Chapter 4: Secrets in the Rain
After classes, the school was unusually quiet.
The rain had finally stopped, but the sky stayed overcast—like it was holding its breath.
Riku stayed back to help clean the blackboard, mostly because he wanted to delay going home. Something about today felt... unexplainably heavy. Like the world was nudging him toward something, but he didn't know what.
"You're unusually quiet today," Airi said, popping her head in through the door. She had her bag slung over one shoulder and her shoes half-off, like she had rushed just to check on him.
"Was just thinking."
"That's dangerous."
Riku smiled faintly. "Have you ever felt like something big is coming? Like... everything's about to change but you don't know how?"
Airi walked into the room and leaned against a desk. "You mean like the world suddenly deciding your future behind your back?"
"Exactly that."
"I think that's just growing up."
"No." He turned to her. "I mean something weirder."
Airi raised an eyebrow. "Like... ghosts? Aliens?"
"More like... fate, maybe? Or a power waiting to wake up."
Airi stared at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then she said, "You're acting like an anime protagonist."
"Wouldn't that make you my tsundere love interest?"
"Excuse me?!" she snapped, cheeks pinking slightly. "Don't make me throw my shoe at you."
"I'll dodge."
"You'll try."
They both laughed, and for a moment, the tension eased. But Riku still felt it—that strange pulse. Not from the clouds this time, but from himself. Like something was stirring just beneath his skin.
That night, back in his room, Riku opened the old wooden box he hadn't touched in years.
Inside was a scarlet pendant, shaped like a blooming flower. It used to belong to his older brother. The brother who disappeared six years ago without a trace.
He hadn't told Airi or Kaito. Not even his parents talked about it anymore. But he remembered the last thing his brother said before vanishing:
> "If you ever hear the rain whisper your name... don't be afraid. That's when it starts."
And now, after all this time, the rain had returned.
Riku held the pendant tight.
Suddenly, a low hum vibrated through the air. The pendant began to glow faintly.
And from the corner of his room, a voice spoke.
"You're not ready."
Riku turned, heart pounding. No one was there.
But something had changed.
He felt it now.
The Bloom was awakening.
And the promise he made long ago... the one he barely remembered...
It had begun to matter again.