The snow outside gently blanketed the world in white, the air heavy with cold. The silence stretched on forever, like the entire world was holding its breath. Haruta sat there, feeling the weight of what he was about to say. He wasn't sure how he felt about opening up, but he knew it was time.
Haruta sighed—a deep exhale that spoke more than just tiredness.
"About six years ago, when I was 11... I liked a girl. At that age, I didn't know what to do. I was... kinda hopeless. So I wrote her a love letter. I thought it'd be my chance. But when she read it... she just laughed. Laughed so loud, she ran around the whole class showing everyone. Even the teachers. And I... I became a joke. The whole school laughed at me."
Rei and Sera stayed silent, their eyes focused on him as they listened.
He continued, his voice low but firm.
"Days passed, and the jokes didn't stop. Even the teachers laughed behind my back. And then one day, I was walking home... some guys thought it'd be funny to mess with me. I snapped. I picked up a baseball bat and beat them... until they begged me to stop. One of them... I hurt him bad. Too bad.
He became handicapped for life... Then I got expelled, transferred to this school. But by then, I was different. Cold. Distant. And I stayed that way."
Haruta paused, looking down at the ground, as though the memory was still too fresh, too painful.
"Three years ago... I liked another girl. I thought maybe, just maybe, things would be different. I confessed, but she said... 'You're so serious all the time. Lighten up.'
And... I tried. I tried to change. I talked more, laughed more. But in the end, she still told me, 'I just don't like you. Sorry, Haruta.'"
The weight of his words hung in the air, and for a long moment, no one spoke. Rei and Sera looked at him, their expressions softening.
Haruta didn't look up. His gaze was fixed on the snow outside, as if the storm was the only thing that could match the chaos inside of him.
"I was broken. Too broken to be fixed. So I shut myself off. And I became colder. Colder than before."
Rei's voice finally broke the silence, his words almost too quiet.
"That's messed up, Haruta. You didn't deserve any of that."
Haruta didn't react, his expression still as serious as ever. Then Sera spoke, her voice gentle but curious.
"But Haruta... you open up to Alya. You're different with her. Why?"
Haruta was silent for a long moment, like he was trying to piece together the words. When he spoke, it was like a quiet confession.
"With everyone else, they see me as... serious, distant. And they're scared of it. But Alya... she doesn't try to change me. She sees me for who I really am. She doesn't mind my silence. And for some reason, I don't mind her chaos either."
His voice softened, but there was still a coldness to it. It wasn't the warmth you'd expect from someone opening up, but it was honest.
"That's why I... let her in."
Rei hesitated, then asked the question.
"Haruta... do you like her? Alya, I mean?"
Sera, sensing the tension, gasped.
"Oh my gosh! Do you have feelings for her?!"
Haruta didn't flinch, but his expression hardened slightly, like he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself.
"Maybe... I don't like noise. I don't like chaos. But for some reason, Alya's chaos doesn't bother me. I don't know why. It's different with her. But I know... she wouldn't like someone like me. She wouldn't. And that's just how things are... that's how my life has always been."
His words were final, like he had already made peace with that truth. There was no hesitation in his tone, no uncertainty. Just a simple, firm statement of how things were—and how they had always been.
Rei and Sera exchanged glances but didn't push further. Haruta had spoken his truth, and that was enough. For now, it was enough.
And every word, every truth Haruta shared was recorded by the voice recorder Alya had left behind.
To be continued
-~Rei