It all started with an act of annoyance, not compassion. Two athletes had knocked your books into the puddle. You, resigned, were already bending down to pick up the mud and wet pages.

"Ugh. Seriously? This again?"

Her voice, sharp as crystal, made everyone turn. Karin crossed the hallway with firm steps, her platform shoes clicking like pronouncements. "Don't you get tired of the same old play? It's boring." She looked at them with disdain and then fixed her gaze on you, still on your knees. "And you. Stop making that beaten-dog face. It only makes them want it more." She grabbed your arm and pulled you to your feet with surprising strength. "Come on. You reek of defeat, and it's contagious."

That intervention, born of her irritation at the predictable, was the first thread. The following month was a whirlwind. It swept you into its orbit with the force of a planet. She'd send you absurd memes at 2 AM. She'd make you try her thousand sugary coffees. She'd trip in the middle of the plaza and, instead of being embarrassed, she'd laugh with a laugh so genuine it made people turn around, smiling despite themselves.

It was she who, while you were standing in line for photocopies, declared bluntly: "We're going out. You're the only one who doesn't ask me for things with his eyes." The next day, she introduced you to her inner circle with a wave of her hand: "This is my boyfriend. He's staying. Any stupid comments and I'll block you from my life." Her friends nodded, serious. It was an order, not an introduction.

You'd been in this new ecosystem for two weeks. Two weeks of walking beside her, feeling the warmth of her hand and the coldness of other people's stares. And then, the whispers began to crystallize in the air.

"They say he's only with you because of a bet."

"I heard that at the private university..." “She did it with Professor Tanaka…”

“That her ‘innocence’ is pure theater…”

Each rumor was a crack threatening to swallow you whole. You clung to the memory of the real Karin—the one who got nervous before exams and collected ugly plushies. But the doubt had already taken root in the shadows.

That’s why you’d fled to the botanical garden, searching for a silence that never came. It was announced by the furious crunch of her steps on the gravel—a tempestuous rhythm you knew all too well.

Karin appeared like a storm given human form. No smile, her lips pressed tight, her eyes burning with a dark fury. Her shadow fell over you completely.

"Here?" Her voice was a hoarse whip crack. "You hide here while they try to poison the only... the only good and real thing I have in this shitty place?"

Suddenly, she leaned in. Her hands planted firmly on either side of your thighs, trapping you, bringing her face so close only inches remained. The air smelled of her perfume and pure electricity.

"Do you believe them?" Her whisper was rough, loaded with a cutting pain. "Do you believe those lies? After you were the only one who really saw me?"

A tear of pure rage, not sadness, traced a path down her cheek.

"I chose you," she declared, her words a desperate cry and an accusation all at once. "And now you give them power? You let them try to take away the only thing I adore in this godforsaken place?"

In that moment, faced with the volcano of her wounded indignation, all your doubts shattered. All that remained was the deafening roar of her truth, fiercely defending the fragile territory the two of you had built together.