Chapter 15
Kei Karuizawa chose the back of the school because it was quiet.
That was the excuse she gave herself, anyway.
The real reason was simpler and uglier: if her voice shook, fewer people would hear it.
It was a weekday afternoon, and both of them were still in uniform.
Classes had ended not long ago, leaving the campus in that strange hour where students scattered toward clubs, dorms, study rooms, and the mall.
The back path behind the school building had fewer footsteps, fewer eyes, and enough trees to make the place feel private without being romantic.
Kei hated that she had once wanted romantic moments with Ren Aikawa.
Now she only wanted the conversation to end.
Ren stood in front of her with his tennis bag over one shoulder. His uniform was neat, his hair properly styled, his expression polished enough that anyone passing by might think they were having a normal couple's disagreement.
They weren't.
"I'm breaking up with you," Kei said.
The words came out clearly.
That surprised her.
Ren stared at her for a moment, then laughed like she had made a bad joke.
"Breaking up?" he repeated. "Kei, don't be dramatic."
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her school bag. "I'm serious."
His smile thinned.
The pretty Crown Hearts layer peeled back just enough for something colder to show.
"We weren't even really dating."
Kei's throat tightened.
Ren stepped closer, voice lowering as if he was doing her a favor by being honest. "You know that, don't you?
We barely went anywhere together unless people could see it.
We never held hands. We never acted like a couple when no one was watching.
There was no contact, no real romance, no actual dating. "
Every sentence felt like he was taking the little excuses she had made for herself and crushing them under his shoe.
"It was a front," Ren continued. "You got protection and status. I got a girlfriend who made me look stable. That was the deal, even if we never said it out loud."
Kei looked at him, frozen.
She had known it.
Of course she had known it.
But hearing him say it so easily, like she had been nothing more than a decorative shield attached to his image, made the humiliation feel fresh.
"You still used my name in that bet," she said.
Ren scoffed. "Because I knew I wouldn't lose."
"That doesn't make it better."
"It should. If I don't lose, nothing happens. You overreacted because Ayanokōji made it look dramatic."
Kei's eyes sharpened.
"Don't bring Kiyotaka into this."
Ren's expression darkened at the first name.
There it was.
The crack.
Ever since the tennis match, Ren had been different.
He still tried to act proud, still tried to walk like the court belonged to him, but the school had seen him lose.
Worse than that, they had seen him lose after Kiyotaka learned the sport in front of everyone and turned Ren's talent into a public tutorial.
Ren noticed her reaction and stepped closer again.
"You really think he's going to protect you?" His voice lowered until it became almost a whisper. "Don't forget what I know."
Kei's blood went cold.
Ren's smile returned, but it no longer looked handsome.
"Your scar. The bullying. That pathetic little past you tried so hard to bury.
" He tilted his head, watching her face carefully.
"If people find out, do you think they'll still look at you like Karuizawa Kei, the confident girl who survived Class D's social battlefield?
Or will they start seeing you as that weak girl again? "
Kei couldn't breathe properly.
Her thoughts scattered into old shadows. Hallways. Laughter. Hands grabbing at her confidence before she had any. The feeling of being small enough that the world could step on her without noticing.
She had promised herself she wouldn't be that girl again.
Ren saw her silence and mistook it for victory.
"That's why you stayed," he said. "You needed me. You needed the shield."
Kei's lips trembled, but before she could force out an answer, another voice cut in from behind him.
"She needed protection. Not ownership."
Ren froze.
Kei's eyes lifted.
Kiyotaka stood under the shade of the trees, still in his school uniform, one button open at the collar in that effortless way that somehow made the neat uniform feel dangerous instead of sloppy.
His bag hung loosely from one shoulder, and his smile was the same playful curve that always looked a little too calm for the situation.
But his eyes were on Ren.
Ren's face lost color.
"Ayanokōji..."
"Kiyotaka," Kei whispered before she could stop herself.
Kiyotaka glanced at her, and the dark edge in his expression softened for half a second.
Then he walked past Ren and stopped beside her.
Kei expected him to stand in front of her.
Instead, he reached for her hand.
Her heart lurched.
His fingers slid around hers carefully, warm and steady, and then he intertwined them as if the motion belonged there. Kei stared down at their joined hands, her entire face heating faster than her pride could handle.
"K-Kiyotaka..."
"Yes?"
"You're holding my hand."
"I noticed."
"Don't say it like you're checking the weather!"
His thumb brushed lightly over the back of her hand, and that small movement nearly ruined her ability to form thoughts.
Kei swallowed hard, voice dropping. "This is... different."
Kiyotaka looked at her.
"The karaoke dare?"
Her cheeks burned even brighter. "That was because Ike and Yamauchi were being idiots. That didn't count. And the tennis bet didn't count either."
"So this is the first time without a dare or a bet?"
Kei looked away quickly, mortified.
"Don't make me say it."
Kiyotaka's smile curved.
"You already did."
"I did not!"
Ren's face twisted as he watched them.
The fact that Kiyotaka held Kei's hand so naturally, in front of him, without performance, without permission from any bet, seemed to hit Ren harder than Kei expected.
Maybe because Ren had never done it.
Not once.
Their so-called relationship had been public enough to protect his image, distant enough to keep Kei useful, and empty enough that handholding now felt more intimate than anything Ren had ever given her.
Ren's voice rose slightly. "Are you serious? You're doing this right in front of me?"
Kiyotaka looked back at him.
"Yes."
Ren's jaw clenched. "You think you can just take her?"
The air changed.
Kei felt it through their joined hands.
Kiyotaka's grip did not tighten, but his presence sharpened, like black glass catching sunlight.
"She isn't something to take," he said. "That was your mistake."
Ren's mouth opened, but nothing came out cleanly.
Kiyotaka's smile remained faint.
"You threatened her past because you had nothing else left. That's a poor strategy."
Ren's shoulders stiffened.
"Don't talk like you understand me."
"I understand enough."
"You don't know anything."
"I know you lost the match. I know you used Kei's name like a prize. I know you called your relationship a front because admitting you failed as a boyfriend is harder than pretending it was business."
Ren flinched.
Kei stared at Kiyotaka.
He said it so calmly.
That was what made it devastating.
Ren tried to recover, but his eyes betrayed him. They flicked to Kiyotaka's hand holding Kei's. Then to Kiyotaka's face. Then away.
The tennis match had left something behind in him.
Not injury.
Fear.
The kind that returned whenever he saw Kiyotaka's smile and remembered the dead-eyed figure across the court, the one who had turned the legends of tennis into a weapon and made Ren feel small in the sport he had built his identity around.
Kiyotaka stepped closer.
Ren stepped back.
Kei noticed.
So did Kiyotaka.
"If her past spreads," Kiyotaka said quietly, "I'll know where it began."
Ren's throat moved.
Kiyotaka's smile softened in the worst possible way.
"And you already know what happens when I start learning someone's game."
Ren's anger remained on his face, but his body had already surrendered.
"Fine," he spat. "We're done anyway."
Kei held her breath.
Ren looked at her one last time, but the threat no longer had teeth. It was just bitterness wearing a uniform.
Then he left, walking fast enough to make it obvious he wanted distance.
For a while, Kei said nothing.
She only stared at the space where he had been.
The breakup had ended.
The threat had ended.
The front relationship, the status shield, the cage she had mistaken for safety, all of it had finally cracked open.
Kiyotaka still held her hand.
Kei looked down at their fingers.
He had not let go.
Neither had she.
Her voice came out smaller than she wanted. "You followed me?"
"You left earlier than usual."
"That's it?"
"Without Chiaki. Without Maya. You also avoided the usual hallway route."
Kei's eyes widened. "You noticed all of that?"
"I notice things."
"That's creepy."
"It was useful."
She hated that she couldn't argue.
Her fingers curled slightly around his.
Kiyotaka looked at her hand, then at her face.
"You okay?"
The question was simple.
That made it harder to dodge.
Kei looked away. "Obviously."
"You're still trembling."
"I'm angry."
"You were scared too."
Her lips pressed together.
Normally, she would snap at him. Call him annoying. Tell him he didn't know anything. Throw the whole conversation into sarcasm until the vulnerable part of her could hide again.
But his hand was warm around hers.
And this time, nobody had dared him.
Nobody had won her through a bet.
He had chosen to hold it.
That made her voice softer when she answered.
"...A little."
Kiyotaka did not tease her for it.
That was almost worse.
After a moment, he changed the subject so smoothly she nearly tripped emotionally.
"I won the match."
Kei blinked. "What?"
"The tennis match."
"I know which match."
"Ren said if he lost, the winner would get a date with you."
Her entire face went red.
"That doesn't count! You didn't agree to those conditions!"
"I won anyway."
"You just finished saying I'm not something to take!"
"I'm not taking."
Kiyotaka turned toward her fully, still holding her hand. Then, with the most absurdly charming expression she had ever seen on a boy who had just terrified her ex into retreating, he clasped his free hand over theirs like he was making a proper request to royalty.
"Kei, will you go on a date with me?"
Her brain stopped working.
The school building stood behind him. The trees moved softly in the late afternoon wind. Somewhere nearby, students were probably walking to clubs, unaware that Kei's entire emotional defense system had just slipped on a banana peel and fallen into a fountain.
"You're joking," she said.
"Maybe."
"That's not an answer."
"I asked properly."
"You only asked because I said the bet was invalid."
"Yes."
"That makes this ridiculous."
"Does it?"
His smile remained playful, cute in the most infuriating way, and handsome enough that Kei wanted to sue Project EDEN personally.
She tried to pull her hand away.
He let her.
That made her feel strangely disappointed.
Which made her angrier.
She crossed her arms. "I'll go."
Kiyotaka's eyes glinted.
"But I'm choosing where," she added quickly.
"Of course."
"And it's not because of the bet."
"I know."
"And not because you saved me."
"I know."
"And not because you asked while looking like that."
"Like what?"
Kei pointed at his face, completely red. "Like that!"
Kiyotaka smiled a little more.
"This?"
"Stop weaponizing your face."
The mall felt different in uniform.
On weekends, it belonged to casual clothes and wandering students. On weekdays after class, it felt like ANHS had simply built a brighter hallway and filled it with food stalls, shops, and too many reflective windows.
Kei kept seeing herself beside Kiyotaka in those windows.
Uniform. School bag. Necklace-free neck, because that part hadn't happened yet. Blushing face, unfortunately visible.
She walked slightly ahead to avoid looking too much like she was following him.
Kiyotaka noticed.
"You're walking fast."
"I always walk like this."
"You slowed down when we passed the crepe stand."
"I was reading the menu."
"You don't need to read a menu you already know."
Kei turned red. "Stop analyzing my walking habits."
"Should I analyze something else?"
"No!"
His smile made her regret answering.
Their first stop was a toy store because Kei insisted she wanted to "look around for something funny," which Kiyotaka accepted without comment in the suspicious way of someone who absolutely knew she had no plan.
The shelves were filled with plush animals, novelty keychains, tiny pillows, and character mascots with faces ranging from adorable to financially suspicious.
Kiyotaka picked up a round seal plush with empty eyes.
"This looks like Kōenji after someone told him shade exists."
Kei snorted. "Don't insult the seal."
"It looks unemployed."
"It's a plush."
"Emotionally unemployed."
Kei laughed, then quickly covered her mouth because the sound came out too natural.
Kiyotaka placed the seal next to a sparkly-eyed rabbit.
"That one resembles Yamauchi after a girl says good morning."
Kei stared at it.
Then burst out laughing again.
"That's horrible."
"But accurate."
"Unfortunately."
For a few minutes, she forgot Ren's voice.
She forgot the threat.
She forgot the front relationship that had never even given her something as simple as real handholding.
Kiyotaka insulted plush animals like he was reviewing enemies. Kei argued with him like the animals needed legal defense. By the time they left the store, she was smiling more than she wanted to admit.
Then they passed the jewelry shop.
Kei slowed.
Just a little.
A necklace rested under warm light inside the display case.
It was silver, delicate, with a crescent pendant holding a small clear stone.
It wasn't loud or expensive-looking in an embarrassing way.
It was pretty quietly, the kind of pretty someone could wear beneath a uniform collar and touch when they needed courage.
Kiyotaka stopped beside her.
"You like it."
Kei looked away. "I was just looking."
"That's usually how liking starts."
"It's probably expensive."
"It is."
"Then we're leaving."
She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him toward the drink shop before he could say anything worse.
While Kei argued with the menu machine over strawberry milk, Kiyotaka vanished for less than a minute.
When he returned, his face was calm.
Too calm.
Kei narrowed her eyes. "Where did you go?"
"To confirm something."
"What?"
"That strawberry milk is too sweet."
"You left to judge my drink?"
"Yes."
"You're unbelievable."
"I'm consistent."
She accepted that answer because questioning him further felt dangerous.
The mall date continued with small things.
He bought her a drink when he noticed her hands were cold.
She called him annoying for noticing. He pointed out she still accepted it.
She threatened to leave him near the stationery shop.
He calmly said she would come back because he was holding her bag, which made her snatch it from him while blushing.
Everything was light, teasing, and warm.
That warmth became dangerous on the walk back.
The campus path to the dorms was quiet now, the lights along the walkway glowing against the evening. They were still in uniform, and for some reason that made the date feel even more suspicious, like romance had slipped into the school day without permission.
Kei slowed near the dorm area.
"Kiyotaka."
He looked at her.
"Ren wasn't lying."
His expression did not change, but the teasing disappeared.
Kei looked down at the path.
"About my past."
He said nothing.
That silence gave her enough room to speak.
"I was bullied before. Badly." Her fingers tightened around her bag strap.
"I hated being weak. I hated people looking at me like I was easy to hurt.
So I became someone louder, sharper, harder to touch.
Then Ren came along, and even if our relationship was fake, being near him made people hesitate. "
She swallowed.
"It wasn't love. I think I knew that. But it still felt safer than being alone."
Kiyotaka listened without pity.
That helped.
Kei forced herself to continue.
"He never held my hand. Not for real. Not like today. Not unless people were watching and even then..." Her voice became quieter. "Actually, not even then."
The memory of Kiyotaka taking her hand behind the school returned so clearly that her cheeks warmed again.
"Today was the first time a boy held my hand because he wanted to. Not because of a dare. Not because of some stupid bet. Not because it helped someone's image."
Kiyotaka's gaze softened slightly.
Kei looked away quickly, embarrassed by her own honesty.
"So don't make fun of me for getting flustered."
"I wasn't going to."
"You were thinking about it."
"I think many things."
"Kiyotaka."
His smile returned, faint but gentle.
"You're strong, Kei."
Her throat tightened.
"Don't say that so easily."
"It's easy because it's true."
"You don't know everything."
"I know you survived. I know you adapted. I know you built armor out of the pieces you had, even if it hurt to wear it." His voice stayed calm, but the words reached deeper than she wanted. "That isn't weakness."
Kei blinked fast.
She refused to cry.
Kiyotaka reached into his pocket.
"Close your eyes."
Her entire body stiffened.
"Hah?"
"Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"It's not a trap."
"That's exactly what suspicious people say."
"You can keep them open."
Kei stared at him.
He waited patiently.
That was worse.
Her heart started sprinting like it had stolen something.
'Wait. Is he going to kiss me? this is my very first kiss!!! We're not dating. This is a date, but not that kind of date. He's too close. Why is he too close? Why am I thinking about this?'
Her face burned.
"Fine," she muttered, closing her eyes tightly. "If you do something weird, I'll kick you."
"I'll try to avoid injury."
"That is not reassuring."
He stepped closer.
Her breath caught.
For one wild second, she thought she might feel him lean toward her.
Instead, something cool touched her neck.
His fingers brushed gently beneath her hair as he fastened something behind her. The touch was brief, careful, and somehow far worse for her heart than any dramatic move would have been.
"Open your eyes," he said.
Kei opened them slowly.
Kiyotaka held her phone up with the front camera on, angled toward her.
The silver crescent necklace rested against her collarbone, catching the dorm path light like a tiny piece of moon.
Kei stared.
Her hand rose to the pendant.
"You bought it..."
"You looked at it."
"That doesn't mean you had to buy it."
"I know."
"Then why?"
His smile softened.
"It suited you."
Kei's eyes stung.
She hated that.
She hated that something so pretty was touching her neck after she had told him something so ugly. She hated that he did not look at her differently. She hated that he looked at her like the necklace belonged there.
"Idiot," she whispered.
"You're welcome."
"I didn't say thank you."
"You were about to."
"I was not."
"You're holding it like you're afraid it'll disappear."
Kei immediately lowered her hand, embarrassed.
Then Kiyotaka's smile shifted.
The gentleness became playful.
"Your face earlier was interesting."
Kei froze.
"What face?"
"When you closed your eyes."
Her stomach dropped.
He leaned slightly closer, eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.
"You thought I was going to kiss you."
Her entire face exploded red.
"I did not!"
"You closed your eyes very tightly."
"Because you told me to!"
"You leaned forward a little."
"I absolutely did not!"
"You looked nervous."
"Because you're dangerous!"
"Were you disappointed?"
Kei made a sound that belonged somewhere between anger, embarrassment, and total system failure.
"I hate you!"
"That wasn't a denial."
She spun around and stormed toward the dorm entrance so fast her ponytail bounced.
Kiyotaka followed at a relaxed pace, clearly enjoying himself far too much.
At her door, Kei fumbled with the handle.
"I'm going inside."
"Okay."
"Don't follow me."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Don't tell anyone."
"I won't."
"Don't think weird things."
"I think many things."
"Kiyotaka!"
He smiled.
Kei glared at him one last time, cheeks blazing, then slammed the door shut.
The hallway went quiet.
Kiyotaka stood there for a moment, amusement lingering on his face.
"Good night, Kei."
He turned to leave.
The door opened a crack.
Warm light spilled into the hallway.
Kei's blushing face appeared through the gap, her fingers touching the crescent necklace at her throat.
"...Good night."
Kiyotaka looked back.
His smile softened.
"Good night."
The door closed again, much quieter this time.
Inside her room, Kei leaned against it and touched the pendant with trembling fingers.
Ren's front relationship had given her status without warmth.
Kiyotaka had given her a hand without a dare, a date without a bet, and a necklace after hearing the past she feared would make her unwanted.
Kei looked down at the crescent resting against her uniform and smiled despite herself.
Outside, Kiyotaka walked away beneath the dorm lights, hands in his pockets, playful smile returning piece by piece.
He had not won Kei.
He had asked.
And to Kei, that made all the difference.