The fire crackled in front of them, illuminating their faces with a flickering glow.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, steadily, marking the rhythm of the silence between them. Rei said nothing. She just watched the flames... but in reality, she was watching her.
His gaze was lost, as if he couldn't quite grasp what had just happened.
Something about his expression didn't fit. As if the moment they had just experienced had slipped through his fingers.
Rei frowned slightly.
Why doesn't she remember?" he thought, without taking his eyes off her.
" She was there. She saw it. She heard it..."
Then doubt shot through him like a cold blast.
"Was it fear...?"
"Was it pain...?"
"Or did his mind decide to protect her... by burying everything in the fog?"
I had no answers.
Only questions...
and a feeling I'd rather not face.
He closed one eye, and with a slow, tired rather than lazy gesture, he rubbed his rain-soaked neck.
Water ran down the back of his neck, but he didn't seem to notice.
As if his body were still present... but his mind was still trapped elsewhere.
He didn't seem uncomfortable with the memory itself...
but with the question. It wasn't anger.
It was something milder, quieter.
Laziness, maybe.
An old reluctance that was evident in the way he moved, his way of avoiding eye contact, his way of letting the silence do the work for him.
As if talking about it didn't scare him... but rather made him lazy.
There was something else.
A deep-rooted discomfort, as if he wasn't cut out for questions. He didn't like talking. He wasn't used to someone asking questions. Much less... someone caring.
He let out a short sigh.
It wasn't long.
Or dramatic.
Just... inevitable.
As if the weight of something he carried deep inside had surfaced for an instant, without him being able to stop it.
"What does it matter?" he finally murmured, without looking at her.
"They were going to hurt you.
" "And you were alone."
He paused for a long, heavy moment, as if each word weighed more than the rain that fell steadily. The silence between them became almost tangible, heavy with unspoken things, with suppressed emotions. With a barely audible sigh, he brought a trembling hand to his face, as if trying to hide something only he could see.
He ran his fingers through his soaked hair, letting the drops trickle down and fall to the ground, mingling with the rain. But it wasn't just water that was falling at that moment: an invisible weight was also falling, a weight he didn't dare name, trapped between the fog and the darkness of the night. It was as if in that gesture, a small goodbye was slipped into something that still hurt, but that he had to let go.
"It's not that I like to butt into other people's business," he added, his tone bordering on annoyance.
"But there were too many of them.
" And you screamed.
There was no anger in his voice.
Nor compassion. Just a dry truth.
Raw.
Unvarnished.
—I guess...
—I didn't think it was fair.
Rei remained silent.
As if saying it out loud was enough.
The fire flickered in front of him, reflecting in his pupils as if trying to distract him...
as if it knew he was about to say something he wasn't used to saying.
He tilted his head slightly.
He put a hand to his neck, rubbing it with some annoyance, as if the words weighed on him before they came out.
And then, without turning around, with a low, dry voice, he said :
—I'm glad you're okay.
Nothing more.
He didn't say it with smiles or grand gestures. But the sincerity in his tone made it warmer than any ornate phrase.
She looked at him.
As if she hadn't expected to hear that...not from him.
"Really?" he asked, a mixture of surprise and tenderness in his eyes.
Rei sighed , without losing her calm that seemed like a shield.
—I don't usually worry about anyone.
The girl looked down , a small smile trembling on her lips. Her fingers caressed the coat covering her, as if she suddenly understood how much the gesture meant.
"I'm glad too... to still be here," he murmured.
Rei glanced at her.
Barely. But it was enough to notice that her face was still flushed, and her eyes...more vivid than before.
"Don't make me believe it was worth it... if you're going to do something without thinking," he said, his voice calm but firm, although a small smile betrayed his apparent seriousness.
She frowned and puffed out her cheeks, as if the comment had stung her.
"Hey! I'm not stupid!"
Rei gave a soft laugh and shrugged.
"Then... don't give me any reason to think so."
She looked at him with a mixture of annoyance, tenderness, and suppressed laughter.
And for the first time during that long, wet night...she let out a small laugh.
The fire accompanied her with a crackling sound,
and although the rain had not stopped...
Under the bridge, the world no longer seemed so cold.
His shoulders tensed slightly, barely perceptible, but enough to reveal an invisible burden he was carrying. His chin dropped gently, as if trying to hide from the world or conceal some difficult truth.
His breathing became contained, slow, almost as if he feared that a single sigh might betray what he was truly feeling. His body spoke for him, without permission, without him being able to control every tiny gesture. It was a sincere, raw language that needed no words to express itself.
When he finally broke the silence, his voice sounded casual, almost listless, as if he were trying to downplay the importance of what he was about to say. But his eyes, heavy with something he couldn't hide, revealed a mixture of vulnerability and resignation.
— Hmp ...
—I'm not good at counting things, —he muttered in a low, raspy voice, as if saying those words cost him more effort than he was willing to admit.
He paused for a moment, staring off into space, as if searching his mind for the right words.
—But I guess... there's always a first time to tell.
Silence fell again in the space between them, heavy and full of meaning, as if what was left unsaid weighed more than any sentence spoken.
He paused. The night wind lightly caressed his hair, as if even the breeze held its breath. Then he continued, without looking at her, staring at some distant point in front of him.
—When I was crossing the bridge... I heard your screams.
—I knew there were several of them. —It wasn't an argument.
—Or a confusion.
—It was something dirtier.
—Crueler .
—And for a moment... I thought about keeping walking.
His lips twisted slightly, in a bitter grimace.
—By playing blind, deaf.
—Like so many do.
—I thought: "This has nothing to do with me."
But her hands clenched against her legs, as if the rage was still there, trembling beneath her skin.
—But then I knew...—he murmured, without looking up
——If I took one more step—If I pretended I didn't see anything...—What would be the difference between them... and me?
His voice was low, almost a whisper, but charged with an unexpected firmness.
It didn't sound like a heroic speech. Nor like someone seeking recognition. It was something rawer. More human. More real.
—It wasn't bravery... —he added after a pause—
—It was fear.—Fear of becoming someone who just watches... —Who sees the pain, and yet...
—Chooses to look away.
For a moment, her throat tightened.
The words wanted to stay trapped...
But she wouldn't let them. She forced them out, one by one, as if each syllable weighed more than it seemed.
—I was even more afraid...
—of losing myself.
Then he looked up.
His eyes met hers. Firm, but not hard. There was no pride in them. Not a trace of drama.
He wasn't looking for admiration,
or applause.
I just wanted her to understand.
Not with grand words or heroic gestures,
but with that silent clarity that is born when someone truly sees what lies behind a look.
Because in the midst of chaos,
in that fleeting moment where everything could have been different, something sustained him. Something that, without knowing it, defined him. And he needed her to know it.
He swallowed, as if each word carried an old weight, difficult to release.
—If I kept going...
—If I looked the other way... —We would have been the same trash... —Then there would be no difference between them and me.
He paused.
Not to think, but to breathe.
And when he spoke again, his voice was barely a murmur, pierced by sincerity.
—And I knew that after that...
—I would have to stand in front of the mirror.
—And wonder if I could still hold my reflection...
He paused again. Longer.
This time, not because I didn't know what to say...
But because I relived it all with a burning clarity.
His gaze darkened slightly, as if his thoughts
returned to the exact moment.
"So..." "
I ran," he finally said, his voice low but firm. "I didn't know if I'd make it in time." "Or if it was a good idea." "I just... ran."
He leaned forward a little, his shoulders tense, his hands clasped tightly, as if he were still there, in the middle of the action.
—I jumped as high as I could... until I reached the bridge railing.
—And without another thought...— I jumped.
The silence became dense, expectant.
"I fell right on top of one of them," he continued, his voice now huskier, more alive.
"The one who was hurting you."
—I didn't think about the consequences.
—Or how I was going to get out of there.
—I just knew that... —I couldn't allow it.
He was silent for a moment, staring at his own hands.
As if he still felt the echoes of that moment, etched in his fingers.
A spark from the fire exploded in front of them.
He didn't flinch. He
just lowered his head and let the silence speak for him for a moment.
Then he sighed.
It wasn't long. Or dramatic.
Just... inevitable.
"I didn't do it to be nice," he said bluntly.
"Or to play the hero." "I just..." I couldn't stay still.
She watched him unhurriedly, wordlessly.
Her eyes, deep and warm, pierced him like a silent beacon in the midst of a storm. There was no need to speak. Because in that instant, everything he felt was contained in her gaze: a quiet understanding, an unreserved acceptance, a silent promise not to give up.
And Rei, as if he could read what she didn't say, looked away for a moment.
It wasn't embarrassment. It was something deeper...
rawer.
"I came for you..." he finally murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Without really knowing why.
" "There was no clear reason." "I just knew I couldn't leave you there ." "I couldn't look at myself in the mirror again if I did."
His words fell like soft stones in the silence.
They didn't seek pity. Or justification. Only the truth.
—And now that I think about it... —Rei added, letting out a small smile filled with exhaustion—
—maybe I didn't need to understand it.
—Maybe ... I just needed to.
Silence enveloped them again, but this time it wasn't tense.
It was warm.
Like an old blanket that warms you without asking.
Rei didn't look at her immediately.
Her fingers remained restless, playing with a charred twig, turning it between her fingers as if that might distract her from what she'd just confessed. The fire, touching the branch, made it glow faintly... as if responding.
And then, without warning, it happened .
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
Fleeting.
Fragile.
True.
A simple curved line, but enough to break—even if only for a second—
that thick ice that had been trapping him inside for years.
It wasn't a smile of victory.
Nor of relief. It was the smile of someone who was finally starting to stop running away... even if only a little.
It was a genuine smile , even though it held the full weight of her hidden fears and doubts. For the first time, speaking didn't hurt so much.
She responded with a slight, almost imperceptible smile, as if to say,
"I'm here. You're not alone."
The fire crackled with a louder pop, and the flames danced violently, casting trembling, lengthening shadows on the damp walls, as if the world itself were holding its breath.
The girl turned her gaze back to the campfire, feeling a relief she hadn't expected as Rei told her what had just happened.
It was strange, but in the middle of the storm, someone she barely knew had decided to protect her, knowing he could get hurt.
—So... —her voice was low, cracked with uncertainty—,
—does all this mean that...you really care?
Rei slowly looked up, the orange glow of the fire casting shadows across her wet face, illuminating every tense line.
"I don't know if 'matter' is the right word," he replied, his voice raspy, almost a whisper.
" But I do know that the decision I made a moment ago was going to determine the path I would choose.
" "A dark path, from which there would be no return..." "A path that would distort my reflection in the mirror, and prevent me from recognizing myself."
She looked at him, trying to understand.
"So what stopped you?"
Rei sighed, as if the weight of those words still weighed heavily on her chest.
"I really don't know ..."
"I just knew I couldn't stay still..." "That I couldn't leave you alone there, in the middle of that ..."
A spark burst in the fire.
She pressed her lips together , as if holding back something between astonishment and an emotion harder to name.
There was something different in his gaze now...
She no longer saw him just as the mysterious boy, but as someone who, without seeking it, had carried more than anyone could imagine.
His eyes softened.
And for the first time, his voice lowered...as if, in saying it, he was touching a delicate part of him.
"So... weren't you scared?" he asked, almost in a whisper.
"Facing them... being alone against all that..."
Rei didn't respond immediately.
The silence thickened, like a fog between them. It wasn't awkward... It was the kind of silence that speaks from within, that weighs more than any misspoken word.
He looked at her.
And in her eyes there wasn't just firmness...there was something else. A harsher, more intimate truth.
Something that can't be shown, but can be felt.
"It's not that I'm not afraid," he said finally, his voice low, almost hoarse.
"But there are things that are scarier than fighting ." " Playing a blind eye. "
" Pretending nothing happened.
" " Letting the world go on... without doing anything.
" "That, that does terrify me."
He paused.
His words weren't grand. But they had an edge. And they left their mark.
—It's not bravery.
—It's... fear of losing myself if I stand idly by.
She let out a long, silent sigh. For the first time that night, her lips curved into a faint smile, shy, fragile... but real.
"So..." she whispered, her voice trembling, "you do care about me."
"More than I imagined." "More than I dared to believe."
The warmth of the fire continued to crackle gently, filling the air with its constant murmur. But in that moment, it wasn't just the burning wood.
It was something more. A different warmth... More human.
Closer.
As if something had been born within the flames that couldn't be explained with words.
Rei looked at her silently.
He didn't say a single word. He let the crackling of the fire and the steady whisper of the rain speak for him. Because sometimes, the most sincere things...are said unspoken.
Her warmth, her closeness, was no longer just a presence.
It had become a flame.
A silent flame that enveloped the space between them like an invisible bubble: warm, firm, suspended in time.
And there, in that secluded corner of the world, everything seemed to slow down.
Nothing else mattered.
Not the storm outside, not the unspoken words. Not the fears that had once crept into the silences.
Only the fire...
and that connection that, without promises or explanations,
began to ignite between their gazes.
She didn't touch him.
Nor did she come any closer. But something in her posture, the slight tilt of her face, the way her fingers tightened in her own skirt spoke louder than any grand gesture.
Her eyes searched for him...
and when they found him, they didn't turn away.
They shone.
Not from flames, nor from reflections. But from something deeper. A mixture of firmness and tenderness, like a lighthouse lit in the middle of a long night.
She lowered her gaze slightly, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush.
Her hands clutched the hem of her garment, as if trying to contain what her heart could no longer keep silent.
And when he spoke, his voice was so soft that it barely broke the murmur of the fire between them.
—You don't have to carry all the weight alone...
Her words trembled in the air, wrapped in a sigh that was half fear, half courage.
A promise born from the soul, disguised as simplicity.
—I'll be here.
He looked up, this time more firmly.
Her eyes searched for him, like someone who stands in front of a storm without moving a step back.
"And I'm not leaving," she said, more determined now, as if reaffirming her place not only in front of him... but in his story.
—Even if you don't let me in completely...
—Even if sometimes you don't know what to do with me...
—Even if you lock yourself in and put up those walls...
He paused briefly.
He swallowed.
Then he smiled sweetly, one of those smiles that doesn't require force to be deep.
"I don't always know what to do either..." she confessed, lowering her gaze a little
. "But if you decide to stay..." "Then I will too."
His words weren't meant to impress.
They were meant to be heard. Felt. And they succeeded.
The silence that followed wasn't awkward.
It was the kind of silence that doesn't require explanation, the kind that settles between two people when there's no more need to say... but the heart still wants to try.
She swallowed.
The silence stretched between them like an invisible thread that trembled with every heartbeat. Then she looked up. Her eyes were bright, vulnerable... but steady.
—All I want ...—he whispered, his voice barely audible
—is for you to remember that.—That you're not alone.—No more.—Not this time.
And though her words trembled, she didn't back down.
Because sometimes, true courage doesn't speak up. It just stands there... silently, reaching out, even when no one has asked.
For a few seconds, the world seemed to hold its breath.
The campfire crackled softly, as if it too was listening.
But Rei... Rei kept her gaze fixed on the flames.
Her expression was strangely serious. Too serious for that moment.
"Excuse me..." he murmured suddenly, frowning slightly,
without taking his eyes off the fire. "Were you saying something?"
She blinked, confused, tilting her head slightly.
"Huh...?"
Rei, on the other hand, kept a completely serious expression.
Too serious. As if she were about to reveal an ancient secret sealed by generations of wise campfire-keepers .
—It's just... —he said, in a solemn voice—
—I saw a leaf fall... —Right there, among the embers.—And it began to burn slowly... —And then I heard it.
He paused dramatically, lowering his voice slightly, as if describing a tragedy.
—Crack... crack... crack...
—That sound...—It was as if the leaf was telling its last story.—Its farewell to the world.—A brave leaf... that accepted its fate with dignity.
A pause.
She blinked again, more slowly this time.
Her expression went from confusion... to complete paralysis.
Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, enormous, with trembling lines and a mental background of lightning and thunder.
An aura of shock surrounded her.
—W-WHAAAAT?!
—Are you telling me that while I was emotionally... you were philosophizing with a leaf?!
Her cheeks instantly burned, a deep red that rose to touch her ears.
"How can he be so stupid and yet so serious at the same time?" he exclaimed, his voice filled with frustration mixed with tenderness.
"Damn idiot!"
Inside, her whole soul was churning in a whirlwind of rebellious bubbles, crying in total drama mode.
"It's not fair!" she screamed silently.
"I was being profound, damn it!"
Rei, still staring at the dancing flames of the campfire, let out a soft sigh, laced with calm and a hint of resignation.
"Come on," she murmured, her voice serene and her smile crooked. "Don't take it so seriously." It was only a few seconds of distraction.
She turned around suddenly, red as a tomato, her cheeks puffed out
and her eyes flashing with anger.
"I-it was nothing!
" "Nothing at all!" she repeated, exaggerating each word as if it would erase her embarrassment.
"Are you sure?" Rei insisted, with a half smile,
giving her a brief glance out of the corner of her eye, as if she enjoyed seeing her like that.
"Not another word, do you hear me?!" she added, puffing out her cheeks,
blushing all the way to her ears.
Rei, still staring at the campfire for a few seconds, awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, a guilty smile on his lips. Then he turned to her with that mocking gleam only he knew how to put on.
—Hehe... yeah, sorry... —he muttered, raising a hand as if giving up—
—It's just... I got distracted for a second.
She clicked her tongue, not deigning to look at him.
"One very important second!" she grumbled, her cheeks puffed out.
Rei raised her hands in surrender, exaggerating the gesture as if she were turning herself in to the police.
"I know, I know!" Hehe... yeah, sorry...
She looked at him sideways, calmer, but with her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"So...?" she said, crossing her arms. "Why did you ignore me just then?"
Rei suddenly put on a serious face, moved a little closer to the fire
and pointed solemnly towards the embers.
—Because the blade...!
—That blade... was having its final moment. —Its farewell to the world.—A lone warrior, facing the flames with dignity.
She blinked, puzzled.
"A leaf... a warrior ?" he repeated, one eyebrow raised
, his voice incredulous, as if he were wondering if he had heard him correctly.
Rei nodded with complete seriousness, placing a hand on her chest,
as if she were taking a sacred oath.
—I swear!
—That blade... wasn't just any blade.—She was brave.—She accepted her fate with dignity, letting the flames envelop her like a cloak of honor.—A heroic fall... for the sake of it.—It was like watching a true samurai die!
She stared at him for a few long seconds.
Her face was a storm of emotions: tense eyebrows, puffed cheeks, trembling lips, and bright eyes on the verge of bursting... with laughter.
"Are you... listening to yourself?" she murmured, trying to sound annoyed,
but laughter betrayed her at the edges of her mouth. "Did you compare a burning blade to a samurai?"
"With a legendary one!" Rei insisted, raising her finger theatrically
. "It was a fitting end." Even the wind seemed to fall silent for him!
She couldn't hold it in any longer. She burst out laughing, putting a hand to her face as she tried to breathe.
"You're...
" "a complete idiot!" I laugh between gasps.
"How can you blurt out such serious things... with such a confident face?"
Meanwhile, deep in her mind, the mini version of herself had already completely collapsed. She lay face down on the mental floor, spirals swirling around her eyes, completely defeated.
Around him floated chaotic little signs that flashed like emergency alarms:
— IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT!!!
She screamed in a high-pitched, desperate voice, waving fluorescent signs in both hands, while running in circles before crashing, again and again, into an imaginary wall out of sheer shame.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each blow was accompanied by a dramatic internal echo and sparks of humiliation floating through the air.
In the background, another mini-me appeared wrapped in a blanket like an emotional tamale, glassy-eyed, trembling, and holding a cup of existential sadness.
"How could he not hear anything?!
" "Just as I was opening up!" she sobbed in a dramatic voice. "I was there, pouring out my soul... and he was watching a leaf burn!" "A LEAF!"
A third version, dressed as a judge, banged the gavel on a table:
"Condemned for a high dose of wasted tenderness!"
In real life, she could only puff out her cheeks like a balloon, twist her face in an explosive snort, and clench her fists so tightly that her fingers trembled.
The blush had already reached the nape of her neck.
— ¡¡ Aaaaghhh , how humiliating!!
—¡¡And just when I got serious!! —she screamed in her mind—
—¡¡And this fool... didn't even notice!!
—¡¡He was smiling as if life was a happy bonfire!!
Meanwhile, Rei raised both hands in the air, slowly, as if surrendering to a wild... and dangerously adorable creature.
A half-smile appeared on her lips, distracted, but her eyes spoke seriously.
She looked at him for a second longer.
Just one. But it was enough for something inside her to loosen,
as if her chest were giving her permission to let her guard down.
And then, with almost trembling delicacy, she reached out her hand.
It wasn't a hug.
It wasn't a caress. Not even an obvious gesture. Just a light touch, barely a whisper of contact on her arm.
But in that touch...
there was a silent promise. A refuge.
He didn't move. He
didn't even tense. He just slowly lowered his hands and let her stay there, beside him .
In that space where the fire didn't burn... and the rain didn't hurt.
Where the silence didn't weigh... because it was no longer solitude.
The world out there was still a storm. But under that bridge, in that hidden corner of chaos... something fragile had been born.
Something that didn't yet have a name, but that was beginning to take root between their gazes, like a dormant seed that had finally felt warmth.
They didn't say anything.
There was no need to. Because sometimes, the most important things... aren't said. They're just felt.
And in that instant, between the fire and the rain...
between the distant noise of the world and the intimate silence that only they shared, Rei thought, without fully understanding why, that maybe, just maybe...
That night... for the first time in a long time, it had been worth it.
— End of Chapter —
📖 Author's Comment ✒️
Not all meetings are planned...
some arrive with the rain.
Thank you for joining me once again.
See you in the next chapter...
— 夢と雨と言葉の仙人
— Yume to ame to kotoba no sennin
— The Hermit of Dreams, Rain, and Words
— The Great Master Makoto-sama