We were far from prying eyes, the storage room was very dark. The only things I could see were lockers and desks stacked on top of each other, and her leaning against one of the lockers, eyes fixed on me. The only thing that allowed me to stay even a little calm was the soft light coming in from under the door of the storage room. Every now and then, you could hear footsteps of people passing by outside.
Souta, caught off guard, didn't know how to react, and taken by the moment, he said, slightly shouting:
"Hey-y what are you doin—"Rika suddenly covered my mouth and said,"Are you crazy? Do you want us to get caught in here? Lower your voice."At her touch, I felt my heart start beating faster.
After calming down a bit, I moved her hand away from my mouth and said,"Then why did you bring me in here?"I looked at her, confused, trying to push away the dirty thoughts that had crossed my mind."If someone sees us, they might think the wrong thing."
Rika's hands slowly slid along the curves of my chest and down my back, sending a shiver up my spine. My heartbeat kept increasing with every one of her movements. In that moment, the warmth of her hand made me forget everything — it felt like home, for the first time in a long while.
Rika then whispered sensually in my ear:
"Hey Souta, why are you pretending not to understand what's happening?"Then touching my back again, "I think it's pretty obvious."
Suddenly, I started to feel hot. I could feel my heart about to explode in my chest, my breathing growing heavier as I searched for air, then I said,
"No, really… you can't be serious, right?" I was incredulous at the situation."Out of everyone… you chose me? I can't believe it."
Rika replied with a soft but unsettling tone:
"You know what happens in this storage room. It's where everyone becomes an adult. Don't tell me you're scared."Then, with a flirty tone, she added,"You're not bad at all. If you don't believe me, I could change your mind. Now, come closer."
Every part of my body was trembling while I thought,"Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? It can't be… me, with the most popular girl? Maybe she mistook me for someone else, haha..."But deep inside, I hoped it wasn't a mistake.
Rika's smile became mocking, as if she had read all my thoughts and shattered them. With confidence, almost like a command, she said:
"Shut up, and come closer."
Each of her words made my heart feel like it would explode. My hands were shaking, but slowly, hesitantly and a bit embarrassed, I reached out to hold her.
Suddenly, her laughter filled the air — like an electric shock that made me flinch. She then said maliciously:
"Ahaah, did you really think I'd do something with a loser like you? You're just a pathetic idiot. I didn't think it would be this easy."
I collapsed to the ground, the humiliation crushing me like a boulder. Rika's words pierced my chest while the reality of what was happening hit me like a punch in the stomach. I was nothing more than the victim of a cruel game."What... what's happening to me?" I murmured, unable to believe what I had just experienced. I slowly slid to the floor, my back against the locker.
In that moment, Souta felt the same sensation he had felt that day. It came back to him this morning, and he began to remember the events that had happened.
After Souta had tried to defend himself, a friend of hers came to back her up and said:
"Y-You!! Don't you remember what you did? You forgot you forced her to kiss you, and you even touched her when she had told you no!! You're a disgusting pig, forcing yourself on your poor girlfriend!"
It was in that moment that Souta realized he had probably fallen into her trap, because in reality, he hadn't done anything. With a resigned and sad look on his face, Souta said:
"How can you be so sure...? I didn't do anything. You know me, and you know I'd never do something like that."I looked her straight in the eyes,"Please… at least you believe me..."
Souta looked at her, desperately searching for something to hold on to, but in her eyes, he saw only disgust.
At that moment, Souta felt something inside him break. He fell to the ground in tears. It was a new feeling he had never experienced before — like his heart had been replaced with a thousand shards of glass, and his head filled with emptiness. In that moment, he was completely destroyed.That was probably the moment when his entire outlook on the world changed.
From that day on, things didn't get better for Souta — they only got worse. He kept going to school, but was constantly targeted and bullied. His life had become a living hell. More than once, he thought about giving up everything, but he decided to keep going, to show everyone that their words didn't affect him — or at least that's what he showed on the outside.
When he entered high school, he transferred to a new school where he could start fresh — but even there, nothing changed. Because even though he had changed classrooms, even changed schools, the trauma he carried couldn't just disappear by moving.
Souta returned to the present and thought maybe fate had tried to warn him this morning by making him remember that day, but he let himself be carried away by the warmth of her words — probably because he really needed them.
Souta was now broken and desperate. He thought,"What did I do wrong to deserve all this? Why is it always me?"Then he screamed,"Why!!!"He immediately tried to find an answer to that "why", but he couldn't think of anything — it was as if his brain had shut down.
In that moment, he just wanted to disappear. His body was now just an empty shell, with a heart shattered into pieces, ready to leave the scene.