Chapter 3: A Fading Silhouette, and a Quiet Resignation

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Translator: Soafp

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Ever since Sakura severed ties with him, Ao’s daily life seemed to lose all its color. Every morning, he walked to school alone, and in the classroom, all he could do was glance at Sakura from a distance. She was always with Kurosaki now, as if the two of them existed in a world of their own.

Seeing them walk shoulder-to-shoulder in the hallway, laughing joyfully together—
Ao could no longer hear their voices.

Each time he saw them, his chest tightened. He felt a coldness deep inside him, like ice settling in his heart.

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“Ao, are you okay? You haven't seemed yourself lately.”

Hayato, ever the loyal friend, would often ask with concern.

Ao could only force a weak smile and reply, “Yeah, I'm fine.”

But the truth was, he wasn't fine at all. His heart ached so badly it felt like it might burst.

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When summer vacation began, Sakura and Kurosaki started spending even more time together.

Photos of them having fun together were frequently posted on social media—
At the aquarium, summer festivals, fireworks shows.

There she was—Sakura, smiling brightly beside Kurosaki, who smiled back gently.

Every time Ao saw those pictures, he felt like he had vanished completely from existence.

He should have been the one standing next to her.

But the Sakura in those pictures seemed like someone else entirely—a girl he no longer recognized.

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Hayato, worried about Ao, invited him out several times.

Movies, the arcade, ramen together—
His thoughtfulness warmed Ao's heart, if only a little.

But even so, the cloud over Ao's heart wouldn't clear.

At night, alone, memories of Sakura would come flooding back.

The times they laughed together. The fights they had. And the confession he'd planned to one day make.

But now, all of it belonged to the past—
Out of reach, like a fading dream.

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Over time, Ao began to feel a change within himself.

His intense emotions for Sakura—once despair, anger, and sadness—
gradually shifted into something quieter.

It turned into resignation.

She had chosen to ignore his warnings.

She had chosen Kurosaki.

She had pushed him away.

Ao was finally able to accept those facts with a sense of calm.

It felt like the exhaustion left after recovering from a long fever.

His attachment to Sakura slipped away from him, like sand falling through his fingers.

Freed from that attachment, Ao began to turn his thoughts toward his own future.

He still watched Sakura shine from afar during track practice, but the pain was no longer sharp.

Of course, the loneliness hadn't vanished entirely.

But now, it was no longer a piercing pain.

It was a gentle kind of solitude—
Like recalling a distant memory.

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When the new semester began, Ao started talking more with his classmates.

He began going out with Hayato to try new cafés after school.

He focused more on his studies, and his grades began to improve.

Even when he saw Sakura and Kurosaki happily walking together, his heart barely wavered.

In fact, he found himself observing them calmly.

Ao began to realize—
Maybe what he loved wasn't Sakura herself, but the idea of being childhood friends forever.

Maybe he had been clinging to the illusion of a bond that would never break.

Maybe he had taken her presence for granted.

Under the clear blue sky, Ao's heart began—slowly but surely—to move toward a new version of himself.

It felt like stepping out of a long, dark tunnel—
and finally seeing the light.