[Scene 1: Day in the Classroom]
The next day the atmosphere of the school was somewhat different. Ryo quietly stayed seated in his place, as if everyone else was unimportant to him. Whenever there was a question in class, he gave the teacher a direct and correct answer, but in his tone there was such coldness that the other students started considering him even more arrogant.
"What is the problem with this boy?" one boy whispered.
"He has absolutely no interest in people," another replied.
Aya silently was listening to all this. She knew that this impression about Ryo could also be correct, but the loneliness she had seen in his eyes last night in the library was not leaving Aya's heart.
[Scene 2: Group Work]
The week's group work started. The class was divided into small groups. Aya and Ryo were placed in the same group.
Miko immediately protested:
"Teacher! Are you really putting him in our group? He never talks to anyone!"
The teacher smiled and said:
"Sometimes we should try to understand such people."
Aya silenced Miko.
"It's okay… we will all do it together."
Ryo sat down without saying anything. He seriously made notes about the project and ignored everyone else.
[Scene 3: Coincidental Meeting]
That day after school Aya thought she should go to the library for some more research. There again was the same scene: Ryo sitting alone, drawing in his notebook.
Aya hesitated for a moment, then gathered courage and stepped forward.
"Can I… sit?"
Ryo looked at her for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.
"As you wish."
Aya sat down and softly asked:
"This drawing… did you make it?"
Ryo closed the notebook.
"Yes… and if the question is why I make all this, then the answer is that I find more peace on paper than with people."
[Scene 4: A Glimpse of the Heart]
After a few moments of silence, Aya said:
"You know, people say a lot of things about you. That you are arrogant, rude… but I think you are not like that."
For the first time Ryo looked straight into her eyes. In his eyes there was slight surprise and some such sorrow that could not be hidden.
"People always see what is shown to them. No one wants to know the real story."
With a beating heart Aya asked:
"And what is your real story?"
Ryo gave a light laugh, but in it there was bitterness.
"To know that, maybe you will need more time, Kawashima."
A gentle smile came upon Aya's lips.
"Kawashima… he remembered my name."
[Scene 5: Aya's Inner Struggle]
Coming home, Aya took out her diary.
"Ryo Haruto… that boy is different from everyone. The more people misunderstand him, the more I feel he is wounded inside. Maybe there is something in his life that he is hiding."
She put the pen down and softly said:
"I want to know him. I want to peek behind the walls of his heart."
The evening wind coming from the window moved her hair. For the first time in Aya's heart this feeling awakened that maybe her life was about to change.
📖 End of Chapter 2