Good luck. This is the end of the beginning.
We ordered coffee.
I did not really mind coffee. I drank it when I needed to stay awake, when my head felt too loud, when I wanted my hands to have something to do.
Nozomi ordered for both of us without asking. She did not hesitate, just spoke to the cashier naturally, like she had done this a thousand times before.
"I it's nice around here," I said, mostly because silence felt dangerous.
"Yeah?" she said, her face lighting up. "I know right?"
She seemed genuinely happy that I said it. That alone made me uncomfortable.
"It's actually my family's place," she added casually.
"Wha"
I looked around properly this time.
The cafe was packed. Students, couples, office workers. The walls were warm colored, decorated with old photos and handwritten menus. It felt lived in. Like people stayed longer than they needed to.
"So your family owns this whole place," I said.
She nodded. "Yeah. My parents run it. I help out sometimes."
"That's... kind of amazing."
She laughed softly. "It's nothing special."
We sat down near the window. She pushed my coffee toward me before I could even reach for it.
"So Kenji," she said after a moment, quieter now. "I'm really sorry about what happened."
My stomach tightened instantly.
"It's not your fault."
"It's okay," I said quickly. "I understand."
I did not. But I wanted the topic to die.
It didn't.
She wrapped both hands around her cup, staring into it instead of at me.
"You see," she said slowly, "there's more to those rumors than I thought."
"...Oh."
I already felt tired.
I already knew where this was going. Ichika this. Ichika that. Misaki hates her. People talk too much. I sighed quietly, more in my head than out loud.
"There's this girl," Nozomi continued. "Misaki Ishikawa."
My grip tightened around my cup.
"She really hates Ichika. I'm not sure why, but some of my friends talked about it."
I stayed silent.
"And... um," she hesitated. "They said that on a train, you... kind of fell asleep."
"...Okay?"
My head snapped up.
"You slept on Nakamura's shoulder," she said carefully. "Just for a bit."
My face burned instantly.
"That happened?"
She nodded. "And Misaki saw it."
I swallowed.
"She decided to film you. Not just you. Both of you."
"What?"
I did not even notice I said it out loud.
My ears were ringing. I tried to picture it. Me. Exhausted. Letting my guard down. Trusting the wrong moment.
"I didn't know at first," Nozomi said quickly. "I swear. I only heard about it later."
"So people saw that," I muttered. "They saw me sleeping on her shoulder."
"Yes."
I wanted to disappear.
"And that's when I realized something else," she continued. "It didn't start at the party..."
I looked at her.
"She wanted to hurt Ichika all along..." I came to a conclusion.
The words settled slowly.
"There's history between them," Nozomi said.
"What kind?"
She hesitated again. Longer this time.
"They were in the same middle school..."
My breath caught.
"...What."
I had literally no words.
"They weren't strangers," she added. "They weren't rivals either."
She finally looked at me.
"They were best friends."
My mind went blank.
Best friends.
Ichika. Misaki.
That didn't make sense. The way Ichika acts now. The way Misaki looks at her. That kind of hate doesn't come from nowhere.
"What happened," I asked quietly.
Nozomi shook her head. "I don't know everything. But whatever it was... it broke them. And Misaki never let it go."
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling for a second.
So this didn't start with me.
It didn't start at the party.
It started years ago.
"Kenji," Nozomi said gently, "I really didn't want to tell you like this. But you deserved to know."
"...Thanks."
The only thing on my mind was... What the hell happened between them? Ichika never mention anything...
We sat in silence until someone cleared their throat near us.
Time to pay.
I reached for my wallet.
"No," Nozomi said immediately. "This one's on the house."
"I can pay," I said.
She shook her head. "I'm not letting you."
Aren't guys supposed to pay..?
That thought flashed through my head and immediately felt stupid.
"...Okay," I said.
We left the cafe and stepped outside. The air felt colder.
We walked without a clear direction. My thoughts were still tangled.
People saw me sleeping on Ichika's shoulder.
Misaki filmed it.
They were best friends.
I stopped walking for a moment.
"So this isn't just jealousy," I said. "This is revenge."
She didn't answer.
And that silence told me everything.
I thought I understood the situation before.
I didn't.
I have to ask Ichika.
The thought hit me so suddenly it almost made me stop walking. It felt obvious. Too obvious. Like the answer had been in front of me the whole time and I was the only one pretending not to see it.
But how do I just leave Nozomi after that?
She paid for the coffee. She told me something she clearly struggled to say. She trusted me with it. I could not just turn around and run the moment things got uncomfortable.
"Nozomi," I said.
"Yeah?"
I looked at her, really looked at her. She was calm, but her hands were still clasped together in front of her, fingers rubbing against each other slightly. Nervous habit. I did not notice it earlier.
"Thank you," I said. "For telling me all of this."
She smiled faintly. "You deserved to know."
"I think... we need to confirm it with Ichika," I said carefully. "I need to ask her."
The smile faded.
For a moment, the street noise filled the space between us. Cars passing. People talking. Life continuing like nothing just shifted in my head.
"...I don't think that's a good idea," she said quietly.
"Huh. Why?"
She hesitated, eyes dropping to the ground.
"Because she'll probably get mad," Nozomi said. "Or hurt. Or both."
I frowned. "But if this is about her—"
"I know," she cut in gently. "But think about it. If she hasn't told you anything until now, then whatever happened between them... it's not something she wants to talk about."
She exhaled slowly.
"Some things aren't secrets because people are hiding them," she continued. "They're secrets because they hurt too much to say out loud."
Her words sat heavy in my chest.
"So you're saying asking her directly is the wrong move," I said.
She nodded. "Yeah."
I clenched my fists. I hated that it made sense.
"Then what," I asked. "We just wait?"
"Well," she said, glancing sideways at me, "it's either we wait for Misaki to slip up..."
That option made my stomach twist.
"...or," she continued,
"...Or?"
"...we ask someone who knows Ichika but isn't her."
She hesitated again, then said the name.
"Yoshida Minami."
I stopped.
Yoshida Minami.
Ichika's friend. Loud. Careless with words. Definitely not subtle.
I let out a slow breath.
"...Okay," I said. "Let's find Minami."
Nozomi nodded.
And just like that, I stepped away from the person I wanted to ask the most, and toward a truth I wasn't sure I was ready to hear.
Finding Minami was harder than I expected.
Nozomi and I checked the usual places first. The cafeteria. Empty. The courtyard benches near the vending machines. Just a couple of first years arguing over drinks. We even passed by the club building, but the doors were already closing for the day.
As we walked, my thoughts kept looping.
What if Minami didn't know anything.
What if she knew too much.
What if asking her made things worse.
"She's usually loud," I muttered. "You'd think she'd be easy to spot."
Nozomi smiled faintly. "That just means she's probably somewhere unexpected."
And she was right.
We found her near the side entrance of the school, sitting on the low wall by the bike racks. Her short pink hair caught the late afternoon light, bright enough that you could spot it from far away. She was swinging her legs, talking animatedly to another girl, hands moving like she was telling a dramatic story.
Even from a distance, I could hear her laugh.
"Oh my god no way," she said, clapping her hands. "That's actually insane."
That was Minami.
"Let's go," Nozomi said quietly.
As we got closer, Minami noticed us instantly. Her eyes widened and her face lit up.
"Kenjiiii," she called out, dragging my name like it was a song. "And Sakura too? What a combo."
"H-hi," I said.
She hopped off the wall and walked over, her skirt swaying slightly, bracelets clinking softly against each other.
"What's up," she said cheerfully. "You guys look like you're on a secret mission."
Nozomi hesitated. I could feel her glance toward me.
"Actually," I said, "we wanted to talk to you."
"Oooo," Minami leaned in. "Serious face Kenji. That's rare."
She waved goodbye to the other girl and turned back to us fully.
"What's going on?"
"We were wondering," I began slowly, "if you had a minute."
"For you," she said with a grin, "I've got at least ten."
Nozomi exhaled quietly, like she was bracing herself.
"It's about Ichika," Nozomi said.
Minami blinked once. Then twice.
"Oh," she said. "Okay. That tone."
She didn't joke after that. She tilted her head slightly, studying our faces.
"What about her?"
I swallowed. "We heard something. About... middle school."
Minami's smile didn't disappear.
But it changed.
Not gone. Just softer. Less careless.
"...Ah," she said.
That single sound made my stomach drop.
"So it's true," I said quietly.
Minami sighed and leaned back against the wall again, crossing her arms loosely.
"I was hoping that wouldn't come up," she said. "At least not yet."
Nozomi frowned. "You know?"
"Yeah," Minami said. "I do."
She looked at me. Really looked at me.
"You're not asking out of curiosity, are you."
"No," I said. "I'm asking because things are getting bad."
She nodded slowly.
"Okay," Minami said finally. "Then I'll tell you what I know. But only what I know."
She held up a finger, suddenly serious in a way that didn't match her bright clothes or pink hair.
"And you have to promise something first."
I tensed. "What."
"Don't jump to conclusions," she said. "About either of them."
I nodded immediately. Nozomi did too, a little slower.
Minami watched us for a moment, like she was checking if we really meant it. Then she took a deep breath, shoulders rising and falling.
"Misaki and Ichika were inseparable in middle school," she said. "Like... actually inseparable. Same class. Same clubs. Same lunch breaks. Same walk home."
She smiled faintly at the memory, but it didn't last.
"People didn't even say their names separately," she continued. "It was always Misaki-and-Ichika. Like one word."
I pictured Ichika like that. Younger. Laughing without holding back. Not constantly looking over her shoulder.
"They were best friends," Minami said. "The kind that everyone assumed would stay best friends forever."
My chest tightened at that word. Forever.
"So," I asked quietly, "what happened."
Minami didn't answer right away.
She looked down at the pavement, toe nudging a loose pebble back and forth. For once, she wasn't filling the silence.
"...I never asked her," she said.
That surprised me. "You never asked."
She shook her head. "By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late. They weren't talking anymore. And Ichika... she closed up."
"You went to the same middle school...?" Nozomi asked.
"Oh yeah, Ichika and me have been friends for a lot of years!"
I swallowed. "Was Ichika the one who started it?"
The question slipped out sharper than I meant.
Minami's head snapped up immediately.
"No," she said, firm. "No. Absolutely not."
The relief hit me so fast I almost felt dizzy.
Whew.
It's Misaki's fault.
That was my first thought.
"But," Minami added, her voice quieter now, "she didn't stop it either."
The air between us went still.
"What do you mean," I asked.
"I ...can't tell you..."
Now she won't tell..?
I clenched my hands. "Why?"
Minami straightened up, her usual energy trying to come back, like she was forcing herself upright.
"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I know that's not what you wanted to hear."
She gave a small, apologetic smile.
So this didn't start with me.
And it wouldn't end with me either
"...What if that's what made her this way?"
Minami shifted immediately. "Kenji-"
"I'm not saying she did something wrong!" I cut in quickly, too quickly. "I know she didn't. I know that."
I rubbed my hands together, fingers cold even though the air wasn't.
"I mean... people get scared," I continued. "People freeze. Especially when they're young. I get that."
Did I really.
"Ichika isn't cruel," I said. "She's not manipulative. She's not selfish."
I hated that I even felt the need to say it out loud.
"But silence can still hurt," I added, quieter now. "Even if it's not meant to."
Minami didn't interrupt this time.
I stared at the ground, watching a crack in the pavement run between my shoes.
"If someone you trust disappears when you need them," I said, "you don't remember why. You just remember that they weren't there."
My chest tightened.
"And if Misaki built all that anger around that moment," I went on, "then maybe this isn't about hate. Maybe it's about something that never healed."
I swallowed.
"And Ichika..."
I paused.
"...Ichika had to live with that too."
Nozomi stepped closer. "Kenji, you're being really hard on yourself. And on her."
"I'm not trying to be," I said quietly. "I just..."
The words stalled. My mouth opened again, but nothing came out right away. It felt stupid to even ask this out loud, like admitting I didn't understand the rules of a game everyone else already knew.
"...Why am I involved?" I finally said.
I lifted my head, not really looking at either of them, just staring somewhere ahead. "What did I do that made Misaki come at me?"
No one answered immediately.
That silence made the question feel heavier.
"I didn't know her," I went on. "I didn't even know they went to the same middle school. I didn't say anything. I didn't post anything. I didn't start anything."
My voice became stronger.
"So why me," I asked. "Why am I suddenly part of this?"
I pressed my fingers together, nails digging into skin.
"I didn't choose a side!" I said. "I didn't choose to be seen! I just... existed next to Ichika!"
The words sounded smaller once they were out.
"And somehow that was enough...?"
Minami opened her mouth, then closed it again.
I let out a slow breath. "I-If I'd known!" I said. "If I'd known that... b-being near her would d...drag all of t-this back up... I-I would've been more careful! I-I—"
The words slipped out of my mouth, and I immediately regretted them...
"...Kenji...?"
I recognized that soft voice.
And I knew she had heard everything.