Some people yell at others… because they're too scared to talk to themselves."
---
Scene:
A deserted, rusted industrial zone in Ningenai.
Crumbling walls. Broken pipes. The air itself felt... heavy.
Almost no one came here —
Because Kuro lived here.
---
Saito had come because Mira told him:
> "He's intense. But if you understand him…
maybe you'll start understanding yourself too."
---
Kuro — black hoodie, fierce eyes, jaw always clenched.
He spray-painted graffiti on the walls — filled with rage.
Jagged words. Broken shapes.
> "They called me broken.
So I broke everything."
---
Saito quietly approached him.
But Kuro had already noticed.
Kuro (mocking):
"Well well... Mr. Perfect, huh?
You lost or just here to sketch people's pain?"
---
Saito didn't flinch.
For the first time, he wasn't hiding behind his usual calm.
He wasn't in his world of trophies anymore.
Saito (gently):
"I just… want to understand.
Understand you."
Kuro (laughs coldly):
"Understand me?
You?
You're the guy no one ever rejected.
You've never tasted failure.
You're the golden boy they hang on posters."
---
That one stung.
Saito stayed quiet.
Kuro stepped closer. Really close.
Kuro (low and bitter):
"I was never perfect.
I just wanted to be... enough.
But people always remember the smallest mistakes."
---
Flashback:
Kuro stands in front of his father, holding a report card.
Just one subject — a 'C'.
Father (disgusted):
"A C?
You'll never become anything.
You just talk big. Do nothing."
---
Back to present:
Kuro:
"When people keep telling you that you're nothing...
one day, you believe them."
---
Saito had no clever words.
Just guilt in his eyes.
Saito (softly):
"...No one's ever looked at me like that.
They just keep praising me.
And I... thought that's what life is."
---
Kuro bursts out.
All the pain explodes.
Kuro:
"I broke!
But they wanted me to smile like nothing happened!
Perfect people get forgiven for everything…
Imperfect ones?
They're remembered only for their mistakes!"
---
Suddenly, he picks up a rock —
And SMASHES it against an old mirror.
Glass shatters.
In each broken shard — his face reflects back.
Different expressions. Different pieces.
Kuro:
"I'm a mirror.
Every angle shows something else.
But people only look at the version…
that fits their comfort."
---
Saito stares silently.
Then, picks up one shard —
And sees himself.
Saito (thinking):
"…I've only been what they made me into."
---
Silence.
No drama. Just rawness.
Saito quietly sits beside Kuro.
Doesn't say a word.
Kuro (softer now):
"When I first saw you…
I wanted to scream at you.
But now…
Maybe for the first time…
I don't feel like screaming."
---
Night falls.
Kuro finishes a new piece of graffiti.
He writes:
> "I'm still broken.
But I don't blame anyone anymore."
He tosses the spray can to Saito.
Kuro:
"Go ahead. Write your truth."
Saito thinks for a second —
Then writes:
> "I was always praised…
And yet, I never felt proud."
Kuro smirks.
His first real smile.
---
Chapter End Note (Saito's POV):
> "Kuro showed me another face of life —
The rage. The breaking. The screaming…
They're all signs of being alive.
Maybe…
I should've broken a long time ago."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…