AND HE LOVED HER TOO
Raizen stood motionless for a few moments after his last words sank into the silence. He could feel their eyes still on him, but he didn't care. Not now. Not anymore.
Slowly, he turned away, as if every bone in his body resisted the movement. Then, he stepped forward, leaving them behind.
The second they were out of sight, he felt his throat tighten. His stride remained steady, his posture upright, but inside—inside, he was falling apart.
Leyla.
No. Akari.
The air felt too heavy. The smile he had worn all day now felt like a distant illusion.
He could handle seeing her. He could handle standing near her, inhaling her scent, memorizing every movement, every blink, every flicker of emotion in her eyes.
But this?
This, he couldn't handle.
The pain.
The raw, unrelenting pain.
His chest tightened more and more, like invisible hands gripping, tearing, suffocating him.
For years, he had imagined this moment.
For years, he had believed he was ready.
But he wasn't.
Because she wasn't her.
She had looked at him like a stranger. Like someone who meant nothing to her.
But once… once, everything had been different.
He halted, staring at the ground ahead of him, trying to catch his breath.
Once, she had been his.
Once, she had trusted him more than anyone else.
Once, they had been inseparable.
And now… now, she looked at another man with eyes full of trust.
She laughed for another man.
Touched another man.
And that man was Naru.
Raizen shut his eyes and clenched his jaw.
He had never hated Naru. They had their differences, but he had never seen him as an enemy.
But now?
Now, he wanted to crush him.
Because Naru had something that had always been forbidden to him.
Naru had her.
Raizen quickened his pace, as if trying to outrun the feelings that threatened to drown him.
But they were faster.
Like ghosts of the past, they whispered in his ear.
Reminding him.
Forcing him to recall every smile, every glance, every stolen moment they had once shared.
And worst of all…
Reminding him that he had lost her.