The dorm room was quiet except for the sound of Aika's muffled sobs. Her textbooks lay scattered across the floor where she had thrown them, her trembling hands gripping the sheets of her bed like they were the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
Mina's face haunted her. The look of betrayal. The broken plea: "Tell me he's lying."
She had lost count of how many times she replayed it in her head.
Her phone buzzed on the desk — message after message from Kaito. She refused to look, shoving it under her pillow as if burying the problem could silence it.
But the truth was still in her chest: Kaito's kiss, his words, the fire he ignited inside her. And now, because of that, Mina hated her.
---
The next day on campus, whispers followed her down the hall. Mina wasn't speaking to her. Wouldn't even glance her way.
At lunch, Aika sat alone, eyes fixed on the untouched food in front of her. A part of her wanted to stand, run across the cafeteria, and beg Mina to listen. Another part — the darker, weaker part — kept glancing at the doorway, waiting for him.
Sure enough, Kaito appeared, his presence swallowing the room. Girls whispered, boys glared, and still, he walked like the king of the campus. His eyes found Aika's instantly.
And she hated herself for the way her heart betrayed her — skipping a beat.
---
That night, when she finally gathered the courage to text Mina, the reply was instant and cold:
> "Stay away from me until you figure out who you are."
Aika dropped her phone, tears stinging her eyes. She pressed her forehead against the glass of her dorm window, the city lights below blurred into streaks of color. She felt like she was shattering, piece by piece.
---
Meanwhile, across campus, Mina sat alone in her own room, her laptop open but forgotten. Her hands clenched tightly around her phone as she read Kaito's name in her contacts.
She didn't care about the risks anymore. She couldn't stand by while he dragged Aika deeper into his twisted orbit.
Her thumb hovered, then pressed down.
> "We need to talk. Just you and me."
The message sent.
Her reflection in the dark screen stared back at her, hard and unflinching.
"This ends with me," Mina whispered.
And somewhere in the night, Kaito's phone buzzed — his smirk curling as he read her words.
---