A Fateful Fall
Mute but Not Invisible – Volume 1, Chapter 9: A Fateful Fall
The Unfortunate Hike
Yuu Takahashi had one simple goal for the school trip: survive without incident.
Unfortunately, fate—and Rika—had other plans.
"Alright, everyone!" the teacher clapped their hands together, standing at the base of a forested trail. "Today, we'll be going on a scenic hike up the mountain. Be sure to stick with your assigned partners, stay on the marked path, and—most importantly—no wandering off!"
Yuu internally sighed. A hike was just another way to say, 'forced socialization with nowhere to escape.'
To make things worse, he was stuck with both Rika and Mei again.
"Oh-ho! A romantic mountain stroll with Mute-kun? What a dream!" Rika teased, slinging an arm around Yuu's shoulder.
Mei, standing on his other side, stared daggers at Rika. "Let go of him."
"Or what? You'll push me off a cliff?" Rika smirked.
Yuu seriously hoped she wouldn't give Mei any ideas.
The Fall
For the first half of the hike, Yuu kept his head down, carefully following the trail.
Rika, meanwhile, was too busy messing around, poking fun at Mei every few minutes. Mei, for her part, maintained a calm but threatening aura as if she were mentally preparing fifty different ways to remove Rika from existence.
That was when things went wrong.
Rika, in her never-ending quest to be annoying, tried to steal Yuu's notebook mid-step.
"C'mon, what're you writing now—"
Yuu yanked it back—too quickly.
His foot slipped off the trail's edge, hitting loose soil.
And suddenly, gravity betrayed him.
The world tilted as he tumbled backward, his body sliding down the slope. Rocks scraped against his arms, twigs snapped under him, and the air rushed past his ears.
Then—
THUD.
Pain flared in his ankle the moment he hit solid ground.
Yuu sucked in a sharp breath, gritting his teeth. His right foot throbbed—definitely sprained, maybe worse.
Above, he heard a distant shout: "MUTE-KUN?!"
Rika.
A second voice followed, more controlled but no less urgent. "Yuu!"
Mei.
He sighed internally. This was going to be a problem.
Two Unwelcome Rescuers
By the time Yuu propped himself up against a tree, both girls had already arrived.
"Oh, great, you're alive!" Rika gasped dramatically, skidding to a stop in front of him. "That was awesome! Well, not for you, obviously, but—"
Mei shot her a glare before kneeling beside Yuu, eyes scanning his leg. "You're injured."
No kidding.
Yuu grabbed his notebook, flipping to a page. "Sprained. Not broken."
Mei's fingers brushed against his ankle, testing the swelling. Her lips pressed into a thin line. "You can't walk on this."
"Well, we're not carrying him back up a mountain," Rika pointed out, hands on her hips. "You got any bright ideas?"
Mei was silent for a moment before she said, "I'll carry him."
Yuu's entire body froze.
Rika snorted. "Ohh, I gotta see this. Mute-kun, you're about to be a princess for real."
Yuu immediately flipped to a new page: "NO."
Mei stared at him blankly. "It's the most efficient solution."
Absolutely not.
He quickly gestured toward a fallen branch nearby, indicating it as a makeshift crutch.
Mei ignored him. "I'm carrying you."
"Oooor, we could let him be a strong, independent mute who struggles up the hill on his own," Rika suggested.
Mei shot her a withering glare. "That's impractical."
"It's hilarious."
Yuu just wanted to sink into the earth and disappear.
The Moment of Danger
Just as Yuu was about to forcibly reject both options, a crack echoed from the trees above.
Something shifted.
Then—
A large tree branch snapped and tumbled toward them.
Mei's eyes widened. Rika shouted something, but before either of them could react—
Yuu moved.
Ignoring the pain in his ankle, he shoved them both out of the way.
The branch crashed down inches from where they'd been sitting.
A tense silence followed.
Then—
Mei's entire body stiffened.
Yuu felt it before he saw it.
That creeping, unmistakable feeling of obsession taking hold.
Slowly, she turned to face him, violet eyes wide.
"…You protected me."
Rika blinked. "Yeah, yeah, knight-in-shining-armor moment—can we focus on the fact that we almost died?"
Mei wasn't listening.
Her fingers tightened around Yuu's sleeve.
"You protected me," she repeated, voice soft but dangerously unreadable.
Yuu exhaled slowly. This was bad.
Escape Plan Activated
Rika, sensing the weird tension, cleared her throat. "Okay, uh, Mute-kun is still injured, and I'm not about to get left alone with whatever is happening here, sooo—how about we focus on getting him back up the mountain first?"
Mei didn't argue.
But the way she clung to Yuu's arm the entire hike back made it painfully clear—
This wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
End of Chapter 9