw you in class… I thought, 'He really doesn't want to be seen.' You always had those weird lenses on. You never looked at anyone. Like you were trying to disappear."
I clenched my jaw. I didn't know what to say to that.
"But yesterday?" she continued. "When Ren hit you, and you didn't even fight back at first? I thought you were just numb. But then I saw your face afterward. The way you looked at him." She tilted her head, her voice low. "You weren't invisible. You were the only real person there." " You refused my help, even when I suggested that I should follow you home. That made me a little bit sad, because you looked like you were all alone and wanted to remain alone "
That made me look up.
"I don't know what you're hiding with those lenses," she said, "but whatever it is… it's not weakness. It's pain. And pain deserves to be seen."
I swallowed hard. "I don't want to look at people faces."
"Why not?"
"Because…" I paused, my throat tightening. "My eyes see too much."
Natsumi didn't flinch. " You can't hide them forever."
I stared at her.
"If you keep hiding," she said, "you'll keep being alone. You don't have to tell anyone your secret. But at least stop hiding yourself, I don't know what you are hiding behind those lenses but I'm sure one day, those eyes will find their purpose."
Something inside me cracked a little.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I nodded.
" Thanks Natsumi " I said.
**[HIKARI]**
At school, everything felt off.
I was quieter. My smile didn't come as easily.
Even Natsumi noticed — though she didn't say much. Just offered me an extra drink at lunch and didn't push when I said I wasn't hungry.
I knew what I looked like. Lost. Confused. Scared.
Because no matter how many times I tried to forget it…
*"You have 87 days left."*
It echoed in everything — the ticking of the clock, the laughs in the hallway, the casual way people talked about plans for the future.
Plans I might not be here for.
---
**[KAZUKI]**
The next day, I returned to school.
This time, I came without my lenses.
The hallway buzzed the moment I walked through.
Gasps. Whispers. Murmurs like rising wind.
"Is that… him?"
"What the hell—he's not wearing those weird lenses …"
"His eyes… they're actually kinda…"
I didn't look at them. I didn't need to.
I was done pretending to be blind.
Break came. I walked through the corridors like a ghost with purpose — straight toward Hikari.
She saw me before I reached her. Her expression froze.
Then, as if on cue—
Ren stepped in. "Didn't I tell you to stay—"
I hit him.
Hard.
He stumbled, swinging back, but I dodged clean.
Every move was crystal-clear. No blur. No guessing.
I didn't let him land a single hit.
He fell. Hard. Groaning. Hands clutching his side. His boys watched in stunned silence, none daring to step in.
I turned to Hikari and held out a small folded note.
She stared at it like it might burn her fingers.
But she took it.
And again… I walked away.
The note I gave her read "If words weren't enough, maybe reality would be. Please come meet me close to the restaurant you always went to "
---
**[HIKARI]**
After school, I stood in the place he asked.
I told myself I wouldn't come. That I shouldn't.
But I came anyway.
He was already there, leaning against a wall, eyes fixed across the street at a small, quiet restaurant.
"What is this?" I asked.
He didn't turn. Just nodded toward the glass window.
"The man inside. The one wiping the counter."
I spotted him. An older man, in his 50s, moving slow.
"In five seconds, he's going to die."
I stared at Kazuki.
"This again?" I said, voice sharp. "Why are you doing this? Why are you—"
"Five."
"No." I stepped back. "I'm done playing along."
"Four."
"I came because I thought you'd explain. Not because—"
"Three."
"This is messed up, Kazuki. You need *help*."
"Two."
I turned my back and walked away.
"One."
**BANG.**
A gunshot split the air like lightning.
Screams followed. Shattering glass. People running. Sirens.
I turned. The man was on the floor, red spilling like ink across tile. The air smelled like metal and panic.
Kazuki stood frozen. Silent. His eyes dim, almost mournful.
My heart dropped.
I couldn't breathe.
He had been right.