Cherry blossoms fall, but they bloom again… Will we?
That day began beneath a beautiful moonlit sky. It was the season of cherry blossoms, and a gentle breeze carried the petals through the air. It was the final night before autumn arrived, when all that soft, fleeting beauty would disappear.
"We're going to be apart too," Akira said softly, his voice heavy with emotion. He placed a gentle hand on Aika's head and added, "But we'll meet again — just like cherry blossoms do. Even after they fall, they return once more."
"Yes," Aika smiled faintly, but the tears in her eyes said everything her heart couldn't, how she fell for Fujimiya. "We'll meet again. Just… don't forget to write."
The two walked side by side beneath the falling blossoms, each petal a quiet reminder of the distance that would soon grow between them.
Shiina-chan held his hand and suddenly hugged Fujimiya. "I will miss you… I will miss you, Fujimiya-san." Shiina, tears streaming down her face, couldn't hold back her emotions. She cried out, her voice shaky but loud.
Akira gently touched her soft and wet cheeks, "I… I promise you — I'll come back once my studies are over."
"It doesn't matter what the situation is—I'll come back."
Akira knows how her heart felt, "Shiina-chan, you have arrived at your house. Go home, your mom must be waiting for you."
"We will meet again," her voice trembling with emotion, her eyes brimming with tears, as if every word was a farewell she wasn't ready to say. Aika closed the door with a last smile; tears continued to stream down her face.
Akira walked toward his apartment, gazing at the moon. "You are something special, something I can't even put into my words," he thought to himself.
You taught me how to 'live.'
The last leaf of the sakura tree fluttered to the ground.
"Spring ended, and with the beginning of autumn, we are now alone," she said softly, sitting in the classroom.
"Now arriving at Okayama Station. This is the final stop. Please take care when disembarking."
"Hey! Akira-kun, were you spaced out? We reached Okayama, come on." Akira's mom says in an energetic voice.
"Yes, I am coming," Akira replied.
⧫ ⧫ ⧫
"The closer we are to each other, the greater the pain when we are apart."
⧫ ⧫ ⧫
Time… Passed…
Two months have passed since I sent my first letter, but there is still no reply.
I waited… and waited… but each day that passed only deepened the silence.
"Today I am going to write a letter again. I wish this time I get a reply from her."
I was afraid. Has she forgotten me?
But I instantly got my answer from her last hug, words, her scent, her cute smile, and her tears.
[Hey Shiina-chan,
I hope this letter finds you well. It's been two months since I sent my first letter, but I haven't received any response from you.
At first, I thought maybe you didn't get it, and now I'm wondering if my words ever reached you at all.
I'm sorry if my silence made you worry. I've been caught up in my studies, and time just slipped away before I could send another message.
Shiina-chan, how have you been? Are you doing okay? I've been thinking about you a lot, and I hope that wherever you are, you're well and happy.
I know life is busy, but I still wish we could stay in touch more often. I hope this letter finds you in good spirits, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Take care,]
"I look forward to your response," he said in a low voice, walking back from the post office after mailing the letter.
"Once again, there was no reply from her."
"Eighteen months have passed…" he said quietly, sitting alone in his room.
Akira is now sitting alone in his room. He opened a drawer quietly… and inside are all the letters he wrote to Aika Shiina over the past 18 months, some are opened, some sealed.
He takes one of them in his hand. He wonders:
"Did they ever reach her? Did she ever smile while reading? Or.. Did she never even know?" His voice was tinged with frustration and sorrow.
"I am going to Kyoto after two months," Akira said to himself.
"Akira-kun, when will you come to meet me? I am feeling alone—Aki…"
"I was dreaming. For some time, I felt Aika called me, but…"
"Kyoto is the final stop. Passengers, please disembark carefully."
The train came to a gentle stop. Akira stepped onto the platform, took a deep breath, and felt the air of Kyoto, It refreshed all forgotten memories of Fujimiya Akira.
The Kyoto air wrapped around him, soft and familiar, like a memory he hadn't touched in years.
"It has been 2 years since I last saw her and spoke to her." Akira pondered…
His heart had never beaten in this way before. He was in a hurry, he felt time was flying faster than usual.
"Is this because my eyes long to see her as soon as possible? — I can't afford to waste even a single second now."
Shiina-chan, today we will meet. Today, we will share the story of our hearts. In the time we were apart, we will speak of what we've felt for each other— how the silence of these two years deepened our unspoken bond. We will finally break the silence, as our souls have been yearning for this moment.
"Cherry blossoms fell just like they did the last night when we saw them together. It reminded me of the moment we walked together beneath the falling petals and looked up at the moon."
Akira said gently, his voice deep and heavy with emotion. Every corner whispered her name — the bakery she loved, the bench where they sat after school.
He picked up a petal of a sakura tree and said softly, "Look, I am here."
Finally, he stood in front of her house. "Aika-chan… I've come back," he whispered, his heart racing.
He reached out and pressed the doorbell, but he was unaware of the silence behind the door.
Aika's mom opened the door slowly. Her face was a mixture of sadness and something else—something unspoken. She looked at Akira.
"Is this you, Fujimiya-san?" Her voice was soft and cracked. Akira bowed to her mother and said, "Nice to see you again. I just returned from Okayama today... I am here to see Shiina-chan, Ca... Can I see her?".
"Come in, Fujimiya-san — You can sit here". Akira felt the sadness in her voice.
"You were the only one who took care of my daughter, Aika always told me about you," her mom said.
When I was in Okayama, I always missed her, I want to return to Kyoto as soon as possible—Also…I always write letters to her, but…"
"She didn't reply," Aika's mom said, her voice cracking, eyes brimming with tears.
Akira said, "But, why — why didn't she send any response? I waited for her reply…" his voice was shaky but loud; this time his words clearly showed the feeling he had buried for so long. He couldn't hold back his emotions anymore.
"Because she passed…" her mother said, her voice trembling and loud, tears streaming down her face.
Akira stood frozen. The world around him faded. He asked loudly with a cracking and emotional voice. "How?.. When she passed?"
"She passed in a truck accident… on that day you left for Okayama, it happened when she was coming home from school."
Akira couldn't speak.
It felt as if the letters he wrote—all those pages filled with hope—had suddenly turned to ashes in his heart.
His knees gave way, and he dropped to the floor. "No… no, it can't be…" He whispered. His trembling hand covered his face as tears poured freely. The room fell silent, except for the sound of his heart breaking.
"That last night we were together — sitting on a bench, gazing at the moon — we walked beneath the falling cherry blossoms. " Akira said, his voice shaky and trembling.
Tears continued to stream down his face, but his expression was frozen—like an iceberg, silent and cold.
Her mom placed her hand gently on his shoulder. Her eyes shimmered with tears — still, but ready to fall.
She placed something gently beside him — a small wooden box.
"She kept every letter, Fujimiya-san… They're all sealed.
She could never read them. She never saw any of them."
Akira stared at the box, unable to open it.
This wasn't just a box — it was two years of his heart, sealed and buried inside.
He whispered, "Sorry, Shiina-chan… my words never reached you."
"Some letters never arrive—yet they carry our whole heart."