Haizaki's voice was calm, yet it could not conceal the excitement and tension within him.
Standing before Utaha once again, confessing to her once again—would she accept?
Utaha, who had lost her memories… would she accept his confession?
Probably…
Not.
Three seconds passed, yet to Haizaki, they felt as long as an entire century.
"I'm sorry…"
A proud, cold voice sounded.
Haizaki's heart sank.
It was meaningless—he was about to be cleanly and decisively rejected.
Had he truly been forgotten completely, without leaving even the slightest trace behind?
Haizaki clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to show his sorrow.
"Please move aside. You're blocking the way…"
The piercingly cold words of the black-haired girl rang out.
In an instant, there was complete silence.
No one had expected that Utaha, one of Toyogasaki's two great beauties, would reject this confession in such a cold and merciless manner.
However, it was still within everyone's expectations.
After all, she was the untouchable high mountain flower. Countless boys at Toyogasaki had failed in confessing to her, to the point that many wondered what kind of man could ever succeed in capturing Utaha's heart.
What kind of man could make her show joy or sorrow.
They were curious whether such a man truly existed in this world.
Utaha was in a restless, unstable state.
Coming to school was supposed to help ease the inexplicable irritation and gloom in her heart.
But instead, she encountered a confession on the way to school.
This again.
Why did this keep happening?
So annoying.
What she hated most were confessions that involved holding flowers, blocking the road, and drawing a crowd's attention.
Thinking it was romantic. Thinking it could move a girl's heart.
Being treated like a spectacle—it felt absolutely terrible.
Seeing the other party standing motionless in front of her, Utaha could only step to the left, preparing to continue toward the school.
She hoped that being at school would help calm the chaotic agitation in her heart. If this continued, she did not even know how she would continue writing her novel.
"That guy…"
"Sigh…"
"He deserves it…"
Soft murmurs rose from the surrounding students.
After hearing Utaha's cold voice, many people watched with an air of amusement. Toyogasaki's high mountain flower was not someone who could be confessed to so easily.
Next would probably be the familiar, satisfying sharp-tongued rejection.
A toad dreaming of eating swan meat—wishful thinking. Did he even know his own worth? Utaha was Toyogasaki's high mountain flower. How could she possibly be won over so easily?
And with just a bouquet of forget-me-nots—not even roses, which symbolized love—how could it succeed?
Everyone now awaited how Utaha would "teach" this man a lesson, before he fled in disgrace under her rejection and their collective gazes.
After all, this kind of scene had happened countless times already.
Not far away, Eriri felt extremely uncomfortable.
She clenched her fists tightly, full of resentment.
It was all because of that atmosphere, because her two classmates had left her, that she mistakenly thought the man was confessing to her.
Her mind had been thrown into chaos as she focused solely on preparing to reject him.
And the result?
She had become a joke.
Noticing the stinging gazes around her, Eriri felt like crying without tears. She was innocent!
Why was she being laughed at? Why were people looking at her with those teasing eyes? This had nothing to do with her at all.
What's more, it gave her a strong feeling that she had completely lost to that woman, Utaha.
It was all that man's fault. And all that black-stockinged, fat woman's fault.
Eriri stared unwillingly at the two of them.
She really had the worst luck imaginable.
Next time, she would absolutely never do something so stupid again. She had even thought about rejecting him gently, saving him some face.
"Hmph…"
Eriri let out a soft snort, expressing her dissatisfaction and easing the tension in her heart.
Her azure-blue eyes fell upon Haizaki's back.
The man's desolate silhouette stirred something within her. So this kind of scene—where a mere back view could radiate sadness and infect those around—really could happen in real life.
At that moment, Eriri firmly engraved the man's silhouette in her memory, her creative inspiration surging.
The black-haired girl remained immersed in her own irritation and frustration, not even sparing the man in front of her a glance, and took another step forward.
"Kasumigaoka-san…"
The moment Utaha moved, Haizaki spoke again.
His voice had finally returned to normal. The first time he spoke, the sorrow and reluctance of life-and-death separation, and the excitement of reunion, had made it impossible for him to control his tone.
But now, he had finally restrained himself.
Perhaps because of Utaha's coldness.
Perhaps because the long-awaited hope had met with icy reality, chilling him to the bone and finally cooling his overheated mind.
"I like you."
The same confession. Plain, unremarkable words.
The watching students let out powerless sighs. It was meaningless.
They had witnessed the entire process. Utaha had not even shown the slightest inclination to look at the man—how could she possibly accept his confession?
Next, she would probably just head straight into the school.
Everyone thought so.
But to everyone's surprise, Utaha—who should have been walking away—seemed as if someone had pressed a pause button on her, freezing her in place.
Even Utaha herself did not know why her body suddenly stopped.
She wanted to leave, yet her body would not move.
As if leaving now would mean missing something forever.
A voice she had heard somewhere before.
A scent she had smelled somewhere before.
That was the unique fragrance of forget-me-nots.
Forget-me-nots…
Eternal love. Everlasting memories.
Something flashed through her mind. She withdrew her step, lifted her head, and looked at the man in front of her.
Tears poured down uncontrollably.
Two clear tear tracks streaked down her fair cheeks.
Everyone was stunned, staring blankly at the silently crying Utaha.
Eriri, standing closest, was completely dumbfounded.
What on earth had just happened?
Why—why, at this very moment, did Utaha suddenly burst into tears?
"…"
Utaha's red lips trembled slightly. She wanted to say something, but she could not utter a single word.
"Go out with me… Utaha."
Why—why was it that this man, whom she did not know, a man she was meeting for the first time, a complete stranger absent from her memories—
Why were the tears in her eyes flowing uncontrollably?
Why was she crying?
Why did her heart ache with sour pain?
Why did she so desperately want to throw herself into this man's arms and cry her heart out?
…