A Heart Out of Reach
The crowd cheered in the distance. Fireworks boomed across the city skyline. But Naoto was no longer there.
He slipped out from the school through the eastern side gate, unnoticed.
A quiet path stretched between the back of the school and the neighboring hill—a place rarely visited. The only light came from the moon and the soft blue glow of his phone screen.
He reached a bench beneath the hill's only tree.
He sat down.
And then… he spoke.
"You came," he said softly.
A shadow stood nearby, quiet and still—her face hidden by the dark.
"I always do," the girl replied, her voice familiar. Gentle. Carried with it a kind of sadness that couldn't be put into words.
"I didn't think I'd be able to leave for even a minute today."
"I know. But… I wanted to hear your voice."
Naoto leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Rika's changing. She's opening up."
"You've always had that effect on people," the girl said, smiling faintly. "Even when you try not to."
"I'm trying not to hurt her."
"I know."
She took a slow step forward but didn't close the distance between them.
"But you still think of me."
"I never stopped."
They sat in silence for a while—Naoto on the bench, the girl standing just close enough to be felt, never fully seen.
"I wish things were different," she whispered.
"They're not," he replied.
And even though neither moved, they both understood everything that wasn't said.
---
Rika's Realization
Back at the school, Rika sat alone on the bench in the garden. Fireworks continued, but her eyes weren't on the sky.
They were searching the crowd.
Searching for him.
She didn't know when he had slipped away—or why—but she felt the distance between them as if it had always been there.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook.
She flipped to a blank page.
After a long moment, she wrote:
> "I think I already knew…
But I hoped I was wrong."