Chapter 9: The Lies That Killed Us
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHQh5T1n1p
It had been nine days since Haruki last came to school.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1i0Ko4qWGg
No messages. No phone calls. No posts. Nothing.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCBBD0yKYN
Ren counted the days on his calendar like knife marks on skin. He thought the letter would bring clarity… maybe peace. Maybe something Haruki needed to hear.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8dkQnUpwy
But now, he wasn’t sure.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVsUWfso8V
> “Did I break him?”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBc7LolnEA
“Did I pour too much of my heart into something that only hurt him more?”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4SXEWa3EU
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ib3ZssOSx
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE784FCdQkd
Ren hadn’t slept. His eyes were hollow, his body thin. The classroom, once a prison, had become a battlefield. Whispers returned. Louder than before. Nastier.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxwhxZ8sPW
> “He made Haruki disappear.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhshvKjFis
“He probably stalked him again.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3S2mMWAdN
“Bet he did something worse this time.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVkULk7JOx
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLasCDCwHDR
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wsnj623pb
The air felt poisoned. No one would sit near him anymore.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTcO8zV8VX
And then, it happened.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfpzBldn2k
A new rumor exploded like wildfire, crueler than anything before.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSaJ9VEedE
The source? A boy named Yuto Hayashi, quiet, unnoticed — until now.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2weKhVLQ8V
Yuto claimed he had seen everything that day. He had been coming out of the bathroom, just around the corner from the music room, when he saw Ren.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRUT9McMX9
“He knelt there, right outside the door like a freak,” Yuto told the class. “Then he left a letter. And after that… he waited. Like a stalker.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuldAsE8zc2
At first, it sounded harmless.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWe9wnrvjU1
But Yuto didn’t stop there.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k2odKi6xR
He added lies. Poisoned, wicked lies.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDfha84KTQ
> “I saw it with my own eyes,” he said. “Ren went inside. He kissed Haruki—on the lips. Haruki shoved him and screamed. He ran out crying. He was terrified.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPZ1G4W2GN
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuguVd8Hze
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fjuzSFFJc
> “He told me himself,” Yuto added. “Ren tried to force him.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoDS55LhU3
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlm805hGRyf
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfqGAmk3ZV
The classroom fell silent. Then rage followed.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJPEle4k3b
Ren denied it — of course he did. But no one listened. Not this time.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmK1U7yKqHp
> “You monster.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmVg76V46b
“You made him disappear.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQE16uVtl6
“You hurt him.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrYdeimxCm
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphLU4VmhxW
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDBsNJ8hah
They beat him.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIroQnqPHc
Not all at once. But punches. Shoves. Spit in his face. A notebook slammed into his desk. Someone yanked his bag and dumped it across the floor.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqrl9D8cl7
Ren didn’t fight back.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQGyDeCnug
He just sat there.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWResPTsUM
Numb.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzM8o98vO0S
Bleeding.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AOad1VL58
Heart caving in.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHpe26FMLU
All he kept thinking was:
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUi7h93A6E
> “I hurt him. I ruined everything. I loved him… and I destroyed him.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexrDZbUEzW
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeVQKrL9ju
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjpetbDwp6
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcq343T0LaB
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6Y0HTHNdL
Meanwhile, across the city, Haruki hadn't left his room in nine days.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lAizzl9dr
His mother knocked every morning.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSraoTUZko7
He didn’t answer.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WOzUNutwx
The letter still lay on his desk — worn at the edges, tear-stained. He had read it a thousand times. Every word dug deeper into his chest.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiWcE2zPX0
He remembered the way Ren wrote about his smile.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbZUKb5LmH
> “It made my world make sense,” Ren had written.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbA9xEpuUYm
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiwYU2V3ta
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH530UdEeME
Haruki clutched his knees and rocked gently, whispering to himself.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n0qpQ9o82
> “I didn’t mean to hurt him… I didn’t…”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDGQXIbxa2
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB79C8DYERj
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQ81tHce9B
But he had.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsz2nBbpGN
And now, both of them were sinking — alone, broken, and silenced by lies they never asked for.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wktQ4OPmX
然後按「加至主畫面」