Mao: The Quite One

They came slowly at first.

A smile in the hallway.

A casual conversation in the library.

A "Hey, Mao, you look good lately."

The same girls who had once dismissed him.

Who laughed behind his back.

Who whispered when he failed.

Now, they saw something different.

Power.

Respect.

Mystery.

And they wanted it.

---

Hana's name appeared in messages again—through classmates, not directly.

Emi started sitting closer during meetings, asking questions she already knew the answers to just to hear his voice.

Even girls from other grades started following him on socials, posting old photos with him in the background like it meant something.

But Mao?

He smiled when he had to.

Nodded politely.

Thanked them with perfect manners.

But his heart didn't move.

It wasn't pride.

It wasn't bitterness.

It was clarity.

He had long passed the point of wanting validation from those who once dismissed him.

---

Arisa remained in the picture.

Distant, confusing, but still there.

They didn't talk about what had happened.

They didn't talk about trust.

They didn't talk about anything deeper than the surface—but neither let go.

To others, they were still a couple.

To Mao, it felt like a fading shadow of something warm.

Yet he didn't end it.

Maybe because letting go meant facing a new kind of emptiness.

Maybe because part of him still hoped.

---

One night, after another school award ceremony, Arisa waited for him outside.

"You're popular again," she said with a half-smile.

Mao looked at her. "Popularity doesn't mean anything anymore."

"You don't seem lonely," she said softly.

He shrugged. "I've just stopped pretending I'm not."

They stood there, under the dim campus lights, not touching, not smiling.

Just two people… not ready to end something already broken.

---

The world wanted Mao.

But Mao?

He had never felt so unreachable.