Yuki’s PoV:

  I hought I’d know what it felt like to be happy.

  Not truly happy, anyway… The kind of happihat makes your chest feel warm and your heart feel light like you’re floating off the ground. The kind of happihat makes you fet for a moment, all the things that are wrong with you.

  But now… now I think I know.

  I was sat on the engawa, my chitinous limbs folded ly beh me. Their glossy bck surface caught the faint glow of the nterns. The garden itself was quiet, save for the soft rustling of leaves and the distant chirping of crickets. The koi pond shimmered uhe daylight as if the rippling surface was dang.

  I just couldn’t stop smiling.

  Yesterday had been… perfect. Markus had been there as always, but his presence was f in a way I couldn’t quite expin. He didn’t look at me like I was a monster, like I was something to be feared or pitied.

  He just… saw me. Really saw me. Even Nora, for all her giness and pouting, was a fiery spirit that made me ugh, even when she was being difficult like always.

  For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere.

  I leaned back, my antewitg slightly as I stared up at the looming clouds. They were scattered across the sky, like dark swabs of cotton. I wondered if Markus and Nora were looking at them too, if they were thinking about the same things I was.

  I hoped they were.

  It hadn’t always been like this. Before Markus and Nora, my world had been small, suffog, almost like a cage I couldn’t escape. My family’s estate, as beautiful as it was with its sprawling gardens and elegant rooms, had always felt more like a prison than a home.

  My glossy bck limbs, my purple eyes, my antehey marked me as something different, something strange.

  I had spent so muy life hiding, trying to make myself smaller, quieter, less noticeable. I had no friends, no oo talk to, no one who really uood what it was like to be… me. I had resigned myself to a life of loneliness, of quiet despair.

  But then… then I met Markus.

  It had been an act. I had been wanderihe backyard of his house, my emotions heavy with the sway of my loneliness. He was busy pying with Nora, his ughter ringing out like music as they chased each other around.

  I had been too afraid to approach him at first. I had always been told to stay away from other lesser people, that they would never uand or accept me.

  But something about Markus had drawn me in, something warm and… something f.

  And then he saw me.

  “Hey!” he had called, raising a hand in a friendly wave. “Do you want to e py with us?”

  I was too scared to respond. No one had ever asked something like that to me before. No one had ever looked at me like he did.

  Nora had been wary of me, a sight I had grown aced to. Her hazel eyes narrowing as she watched me from a distance. But Markus had just smiled, his dark eyes filled with a kihat made my body flutter with feelings I didn’t reize.

  Ever sihat day, everything had ged. Markus had bey world, the drifting light in this familiar darkness. He didn’t care about my family’s status or my… peculiarities. He didn’t care that I was different. To him, I was just Yuki.

  And for the first time in my life, I felt like that was enough.

  Markus gave me something to look forward to every day. His friendly nature, his ughter… it was like a lifeline, pulli of the shadows and into the light. And Nora, for all her wariness, was still a friend I sidered dear.

  I sighed, my antewitg as I leaned forward, my purple eyes refleg the ripples in the koi pond. The water shimmering with lights, flickering, like an alluring performance.

  I wished I could stay like this forever, stu this moment, with Markus’s warmth taking away my worries. But deep down, I k wouldn’t st, not for someone as unappealing as me.

  The thought made my chest tighten, and I ched my hands into fists, nails digging into my palms. I didn’t want to lose this. I didn’t want to go bato the shrouded darkness… to the loneliness; to the cold, suffog sileny family’s estate.

  But I didn’t have a choice.

  I never did.

  Tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t try to stop them. They dropped, tear after tear, trailing down my cheeks as I stared at the koi pond, the ripples ier blurring with my reddening eyes.

  I didn’t want to go back.

  I didn’t want to be alone again.

  But the world had never cared about what I wanted.

  Aher did my family.

  I had been locked in my room all day.

  …

  The sound of rain began to patter softly against the roof, a gentle sound that used to calm my nerves.

  But to me, it felt like the world was weeping. I sat on the edge of my futon, my chitinous limbs folded tightly against my body as my antennae drooped low.

  The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the ntern outside my window, casting long, flickering shadows across the tatami mats.

  No expnation, n, just the sharp click of the lock turning, sealing me away from everything I ever wanted. From Markus. From the only happiness I had ever known.

  I pressed my forehead against the fining walls that seemed to grow smaller by the minute. My breath fogged against my hands. My chest ached, a hollow, gnawing pain that refused to go away; like a vicious parasite.

  I had spent hours staring out the window, watg the clouds gather and darken, hoping against hope that Markus might appear, that he might somehow know I was trapped here and e to rescue me.

  But he didn’t.

  Of course he didn’t.

  The rain grew heavier, its steady drumming filling the silen the room.

  I closed my eyes, thinking back to fond moments; hiss ughter, the way his face lit up when he smiled, the way he never let me feel like I was left behind, like I was a burden.

  But the memories felt distant now, like they were slipping through my fingers, fading away from my reach.

  And then I heard it, the soft, deliberate sound of footsteps approag my door.

  My heart leapt into my throat, my antewitg as I scrambled bay er. The lock clicked, and the door slid open with a shudder.

  My mother stood in the doorway, her presenanding, otherworldly. She was beautiful in a way that was almost uling, her raven hair casg down her back like a waterfall of silk.

  Her i-like features felt delicate as her half-lidded eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.

  Even her tipede legs truly set her apart. The elegant, glossy bck limbs that arched gracefully from her back, like the strokes of a calligrapher’s brush.

  She was the picture of refi, of power… of.. of everything I could never hope to be.

  “Yuki,” she said, her voice smooth and melodic, but with an edge that made my skin crawl.

  I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “Mother.”

  She stepped into the room, her legs moving with a quiet grace that made the space feel smaller, more suffog. The rain outside seemed to grow louder, its rhythm more insistent, as if it were trying to drown out the tension in the air.

  “You’ve been spending too much time outside,” she said, her tone calm but firm. “It’s unbeing.”

  I ched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms. “I… I was just pying with friends.”

  “Friends?” Her lips curved into a faint, disdainful smile. “Those… children? They are beh you, Yuki. You are a Kurohara. You have a duty to this family.”

  My chest tightehe ache in my heart growing sharper. “They’re my friends,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “They make me happy.”

  My mother’s expression didn’t ge. “Happiness is a luxury you ot afford. You are to be betrothed.”

  The words hit me like a blow, knog the air from my lungs. I stared at her, my anteiffening as my mind struggled to process what she had just said.

  “B-Betrothed?” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “To the son of the Sanjo family,” she tinued, as if she were discussing the weather. “A suitable match. You will meet him tomorrow.”

  The room seemed to spin arouhe shadows closing in as the rain outside grew louder, more frantic. My chest felt like it was being crushed, the weight of her words pressing down oil I could barely breathe.

  “No,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Please… I don’t want to marry him. I don’t even know him!”

  My maze was cold, unyielding. “It doesn’t matter what you want. You will do your duty.”

  Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot aless, as I shook my head. “I just… I just want to keep this. Please… don’t take them away from me.”

  My voice cracked, the words spilling out raw and desperate. “He’s the only one who’ve ever looked at me like I’m… like I’m worth something. Like I’m not a mistake. Please… don’t make me lose that.”

  The plea hung in the air, fragile and trembling, like a thread about to snap. But my mother’s expression flickered slightly as if what I said had shaken her.

  But if anything, it grew colder, her tipede legs shifting slightly, their glossy surface catg the faint light as if to remind me of the distaween us, between who I was and who she expected me to be.

  “Seality is a weakness,” she said, her voice cutting through the rain like a bde. “And weakness has no p this family. You will do as you are told.”

  She turned ahe room, her legs moving with that same, infuriating elegahe door slid shut behihe lock clig into pce with a clice again, that ensured my heart remained shattered.

  I sank to the floor, my chitinous limbs curling tightly around me as I buried my fa my hands. The rain outside was a torrent now, the furious rhythm eg, the sting inside me.

  I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to be betrothed, to be locked away, to lose the only light I had ever known. But the world had never cared about what I wanted.

  Aher did my mother.

  Alone in the dark, with the rain pounding against the roof.

  ~~~

  I stayed seated in the er of my room, my chitinous limbs folded tightly against my body, my antennae drooping low.

  I couldn’t stay here.

  I couldn’t let her take this away from me… take him away from me.

  I gnced around the room, my purple eyes sing for any possible way out. The window was my only hope, but it was high up, and the drop to the ground below was steep.

  I moved quickly, my chitinous limbs carryio the window with urgency. I uhe drapes, my hands trembling in fright as I worked the knots loose.

  I tied one end securely to the wooden rod, tugging on it to test its strength. It held.

  Soon I tossed the other end out of the window, watg as it unfurled. The rain soaked it almost immediately, but it didn’t matter. This was my only ce.

  I climbed onto the windowsill, my heart pounding in my chest. The wind whipped at my face, the rain stinging my skin, stripping me bare to the feelings I bore, as I peered down at the ground below.

  It was a long way down, and the thought of falling made my stomach . But the thought of staying, of losing Markus, was worse.

  I just wao see him.

  I gripped the silk tightly, my chitinous limbs trembling as I lowered myself over the ledge. The fabric strained under my weight, but it seemed steady enough.

  I desded slowly, almost slow enough to a crawl. My feet slipped against the wet stone of the house’s exterior. My arms ached, my muscles screamed, my hands raw from the effort. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

  When my feet finally touched the ground, I nearly colpsed with relief. But there was no time to rest. The rain was ing down harder now, the wind howling like a wounded animal.

  I pulled my clothes like a hood to cloak over my head, though it did little to shield me from the storm.

  And I just ran. Ran… ran as far enough as my legs could take me.

  The path to the pyground was a blur of mud and rain. My feet slipped and slid with every step, but I pushed forward, driven by a desperate hope.

  My clothes were soaked thhly, ging to my body like molted skin. But I didn’t care. All my thoughts, my as, my entire being at that moment were tred towards Markus.

  I tripped and fell, my knees scraping against the rough ground. A sharp and immediate pain shot through me, but I forced myself to get back up.

  My hands were muddy, my body bruised and battered, but I kept going. I had to.

  The pyground was just ahead, its familiar sight barely visible through the rain. My body pounded against the rain, tempered by the storm that swept away everything in sight.

  I reached the gate of the pyground, my breath ing in ragged gasps as I sed the area.

  It was empty.

  Of course it was empty. No one would be out in this rain. No o me.

  A decrepating ughter crept out of my lips.

  The futile effort crushed my very expectations. I sank to my knees as the rain washed over me. Cold and uing, ung; all the while as I stared at the empty, the deserted swings. Markus wasn’t here. No one sane would be here. Not in this storm.

  Tears mixed with the rain on my cheeks, my chest heaving with sobs I couldn’t hold back. I had risked everything to e here, to see him o time, and it had been for nothing. I was alone. Again.

  But then, I felt it… a geouy shoulder. Startled, I turned, my heart leaping into my throat.

  It was Markus.

  He stood there, holding an umbrel, his dark eyes b at me with . His hair was damp, his clothes slightly rumpled, but he was here. He was here.

  I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at him, my chest ag with a mix of relief and something darker, something I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

  My antewitched, straining toward him as if drawn by an invisible force. My hands trembled, not just from the cold, but from the overwhelmio be closer to him, to have him all to myself.

  “Markus,” I finally mao whisper, my voice breaking. “Why… why are you still here?”

  He smiled faintly, his expression softening. “You promised you’d be here today,” he said simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I was waiting for you.”

  His words struck me like a lightning bolt, pierg through the storm and the despair that had ed me.

  He had waited for me. In the rain, in the cold, in the darkness. He had waited because I had promised. Because he believed in me.

  Something inside me shattered and became whole again, a fragile but gaining warmth spreading through my chest. My breath hitched, as I felt tears welling up again

  He k beside me, the umbrel shielding us both from the rain. His hand reached out, brushing a strand of wet hair from my fabsp;

  “You’re hurt,” he murmured, his eyes sing the scrapes and bruises on my arms and legs. “What happened?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out. Instead, I threw my arms around him, burying my fa his chest.

  He was caught off guard for a moment, then ed his arms around me, holdiightly.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered, his voice soothing. “I’ve got you.”

  I g to him, my fingers stabbing into the seams of his shirt. His warmth, his st, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat; it was all I could focus on.

  The storm around us faded into the background, drowned out by the sound of his voice, the feel of his arms around me. I never wao let go. I wouldn’t let go. I never wao share him with anyone else.

  In that moment, I realized how much I needed him. Not just his kindness or his friendship, but him. All of him.

  Evehought of losing him, of someone else taking him away from me... made something inside me twist painfully, like tearing my body sinew by sinew.

  My chest tightened, and I held him even closer, close enough so I could keep him with me forever, just by sheer will of it.

  “Markus,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Don’t leave me. Please.”

  He pulled back slightly, his dark eyes searg mine. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his tole but firm. “You’re safe with me.”

  But safe wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted him to see me the way I saw him, to need me the way I needed him. The thought burned in my chest, calling out to me to cim him.

  I didn’t just want him to be my friend. I wanted him to be mine. pletely. Irrevocably.