"Renji… did you really hit her?"
The words echoed through the silent hallway like a gunshot.
Sakuragi Renji stood frozen, the weak fluorescent lights of the teacher's office flickering above him. His fingers trembled at his sides. Across the room, the girl who once held his hand under the sakura trees—his childhood friend—clutched her arm, her voice low and broken.
"He grabbed me… h-he pushed me down," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I was scared."
Lies.All of it.
Renji's lips parted slightly, but nothing came out. The teachers glared at him. No one asked why. No one asked for his side.
Just like that... his world collapsed.
Renji didn't go to school for the next few days. When he returned, everything was different.
His classmates avoided him like he carried some kind of disease. Whispers followed him like a ghost.
"Isn't that the guy who hit a girl?""What a psycho...""I thought he was quiet, but I guess he was just hiding it."
He sat alone. Ate alone. Walked home alone.
The worst part wasn't the rumors.It was his family.
His mother, a single parent who worked two jobs, didn't even look at him the same.
"You didn't deny it," she said coldly, arms crossed. "You just stood there."
Renji wanted to scream. He wanted to say, "Would it have mattered?"
His older sister, Ayaka, didn't bother defending him. "You really messed up this time," she muttered, avoiding his eyes.
He stopped trying to explain. No one wanted the truth.
By the end of middle school, the damage was done.
He didn't cry. Not even once.
But that night, he sat in his room, staring at his hands.
"If no one's going to believe me... maybe I don't need to exist anymore."
That was when the thought first came:Disappear.After high school, he'd vanish. No goodbyes. No notes. No regrets. Just… silence.
April. A new school year.
The cherry blossoms bloomed again—mocking him with their beauty.
Sakuragi Renji stood at the gates of his new high school, wearing his uniform neatly, carrying a simple bag. He looked normal. Average.
But inside? He was hollow.
"This is it. My final chapter."
No one here knew what he'd done—or what they thought he did.
He'd keep it that way. Get through school quietly. And then… disappear.
The opening ceremony felt like a blur. Students chattered excitedly around him. New faces, new energy. Renji just stared at the stage blankly.
During introductions, the teacher called his name.
"Sakuragi Renji."
He stood up, bowed slightly, and sat back down.
A few students glanced at him. He didn't return the look.
One girl beside him whispered, "He looks kinda scary…"
He didn't flinch. He'd heard worse.
Lunchtime came. He sat on the rooftop, alone, watching the clouds drift.
His bento was plain—rice, pickled vegetables, and cold egg.
He didn't really taste it.
Instead, his mind drifted back again. To her face. The fake tears. The way she trembled like he was some kind of monster.
Why did she lie?
Was it because of the boy she liked?
Was it for attention?
He didn't know.
And he didn't care anymore.
All he knew was that a single lie shattered everything.
The bell rang for afternoon classes.
He stood, dusted off his pants, and whispered to the sky:
"Just three more years… then I disappear."
That night, Renji lay on his bed staring at the ceiling.
The room was dark. Quiet. He could hear his sister laughing in the living room—probably watching TV. His mother hadn't spoken to him since dinner.
He liked the silence. It felt like home now.
He picked up his phone and typed a message into his notes app:
"Goal: Graduate. Save money. Leave without a trace."
He stared at it for a while… then added:
"No one will miss me anyway."
He turned off his phone, rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes.
He didn't cry. He never cried.
But inside?
His soul was screaming.
End of Chapter 1