Chapter 55: Fractures Beneath the Surface
Naoto stood in the grand entryway of the Hayato mansion, the confrontation with Shinji Hayato still echoing in his mind like a storm refusing to pass. The words exchanged had left more than wounds—they had shifted the very ground beneath him.
He could feel the stares of the household staff as he stepped back into the hallway. Their eyes carried more than curiosity now—there was something else. Sympathy. Confusion. Pity.
He hated it.
His fists trembled at his sides. The rain that had started the night before still clung to his clothes. He hadn't even realized it had started again.
Footsteps came fast down the hallway.
"Naoto!"
Rika's voice.
He froze. He hadn't seen her since before he barged into her father's office and uncovered the truth—that her family's pharmaceutical dealings had been directly linked to the illness eating away at his mother.
She ran up to him, breathless, her cheeks flushed from the cold.
"Naoto… is it true?" she asked, voice cracking. "What my father said. What you… said to him. Is it true?"
Naoto turned his face away.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But I need to know!" Rika's voice rose in desperation. "You stormed into his office. You said terrible things—accused him of—of hurting your mother—!"
His eyes darkened. "Because he did."
Rika stumbled back a step. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
"I didn't want you to find out like this," Naoto muttered, his voice cold. "Not now. Not when things were finally… feeling normal."
He looked at her then, and the pain in his gaze shattered whatever defiance she had left.
"My mother is sick because of what his company covered up," he continued, his voice barely a whisper. "He knew. He knew, Rika. And he buried it. I was just a pawn—he brought me here to keep me quiet. To buy my silence."
Rika's legs gave way, and she sank to her knees.
"No…" she whispered.
She shook her head like a child refusing to believe in monsters.
"My father isn't like that…"
Naoto crouched beside her, but didn't touch her. His voice was firm, but not cruel. "You know deep down that he is. You've seen it. You've felt it. That coldness. That ruthlessness. This is who he's always been. You just never wanted to see it."
Tears welled in Rika's eyes, but she didn't wipe them away.
"How long… how long have you known?" she asked.
Naoto looked away. "A while. I didn't have proof before. But I suspected. And I didn't tell you… because I was afraid. Because I didn't want you to hate me. Or him."
"I don't know what to feel," Rika whispered.
He nodded slowly. "Neither do I."
They stayed there in silence. Two teenagers at the center of a storm neither of them had created, yet both were drowning in.
---
That evening, Naoto returned to his apartment, but it didn't feel like home anymore. He opened the door and was immediately greeted by silence. Hana Hayashi was asleep in the next room, her shallow breaths barely audible over the soft hum of the heater.
Naoto sank onto the couch, his face buried in his hands.
He had confronted the truth—but the cost was immeasurable.
There was a soft knock.
He looked up.
The door creaked open.
It was Himari.
She didn't say a word at first. She just stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her.
"How did you know I was here?" Naoto asked, voice low.
"You always come here when you're hurting," she said simply.
She sat beside him, pulling her legs up onto the couch. For a moment, they didn't speak.
Then she said, "Rika called me."
Naoto stiffened.
"She told me what happened," Himari continued. "She was crying."
Naoto didn't respond.
"I'm proud of you," she said after a pause. "It was brave. What you did."
Naoto laughed bitterly. "It didn't feel brave. It just felt cruel. I hurt her, Himari."
"She needed to know. The truth hurts—but lies hurt more."
He stared at the ceiling. "She looked so broken."
"She'll heal. And maybe, now that she knows, she can choose for herself."
Naoto looked at Himari then. The girl who had always stood at the edge of his world, ready to catch him when he fell. And she had—again and again.
"I'm tired," he admitted. "So tired of carrying all of this."
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I know."
---
The next day at school, the atmosphere had shifted.
Everyone knew something had happened. Rika hadn't come to class. Rumors swirled.
Aiko approached Naoto at lunch, her face serious. Souta and Kakeru followed close behind.
"Did something happen between you and Rika?" Aiko asked.
Naoto nodded. "Yeah. Something big."
"I don't know the details," Souta said, "but… she didn't look okay when she left yesterday."
Naoto hesitated.
Then, for the first time, he told them.
Everything.
From his mother's illness to the shady practices of the Hayato family's company. The cover-up. The deal. The betrayal. The truth.
By the end of it, Aiko was pale.
"God," she breathed. "That's… that's insane."
Kakeru clenched his fists. "So you were carrying all of that this whole time?"
Naoto looked down. "Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Aiko asked, her voice cracking.
"Because I didn't want to drag you into it."
"You're our friend, Naoto," Souta said firmly. "You don't have to protect us from everything."
A strange warmth bloomed in his chest. He nodded.
"Thanks."
---
That evening, he received a message.
From Rika.
> Meet me. Same place. 6 PM.
The riverside.
He arrived early.
She was already there.
The cold wind ruffled her hair as she stood by the edge of the water, her eyes distant.
"Hey," Naoto said, stopping a few feet away.
She turned slowly.
"I don't hate you," she said softly.
He blinked.
"I thought I might," she continued. "But I don't. I'm angry. I'm hurt. But not at you."
Naoto exhaled shakily.
"Everything I believed about my father," she whispered, "it's unraveling. And I don't know who I am without it."
"You're still you," Naoto said gently. "You're kind. Strong. Stubborn as hell."
A sad smile tugged at her lips. "You were always better with words than me."
"No," he said. "I just know how to read you."
They sat down together by the water, not touching, but close.
"I don't know what happens next," she admitted. "But… I want to believe in you. Even if I can't believe in him anymore."
Naoto looked at her, eyes filled with something like gratitude. "That's more than I deserve."
"No," Rika whispered. "It's exactly what you deserve."
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting gold and crimson across the river. A new chapter had begun—one built not on secrets, but on truth.
It would be painful.
It would be slow.
But it would be real.
And for both of them, that was enough—for now.
---