Chapter 28: The Smile That Lied First Was Yours
It was Reiko.
Of course it was.
She didn't cry.Didn't rage.
She just walked up to Yumi after school, calm as breath.
"You made your point," she said. "Now let it die."
Yumi blinked.
"What?"
"You got your scene. Your sympathy. You've marked him a martyr. You win. So stop dragging everyone else down with you."
Yumi felt it first in her stomach — that twist.Akiro had called Reiko her best friend.
Had trusted her.
She'd been the one who told Yumi about the group chats.
She'd been the one who claimed she supported them.
"You leaked the rooftop video," Yumi whispered.
Reiko didn't deny it.
"I warned you. Everyone warned you. But you kept romanticizing your downfall."
Then — the final crack:
"You're not in love. You're obsessed."
Akiro didn't take it well.
He didn't scream.
Didn't threaten.
He just sat on the stairs of the music room and stared at the walls.
"She was my only friend before you."
Yumi knelt beside him.
"I know."
"I told her things I've never said out loud."
He didn't cry.
Just whispered:
"I thought I was hard to love.But maybe I'm just easy to leave."
The fallout came fast.
Reiko didn't apologize.
She went on camera — to the school's unofficial news page.
Called it a dangerous romance fantasy.Said Akiro was unstable.Said Yumi was "being used."
The school didn't believe her.
Not completely.
But enough whispers echoed back to sting.
Yumi didn't sleep that night.
And when she did, her dreams were of Akiro at the edge of a rooftop.
Smiling.
Then gone.
She woke up screaming.