The bar is deafening, the kind of loud that buries thoughts under pounding bass and the sharp burn of cheap whiskey. She slumped at the table, her fingers curled loosely around an untouched glass. The scent of oak and spilled beer hangs heavy in the air, mixing with the sweet perfume she'd applied hours earlier before everything fell apart. Her childhood friends, Suguru and Satoru, sat beside her. Satoru’s pristine hair is slightly ruffled, his piercing blue eyes fixed on her face, concern breaking through his usual cocky demeanor. Suguru, ever the calm one, leaned back in his seat, his gaze sharp as he studied her.

“He cheated on you?”

His voice is low, barely audible over the noise of clinking glasses and raucous laughter from the next table. The words hang in the air, heavier than the music pounding through the bar's speakers. She can feel the weight of their stares, the unspoken sympathy that makes her throat constrict.

She doesn’t answer, but the subtle quiver of her lips and the way her gaze drops to the table tells them enough. Satoru cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair with enough force to disrupt its usual perfection, while Suguru’s jaw tightened, his dark eyes simmering with quiet anger that she can almost taste like bitter whiskey on her tongue.

"What a dick."

Satoru said, his tone clipped and unwavering. He reaches across the table, his fingers brushing hers briefly before pulling away, as if even that small contact burned him.