Wednesday, 25 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 29: Suffocation



Three months passed after the apologies.

Three months of effort.

Three months of silence.

Yuma did not waver.

He remained firm, distant, unresponsive. He did not initiate conversation. He did not attempt reconciliation. If anything, he retreated further into himself, as though building thicker walls each time they tried to reach him.

Sunday, 22 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 28: Between Warmth and Walls

The warmth did not follow him home.

When Yuma stepped inside, the entire family was gathered in the living room, the television flickering in front of them. The moment the door closed, several pairs of eyes lifted.

As though they had been waiting.

Friday, 20 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 27: An Ordinary Kind of Warmth

The date was set two weeks after the phone call.

Saturday. Four o’clock.

Yuma arrived five minutes early.

He told himself it was coincidence, yet his palms were faintly damp as he stepped into Sweet Café. The interior was spacious, decorated in soft pastel tones and fairy-tale motifs—arched windows, hanging lights shaped like lanterns, delicate floral arrangements along the walls.

Thursday, 19 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 26: A Voice That Did Not Leave

Tears blurred his vision when his phone vibrated beside him.

A notification.

Yuma reached for it without thinking.

Himari.

Wednesday, 18 February 2026

The Troublemakers’ Lair: Side Story – Friday Diary Entry

Meisa High School Teachers Daily Diary


Friday — Principal’s Office
Principal: Suga Kazuha, age 53

Meisa High School was my second appointment, and one of my greatest sources of pride. I was the school’s first—and still its present—principal. Thirteen years since its establishment, I watched this institution flourish under my leadership. Students excelled. Teachers worked with enthusiasm. Discipline was firm yet fair. I was respected. I was healthy. I was happy.

I had hoped to remain here until my retirement.

Yes. That was me.

That was me… until a year ago.

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 25: The Weight of What Never Said

Five apologies, spoken by five different people.

Yuma did not feel relief.

Instead, the words reopened things he had long learned to live with. Not because the apologies were overdue—but because they dragged him back into the past he had never truly left behind. Each apology peeled away the careful layers he had built to survive, exposing memories he had endured quietly for years.

How much he had swallowed.
How much he had stayed silent.
How often he had chosen understanding over resentment.

Monday, 16 February 2026

Short Story 1 - Chapter 24: The Attention He Got

Haruma had avoided Yuma since the apologies began.

Not deliberately, not consciously—but every time he heard footsteps in the hallway, every time a door opened, his chest tightened, and he found an excuse to turn away. He told himself it was to give Yuma space. In truth, it was fear.

Of being looked at.
Of being blamed.
Of being forgiven.