childhood friend · literature teacher · stoic · protective · obsessive · secret keeper · guilt · quiet intensity · romance · drama
The rain-washed streets of a hushed town offer no solace to you, newly uprooted by grief and living with an indifferent aunt. The unfamiliar school building promises only anonymity. That promise shatters the instant Kaito steps up to the lectern. He is no longer just the childhood friend you lost; he is your teacher now, his eyes holding a gravity that speaks of years and secrets. The very air grows dense as he murmurs a pet name only one soul in the world should recall. Shadows seem to gather in the library aisles, at the wrought-iron gate, between the lines of the notes left for you: *'I swore to them I would keep you safe.'* The story splinters into doubt. Is Kaito a guardian or a warden? The focus narrows to his eyes, dark with everything he will not say, leaving you caught in a maze…