Scene 1: Back to Routine

The Monday after the ocean trip, Hikari breezed into class like nothing had happened.

“Good morning!” she chirped, dropping her bag loudly onto her desk. Her energy filled the room instantly — even the teacher sighed, half-amused, half-annoyed.

But I saw it.

Her movements were slower than usual. The color in her face hadn’t fully returned. When she thought no one was looking, she pressed her hand briefly to her chest, her shoulders tightening.

Then, the second someone turned toward her, she smiled. Bright, unshakable, flawless.

It was like watching sunlight painted on glass — beautiful, but fragile.

Scene 2: After School

After class, she bounded over to me.

“Haruki! Let’s go somewhere. Anywhere. I don’t care.”

I hesitated. “You should rest. You were—”

She cut me off with a pout. “Don’t treat me like an old lady. Come on. The world won’t wait for us.”

Her hand caught my sleeve before I could protest, tugging me down the hallway toward the exit. Her touch was warm, but her grip trembled slightly.

Scene 3: The Rooftop Café

We ended up at a tiny rooftop café near the station, a place with creaky tables and chipped paint on the railings. Hikari insisted it had “the best view of trains.”

She leaned forward as we sat, pointing at the tracks below, her eyes following each carriage like a child watching fireworks.

“Doesn’t it feel like everyone’s rushing somewhere important? And here we are, just… watching. It’s like we’re free.”

I studied her profile in the sunlight. Her smile was radiant, but her shoulders slumped when she thought I wasn’t looking. She kept sipping at her soda like she was hiding her shortness of breath.

It wasn’t freedom. It was running away from something.

Scene 4: The Confrontation

“Hikari.”

She blinked at me. “What?”

“Are you… okay?”

For the briefest moment, her smile faltered. Then she laughed, brushing it off. “Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”

I clenched my fists under the table. “At the beach, you collapsed. You can’t just smile it away.”

Her hand froze on the straw of her drink. Her eyes lowered, just for a second.

Then the smile returned — softer this time, almost pleading. “Haruki… don’t worry so much. You’ll get wrinkles before you’re even twenty.”

Her laugh sounded thinner than usual.

I wanted to push, to demand the truth. But the way she smiled at me, as if asking me to let her keep the illusion a little longer… I couldn’t.

Not yet.

Scene 5: The Sunset

We lingered until the sun dipped low, painting the trains in gold as they rushed past. Hikari leaned on the railing, her hair swaying in the breeze.

“Hey, Haruki,” she said suddenly, her voice soft.

“What?”

“Even if I’m smiling… even if I look fine… would you believe me, if I said sometimes I’m scared?”

My chest tightened. “...Yeah. I’d believe you.”

She looked at me then, and for the first time, her smile wasn’t a mask. It was smaller, sadder, but real.

“Good,” she whispered.

The next moment, she straightened, clapped her hands, and grinned wide again. “Alright! Tomorrow’s another adventure. Don’t be late!”

She skipped down the stairs, her voice echoing brightly.

But I stayed on the rooftop a while longer, staring at the fading sunset.

Because I finally knew.

Her smiles weren’t always the truth.

[To Be Continued in Chapter 12]