Chapter 33 Warm Tears

Warm Tears

“…”

Illuminated by the setting sun, she stood near the fence, gazing at me with a sorrowful, heartbroken expression.

“Kakizaki-san…”

I murmured her name softly and took a step forward… only for her to retreat a step in response.

“…Why?”

Holding back her tears with all her might, Kakizaki-san managed to squeeze out her words.

Just one word, filled with countless emotions.

“…Of course, I came to bring you back.”

Because I want to be with you.

Because I want to eat your cooking.

Because I want to see your smile.

Because… I love you.

Pouring all those feelings into my actions, I extended my hand toward her.

But… she didn’t take it. Instead, she turned her face away.

“Hey… Kakizaki-san, I want to know your feelings. I want to hear them. Because… I still haven’t heard them from you yet…”

“…”

Silence enveloped us after I said those words.

I… would wait for as long as it took. Until she opened her mouth, until she found the words to express her feelings.

Even if the answer wasn’t what I was hoping for.

Even if it shattered me.

Even so… I wanted to hear her voice, her thoughts.

“…I… If I stay by your side, I’ll only cause you trouble…”

“Haha… How many times do I have to tell you? You’re not the one causing trouble—it’s them.”

“I… I’m certain I’ll only bring you unhappiness…”

“And yet… without you, I might end up unhappy myself.”

Her voice wavered as she explained why she couldn’t stay with me, why she left that room.

But those weren’t her true feelings.

What I wanted to know wasn’t something trivial like that.

“Hey… Kakizaki-san.”

“…”

“You know… before I started living with you, I was completely broken…”

I spoke to her slowly as she kept her face averted.

I told her about the lowest, most miserable, and pathetic point in my life—a time so ridiculous, it wasn’t even funny.

“There was a girl who was my precious childhood friend.

She was incredibly beautiful, excelled in school, cheerful, and in every way, completely different from my plain, unremarkable self…

But I loved her.

When we entered high school, she naturally became the center of attention. A few guys liked her… haha, looking back now, even Sasaki-senpai was one of them.

So… not wanting anyone else to take her away, I confessed my feelings to her.

I told her, “Please go out with me.”

She accepted my confession, and we started dating.

I was overjoyed.

I was so elated that it felt surreal, and I pinched my cheeks countless times to make sure it wasn’t all just a dream.

After that, I wanted to become a man worthy of her, so I started dressing better and studying harder.

During our first summer break as a couple, she invited me to the beach, so I took on a part-time job to save up.

Haha… her birthday was coming up soon too.

But… on the first Sunday of that summer break.

I saw her—my childhood friend, the girl I was dating—cheating on me with the guy I thought was my best friend.

I wanted to believe it was a lie.

I wanted to believe that the couple I saw there were just strangers—neither my childhood friend nor my best friend.

But no matter how much I wished otherwise… it was them. My childhood friend and my best friend.

The shock of their betrayal, and the realization that I was such a small, insignificant man… haha… it completely broke me.

I spent the next year and a half drifting aimlessly, and when I randomly applied to Chuho University, I somehow managed to get accepted.

I ran away from the town where my childhood friend lived.

At university, I met Sasaki-senpai and Kinoshita-senpai. They meddled incessantly but supported me all the same. By the time I became a second-year student, I could at least manage basic conversations with people.

Even so, there was still a huge hole in my heart—one I thought could never be filled…”

“…But now, that hole I thought would remain forever has been completely healed, so much so that my past doesn’t even matter to me anymore.”

“…”

“And that’s… because you’ve been by my side.”

Now, I’ll say it.

My feelings… just how much you mean to me.

“…Kakizaki-san.”

“…Yeah.”

At some point, Kakizaki-san had turned her face toward me, her deep blue eyes gazing directly into mine.

I took a deep breath.

And then.

“I… I love you. If I were to lose you, it would shatter me beyond repair—even more than when my childhood friend broke me back then.”

“Ah…”

“So… you being by my side isn’t a burden at all. You being with me doesn’t make me unhappy. Because of you, I can be happy. Only you… only you can make me happy.”

“Ah… ah…!”

Kakizaki-san covered her mouth with both hands, tears spilling endlessly from her eyes.

“So, Kakizaki-san… I’ll ask you again. I want to know your feelings. I want to hear them. Because… I still haven’t heard them from you…”

Please, Kakizaki-san.

Please, tell me.

Your true feelings, without any lies.

“I… I… I…”

Her voice trembling, she tried to put her feelings into words.

And then.

“…!”

“I… I want to be by your side too! I want to be with you! Because you’re the kindest person in the world, you always eat my cooking with such delight, you always say exactly what I need to hear, and that weird face you make when you force a smile is so adorable… so lovable…!”

“Kakizaki-san…”

“But I… I didn’t want to get in your way! I didn’t want to be a burden to you! I didn’t want to make you unhappy because of me! But… but I didn’t want to leave you either…!”

In my arms, Kakizaki-san poured out all of her feelings.

Kakizaki-san… finally let her emotions spill out…

“I… I love you…! I love you, Naoe-kun… so much…!”

“I’m so glad… I’m so, so glad…”

Hearing her feelings, tears streamed down my face as well.

But unlike four years ago, these weren’t tears of pain, sadness, or anguish…

They were tears that filled my heart… warm tears that made me feel whole.