Kai's POV
The rain had finally stopped, but the heavy humidity lingered in the air. I was standing in the backyard, still soaked to the bone, my shirt clinging to me like a second skin.
The storm had passed, and with it, something else had shifted—something between Haruka and me. I didn't know if it was a change in the air, or just the simple act of standing in the rain together, but it felt like a weight had lifted from my chest.
Haruka was a few steps ahead, bending down to run her fingers through a puddle, watching the water ripple with each movement.
Her expression was calm now, softer than it had been in days.
She had always had this ability to find peace in chaos, like the world's turbulence didn't reach her.
It was one of the things that had drawn me to her in the first place. I wanted that calm. I needed it.
"You okay?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at me with a gentle smile.
I nodded slowly. I was more than just okay.
I was finally starting to feel something I hadn't in a long time—like I could breathe again.
The suffocating cloud I'd been carrying around was starting to disperse, little by little.
"I think so," I said quietly. "I think I've needed this."
Haruka didn't say anything in response. She didn't need to. The silence between us wasn't uncomfortable. It was peaceful, like a quiet understanding that needed no words.
Still, I could feel the weight of everything unsaid hanging in the air, like the lingering scent of rain that hadn't quite dissipated.
As much as I wanted to forget the tension of the past weeks, I knew I couldn't. There were things I needed to confront—things I needed to tell her.
"Haruka," I started, my voice quieter than usual, "I—I'm sorry."
She didn't look at me right away, instead kneeling down and brushing her fingers over the wet grass, lost in her thoughts.
I could hear her soft breathing, the steady rhythm that seemed to match mine. It was like she was waiting for me to continue, but also giving me space to say whatever I needed to.
"I've been pushing you away," I said, finally looking her in the eye. "And I've been lying to myself about why. I didn't want to hurt you.
I thought that if I kept you at arm's length, it would protect you from... from all the mess inside my head. But I was wrong. I was just hurting you more."
Haruka stood up slowly, wiping the rainwater from her face, her eyes soft. "Kai... you don't have to protect me. I'm not fragile."
"I know that," I said, my voice thick with the weight of everything I had been holding back. "But sometimes, I feel like I'm falling apart, and I didn't want you to see that. I didn't want you to think I was weak."
Her expression softened even more, and she stepped closer to me, placing a hand on my arm. "I don't think you're weak. I think you're human. We all have our struggles, Kai. I have mine, too."
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. For the first time in a long while, I realized how much I had been trying to carry on my own.
And in doing so, I had pushed everyone away, including Haruka—the one person who had always been there, even when I didn't deserve it.
"I don't know how to be open with people," I admitted. "I've always kept everything locked inside. But I don't want to be like that anymore. I don't want to push you away."
Haruka smiled softly, a little sad, but there was something gentle about it, too. "It's okay to not have everything figured out, Kai. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to take it one step at a time."
I nodded, feeling the weight in my chest ease. It wasn't fixed, not by a long shot. But this—the way we were standing here, together, just letting the quiet fill the space between us—felt like the beginning of something.
"I want to be with you, Haruka," I said, the words spilling out before I could stop them. "I'm scared, but I want to try. I want to stop hiding."
Her eyes met mine, and this time, there was no hesitation. "Then we'll figure it out together. I'm not going anywhere."
She leaned in slightly, her voice soft, like a whisper meant only for me. "We can take it slow. But I'm not letting you go."
Her words settled in my chest, and I felt something shift inside me, like the first breath after holding it in for too long. I hadn't realized how much I needed to hear that—to feel that kind of certainty, even if just for a moment.
We stood there in silence for a while longer, just letting the rain-soaked world around us breathe.
I could hear the sound of birds calling in the distance as the storm began to fade into the past. It felt like the world had been washed clean, like everything that had been clouded by my own doubts and fears had been made a little clearer.
——~
Haruka's POV
It was strange how much could change in a single moment. A few hours ago, I felt like I was losing Kai, like the distance between us was growing too vast to cross.
But now, standing next to him in the quiet aftermath of the rain, I felt like there was hope again. It wasn't perfect, but I could see the possibility of something real between us?
The way he had opened up to me, even just a little, felt like a breakthrough. He was still guarded, still trying to figure things out, but I knew this was the beginning of something important.
Kai wasn't someone who easily let people in, and I couldn't expect him to change overnight. But this—this was a start.
"I'm here, Kai," I said softly, stepping a little closer to him. "I'm not going anywhere."
He turned to face me fully, his expression so much more open than it had been in days. He still looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but there was a small spark in his eyes—a spark that hadn't been there for a long time.
"I don't deserve you," he muttered, his voice quiet, almost unsure.
I shook my head, touching his arm gently. "You're not alone in this, Kai. You don't have to carry everything by yourself. You've got me."
For a moment, I could see the struggle in his eyes, the vulnerability he didn't want to show, but then, just like that, the tension in his face seemed to ease.
It was small, but it was enough.
"I know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I know."
We didn't need to say anything else.The rain had stopped, the world was clearing, and for the first time in what felt like forever, we were standing together, not as two people lost in their own worlds, but as something more.
Something that was still fragile, but real.
"I'll be here, Kai. Every step of the way," I said, my words steady and sincere.
And for the first time, I believed him when he said he would try.
The road ahead wouldn't be easy. We had a lot to work through—things we hadn't even started to address. But with Kai, for the first time in months, I didn't feel like I was walking alone.
Maybe it was the rain that had cleared the air between us.
Maybe it was just the way things had always been meant to be. But whatever it was, it felt like the beginning of something new. Something I could hold on to.