Vincent Suro didn't walk through Yokosaki High — he slid through it, silent enough that people only realized he'd been there when he was already gone.
Most students called him cold.
Others called him creepy.
A few whispered rumors — hacker, thief, prodigy, runaway.
Vincent didn't correct any of them.
Rumors were camouflage.
He preferred them talking about the mask instead of the person underneath.
Morning SilenceThe morning bell rang as Vincent shut his locker. He didn't slam it or rush — every motion was measured, like he was trying not to disturb the air.
Students parted around him like water around a rock.
He slipped one earbud in and moved down the hallway. Music — soft piano — dulled the noise of a hundred conversations he wasn't part of.
As he passed the courtyard window, he spotted three figures:
Akira leaning against a pillar, unreadable
Nikki tossing an apple and catching it behind her back
Kenji arguing with the vending machine like it owed him money
Three storms.
Three lives that didn't match.
Three people who shouldn't ever cross paths.
Yet somehow…
Vincent felt the pull.
Homeroom ObservationsWhen class began, Vincent sat in the back row. Not because he wanted to hide — but because he learned more by watching everyone else.
Nikki talked to two girls who pretended not to like her but secretly admired her confidence.
Kenji rested his head on his folded arms, sleeping like he hadn't slept in days.
Akira stared out the window, eyes following something no one else saw.
Vincent tapped his pen twice.
Three different routes. Same destination.
He wasn't sure whether it bothered him…
or intrigued him.
Lunch: The Outliers TableLunch at Yokosaki was chaos. Bags on the floor, kids wrestling, someone shouting about missing chicken nuggets — the usual.
Vincent sat at an empty table as far from the noise as possible.
He'd barely taken a bite when Nikki slid into the seat across from him, dropping a stack of playing cards onto the table.
"Do you hate people," she asked, "or are you just allergic to them?"
He didn't look up.
"Both."
Nikki laughed, flicking a card toward him.
"Come on, you look like you need enrichment. Like a zoo animal."
Vincent finally glanced up, eyes cold but curious.
"You're loud."
"You're quiet."
"Exactly."
Before Nikki could respond, Kenji plopped down beside her with an armful of snacks.
"Yo! You two ditching me already?"
Vincent raised an eyebrow.
"We were never with you."
Kenji squinted.
"…Damn. That hurt a little."
Across the courtyard, Akira walked past with his lunch tray, heading toward an empty bench in the shade.
The three new transfers turned their heads at the same time, watching him without speaking.
Even Vincent felt it — something strange.
Something sharp.
A center of gravity.
Vincent's WorldAfter school, Vincent didn't go home.
Home wasn't a place. It was a room he rented above a dry-cleaning shop. It smelled like detergent and disappointment.
Instead, he headed to the harbor.
The sound of waves made thinking easier.
He sat on the railing, notebook in hand, pencil tapping.
He didn't draw scenery.
He drew people.
Akira — expression unreadable
Nikki — smiling like she had something to hide
Kenji — loud, bright, always two seconds from a fight
And himself — an empty outline
He paused before completing his own sketch.
"Forget it," he muttered and closed the book.
A gust of sea wind pulled his hair back, revealing the small scar above his temple — the one from the night everything changed.
Vincent's jaw tightened.
He wasn't running from the past.
He was avoiding it like a landmine.
The Parking Lot IncidentNight fell fast.
As Vincent walked through the dark parking lot, he heard voices.
Three upperclassmen cornered a smaller student, pushing him against a fence.
Vincent almost walked past.
Almost.
"Hey."
His voice was calm, but it cut the air like a blade.
The taller delinquent sneered.
"Oh look, it's the ghost kid."
Vincent's expression didn't change.
"Leave him alone."
"Or what?" the guy mocked. "You'll stare us to death?"
The student shoved forward.
Vincent moved first.
A quick shift. A shoulder turn. A palm strike to the solar plexus.
The leader dropped like a puppet with cut strings, gasping for breath.
The other two hesitated.
Vincent didn't.
He stepped forward — not violent, just precise — and they scattered like rats.
The small kid he saved stared at him.
"Th-thank you…"
Vincent turned.
"Go home. Don't walk this road at night again."
The kid nodded and ran.
Vincent exhaled.
He didn't want to play hero. He just hated watching cycles repeat.
The CallAs Vincent crossed the street back toward town, his phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He didn't usually answer unknowns — but something made him swipe.
"Vincent Suro?"
A calm voice. Too calm.
"You're hard to reach."
Vincent slowed his steps.
"…Who is this?"
"You don't know me," the voice continued. "But I know what you did in Yokohama. And I know why you left."
Vincent's blood went cold.
The voice hummed.
"This island isn't as peaceful as it looks.
And you, Vincent — you're already involved."
The call ended.
Silence swallowed him.
Vincent stood under a flickering streetlight, breathing steady but eyes dark.
"…Great," he whispered. "Just what I needed."
He slipped his phone into his pocket and kept walking.
But now?
He wasn't walking alone.
Something had followed him to Yokosaki.
Something that didn't want him to forget.
The Closing SceneThe next morning, Vincent walked into the courtyard.
Akira stood beneath a tree.
Nikki sat on a bench twirling her hair.
Kenji leaned against a pillar eating chips.
None of them planned it.
But they were all there.
Vincent paused, watching the three of them.
Then — quietly — he walked toward them.
Not as a friend.
Not yet.
But as someone who realized something important:
You can avoid people.
You can avoid the past.
But you can't avoid the storm forever.
And Yokosaki?
It felt like the beginning of one.