The semester moved with the rhythm of falling leaves and the steady thrum of cicadas fading into autumn. By now, Ren had settled into a routine that felt lighter than anything he had known before. He was no longer dragging his heart through the halls behind Ayaka; he was simply living.
And yet, change rarely comes alone.
On the morning the announcement was made, the whole classroom buzzed with curiosity. Two transfer students were being introduced—a boy with easy confidence and a girl with bright, searching eyes.
"Everyone, please welcome Kaito Tanabe and Miyu Asahina," the teacher said.
Kaito, tall and athletic, gave a casual wave. Miyu, with her long hair tied in a neat braid, bowed politely, her voice soft but clear.
Ren, sitting near the window as always, felt no real stir. Transfer students came and went. But what he didn't expect was Miyu's gaze—lingering a fraction too long when their eyes met. It wasn't the dismissive glance Ayaka often gave, nor the amused looks of his classmates. It was steady, kind.
At lunch, when most crowded around Kaito to test his charm, Miyu found herself asking quietly, "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Ren blinked. She was pointing at the empty desk beside him.
"…Go ahead," he said simply.
Their first conversations were small things—homework, teachers, the weather. But Miyu laughed at his dry humor in a way that felt genuine. She noticed when he lent his notes to struggling classmates. She noticed when he stayed behind to clean the chalkboard without being asked. Slowly, carefully, she let her admiration for him show.
And Ayaka noticed.
It started with glances. Ayaka, who once brushed off Ren as if he were no more than the wind, now found herself watching him. The way he sat upright in class, his quiet focus. The way Miyu leaned closer when he spoke. The faint smile on his lips when he finally allowed himself to laugh.
One afternoon, Ayaka approached him by the shoe lockers, her friends nowhere in sight. "Ren… can we talk?"
He looked at her, unreadable. "Sure."
She hesitated, her voice trembling. "I… I might've been wrong about you. I want to—"
But Ren shook his head gently, his tone calm and kind. "Ayaka, don't force yourself to say something just because things feel different now. You don't owe me anything. I've moved on."
Those words struck deeper than any of her past rejections ever had.
Frustration gnawed at her. She began spending time with Kaito, laughing too loudly at his jokes, standing too close, her eyes darting toward Ren as if begging him to react. But Ren never did. His attention remained on his studies, his friends, and sometimes… on Miyu's quiet smile.
The more she tried, the more invisible she felt. Until finally, Ayaka stopped coming to school altogether.
Days later, the sky broke open. Rain poured in sheets, drenching the streets in silver. Ren walked home beneath his black umbrella, the world blurred by the downpour.
That's when he saw her.
Ayaka, sitting on a bench by the roadside, hair plastered to her cheeks, uniform soaked through. Her eyes were hollow, her lips trembling.
Ren's first instinct was to walk past. His steps slowed, his heart heavy but resolute.
But then—her hand shot out, gripping the hem of his shirt with desperate force.
"Ren…" Her voice cracked like glass. "Please… don't leave me here."
Tears spilled down her face, indistinguishable from the rain. Her words tumbled out between sobs. "I-I didn't know. I thought you'd always be there… I thought you'd keep chasing me. And when you stopped… it felt like I lost something I didn't even realize I needed. I was so lonely… so stupidly lonely."
Ren stood there, the storm pounding around them, every drop a drumbeat against the silence of his heart. Slowly, wordlessly, he tilted the umbrella over her, shielding her from the rain.
Her sobs grew louder, her fingers clutching his shirt as if he were the last anchor in a collapsing world. And though Ren's face stayed calm, his chest ached with a strange, bittersweet pain.
"…Ayaka," he said softly. "You should've said this before. But you didn't. And now… I don't know if I can go back to the person I was."
She looked up at him, eyes swollen, lips trembling. "Then… can I at least stay by your side now?"
The rain fell harder, as if demanding an answer.
Ren exhaled, his expression caught between tenderness and sorrow. "…Let's get you out of the rain first."
---
That night, both of them knew the season had changed forever.