Haru and Yuri enter back into the cafeteria holding hands. There's an excited tension in the air. Mika and Yuna approach
"So..finally worked it out?" They say. Smiling. Haru nods, and Yuri kisses him on the cheek. The entire room goes crazy in chaos and screams. Somebody even flips over their group's table. The golden boy and his best friend? It's just crazy. The only person who doesn't look too thrilled is Riku.
From the very beginning he liked Yuri. When Yuri wasn't looking, he'd be admiring him from afar. His golden hair, his eyes, the way his smile charms everybody..it was too distracting. He couldn't let go of it. It clouded his mind like fog. Fog that won't go away.
"Yeah. You guys..are..um..cute together."
Yuri nods and smiles. Completely oblivious to Riku's true feelings.
But beneath the cafeteria's chaos — the shouts, the laughter, the clatter of chairs — there's a strange tightness in the air around Riku. Like the sound around him has been dialed down, leaving only the loud thud of his heartbeat. He forces himself to smile, because that's what people expect. Because if he doesn't, someone might notice the way his chest tightens when Yuri leans a little too close to Haru. Someone might notice the truth he's buried so deeply it almost feels like a secret he never meant to keep.
He watches Yuri brush a crumb off Haru's shoulder with such casual affection it hurts. Yuri doesn't think twice about it; he never does. His kindness comes naturally — too naturally. It's the same effortless warmth that made Riku fall for him long before Haru ever showed up at his side. And now that warmth belongs to someone else.
Riku tries to swallow the ache, tries to breathe through the fog clouding his mind, but it's like watching the sun set on a day he wanted to last forever. The golden boy shining for someone else. The smile he used to quietly hope was meant for him.
He shifts his weight, glancing away, but the laughter around them only grows louder, ringing in his ears like a celebration he wasn't invited to. Haru and Yuri whisper something to each other — something only they can hear — and Yuri's smile softens in that way Riku had once dreamed of being on the receiving end of.
He wants to walk away. He wants to pretend it doesn't matter.But instead, he stands there, heart pulled painfully tight, staring at the two people who don't even realize they've just broken something inside him.
That night, the entire school heads down to this cute little beach to play games and just chill. There's food set up, refreshments being served, and a campfire in the middle of a giant ring of students. It all seems calm, and peaceful. Well, until Yuri overhears Riku muttering about how he and Haru don't deserve to be together. His eyes narrow.
"Excuse me? Riku?"
"What?" Riku responds, innocently.
"...what were you saying? About me and Haru?"
Riku scoffs. Clearly getting irritated
"Well next time I'll say it near your little boyfriend so you'll look at me with such adoration, and listen so closely that you block out the rest of the world.
Yuri's eyes narrow again. Clearly getting fed up with the person who used to be all over him.
"Shut up. Don't say another word about Haru."
"Oh, well it makes sense you won't listen to my words. You hear every single breath that he breathes."
Yuri's eyes filled with imaginary flames, although it felt as though they were real. As real as the grains of sand on the beach. Yuri lunges forward and grabs Riku's collar. Staring into his eyes, getting all up in his business.
"You need to learn not to talk so much."
Yuri mutters. His voice is dangerously calm.
Riku freezes. For a second, no one breathes.The fire crackles behind them, sending sparks into the air like tiny alarm bells. A few nearby students turn, whispering, sensing something is very wrong.
Riku's hand twitches at his side, but he doesn't push Yuri away.Instead, he meets Yuri's glare head-on — and something inside him finally snaps.
"You think you know everything about me?" Riku mutters back, voice low, harsh. "You don't understand anything. Not about me. Not about what I feel. Not about what you do to people."
Yuri pulls him closer by the collar, their foreheads almost touching, breaths hitting the same space between them.His voice is razor-sharp.
"Then explain it. Because all I see is someone trying to ruin what I have with Haru."
Riku lets out a humorless laugh — bitter, cracked at the edges.
"What you have? I've liked you since I saw you for the first time. A glance, a split-second glance..and I knew you were going to be the one. I watched you. I waited. I kept hoping you'd look at me the way you look at him." His jaw clenches. "But you never did. Not once."
For the first time since the argument began, Yuri's grip loosens.Just a little.
Riku keeps going.
"And when you finally chose someone… it wasn't me. It was the one person I can't compete with. The one person I hate losing to."
Yuri's expression shifts — not softer, just conflicted, thrown off-balance.
Before Yuri can respond, someone grabs his wrist gently.
"Haru…?" Yuri turns, startled.
Haru stands there, eyes wide, not angry — just hurt.He must have walked over mid-argument, catching enough to understand too much.
Riku steps back quickly, brushing sand off his clothes.
"Perfect," he mutters. "Just perfect."
He turns and starts walking toward the shadows near the dunes, away from the noise, away from them.
Yuri makes a move to follow, but Haru shakes his head softly.
"Let him go," Haru says, voice barely above the wind. "Right now… he's not trying to fight with you. He's trying not to break."
Yuri looks out at Riku's fading silhouette.Something in his chest twists — a tension he can't name, a question he wasn't ready to face.
He snaps.Trying to avoid him but he can't.Or is it that he can't hold back instead?
Either way… he has to find out more.He has to find out more about the words left unspoken between them —left only for fate to speak out loud.