Silence Beneath the Rain

"Sometimes the loudest screams go unheard.

Because people only hear words.

But pain… pain cannot fit into words."

Akira walked with heavy steps, his old backpack slung over one shoulder, hands buried in his pockets, head down. With every step, his thoughts seemed to sink deeper into the earth beneath him. As if the very ground wanted to swallow him whole, dragging him further into silence.

The rain slapped his face with every drop, the cold embracing his entire body—yet he seemed unaware of it all. Unmoved. His silence wasn’t just a shield from the world outside, but a shelter trying to cover the emptiness within.

Inner Voice – Akira:

"Rain gives people a place to hide.

If you cry, no one notices.

If you're cold, they blame the weather.

But I think I got lost in the rain.

Even from myself…"

He stopped at a street corner. For a brief moment, his eyes met something hanging from a balcony across the road—a school uniform swaying on a laundry line. His eyes widened.

That uniform...

It was the one his younger brother wore.

The day before he died.

And in that moment, time twisted back.

Even after more than a year, everything still felt sharp, still burned fresh in his memory.

Flashback / One Year Ago / Same House

Back then, everything looked different. The house felt whole, as if nothing was out of place.

Riku, small and buzzing with the joy only children knew, was full of laughter and light.

He couldn’t see the growing void in Akira’s eyes.

But deep inside, Akira was already drifting into a darker world.

Riku (cheerfully):

"Bro! Guess what happened at school today? Teacher said ‘well done'—but I hadn’t even done my homework! Hahaha!"

Akira (coldly):

"That's nothing to be proud of."

Riku's smile faltered. But Akira, as always, remained expressionless. He stared blankly at the TV screen—pretending.

Yet in a brief flicker, his gaze slipped toward his brother’s eyes.

That’s when he realized—nothing would ever change.

No matter what did.

And in that moment, something else disappeared:

Riku’s final voice.

Present Day / Akira’s Room

The bedroom walls were grey, the books blanketed in dust.

Akira sat at the edge of his bed, clutching an old notebook. But his mind was elsewhere.

That journal Riku kept—every page burned into Akira’s memory.

Riku’s voice, his laugh, the words Akira never listened to.

The way he smiled that last time…

Now it was all just fragments.

A broken memory.

Akira’s Inner Voice:

"If only that day… I had said something.

Just one thing.

‘Don’t go.’

If only I had smiled.

Touched his shoulder.

But I stayed silent.

And now his final voice only echoes in my dreams."

A knock at the door.

His mother’s voice—soft, worn.

Mother (from behind the wall):

"Akira… dinner’s ready. If… if you want to come..."

Akira didn’t respond.

He pulled the notebook closer and lay down on the floor.

In that moment of solitude, his deepest thoughts surfaced.

But the world outside had already grown too distant,

Too foreign.

The Next Day / School

Everything at school moved as if nothing had changed. The classroom buzzed like a boiling pot, noise spilling from every corner.

But Akira…

Akira sat apart.

His thoughts consumed him, drowning out every sound.

He was silent.

His eyes wandered the cracks on the wall—more interesting than the lesson itself.

Then he noticed someone watching him.

Yuna.

She had that rare ability—someone who could read quiet people.

Who could reach into the places where words didn't live.

Yuna (smiling):

"I don’t need to talk to you, do I?"

Akira** just looked at her. He didn’t answer.

Yuna (still smiling):

"Good. Because sometimes, just sitting beside someone is enough."

And for the first time, Akira truly *saw* someone.

Looking into her eyes didn’t just feel like seeing—

It felt like *hearing*.

Time slowed down.

A Pause in the Story

Dear reader falls into deep thoughts... then lets out a smug little chuckle.

Reader’s Inner Monologue:

"And if, perhaps, they lowered their head with a shy smile, brushed their fingers through their hair, cheeks blushing ever so slightly—

then yes... that would’ve been perfect."

Back to the Story

Akira’s Inner Monologue:

"Very little remains in this world...

A sound. A breath. A trace.

But sometimes, someone comes and sits beside you—

without stepping on your shadow.

And they understand you."

Sometimes, 'not' speaking can mean more than a thousand words.

Akira understood that now.