Part 2 — After the Storm
His bedroom door shut firmly.
And click, he locked himself,
Silence filled the house afterward.
Heavy.
Painful.
Kaito stared toward the hallway helplessly.
Ayame lowered her gaze quietly.
And Akari remained standing there—
silent—
while Haruto's words continued lingering painfully in the room.
For several long moments—
nobody moved.
The silence after Haruto left felt heavier than the argument itself.
Outside, faint movement crossed above the rooftops again.
A patrol unit.
The sound barely reached inside the house—
but after everything that happened, even that small noise felt uncomfortable now.
Kaito slowly lowered himself onto the floor near the table.
Still staring toward the hallway.
Like he expected Haruto to come back out any second.
But nothing happened.
The hallway remained silent.
Kaito swallowed slightly.
"…I've never seen him like that before…"
His voice sounded small now.
Confused.
Ayame quietly stood nearby for a few moments longer before slowly sitting down too.
"…Neither have I."
Akari still hadn't moved.
She remained standing near the entrance exactly where Haruto left her.
Silent.
Motionless.
The afternoon sunlight stretching across the room made the atmosphere somehow feel even lonelier.
Kaito carefully looked toward Akari.
"…Aka…"
But he didn't know how to continue after that.
Because there wasn't really anything he could say.
Haruto's words still lingered heavily inside the room.
"You're weak."
"You can't protect anyone."
Ayame lowered her gaze slightly.
Then softly—
"…He didn't mean it."
Akari's eyes shifted slightly toward her.
Ayame continued quietly.
"…He's just scared."
Silence followed again.
Long.
Heavy.
Then finally—
Akari slowly sat down.
The exhaustion on her face looked more visible now.
"…I know."
Her voice remained calm.
Gentle.
But hearing her say it somehow made the atmosphere hurt even more.
Kaito rubbed his sleeve nervously.
"…But he said really horrible things…"
Akari lowered her gaze slightly.
"…Fear makes people say things they normally wouldn't."
That line made the room quiet again.
Because everyone knew it was true.
Haruto wasn't angry because he hated them.
He was terrified.
Terrified that history was repeating itself.
Four years ago—
people disappeared from his life one after another.
And now—
war tension had returned again.
Mobilization.
Deployments.
Shinobi movement.
Fear.
To Haruto—
it probably felt like the beginning of another loss.
Kaito looked down quietly.
"…I didn't know what to do…"
Ayame answered softly beside him.
"…Neither did he."
That line made Kaito pause.
Because she was right.
Haruto himself probably didn't even fully understand his own emotions anymore.
Fear.
Anger.
Panic.
Sadness.
All tangled together until they exploded at once.
Outside—
another group of shinobi crossed somewhere far above the village rooftops.
The faint sound drifted through the distance.
Kaito instinctively looked toward the ceiling for a second.
Then lowered his gaze again.
The house remained quiet afterward.
No one really knew how to fix what just happened.
Time passed slowly.
The sunlight outside gradually shifted lower.
Orange light stretched longer across the floor little by little.
Eventually—
Akari quietly stood.
"…I'll check on him."
Neither Ayame nor Kaito stopped her.
She slowly walked toward the hallway alone.
Each step felt strangely heavy.
The house stayed silent behind her.
When she finally reached Haruto's door—
she stopped.
No sounds came from inside anymore.
No crying.
No movement.
Just silence.
For several moments, Akari simply stood there quietly looking at the closed door.
Then slowly—
she reached toward the handle.
The door didn't move.
Locked.
Akari's expression softened slightly.
Of course he locked it.
For a brief moment—
she considered knocking.
But stopped herself.
Instead, she quietly unlocked the door from the outside.
Then slowly opened it.
The room inside was dim.
Soft orange evening light stretched faintly across the floor from the window.
And Haruto—
was asleep on a futon.
Still curled slightly inward.
One arm loosely near his face.
Tear marks still faintly visible near his eyes.
At some point—
he had cried himself to sleep from exhaustion.
Akari's expression softened immediately.
All the sharpness from earlier disappeared completely.
Only sadness remained.
For several quiet seconds—
she simply stood there looking at him.
The same child who shouted at her earlier—
now looked painfully small sleeping there alone.
Even now, his breathing still sounded slightly uneven.
Like part of him was still afraid even in sleep.
Slowly, Akari walked closer.
Then quietly crouched beside him.
Very gently—
she moved part of his hair away from his face.
"…You really are still just a child…"
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
Not frustration.
Not anger.
Only sadness.
Because despite how mature Haruto sometimes tried to act—
moments like this reminded her how young he still truly was.
Outside the room, the village continued preparing for uncertainty.
But inside this room—
it was only a frightened child exhausted from fear.
Akari stayed beside Haruto quietly for a few moments longer.
The soft orange light from outside rested across the room in silence.
Haruto didn't move at all.
Still asleep from emotional exhaustion.
Slowly, Akari pulled the nearby blanket over him properly.
Then gently stood again.
Before leaving, she looked back one more time.
The anger from earlier was completely gone now.
Only worry remained.