- Rina Kawamura - Best Friend-s Girlfrien...: Erito

“Traffic,” Erito lied, stepping inside.

That was all.

The guilt was a third person in the room. It sat on the edge of the bed while they undressed. It watched from the rearview mirror as she climbed out of his car three blocks from her apartment. It whispered, He trusts you. He loves you. He would take a bullet for you. Erito - Rina Kawamura - Best friend-s girlfrien...

Kaito found it in Rina’s coat pocket—a ramen shop in a neighborhood she had no reason to visit. The same neighborhood where Erito lived. Kaito was not stupid. He was a systems analyst. He spent his life connecting dots. “Traffic,” Erito lied, stepping inside

“Don’t contact her,” Kaito said. “Don’t contact me. If I see you again, I don’t know what I’ll do.” It sat on the edge of the bed while they undressed

She turned to face him fully. Without makeup, in the low amber light, she looked younger. More dangerous. “Kaito is a good man. The best. He remembers anniversaries. He opens doors. He tells me he loves me three times a day. And yet…” She trailed off, her fingers finding the hem of her sweatshirt, twisting it.

The air left the room. Erito felt the floor tilt. He had rehearsed this moment a hundred times in the shower, in his car, in the five seconds between sleep and waking. In every rehearsal, he was noble. He stood up, apologized, and walked out.