Chapter 3: Still, I think I’ll believe her.

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Translator: Soafp

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When I opened my eyes, all I could see was an unfamiliar, completely white ceiling. As I shifted my gaze slightly, I noticed pale-colored curtains at the edge of my vision.

The soft sensation I felt all over my body—apparently, I was lying in a bed.

“…Good morning.”

Suddenly, I heard a greeting from my right. Weak, trembling… it was a voice I knew well, yet somehow, it felt like a stranger's.

The cheerful voice I loved so much sounded so fragile now, as if it might disappear at any moment.

“Airi…”

I turned my head to the right. Beautiful black hair in a bob cut, large round eyes that were usually bright and full of life. Her lips, normally a soft rosy color, looked a bit dry now.

Dressed in a cream-colored turtleneck sweater, Airi looked at me with a face that seemed about to cry.

“I'm glad…”

“…”

Airi let out a sigh of relief. I couldn't grasp the situation and responded with silence.

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“Yesterday…”

Prompted by her, I searched my memory.

Yesterday… it was Christmas Eve. I had promised to go out with Airi. But she never showed up to our meeting spot… and then…

“Is this… a hospital?”

“Yeah. A hospital near our place. Yesterday, you collapsed, and someone called an ambulance for you.”

“…So I wasn't hit by the car.”

“Someone nearby pulled you back just in time. But you had already lost consciousness, so they called for help.”

So, when I stumbled into the street and heard Airi's scream—that wasn't just in my head.

“The doctor said you passed out from exhaustion. That's all.”

“I see… I'm sorry.”

I murmured an apology as I slowly sat up. I didn't feel any pain. After all the sleep, even the fatigue seemed to have eased.

“I'm the one who should apologize! I couldn't contact you… I'm so sorry.”

Airi, who had already looked like she was about to cry, began shedding tears as she said those words.

It was the first time I had ever seen Airi cry.

“…Why?”

Why didn't you contact me?

Why didn't you respond to my messages?

What were you doing all that time?

What did you do after going home?

No—what were you really doing when you went back home?

“We promised, didn't we? So why didn't you reach out?”

I wasn't angry. I just wanted to know the truth, so I asked in a flat tone.

To that, Airi pulled her phone from her bag and held it out to me.

“…I'm sorry… my phone suddenly wouldn't turn on. We always messaged through that app, so I never memorized your number…”

I took her phone and pressed the power button. Sure enough, nothing happened. The screen remained completely black.

Well… her phone wasn't exactly new. I guess this sort of thing can happen. I've even had a new phone die on me suddenly.

As for remembering phone numbers, I'm no better. Other than my own and maybe my home phone, I don't know anyone's by heart either. I always rely on messaging apps or my contact list.

“I get that. But why didn't you make it to the meeting time?”

I handed the phone back to her as I asked.

That was the core of it.

Someone I knew from my hometown said they saw Airi and Hiiragi walking together. Airi never came to our scheduled meeting.

That was the fact that lingered in my heart.

It weighed on me heavily again.

So I spoke, continuing without waiting for her answer—trying to distract myself from the storm in my heart.

“The day before yesterday, a friend from my hometown messaged me. He said he saw you and Hiiragi walking together… Is it true?”

“…Yeah.”

Airi nodded quietly.

And I felt something crack inside me.

“You said you went back to visit your grandmother in the hospital, right?”

“That's true. …It might be hard for you to believe, but… I only happened to run into Kenta.”

“That's what you said before, too. Back when you found out he got dumped.”

“Yeah… I know it sounds unbelievable. I'm sorry…”

Tears streamed down her face, but she still didn't look away from me.

“…What did you two talk about?”

—In the end, that was what I wanted to know.

What did you talk about with Hiiragi?

How did you spend your time with him?

What were you thinking? What are you thinking now?

And what would happen to us?

“…You probably already know this, but I've liked Kenta since we were little.”

Instead of answering directly, Airi started talking. Her voice was quiet but steady—like she was finally going to reveal what was in her heart.

“But he always liked someone else. He even dated her… and still, I couldn't give up. All through high school, I kept chasing after him.”

“Yeah.”

“But then, you started talking to me so much. You confessed to me again and again… At first, I really only thought of you as a friend. But before I realized it, I found myself thinking about you.”

Airi grasped my right hand tightly with both of hers.

“On the day of our high school graduation, you confessed again… Your eyes, they told me this was the last time. And suddenly, it felt like my chest was being crushed. The thought of not seeing you anymore—it made me so sad… and that's when I finally realized. I had fallen in love with you.”

“That's why you said yes.”

“Yeah. I was embarrassed, so I didn't handle it well… But my feelings for you were real.”

The last day of high school. The day Airi and I became a couple. That memory still shines bright in my heart.

“Every day with you was fun. I even regretted not accepting your feelings sooner… If I had, maybe we could've gone to the same college and spent even more time together.”

“If that's true, then… what about Hiiragi?”

The day Airi found out Hiiragi had broken up with his girlfriend—ever since that day, she had clearly started paying attention to him again… It hadn't been that noticeable lately, but in the end, they still met up in their hometown.

“When I heard Kenta had broken up… it's true, I was shocked. I had always liked him, and I'd given up on him… so it really hit me.”

“So then, it's true after all…”

I had been afraid to ask. Because if I asked, and she answered, that would make it real. That would break what we had.

That's why I pretended to trust her. I kept looking the other way, desperately trying to ignore it.

But deep down, part of me had been suffocating from it.

So I had to know—right here, right now.

“Airi… do you still love Hiiragi?”

Maybe my voice was trembling. No—my voice was trembling. My eyes, my heart, even the trust I had in her—it was all trembling, unsteady, impossible to see clearly.

But Airi looked straight at me. Her tears had stopped.

“…No. I don't love him. The only one I love is you. I don't feel anything for Kenta anymore.”

There was strength in Airi's hands as she held mine.

“I was shocked, yeah. When I heard he broke up with his girlfriend, I was surprised at myself—really surprised. Because I didn't feel anything. I had always thought I loved him, for my entire life up to that point. But all I could think was, ‘Oh, I see.' That's it. That's all.”

Unlike me, trembling and uncertain, Airi wasn't shaking at all.

“I was more shocked at myself… I started to wonder what that ‘love' I felt really even was. Even when I got messages from Kenta, I didn't feel anything like I did back in high school. I kept checking my feelings, over and over, just to be sure.”

“You mean… that message?”

“Yeah. After a while, I stopped replying to him except for the bare minimum. And the only thing I felt for Kenta was… that he was just a childhood friend. My feelings for you and my feelings for him—they became two totally different things.”

No… she might not seem like she's trembling, but I could feel it. She was doing her best to keep herself steady.

Her hands, wrapped around mine, were trembling with the truth in her heart.

“So… I know I ditched our promise, and it might be hard for you to believe me… but when I met Kenta the other day, it really was by chance. I had no idea he was back in town. I had just left the hospital after visiting my grandma, and we ran into each other. He spoke to me, and then we walked together.”

“…I see.”

“We were talking about childhood memories, and we ended up walking past the park where we used to play. Kenta said, ‘Let's stop by for a bit,' so… we did.”

“…I see.”

“And then… and then…”

Up to that point, Airi had been forcing herself to keep talking. But now, she faltered for the first time.

Her brow furrowed, and I could see the tension in her whole body—so I reached out with my free left hand and gently rubbed her back.

To help her relax. To help her keep going.

After a short silence, Airi continued.

“Kenta… he confessed to me. He said, ‘Break up with your boyfriend and be with me.' Hearing that just… made my mind go blank. I thought, What the hell is he saying? What does he think of my boyfriend?”

“Yeah…”

“It's true, I used to love Kenta. And he knew that. But now? I don't feel anything like that anymore. Not at all. So when he said that… before I even realized it, I slapped him across the face. I shouted, ‘Don't mock me!' and left him there. I walked home alone…”

…Whether Airi was telling the truth or not—I couldn't know. I had no way to be sure. I hadn't seen what happened myself.

All I had were her words. No proof. I didn't even have Hiiragi's contact info, and even if Airi were lying, Hiiragi would probably lie too.

But even so—I…

“I cried so much that night, I was a mess. When I woke up, my throat was sore, and I had a fever… So I replied to you with a message instead of calling, then went to the hospital. Got some medicine, tried to get better so I could still go out with you. But I forgot how long the wait is at local hospitals. I waited forever, and when I finally thought to contact you again… my phone wouldn't turn on anymore.”

This was… an excuse. Just a string of excuses. Maybe she'd really been doing something else.

It would be easy to reject it all with a single word. Lies.

“You waited for me the whole time, didn't you…? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for making you worry. I'm sorry I was such a terrible girlfriend…”

But—I had made up my mind.

To trust her. Even if it was partly to avoid facing the truth about Hiiragi, I had chosen to believe in Airi. That was my choice.

So I would believe her now.

I would trust Airi's words.

“…Then that's enough. As long as nothing happened to you. As long as you came to me in the end. That's all that matters.”

Besides… I was just as foolish.

If I was so anxious, I should've asked Airi how she felt earlier. Then she wouldn't have had to go through all of this.

“When I couldn't reach you, and you weren't responding, my brain just stopped working. But really, there was no reason for me to stay outside on that bench the whole time. I could've just gone into a café or something and warmed up. That way, I wouldn't have worried you like this.”

“If it were me, and you stood me up… I probably would've done the same thing.”

“Then I guess we're the same kind of person.”

“…Idiot.”

I tightened the hand that was rubbing her back and pulled her into a hug. Airi let go of my hand and hugged me back.

The truth—what really happened—I may never know. Maybe Airi was telling the truth. Maybe not.

But that no longer mattered to me. Airi was here now. She had chosen to come back to me.

That was all I needed. The one truth I could hold on to.

So I would treasure that truth moving forward. Even if we clashed sometimes. Even if there were things we found hard to say. Even if we argued or got fed up with each other.

I would keep believing in her. As long as I loved her. As long as she loved me.

“When we get out of here… let's go buy you a new phone.”

“Yeah… thank you.”

“And when we get home… we're having a serious talk. Both of us.”

“…Yeah. You're right.”

And with that—Airi smiled for the first time since I woke up.

It looked like the present I had prepared for her… wouldn't go to waste after all.

End