As Miss Hena guided Suisen behind the curtain, Rafael and I waited in the quiet stillness of the nurse's office. The only sound was the slow, rhythmic ticking of the wall clock, each second stretching a little longer than the last.
Rafael leaned against the edge of the desk, arms folded, his usual carefree demeanor replaced by something far more serious.
"She didn't even say a word," he muttered, voice low and heavy with concern. "Who the hell would do that to someone?"
I stayed silent. My eyes were fixed on the floor, but my thoughts were spiraling.
This isn't how it was supposed to go. She wasn't even meant to make it through her first week. So why is she here now? Did saving her... shift something in the timeline?
The soft shuffle of footsteps drew our eyes to the curtain.
Suisen emerged slowly, now dressed in a clean school uniform. Her damp hair clung to her face, framing eyes that still refused to lift from the floor—hollow, distant, but not broken.
Miss Hena gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "You can rest here for a while if you'd like. There's no rush going back to class."
Suisen gave the faintest nod.
Rafael stepped forward, scratching the back of his neck, awkward but sincere. "Uh… if you want, we can hang out here for a bit. I mean… only if you're okay with that."
She looked up at him slowly. Her eyes didn't show fear—just tiredness, like she was dragging the weight of something far heavier than any of us could see. But to our surprise, she gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
I stood there, unsure of what I was supposed to feel.
She was supposed to be gone. Her life was never meant to reach this day. But now she's here... and somehow, she's getting pulled into my orbit. Why? Why now? Is fate trying to tell me something?
Miss Hena returned with a steaming cup of tea and placed it gently in front of Suisen. "Here, drink this. It'll help calm you."
Suisen wrapped her hands around the cup, still shaking a little, and pulled it closer.
A few minutes passed in silence. Then Rafael sat down beside her and said, in a voice softer than I'd ever heard from him, "Hey. Whoever those girls were... forget them. People like that? They're just background noise. Small and loud, but meaningless. Don't let them drag you under."
Suisen didn't answer. But she didn't flinch either. And in that stillness, it almost felt like her silence was speaking louder than words.
Miss Hena glanced over at me. "You two are her classmates, right? Stay with her a little longer. I'll talk to the homeroom teacher about what happened."
"Alright," Rafael nodded.
She left, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving just the three of us. The silence returned—fragile and thick with things unsaid.
Rafael looked over at me. "You good?"
I blinked, pulled from the thoughts tangled in my head. "Yeah… just thinking."
He gave a small nod, sinking back into his chair.
Then, just as I glanced toward Suisen again, her eyes met mine. And this time, I couldn't look away fast enough.
She spoke, her voice quiet, soft, and cold, like snow falling on a still lake.
"Thank you… again."
I froze. For a moment, I didn't know what to say.
"Yeah," I replied, my voice flat, awkward—like the words didn't quite belong in my mouth.
Rafael raised a brow and looked at me with a slow, knowing smirk. I already knew what he wanted to ask.
Before he could open his mouth, I stood up. "Let's give her some space."
He followed my lead, and we stepped out of the nurse's office together, the door clicking shut behind us.
As we walked down the corridor in silence, the fluorescent lights humming faintly above us, Raphael finally broke the quiet.
"So… you knew her?" he asked, his voice low, not carrying his usual playful tone.
I hesitated. "Not exactly…"
It was the truth—but not the whole truth.
He let out a breath. "Okay… okay."
The way he said it wasn't casual—it was thoughtful, maybe even a little suspicious. But he didn't press further.
We reached the classroom, and the mood shifted immediately.
Laughter—mean-spirited and sharp—spilled out from the front benches. The same group of girls from before were still whispering and snickering, mocking Suisen like it was some kind of sport.
Raphael's jaw clenched, and I could see him start to step forward, fury in his eyes.
He was ready to say something—maybe more than just words.
I caught his arm. "Don't," I said firmly. "Not now."
"What? Are you seriously going to let them keep doing this?" he snapped, not even trying to keep his voice down.
"I'm not letting it go. I just don't want us standing out too much," I said, lowering my voice. "It's only the first day. We do anything rash now, and they'll have their eyes on us too."
Raphael looked like he wanted to argue, but he swallowed it down. "Fine. But I'm not just gonna sit back forever."
I looked at him and said nothing...
We walked back to our seats, the laughter still echoing behind us.
And as I sat down, I looked toward the door, wondering if Suisen would come back.
After four more classes, the final bell rang, marking the end of our first day. Suisen never came back.
Her seat remained empty the entire time—untouched, like a ghost still lingered there.
Once we packed our bags, Raphael and I made our way to the nurse's office to check on her.
Miss Hena gave us a gentle look. "She left a little while ago," she said. "Didn't say much—just thanked me and quietly walked out."
Hearing that, I felt something twist in my chest. I wasn't sure if it was worry or guilt… or both.
We stepped outside as the afternoon sun dipped lower, casting golden hues across the pavement. I looked at Raphael, who walked beside me in silence, hands in his pockets, his usual energy dulled.
"Hey," I said, breaking the quiet. "Let's go eat something."
He shook his head. "I'm not really in the mood right now."
I nudged him lightly. "Come on. I'm buying."
He glanced at me, hesitant—but finally gave in with a tired sigh. "Alright, fine. Just for a bit."
We found a small snack stall near the station. A couple of warm sandwiches and fizzy drinks later, Raphael finally started to loosen up. The tension in his shoulders eased, and a half-smile crept back onto his face.
"Okay," he said, wiping his hands. "Maybe that helped."
"Told you," I replied with a smirk.
After that, we stood at the fork in the road where we usually parted ways.
"Later," Raphael said, giving me a fist bump.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
We headed in opposite directions, the cool breeze brushing past me as I walked home.
But even as I tried to shake it off… my thoughts kept drifting back to Suisen.
She left without a word mmm..
Something about her being here was rewriting everything I thought I knew.
And I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.