Onodera's hands curled into the fabric of her skirt. She looked down, then quickly away, wiping at her eyes with the side of her palm. Her voice came out soft, barely held together:
"…Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Not like this… not now…"
Her shoulders trembled, a quiet breath catching in her throat as the tears slipped through anyway.
Raku stood frozen.Something in his chest broke open—sharp and silent.
What?Did I get it wrong…?Did she… like me? From the beginning?Like I did—since junior high?
His hands trembled. The sunlight was too bright now. The wind too quiet. And then—his own tears began to fall, slow and without warning.
Neither said anything.They just stood there, a few feet apart, eyes locked, tears catching the light between them like tiny threads that never snapped.
Onodera broke the silence, voice unsteady:
"…You have someone else in your heart now, right?"
She didn't ask it like a question.She said it like a truth she'd already accepted.
"Then you should go to her… right now."
Raku didn't speak.He stepped forward.
And without another word—he pulled her into him.
Not gently. Not suddenly. Just completely.
His arms wrapped around her like he was afraid to let go again. His chin tucked beside her ear as his voice cracked into her shoulder:
"It's you, Onodera. It's always been you."
Her breath hitched, her hands slowly lifting, clutching the back of his shirt—quiet sobs rising with his own.
The hill, the wind, the sky—none of it mattered now.Not when the two of them sank down together, arms around each other, knees folding under the weight of years unsaid.
"I love you... I love you so much, Ichijou-kun"she said through sobs, her voice barely understandable
They collapsed gently onto the soft earth, still holding on.Not because they needed to.Because neither wanted to move first.
And they stayed like that—quiet, wrapped in one another—just before the others found them.