Sunset and Silence

The sky blazed with golden fire as the sun dipped low, casting a melancholy glow over the beach. Waves lapped the shore with gentle indifference, each crash a quiet reminder that the world kept turning—no matter how shattered she felt inside.

Aiko Nakamura sat on a lone bench facing the sea, her knees hugged to her chest, her school uniform creased and stained with tears. Her hair was tangled from the wind, her eyes swollen from crying, and her lips trembled with every breath.

In this moment, she wasn't anyone's classmate, wasn't the quiet girl at the back of the room.

She was just a broken heart, barely holding together.

A silver car screeched to a halt nearby.

Haruki Takeda jumped out, panic written across his face. After calling Yui, running through every street he could think of, and ignoring every possible consequence—he had finally found her.

There she was.

Sitting.Silent.And deeply hurt.

Her face when she looked at him—it wasn't angry.

It was worse.

It was disappointed.

"Aiko," Haruki called gently, taking a cautious step toward her.

She stood up immediately, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve. "I don't want to talk," she said, voice sharp with pain.

"Please," he said, desperate now. "Just hear me out."

But this time—she didn't let him lead the scene.

This time, she spoke first.

"I trusted you."Her voice cracked, but her words were steel. "I really, really trusted you."

Haruki opened his mouth to explain, but she held up her hand. "No. Let me finish."

Her eyes, red-rimmed and burning, locked onto his.

"I thought you were different. I thought… maybe you saw me. Not as a student. Not as some silly girl with a crush. Just… me. I thought I mattered to you."

"You do," he said instantly.

"Then why?" she whispered. "Why did you let her get that close? Why didn't you tell me the truth before the rest of the world saw it? Why did you make me feel like a joke?"

Haruki's throat tightened. "Reina… she tricked me. She set it up. I didn't kiss her. She just—"

"But you didn't stop her," Aiko snapped. "You let her touch you. Smile at you. Pose with you. I saw the photo, Haruki. I saw it."

He fell silent.

"…Did you kiss her?" she asked again, softly now.

His voice was barely audible."…Yes."

Aiko laughed—a broken sound more painful than tears. "Wow. That's all I needed."

"I deleted everything," Haruki said, stepping closer. "I used every connection I had. I just… I didn't want you to see it. I tried—"

"But you can't delete what it did to me," she whispered. "You can't undo that moment. You can't erase the way I felt when I saw her lips on yours."

"I was thinking of you," he said desperately. "Even then."

"But you weren't choosing me," she replied. "And that's what hurts the most."

She stepped back. Her voice trembled.

"You were the only thing that felt real in my life. The only person who saw past my silence, past my awkwardness. And now… now you've dimmed that light too."

Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest, laid bare in the dying sunlight.

"So thank you, Haruki-sensei, for reminding me… that people like me don't get fairytales. We just get broken."

She turned.

He reached out instinctively, catching her wrist. "Please… Aiko…"

But she pulled her hand away.

"No more 'please.' No more second chances. No more pretending this didn't hurt."

She walked away.

Through the sand.Through the wind.Through everything they had built together.

Leaving Haruki frozen on the beach, the wind howling around him like punishment.

The waves rolled in again—this time colder.And the sun finally disappeared below the horizon……just like Aiko's faith in him.