Time continued to move forward, and life pressed on with its usual, relentless pace.
Then, one day, everything changed. Miyuki's family announced they would be moving to another state, far away.
The news caught her by surprise—she had no say in the matter, and there was little time left before they had to go.
When Hikaru found out, panic gripped him. He couldn't let her slip away without one final chance to tell her everything he felt. This time, there was no room for hesitation or second thoughts. It was now or never.
He sent her a message, asking to meet at the café where they had first met, the place where their story had begun. Hikaru felt the weight of urgency in every step as he hurried through the crowded streets, his mind racing with all the things he needed to say. He had kept his feelings close to his heart for so long, but now, faced with the reality of her leaving, he knew he couldn't let her go without baring his soul.
But fate intervened cruelly. On his way to the café, Hikaru's world was abruptly torn apart. A truck, swerving out of control, collided with his car at an intersection. The impact was devastating—Hikaru never had a chance. In an instant, everything went dark, and his life was cut short before he could say goodbye.
At the café, Miyuki waited. She sat at the same bench they had shared so many times before, her eyes scanning the room each time the door opened, hoping to see Hikaru walk through. Minutes turned into hours, and still, there was no sign of him. She tried to ignore the growing anxiety tightening in her chest, telling herself that he was just running late. But as the sky darkened and the minutes slipped away, unease settled over her like a heavy cloud.
She sent him one message, then another, her phone lying on the table, silent and still. Each unanswered message felt like a tiny stab of disappointment. Maybe he had decided not to come, she thought. Perhaps he'd had second thoughts and couldn't face a final farewell. The possibility left her with a deep ache, but she tried to push it aside. In her heart, though, she felt a strange sense of dread that she couldn't quite shake—a feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.
That night, back in her room, she sat alone, her phone resting beside her. She couldn't stop thinking about Hikaru, about the moments they had shared, about the feelings she had kept to herself for so long. In the quiet darkness, she felt the weight of regret pressing down on her, and finally, she did what she had been too afraid to do before. With trembling hands, she typed out a message, pouring her feelings into the words.
"Hikaru, I want you to know that you were always important to me. I think I've fallen for you too. But now, it's too late."
She sent the message, staring at the screen, waiting for a response that never came. It was her final attempt to reach out, her way of saying what she had kept hidden for so long. But the message went unread, slipping into the silent void. She spent hours staring at her phone, hoping to see the familiar notification of a reply, but it never appeared.
The next day, Miyuki left with her family, carrying with her the unanswered questions and a hollow sense of loss. In her heart, she tried to convince herself that Hikaru had simply changed his mind, that he couldn't bring himself to face her one last time. But a nagging doubt lingered—a small, persistent voice telling her that there was more to his silence than she would ever know.
The truth remained hidden from her, and as the years passed, she thought of him often, wondering what had become of him, why he had never responded, and whether he had ever truly cared. She never learned of the accident, never knew that Hikaru's love had been taken from her in a single, terrible moment. For Miyuki, the only answers she had were the ones she created in her own mind—her own story of why he hadn't come that day. It was a truth she would never know, and a love that remained forever unspoken.