Outsider Syndrome: Everlasting (Bonus Content)

Bonus - "Something To Hold Onto"

Jin Narumi's POV:

It'd been nine months since the day the prettiest girl at Hoshizaki Private Academy summoned me to the school rooftop.

I found a letter in my shoe locker about meeting her that sent my heart into overdrive. Though, when I arrived and found other familiar faces with identical letters, that delight disappeared. Worry gnawed through me. I feared I'd gotten ahead of myself. That she was going to reject me, in front of all of those boys that were far cooler and more amazing than me.

Yet, she did the exact opposite.

She always did the opposite.

Fate constantly threw me a curveball. It was nothing new.

A comment I didn't think much of at the time sent her over the edge. I fed into the rumours, insulted her as everyone else did, without stopping to think for a second about how she would feel. I had no idea what she was going through. The sight of her racing out of the classroom in a heap of tears would forever eat at me.

The guilt threw me for a loop. Even after I apologized, I didn't know how to approach her. I didn't think I could. So, I avoided her.

But, as if she couldn't take it, she confronted me. Forced me to look at her. And when we chatted and made amends, she got indescribably happy.

Being handcuffed and forced to overcome fate together seemed like a fair trade after how much I hurt her.

The feelings that bloomed because of it—I assumed they were because I viewed her as a friend. I convinced myself it was that. But, the more I convinced myself, the wronger I realized I was.

I couldn't get her out of my head. When my eyes were open and when they were closed, she was all I thought about. I fantasized hundreds of millions of scenarios, all because I had fallen in love with her.

That day on the rooftop was jarring. Like I dreamed her confession up. Concocted a world where she loved me. Where it was okay to love her.

If it was a dream, if I really was stuck in some lovestruck daze for these last nine months, I never wanted to wake up.

Except maybe now.

"Naru, it's okay. I've got you. Take it slow."

My skates slipped from underneath me. I grappled the ledge for dear life, clinging to it with my glove. Shiina held my other.

"Pfft. He can't even skate."

"Look at him shaking."

Whispers. Ridicule. I bit back my embarrassment as children half my age and adults twice my age skated around the open ice rink with ease. Among them, only I was shaky on my feet, and only I needed to hold the outer wall for balance.

I'd read all the manuals. Watched all the videos. Visualized it to memory. It shouldn't be this difficult.

"Bend your knees more." Shiina's laughter wasn't mocking. Rather, gentle. "You're going to fall."

The white beanie holding back her long hair fit snugly on her head. Her brown coat extended down to her thighs, and her gloves, thinner than mine, fit cozily around mine. Fairy lights lined the rink, a testament that Christmas was just around the corner. All the streets and stores were in the mood. I'd dressed warmly but possibly due to my fear, the temperature had significantly dropped from a few minutes ago.