Between Worlds, Between Choices.

Chapter 36: Between Worlds, Between Choices.

The night pressed in around them, the air thick with the scent of rain-soaked pavement and something distant-smoke, maybe, or the lingering traces of a city never truly asleep. They stood at opposite ends of an abandoned bridge, a forgotten place that stretched between two sides of a world that had never meant to touch.

Ryo wasn't sure why she had come looking for him.

Ryuga, on the other hand, looked like he had expected this.

He leaned against the rusted railing, cigarette tucked behind his ear, eyes shadowed in the dim light. "You lost or something?"

Ryo bristled. "You think I'd get lost on my own campus?"

He shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time someone like you wandered too far."

"Someone like me?" She folded her arms, suddenly very aware of the difference between them. The perfect fabric of her uniform, the way the rain hadn't quite touched her compared to the dampness clinging to his hoodie.

"Rich kid," he said simply. "The kind that plays with fire until they realize it burns."

Ryo frowned. "I'm not playing."

"Then what are you doing?"

She opened her mouth, then hesitated. Why had she sought him out? Why did she feel like there was something important in the way he had looked at her that first time-without expectation, without fear, without the weight of her name?

She looked away. "I don't know."

Ryuga let out a breath that could've been a laugh or just exhaustion. "That's honest, at least."

The silence stretched. Somewhere in the distance, a car honked, distant but grounding. Ryo's gaze flickered to the cityscape beyond the bridge. The lights blurred, reflections shimmering on the wet roads, endless and unreachable.

"Do you ever think about leaving?" she asked suddenly.

Ryuga raised a brow. "Leaving what?"

"This." She gestured vaguely, as if she could sum up everything in that single motion-the city, their separate worlds, the weight of expectation pressing down on both of them in different ways.

"Starting over. Somewhere new."

He studied her for a long moment before exhaling, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Then I'd say that's a dangerous thing to want."

She tilted her head. "Why?"

"Because wanting something doesn't mean you get it." His voice was flat, but there was something deeper beneath it. "And because you don't actually know what you're asking for."

Ryo frowned. "How do you know what I know?"

Ryuga huffed. "Because if you did, you wouldn't be standing here asking me. You'd already be gone."

She didn't have an answer for that. Because maybe he was right. Maybe she liked the idea of escape more than the reality of it. Maybe she wasn't ready to step outside the golden cage.

But that didn't mean she liked being in it, either.

Ryuga must've seen something in her expression because he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I don't know what you want from me, Yamamichi."

"My name is Ryo."

He smirked slightly. "Sure. And I'm just another nobody."

"You're not a nobody."

"Yeah? Tell that to the rest of the world."

The words hit something in her, sharp and unexpected. Because he meant it. And he wasn't bitter about it. It was just a fact. Something unchangeable, like the way rain fell or how the city never really slept.

"You're wrong," she said quietly. "You're someone."

He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "You don't get it. And that's fine. You don't have to."

She stepped forward, just slightly. "Then make me understand."

Ryuga stared at her for a moment, then let out a low chuckle.

"You're serious, huh?"

"Yes."

He let the silence stretch between them before shaking his head. "Alright, princess. You want a real answer? Here it is. I don't think about leaving because people like me don't get the luxury of thinking about 'more'. We think about now. How to make it to the next day. The next paycheck. The next meal."

She swallowed, feeling suddenly small. "That's not fair."

"No shit," he said bluntly. "But life's not fair. You either deal with it, or you let it eat you alive."

Something about that stuck. A weight in her chest she didn't know what to do with. Because he was right. And because she had never thought about life in those terms before.

She had always been told she was lucky. Privileged. That her biggest worries were choices-where to go, what to do, who to become.

But Ryuga didn't have choices. He had survival.

The air felt heavier. The rain started up again, soft at first, then steadily stronger. Ryo sighed. "My driver is going to kill me for this."

Ryuga smirked. "Running late for a fancy dinner?"

"Something like that."

"Well, wouldn't want to keep the high table waiting." He pushed off the railing, starting to turn away.

"Wait."

He paused, looking back. She hesitated before stepping forward, reaching into her pocket. "Here."

He eyed the object in her hand-a neatly folded handkerchief, embroidered with gold-thread initials.

He raised a brow. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

"You're soaking wet."

He gave her a flat look. "So are you."

"Just take it."

He didn't move. Didn't reach for it. Finally, after a long beat, he muttered, "That's not something you give to someone like me."

"Then what do I give you?"

That made him pause. He tilted his head slightly, studying her in a way that made her feel like she was the one being examined this time.

And then, after what felt like forever, he reached out-not for the handkerchief, but for her wrist, pushing it back toward her gently. "Don't give me anything. Just remember this."

She blinked. "Remember what?"

"This moment. Because I promise you, you'll look back one day and wonder why the hell you were ever here." He smirked. "And I want you to know the answer."

With that, he turned, hands in his pockets, and walked away.

She didn't call after him.

Didn't chase.

She just stood there, watching him go, the rain blurring everything until he was nothing more than a shadow in the distance.

A hand reaching through glass.

And she still didn't know if she had the strength to break through.