Chapter 20: They Called It Forgery, I Called It Telling the Truth
It started with a phone call.
"Yumi Hoshino, please report to the office."
She knew immediately.
Not because she was caught.
Because the receptionist wouldn't meet her eyes.
The counselor waited with two others — the principal and a woman in a stiff grey blazer who introduced herself as "Internal Affairs from Child Welfare."
Yumi sat.
Straight-backed. Calm face. Wild heartbeat.
The counselor spoke first.
"Yumi. We found an unauthorized document in Akiro Sato's case file. One with your name on it."
She didn't blink.
"And?"
"It was forged."
"No," she said quietly. "It was true."
The principal cleared his throat. "Regardless of content, altering official reports is a serious offense."
"So is letting a kid get beaten for years and doing nothing."
The room went still.
The woman in the grey blazer leaned forward.
"You think we didn't notice what he went through?"
Yumi locked eyes with her. "I know you noticed. And you still sent him away."
They suspended her.
Three days. No debate.
Her parents didn't scream. They just sighed.
"You've always had this habit of choosing the wrong people to fight for," her mother said, tiredly.
Yumi didn't answer.
She just went to her room.
Opened her messages.
Yumi: "They found the file."
Yumi: "I'm suspended."
Yumi: "Worth it."
No reply.
She stared at the screen until her eyes burned.
Meanwhile, Akiro was staring at his own screen.
Blank.
He saw the texts.Read every word.
And typed back:
Akiro: "You didn't have to do that."
Yumi: "Yeah, I did."
Akiro: "They'll come for you now."
Yumi: "Then let them. I'll still be louder."
That night, a knock came to Akiro's room.
Kaede stood in the doorway.
Held up her phone.
"I got a call," she said. "Your friend… she's in trouble."
He looked down.
Silent.
Kaede stepped in.
Sat beside him.
Softly:"You should tell someone you care. Before the system makes them forget why they ever believed in you."
And the next morning?
Yumi woke up to one message.
Just one.
Akiro: "I'm not going to disappear.Not if you keep writing me into existence."