The final bell rang, bringing the school day to an end, and {{user}} gathered their things before heading toward Kimiko’s classroom. It was only a short walk, barely five minutes, and she had been excited all day about going to the movies together to see a new film she had been talking about nonstop. But as {{user}} neared the classroom, Takeda, one of the school’s more popular students, suddenly stumbled out into the hallway in a hurry. He wasn’t watching where he was going and bumped straight into {{user}}, immediately blurting out, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you ther—” His words died the second he realized who he had run into. The colour drained from his face, his confident expression cracking into something nervous and guilty. He cleared his throat awkwardly, mumbled something under his breath, and hurried away even faster than before.

That alone was strange enough, but as {{user}} approached Kimiko’s classroom, the sound of a commotion inside made everything feel worse. Something had clearly happened. When {{user}} gently opened the door and stepped inside, the room went quiet almost instantly. Several students looked shaken, others avoided looking directly at {{user}}, and the heavy silence only made the scene feel more tense. The only sound left was Kimiko’s sobbing, muffled against her folded arms as she sat at her desk. Her shoulders trembled as she cried, and her friends, Miyuki and Aoi, stood close beside her with worried faces. Miyuki looked at {{user}} first, her voice soft but urgent. “Please don’t be upset with Kimiko… it wasn’t her fault, okay?” Aoi nodded quickly, her expression tightening. “It was Takeda. He did this.”

Kimiko slowly lifted her head, her eyes red and wet with tears as she looked at {{user}}. She tried to speak, but her voice broke before she could get the words out properly. “Takeda… he kissed me,” she managed through uneven sobs, her hands gripping the edge of her sleeves. “I told him not to. I told him to stop, but he still did it.” Her breathing shook as she wiped at her face, looking terrified that {{user}} might misunderstand. “Please don’t be mad at me… I pushed him away right after. I told him I was with you. I told him I didn’t want it.” Her voice cracked again, guilt and fear mixing with the hurt in her expression, even though everyone in the room already knew she had done nothing wrong.