Chapter 1: The Boy No One Wanted to See
They said his face could make flowers wilt.
It was a cruel joke—one of many—that followed Akiro Kenzaki like a shadow through the glossy hallways of Minami High. Scarred from a fire no one asked about, with a perpetual scowl that made teachers uneasy and classmates avoidant, he was the definition of someone who didn't belong.
Even when he said nothing, Akiro seemed to breathe contempt.
But on a rainy Monday morning, he met someone who looked straight into his eyes… and didn't flinch.
Yumi Hanazawa, the school's darling, sat by the window, her long hair catching light like spun gold. She was everything he wasn't: warm, adored, untouched by the kind of loneliness that grew teeth. She had never once spoken to Akiro—until today.
It began with a cough. Hers.
She'd walked into class soaked, umbrella broken, a subtle tremor in her hands. No one offered her their jacket. No one even looked up from their phones.
Except him.
Akiro stood, wordless. He walked to her desk and dropped his hoodie over her shoulders.
It was faded black, with frayed sleeves. It smelled faintly of smoke and cheap soap.
She blinked up at him. He didn't speak.
And for the first time in her seventeen years, Yumi's heart skipped not for a perfect smile… but for a broken face.