There's a kind of silence that doesn't comfort.
The kind that buzzes beneath your skin.
The kind that comes just before something breaks.
And I think I've been hearing that silence around Kaori lately.
It started small.
Barely a pause. A glance. An extra second of her gaze lingering on me in the hallway.
At first, I thought I was imagining it. Maybe I just got in her way. Maybe she was looking past me. People don't usually look at me anyway.
But then it happened again.
And again.
And now, I'm not so sure it's a coincidence.
Today in literature class, the teacher asked us to form pairs for an activity. Before I could even blink, Kaori stood and walked directly across the room.
Not to her usual crowd.
To me.
Everyone noticed.
There was a shift in the air. A few people looked up. Asami blinked like she'd seen something impossible.
Kaori smiled.
But it wasn't a real smile.
It was the kind that said, "I'm not here to be kind. I'm here to make you uncomfortable without saying a word."
She sat beside me, her perfume too sharp, her posture too perfect.
"Let's work together today," she said, voice like a knife wrapped in ribbon.
I didn't know what to say. I just nodded and looked down at the worksheet.
My pen felt too heavy.
She didn't say anything cruel.
Not outright.
She didn't need to.
The way she glanced at my notes and whispered, "You write so small how can anyone read that?"
The way she laughed a little too loud when I misread a line in the poem.
The way she kept brushing her sleeve against mine like I was the one too close.
I told myself I was overreacting.
That I was being paranoid.
But the look in her eyes said otherwise.
It wasn't boredom.
It wasn't disinterest.
It was calculation.
During lunch, I sat in my usual corner of the courtyard. Away from the crowds. Safe.
Until I saw her again.
Kaori, walking by with Asami and two other girls I didn't recognize. Her steps slowed just enough as they passed.
Asami whispered something, and they all laughed.
And then Kaori looked back.
Right at me.
And smiled.
No teeth. No warmth.
Just the same blade hidden behind perfect lips.
I stared at my lunchbox, suddenly not hungry.
What was I supposed to do?
Tell someone she was smiling too much?
That her voice was too sweet?
That her presence felt like a trap?
No one would believe me.
Not with how she acts in front of teachers. Not with how she always helps clean the board. Not with how she plays the perfect friend.
Especially not when I'm the weird girl.
The quiet one.
The one who suddenly started looking back at Souta Ren.
That's what this is really about, isn't it?
Souta.
I don't know what he is to Kaori. A crush? A possession? A crown she thinks belongs to her?
But I know what he's not.
He's not mine.
Not really.
Not officially.
But I think…
Maybe he's becoming something I can't ignore.
Something I don't want to lose.
And I think she can tell.
I haven't talked to Souta since that day he sat with me at the café.
We've shared glances. Moments.
But no words.
Still… it's enough.
Enough for someone like Kaori to notice.
And now I'm the problem.
After school, I stayed back to organize the library shelf I always borrow from. My fingers were tracing the spines of poetry books when I heard footsteps.
Then her voice.
"Oh. You're here too."
Kaori.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
No one ever is.
She walked in like she owned the room. Picked up a random book, didn't even look at the title.
"Do you like reading alone?" she asked casually.
I nodded.
She stepped closer.
"I guess that's why you and Souta get along."
My breath caught.
I turned my head slowly. "What?"
She smiled again.
That smile.
The one that says: I know something you don't want anyone to know.
"You don't talk much," she said. "That's probably why he likes being around you. You don't ruin the mood."
She placed the book back without reading a word.
Then, she walked out.
Just like that.
No threat.
No warning.
But every syllable was loaded.
I didn't move for a while.
I just stood there, surrounded by shelves and dust and fear.
It was the first time I realized what this might cost me.
And yet…
I didn't regret any of it.
Not the glance.
Not the closeness.
Not the hope.
Because when Souta sat with me, I didn't feel small.
I felt like I existed.
And now that I've tasted that truly being seen I'm not sure I can go back to invisibility.
Even if Kaori's smile keeps getting sharper.
Even if the silence around me turns dangerous.
Even if the whole school turns against me.
I don't think I'll be able to stop looking at him.
Because for once… someone looked back.
And I can't forget how that felt.