As Miyuki continued to visit the places Hikaru had once walked, she found herself uncovering more and more messages, each one a testament to the depth of his feelings for her—feelings she had never truly understood until now. At a local shopkeeper's home, while sifting through forgotten drawers, she stumbled upon another note, carefully folded and tucked away in the corner of an old drawer. The words written on it were simple, yet they struck her with a force she hadn't anticipated: "Isn't it weird? The girl I love the most will never be mine."
Miyuki's breath caught in her throat, and she collapsed into a nearby chair, the tears flowing freely as grief overwhelmed her. She cried for what felt like hours, the pain of understanding his silent suffering too much to bear. She had never known the extent of his heartache, the silent love he had carried for her all those years, never able to speak it aloud. To realize now that he had always loved her, and yet never been able to express it, was a torment she hadn't expected.
Each place she visited felt like another piece of Hikaru's heart laid bare before her, and with every step, she felt as though she was getting closer to understanding him, to grasping the love that had quietly existed in the spaces between their lives. It was as if the world itself had conspired to guide her to these places, to help her piece together the truth he had left behind. His love, though unspoken, was always there, hidden in plain sight, waiting for her to discover it.
One afternoon, her journey led her to an old park at the edge of the village, a quiet, peaceful spot that Hikaru had often retreated to when he needed solitude. The park seemed almost forgotten, overgrown with ivy and wildflowers, yet there, at its center, stood a large, weather-beaten tree with branches stretching out like protective arms. Miyuki felt drawn to it, a sense of inevitability pulling her closer. As she approached the tree, her eyes scanned the bark, worn and rough from years of weathering the elements. And there, partly hidden by the texture of the wood and the shadows of the leaves, she found it—the carving.
Her breath caught as she read the words etched deeply into the tree: "See, you are the only one I loved till my very end." The weight of the words hit her hard, and her chest tightened as she placed her palm gently on the engraving. She could feel the grooves of his handwriting, faint but unmistakable, as if he had left this message just for her. The realization washed over her in waves—Hikaru had known that one day she would find this, that she would come searching for a sign of his love. He had carved it into the tree for her, a permanent testament to his feelings, knowing that someday, somehow, she would be the one to stand here and read it.
Miyuki stayed by the tree for a long while, feeling his presence all around her, a quiet, comforting energy that seemed to wrap around her like a familiar embrace. She whispered his name softly, as if hoping he could hear her, and though he was no longer there, she felt closer to him than ever before.
Days later, as if guided by some invisible hand, Miyuki wandered deeper into the nearby woods, her steps heavy with the weight of her journey. She remembered Hikaru mentioning a place long ago, a clearing hidden deep in the woods, filled with moss-covered rocks where he would go to find solace. At the time, she hadn't believed the place existed, but now, driven by an inner need to follow his path, she ventured further into the forest, her heart pounding with anticipation.
After what felt like an eternity of pushing through thick branches and tangled underbrush, she finally found it. The clearing was more beautiful than she could have imagined—an untouched circle of stones, worn smooth by time and half-hidden by the creeping tendrils of ivy and moss. It was a place forgotten by most, a place Hikaru had once retreated to when the world had become too much. Her eyes were drawn to one particular rock, slightly taller than the others, standing alone in the center of the circle. She knelt down, her fingers trembling as they brushed over the surface of the stone, tracing the faint letters carved into it.
The inscription, though faint from the passing years, was still legible: "You are the only one I ever needed."
Miyuki's heart shattered, the pain and the beauty of the moment overwhelming her. She sank to her knees in front of the rock, her fingers still caressing the carved words as her tears fell onto the stone. In that moment, she understood the depth of his love—the love that had endured through silence, through distance, through everything that had kept them apart. Hikaru had loved her in a way she had never fully grasped until now. His love had never wavered, even in the face of everything that separated them.
She stayed there for hours, the light of the fading day casting long shadows across the clearing. Her fingers still traced the letters as she wept, a strange mixture of sorrow and joy filling her heart. Though Hikaru was no longer with her, she could feel his presence, as if he had never truly left. The love he had carried for her, so quietly, so persistently, was still alive in the world around her—in the trees, the rocks, the places he had left behind for her to find. It was as though his love had found a way to transcend time, to live on in the spaces he had occupied, waiting for her to come and understand it.
Miyuki knew that, though they could never be together in the way she had always hoped, Hikaru's love for her would remain, forever imprinted on her heart, just as it had been imprinted on the stones, the trees, and the places he had left behind.