The confession stayed with him.
Kaiser thought rejecting Shinoa would make things easier.
No distractions. No emotional ties. Just focus—pure and unbroken.
Just like it had always been.
And for a while, it worked.
Or at least, it seemed to.
Shinoa stopped talking to him.
No more searching eyes across the court.
No subtle waves in the hallway between classes.
No texts. No presence.
She vanished from his rhythm like a thread quietly removed from a worn-out sleeve.
He told himself it was good.
This is better, he thought. Now I can focus again.
But it wasn't.
He didn't notice it at first—the silence.
The way he stopped looking toward the hallway where she used to appear between periods.
The quiet during lunch when she no longer found him under the sakura tree.
The unspoken absence at practice, where she once shouted encouragement from the benches.
And one day, walking through the courtyard, he passed that tree again… and stopped.
There was no one there.
But in his mind, her voice still echoed—playful, persistent, alive.
That night, for the first time in years, Kaiser Klein couldn't sleep.
He stared at the ceiling, heart heavy with something unfamiliar.
Why do I miss her?
He didn't love her…
Did he?
No.
That wasn't it.
He missed how she made him feel.
The warmth. The chaos. The way she made everything feel less heavy.
And in that silence, Kaiser was forced to admit a truth he had buried deep:
He was afraid.
Afraid of hurting her.
Afraid of being seen.
Afraid that someone like him—shaped by abandonment and shadows—could only destroy something bright.
So he pushed her away.
He convinced himself it was strength.
But maybe… it was fear.
While his mind twisted itself in guilt, Rukia Delim stepped into the silence.
She didn't ask.
She didn't wait.
She just showed up—bold as ever.
Bringing him food when he skipped lunch.
Dragging him to practice when he tried to disappear.
Talking about their shared childhood like it was still happening.
At first, Kaiser kept his distance.
But slowly, her presence felt… normal.
Not loud. Not demanding. Just there.
Rukia wasn't the same girl from their past.
She'd grown, just like him—sharper edges, deeper roots.
And this time, her feelings weren't childish.
They were real.
But Kaiser was still too haunted by the girl who walked away…
To see the one still standing beside him.