A Name in the Dark.

Chapter 34: A Name in the Dark.

It was late.

Not dark yet, but the sky was the color of burnt-out embers, rainclouds still lurking like ghosts. The air smelled damp, like wet stone and lingering smoke.

And I was standing behind one of Roward Academy's side buildings with a complete stranger.

A stranger who had no business being here.

Ryuga.

The name sat in my mind like a foreign object, something I wasn't sure if I wanted to hold onto or throw away.

He leaned against the wall, cigarette between his lips, exhaling smoke like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to this place. I had handed him my lighter a few minutes ago, and now he flicked it open and shut absentmindedly, the small flame dancing before dying over and over again.

It was getting on my nerves.

"You're not supposed to be here," I said, arms crossed.

He didn't even look at me. "Yeah, you said that already."

I narrowed my eyes. "Then why are you still here?"

"Didn't know you owned the place."

"I might as well."

Finally, he glanced at me. His red eyes-darker in the low light-held no deference, no fear, no admiration. Just... mild interest.

It pissed me off.

People looked at me in a lot of ways-carefully, respectfully, sometimes even fearfully. But never like this.

Like I was just some girl standing in the rain with a guy who shouldn't be here.

I exhaled sharply, shifting my weight. "You talk a lot for someone who's trespassing."

He huffed out a dry laugh. "You talk a lot for someone who followed me here."

My jaw clenched. "I didn't follow you."

"Uh-huh." He took another drag of his cigarette, tilting his head. "So, what do you want?"

I opened my mouth. Closed it.

I wasn't sure.

I could have left at any time. Could have told a teacher, could have walked back to my perfect little world of exams, meetings, and suffocating expectations.

But I hadn't.

I had stayed.

Why?

I didn't like the answer.

So instead, I ignored it.

"Why'd you say yes?" I asked instead.

He frowned. "To what?"

"When I offered to light your cigarette."

He shrugged. "Seemed like a waste not to.

"That's it?"

"Yeah. That's it."

I stared at him, half-expecting him to say something else.

He didn't.

God, he was so frustrating.

I sighed. "You're not even curious?"

"About what?"

I gestured vaguely. "Me. My name. Where I'm from. Why I helped you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?"

"Most people are."

He smirked, tapping ash off the end of his cigarette.

"Most people seem like a pain in the ass."

I bristled. "Excuse me?"

"What?" He exhaled smoke, watching it curl into the air. "You want me to be impressed or something?"

"No," I snapped. "I just thought-"

I stopped myself.

I just thought what?

That he'd treat me like everyone else? That he'd weigh my name in his mouth, calculate my worth, and decide whether or not I was worth respecting?

The realization hit me like a slap.

That's what I had expected.

Because that's what always happened.

But he wasn't playing that game.

And it threw me completely off balance.

He flicked his lighter open again, the tiny flame casting flickering shadows across his face.

I watched it, my frustration simmering beneath my skin.

"You don't even know my full name," I muttered.

He hummed. "So?"

"So, don't you want to know?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

I inhaled.

"Ryo Yamamichi."

I let the name hang there.

Waited for his reaction.

Waited for him to stiffen, to realize who I was.

Waited for that moment where he got it-where he understood that I wasn't just some random student. That my family mattered. That I mattered.

But he just... blinked.

Then shrugged.

"Sounds annoying to have a name that heavy."

I stared at him.

"What?" I said flatly.

He gestured vaguely. "Just seems like a lot of pressure. Y'know. Legacy and shit."

I didn't know whether to laugh or punch him.

"That's all you have to say?" I demanded.

"Uh. Yeah?"

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You're impossible."

He smirked. "I've been called worse."

I shook my head. "You really don't care, huh?"

"Not really." He flicked the lighter open again. "You're just a person."

Just a person.

The words echoed in my head, twisting into something unfamiliar.

Because he wasn't wrong.

I was just a person.

But no one had ever treated me like just a person before.

I didn't know how to feel about it.

I shifted my weight. "Well, you're an idiot."

"Cool. You're still talking to me, though."

I scowled. "Not for long."

"Sure," he said, smirking. "Whatever you say, Yamamichi."

Something about the way he said it-flat, uninterested, without an ounce of weight-made my irritation flare again.

I turned on my heel. "Forget it."

I didn't wait for him to respond.

I just walked away, my pulse thrumming against my skin.

And yet-

Even as I left, even as I re-entered the perfect, suffocating world of Roward Academy-

Something lingered.

Something I couldn't quite shake.

I walked.

Not fast. Not slow. Just... walked.

Back toward the main path. Back toward everything I knew.

The weight of my name settled against my shoulders, heavier than usual.

"Sounds annoying to have a name that heavy."

I scoffed under my breath. What a stupid thing to say.

He didn't get it.

He didn't get what it meant to be a Yamamichi.

The expectations. The responsibilities. The silent pressure that wrapped around my throat like a velvet noose.

He didn't get the meetings, the tutors, the perfectly scripted conversations where one wrong move could mean the difference between admiration and disgrace.

He didn't get how people measured my worth before I even opened my mouth. How they saw my last name before they saw me.

And yet...

He was the first person who didn't care.

Not in the way other people pretended not to care, only to turn around and whisper behind my back.

No.

He genuinely, completely, entirely did not give a shit.

And it threw me off balance.

I glanced back-just once.

The corner of the side building was still half-hidden in shadow.

Ryuga was still there, leaning against the wall, cigarette hanging lazily between his lips.

The lighter's flame flickered again. On. Off. On. Off.

He wasn't watching me.

He wasn't anything-ing me.

He had already moved on.

Like our conversation had been nothing more than a passing breeze.

And for some reason, that irritated me more than anything.

I turned forward again, my steps sharper now.

Why was I even thinking about this? About him?

He was nobody.

Just some guy who didn't belong here.

Just some guy who thought my name was annoying.

Just some guy who looked at me like I was... normal.

I hated that.

Didn't I?

My fingers curled into my palms.

I hated it.

Of course, I did.

So why did I feel like I had just lost something I didn't even know I wanted?