Chapter 118: Beneath the Storm, a Porcelain Heart
"Hey! You two! It's too dangerous out here! What are you doing?!"
A stern voice cut through the howling wind, echoing across the rain-slicked street. The shout came from a police officer patrolling the area—a routine measure taken during stormy weather in Tokyo to prevent accidents. Yukima Azuma and Kurokawa Akane were immediately apprehended and brought to the police station.
Inside the brightly lit hallway of the Tokyo Police Department, Yukima Azuma sat alone on a cold metal bench, his clothes still damp from the rain. Fluorescent lights flickered above, casting harsh shadows on the white-tiled walls. Time dragged as he waited.
Meanwhile, Akane remained in the mediation room. The police had notified her parents, and a female officer was currently with her, gently trying to coax out words that Akane didn't seem willing—or able—to offer. There would no doubt be a mandatory lecture about suicide prevention, perhaps even psychological counseling arranged. But Yukima Azuma doubted it would help.
He had seen her eyes.
Eyes that had completely lost their light.
There was no fear, no regret—only numbness. Like someone who had already crossed the threshold of death but had been dragged back, unwillingly.
Yukima Azuma exhaled slowly and leaned back against the cold wall, his thoughts spinning. In the memories of his past life, Akane had never reached this level of psychological collapse. Was this Adolescence Syndrome? Could it be treated by conventional means—or reversed?
To him, Akane now felt like a living test. A puzzle thrown in front of him by fate itself. Solve it, and perhaps he would gain new insight, knowledge, data. Fail, and it would be a grim lesson written in irreversible tragedy.
Suddenly, the sound of rushed footsteps echoed through the hallway. Yukima raised his head.
A group of people came sprinting down the corridor. Several of them were teenagers, each striking in appearance. He recognized some of them—contestants from the reality TV show We're About to Fall in Love for Real, or LoveforReal for short.