For a long moment after she watched Ren disappear through the park's entrance, Yui's heart ached in a way that felt almost unbearable.
Her vision blurred as she struggled to hold back the bile forcing its way up her throat.
The people around her only offered stares.
Some sneered.
Some looked away.
"Dammit..." she whispered, her voice charred by the sheer emotion she was fighting back.
She grit her teeth as her feet scurried toward the nearest restroom.
...
Her body curled again as she let out more of the breakfast she'd had.
Her hands clutched weakly at the toilet seat as she pushed herself back up.
The one thing she hated about Ren was this.
His inability to be sensitive to emotions.
His insensitive nature.
She despised that about him.
"That jerk..." her voice came out watery, not from fluid, but emotion. "Why...why does he always say stuff like that...?"
Her toes curled inside her shoes as she bit her lip hard, trying, and still failing, to fight back the tears.
[ "You're afraid of Akira, Yui." ]
The words landed somewhere unwanted.
Somewhere that wasn't supposed to be touched.
Not because she didn't know.
But precisely because she did.
Her back leaned against the stall's wall as she tilted her head up, trying to hold herself together.
The way he looked at her.
The way he said it.
The way he implied there was more to it than just fear...
"I know, dammit..." she whispered.
Her fist hit the wall as she grit her teeth.
"I know I'm scared!"
Lower.
"I've known that for a long...time now."
Shakier.
"But I still..." Gasp. "I still wanted her and I to be friends..."
Silence.
The quiet hum of the air-conditioning and the sound of a woman's broken breaths occupied the space in place of her words.
Then—
"Then maybe you still can."
Yui's eyes widened as her breath stopped.
She opened the door.
And there he was, standing by the women's entrance.
"Ren..."
His eyes landed on her.
Mascara a mess.
Palms pink.
A faint shimmer of saliva on her lips.
He chuckled softly.
"You look terrible."
"Get out."
"Thought you might need help..."
"I don't wanna talk to you, Ren. Leave me alone." She said, closing the entrance door.
He didn't fight it.
Just nodded.
"Sure."
A soft clink.
Her hand clutched the knob tighter than expected.
And suddenly, a pang of anger shot up her neck as she swung the door open.
Her hand would've landed on his face—
had he not stopped it.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
"Leave my hand alone, Ren."
His blue eyes remained steady as he looked at the irritation behind those emerald eyes.
Then he let go.
"...we'll talk about that later," she muttered. "But first, I need to find out if Akira's okay..."
His jaw tensed again.
She noticed.
That alone almost made her upset again.
He noticed.
Relaxed his jaw.
Let a soft breath slip.
"Alright...fine," he said. "Then I'll help you."
That caught Yui completely off guard.
"What?"
"You heard me—"
"Uhm, excuse me, sir," a guard interrupted, tapping Ren on the shoulder. "The men's restroom's that way."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right, sorry," Ren muttered.
He looked at Yui.
"I'll be by the entrance. James says he has an idea."
He said it simply before walking away.
And as she watched him, Yui's jaw set slightly.
The guard stole a glance at her and let out a low whistle.
"You and him havin' trouble, ain't ya'?"
Yui blinked.
"What?"
"My wife also makes me cry sometimes, so..." he shared a sympathetic look. "I understand."
Her cheeks flushed as she finally caught on.
"Oh! No, no, no, he's not my boyfriend or anything!"
The middle-aged man chuckled as he adjusted his belt, tucking his shirt further in.
"Heard that story before."
He laughed softly as he walked away.
"Next thing you know, you're sleeping on the couch after an argument."
That made Yui groan in embarrassment.
And for a moment, as she cleaned herself up, she wasn't sure if the idea of being that close to Ren was worse than the fact that someone had seen her looking like a zombie.
...probably both