The Scar He Never Showed
1312 Words
The evening air felt unusually heavy.
Cars passed quietly along the street, their headlights briefly illuminating the tense faces standing beneath the fading sunset.
Yuna stood between Kaori Kurokawa and Ren, feeling as though she had stepped into a part of their lives she was never meant to see.
A secret.
A wound.
A truth hidden for years.
And somehow, she had found herself standing right in the middle of it.
Across from them, Ren's expression remained cold and unreadable.
Yet Yuna noticed something she had never seen before.
His hand was clenched tightly into a fist.
Almost as if he was trying to hold something back.
"Let's go home, Mom."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Kaori met her son's gaze.
"We're not finished talking."
For a brief moment, something dark flashed across Ren's eyes.
Yuna's chest tightened.
She had never seen him look this tense.
Never this desperate.
Kaori slowly turned toward her.
"Yuna."
She immediately straightened.
"Y-Yes?"
Kaori's expression softened.
A gentle smile appeared on her lips.
"Do you want to know the truth?"
The question felt heavier than anything Yuna had heard all day.
Her heart began pounding.
Before she could answer—
"That's enough."
Ren interrupted.
His voice was sharp.
Kaori looked directly at him.
"How much longer are you going to hide it?"
Silence.
Yuna tightened her grip on her bag.
Every passing second made her more afraid of what she was about to hear.
Yet she couldn't stop now.
Not after everything.
Not after learning about Ren and Rei.
Not after weeks of confusion.
She needed answers.
---
A few minutes later, they found themselves inside a small café nearby.
The place was quiet.
Only a handful of customers sat scattered across the room.
The soft scent of coffee drifted through the air.
Yet none of them touched the drinks in front of them.
The silence at the table was unbearable.
Yuna stared down at her hands.
Kaori was the first to speak.
"Do you know where Ren's scars came from?"
Yuna slowly shook her head.
"No."
Across the table, Ren remained silent.
His eyes never left the window.
As if he wished he were somewhere else entirely.
Kaori lowered her gaze.
Then she began.
---
"When they were children..."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"They were inseparable."
Yuna imagined two small boys running beneath a summer sky.
Laughing.
Playing.
Following each other everywhere.
Ren and Rei.
Back then, there had been no distance between them.
No secrets.
No guilt.
No pain.
"They were always together."
Kaori's voice carried the warmth of old memories.
"If one disappeared, the other wasn't far away."
Yuna smiled faintly.
It was hard to imagine the cold Ren she knew acting that way.
But somehow...
It felt right.
---
As the years passed, things slowly changed.
Kaori's expression grew more serious.
"Rei was always the one people noticed."
Teachers praised him.
Classmates surrounded him.
He laughed easily.
Made friends effortlessly.
People were naturally drawn to him.
"He was more expressive."
Her voice softened.
"More open."
Yuna glanced at Ren.
He remained silent.
Motionless.
Like a statue.
As if he had heard this story a thousand times before.
Meanwhile, another image formed in her mind.
A younger Ren standing alone.
Watching from the sidelines.
Watching everyone gather around his brother.
Watching while remaining invisible.
---
"Then one day..."
Kaori paused.
The atmosphere changed.
The warmth of childhood memories disappeared.
Her eyes darkened.
"They had their first serious fight."
Rain poured from the sky.
Two teenage boys stood facing each other.
Anger.
Frustration.
Pain.
Words thrown like weapons.
The kind of fight siblings never forget.
Rei eventually turned away.
Still furious.
Still hurt.
Still blinded by emotion.
Then—
Everything happened too fast.
Bright headlights.
A deafening horn.
A truck rushing forward through the rain.
Yuna's breath caught.
In her mind, she saw it clearly.
Rei stepping into danger without realizing it.
And Ren—
Moving without hesitation.
Without thinking.
Without fear.
He pushed Rei away.
And took the impact himself.
A sharp scrape.
A violent fall.
Pain.
Blood.
Scars.
---
The café returned to focus.
Yuna sat frozen.
Unable to speak.
Unable to move.
Kaori lowered her eyes.
"That's where the scars came from."
The realization hit Yuna like a wave.
Ren saved him.
The scars weren't signs of weakness.
They were proof of sacrifice.
Proof that once, before everything changed, Ren had chosen his brother's life over his own safety.
Across the table, Ren sighed.
"Are we done now?"
His voice was flat.
Kaori shook her head.
"Not yet."
---
Ren's jaw tightened.
"Mom."
A warning.
A plea.
Maybe both.
But Kaori continued.
"After that day..."
Her eyes drifted toward him.
"You both changed."
The words settled heavily over the table.
Yuna could almost see it.
Ren becoming quieter.
Colder.
More distant.
Building walls around himself.
And Rei—
Carrying a burden he could never put down.
"Rei blamed himself."
Kaori's voice was barely above a whisper.
"He believed he was the reason Ren suffered."
Yuna suddenly remembered every sad smile Rei had ever shown her.
Every moment of hesitation.
Every trace of guilt hidden behind his warmth.
It all made sense now.
---
A painful silence followed.
Then Kaori looked directly at Yuna.
"And when Rei realized there was someone Ren loved..."
Yuna's breath caught.
Kaori finished quietly.
"He fell in love too."
The words lingered between them.
Not because Rei wanted to steal something.
Not because he wanted to hurt anyone.
But because feelings didn't care about rules.
Or timing.
Or consequences.
Yuna lowered her eyes.
Memories flooded her mind.
The anonymous account.
The instant story views.
The warm smiles.
The anniversary hug.
The messages.
The gentle way Rei looked at her.
For weeks, she had wondered why.
Now she finally understood.
He wasn't pretending.
He wasn't playing a role.
He had been watching her from afar for a long time.
Long before she ever noticed him.
Long before she learned his name.
---
Suddenly—
SCRAPE.
Ren stood up so quickly that his chair slid backward.
The noise echoed through the café.
Yuna looked up.
His expression was serious.
Tired.
Almost desperate.
"That's enough."
Kaori didn't argue.
She simply watched him.
Ren turned toward Yuna.
For a brief moment, his cold mask cracked.
And she saw something vulnerable underneath.
"You don't need to get involved any further."
Yuna stared at him.
Then slowly stood as well.
"No."
Ren froze.
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"I'm already involved."
Her voice trembled.
But she didn't look away.
"You can't tell me that now."
Not after the lies.
Not after the truth.
Not after everything they had dragged her into.
Silence filled the space between them.
And for the first time—
Yuna honestly didn't know who was hurting more.
Ren.
Or Rei.
---
Night had already fallen when the café lights reflected against the dark streets outside.
Across the road, a lone figure stood beneath a streetlamp.
Watching.
Waiting.
Rei.
His hands rested quietly inside his pockets.
His gaze fixed on the café window.
He couldn't hear the conversation.
But somehow...
He already knew.
A small, bittersweet smile appeared on his lips.
"So she knows now."
The words disappeared into the night breeze.
Slowly, his hand moved to his chest.
To the place above his heart.
The place that always reminded him of that rainy day.
The day Ren saved him.
The day everything changed.
His fingers curled slightly.
And for a brief moment, guilt flashed across his face once more.
A guilt he had carried for years.
A guilt that had quietly shaped the person he became.
As the city lights shimmered around him, Rei closed his eyes.
And somewhere deep inside his heart, he wondered—
If Ren had never saved him that day...
Would any of this have happened?
End of Episode 8
- Writer
