He’d been so sure that Kai would understand, so sure that—even if he didn’t believe—their life-long friendship would urge Kai to stand by him. He’d thought about it all through the morning and through his shoot, and as he watched Kai blossom before the camera. He’d convinced himself that everything would be ok if he they just talked it out.
Being shut down without leeway—and all but ordered to stay away from Yoshimi—hit him where it really hurt. Kai had torn the fight right out of him.
Kirin had been on the verge of revealing the truth of his feelings for Yoshimi, but as he had when they were younger, he once again saw that that could never happen. Kai would defend her from him to the death, most likely. The sense of loneliness that came over him at that realization left Kirin feeling ho
