The V-tuber Who Became Obsessed With Me

Chapter 112: Love and goodbyes don’t go well together

ETHAN’S POV

The rest of the week passed in a blur of checklists and quiet conversations.

I barely slept.

Every spare hour went into making sure there wasn’t a single loose end left behind. The passport. The visa. The boarding pass. The emergency cash divided between different pockets. A new phone with nothing on it. No contacts. No messages. No photographs. No accounts waiting to reconnect themselves the moment it touched a network.

It had to be perfect.

Not because perfection existed.

Because mistakes got people killed.

By Saturday morning, I had checked everything often enough that I could have recited the contents of the folder from memory.

Even then, it didn’t feel like enough.

The city was still wrapped in the pale grey light of early morning when I pulled up outside Jade’s apartment building.

A few minutes later, the entrance door opened.

He stepped outside carrying a single backpack.

Nothing else.

He paused long enough to lock the apartment door, rested his hand against it for the briefest moment, then slipped the key into the building’s mailbox before walking toward the car.

He never looked back.

The backpack disappeared into the rear seat before he climbed into the passenger side.

I pulled away from the curb.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

Harrington drifted past outside the windows, unusually quiet for a Saturday morning. Shop owners were just beginning to unlock their doors. Delivery trucks rolled through empty intersections. A jogger crossed the street with headphones on, completely unaware that somewhere nearby, someone was quietly disappearing from the life they had spent twelve years building.

I glanced toward the back seat through the mirror.

One backpack.

All those years reduced to something that fit behind a passenger seat.

That was all.

Jade caught me looking.

"I packed too much," he said quietly.

I frowned.

He smiled faintly.

"I still had to leave things behind."

The smile disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Neither of us spoke again.

There wasn’t anything either of us could say that would make the drive easier.

A few minutes later, Jade reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the passport Susan had arranged.

He turned it over slowly in his hands.

Not opening it.

Just feeling its weight.

"This still doesn’t feel real."

"It will."

"You think so?"

"I think you’ll get used to it."

He looked down at the cover again.

"I hope I never do."

I understood exactly what he meant.

If this identity ever felt natural...it would mean he’d accepted that the old one was gone.

The airport came into view just after seven.

Instead of heading toward Departures, I followed the signs toward the administration building.

Susan had managed to arrange one final monitored phone call.

It had taken nearly two days of paperwork, authorizations and more than one favour from people who owed her something.

She never complained about any of it.

She had simply called the previous evening.

"Tomorrow. Eight o’clock. Don’t be late."

The room they gave us wasn’t much bigger than a storage office.

Four chairs.

One square table.

A landline telephone sitting in the middle.

A small window overlooked part of the runway where aircraft taxied slowly beneath an overcast sky.

Someone had placed a box of tissues on the windowsill years ago.

Judging by the dust gathering along one side, nobody remembered it was there.

Jade sat opposite me.

His hands rested flat against the table.

Perfectly still.

Not because he was calm.

Because moving them might have revealed they were shaking.

The telephone rang.

Once.

Twice.

I picked it up.

"This is Ethan."

A correctional officer confirmed my identity before placing the call through.

A soft click echoed down the line.

Silence.

Then—

"...Hey."

Kuro.

His voice sounded rougher than I remembered.

Not weaker.

Just... worn.

As though every conversation inside those walls had to fight its way out.

Jade closed his eyes.

"...Hey."

Neither of them spoke again immediately.

Neither of them needed to.

Sometimes silence carried more meaning than words ever could.

Finally, Kuro laughed quietly.

"I always imagined we’d have a better goodbye than this."

Jade’s shoulders lifted in the smallest shrug.

"You’ve always been terrible at planning romantic moments."

"I know."

A pause.

"You still love me?"

Jade lowered his head.

"You’re an idiot."

A quiet chuckle came through the speaker.

"I’ll take that as a yes."

Jade smiled despite himself.

"I love you."

Silence answered him.

Long enough that I wondered whether the line had disconnected.

Then Kuro spoke again.

"I know."

Another pause.

"I just needed to hear you say it one last time."

Jade’s fingers curled slightly against the tabletop.

"I’ll keep saying it."

"You don’t have to."

"I want to."

The line fell quiet again.

Outside, an aircraft lifted into the grey morning sky, disappearing into the clouds almost as soon as it left the runway.

Kuro spoke first.

"I need you to promise me something."

Jade didn’t hesitate.

"Anything."

"Live."

Jade looked down.

"Don’t do that."

"I’m serious."

"Kuro..."

"I need you to hear me."

His voice remained calm.

Steady.

"You don’t stop living because I’m not standing beside you anymore."

"I’m not leaving you."

"You are."

The words were gentle.

Certain.

"And you’re going to keep leaving until you’re somewhere safe."

Jade swallowed hard.

"I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you in it."

"I know."

"I mean it."

"I know."

Another silence.

This one heavier than the last.

Then Kuro laughed quietly.

"You’ll probably kill every plant you buy."

"I won’t."

"You absolutely will."

"I kept the cactus alive."

"Barely."

A tiny smile found Jade’s face.

It lasted only a second.

But it was there.

"I’ll send you pictures," he whispered.

"I’d like that."

The line became quiet again.

Then—

"Inmate."

A guard’s voice.

"One minute."

Kuro exhaled slowly.

"I suppose they’re getting impatient."

Jade’s breathing became uneven.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Kuro’s voice never wavered.

"More than I’ve ever managed to put into words."

He paused.

"And if life ever gives us another chance..."

"...I’ll find you."

The line fell silent.

For a moment, none of us moved.

Then another voice came over the receiver.

"Inmate. Time’s up."

Neither of them argued.

There was nothing left to bargain for.

"I love you," Jade said quietly.

"I know."

Kuro’s voice carried the faintest smile.

"And Jade..."

"...thank you."

The line went dead.

A soft tone replaced his voice.

Steady.

Unchanging.

Jade kept the receiver pressed against his ear for another few seconds before lowering it carefully back onto the cradle.

He didn’t cry.

He simply sat there with both hands resting on the table, staring at nothing.

I looked away.

Some grief deserved privacy, even when you were sitting in the same room.

Outside the small window, another aircraft rolled toward the runway.

Life continued.

It always did.

Eventually Jade stood.

He picked up the passport from the table and slipped it into his jacket.

"Let’s go."

His voice sounded tired.

But steady.

That was enough.

The departures terminal was beginning to fill.

Families hugged each other near the entrance.

Business travellers hurried across polished floors with coffee in one hand and briefcases in the other.

A little girl chased her older brother between rows of seats until their mother caught both of them by the sleeves, laughing despite herself.

Announcements echoed overhead every few minutes.

Flights arriving.

Flights boarding.

Flights delayed.

The ordinary rhythm of an airport.

The ordinary rhythm of people leaving.

No one looked twice at the man beside me.

No one could have guessed he was about to disappear from his own life.

We stopped a short distance from the security checkpoint.

Jade looked around the terminal quietly.

Not searching for anyone.

Just... looking.

Taking it in.

His gaze lingered on nothing in particular before returning to me.

"I don’t know how to thank you."

"You already have."

"I haven’t."

"You trusted me."

He smiled faintly.

"I guess I did."

"You still do."

"I do."

He shifted the strap of his backpack onto his shoulder.

Then, without warning, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

For a second, I froze.

Jade wasn’t someone who hugged people.

Not unless the moment mattered.

I returned it.

Briefly.

Firmly.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

"You too."

He stepped back.

Adjusted the backpack again.

Then looked down at the passport in his hand.

He took a slow breath.

Turned.

And joined the security line.

I stayed exactly where I was.

I watched him move forward one passenger at a time.

Watched him place his backpack into the scanner.

Watched him walk through the detector.

Watched an officer examine the passport.

For one endless second, I thought something was wrong.

The officer looked at the photograph.

Looked at Jade.

Looked back at the screen.

Then smiled politely and handed the passport back.

"You’re good."

Jade nodded.

He disappeared beyond the checkpoint.

I remained there for another minute.

Maybe two.

Long enough for my eyes to stop expecting him to come back.

Then I turned and walked away.

By evening, the apartment felt different.

Quieter.

Not because the silence had changed.

Because the weight inside it had.there was nothing left for me to arrange.

Nothing left to prepare.

Nothing left to fix.

I made coffee.

Sat on the sofa.

Switched on the television.

Some news presenter was talking about politics.

I couldn’t have repeated a single word they said.

My mind was somewhere over the Pacific, calculating flight times.

If everything went according to schedule...

...Jade would already be in the air.

My phone rang.

I smiled automatically.

He’d landed earlier than expected.

I answered without checking the screen.

"Tell me you made it."

Silence.

Then—

"Ethan."

My smile disappeared instantly.

Susan.

There was something wrong with her voice .Not panic , no not exactly ...it was different like

The kind people forced onto themselves when they were trying very hard not to lose it.

"Susan?"

A breath.

"I just received a call from airport security."

I sat up straighter.

"What happened?"

"I was listed as the emergency contact for the travel arrangements."

That made sense.

Of course she had been.

She’d organised everything.

"Ethan..."

"They’ve reviewed the security footage."

Every instinct I had suddenly told me something was wrong.

"He cleared security."

I stood without realizing it.

"They have him entering the terminal."

The coffee mug felt warm in my hand.

Painfully warm.

"He never reached the boarding gate."

The room seemed to shrink.

"What do you mean?"

"They tracked his movements on camera."

Her breathing caught for the smallest fraction of a second.

"He was walking toward Gate Twelve."

A pause.

Then she said the words that made my blood run cold.

"...and then he disappears."

My fingers went numb.

The mug slipped from my hand.

It struck the hardwood floor.

Porcelain shattered in every direction.

Coffee spread slowly across the boards.

I never looked down.

"Susan..."

My own voice sounded distant.

Almost unfamiliar.

"Start from the beginning."

There was another silence.

Then—

"I’ve already contacted airport security again."

Her voice had become sharper.

Professional.

"I’m on my way there now."

"I’ll meet you."

"Ethan—"

"I said I’ll meet you."

I was already grabbing my keys.

Already heading for the door.

Because there was only one thought left in my head.

Kuro had been right.

Someone had gotten to Jade.

And somehow...

We were already too late.