Chapter 76: Moonlight Guidance

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

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[Miyabi PoV]

Steam from the shower still clung to my body as I returned to my room, drying my hair with a bath towel.

I opened the curtains by the window just a little, checking the night air. The sky was overcast, with no stars visible, and my faint reflection appeared in the glass. My damp hair clung to my shoulders, and the heat from the shower had not fully left my skin, causing me to shiver slightly in the cool night air.

What caught my eye was the calendar hanging in the corner of the room. My gaze was drawn to the date circled in red. Today was Saturday. It had already been four days since I confessed to Hajime on the rooftop.

Since that day, Aoi hadn’t come to school.

A restless feeling stirred in my chest. I averted my eyes from the calendar and looked again at the window glass. The face reflected there was clouded with more uncertainty than I had expected, showing an anxious and uneasy expression.

“What are you doing, Aoi…?”

My voice, almost like a soliloquy, dissolved into the stillness of the room.

Hesitating, I reached for the phone on the table and tapped Aoi's name. Pushing down a slight hesitation, I pressed the call button. A cold dial tone echoed in my ear, a mechanical sound repeating again and again, tightening the knot in my chest each time.

—Please, pick up.

After several rings, at last, a voice reached my ear.

“…Hello?”

“Aoi!”

My voice jumped unintentionally, and relief mixed with the anxiety that I could no longer hold back.

“Thank goodness you answered… Aoi, are you okay? Are you sick? Did something happen? You haven’t been coming to school, and I've been really worried…”

I hurriedly rattled off my concerns, but Aoi gave no response. Only silence returned. The quietness on the other end of the phone weighed heavily on me.

“Aoi… Are you, by any chance, troubled about Hajime…?”

I asked slowly. The silence persisted, but the call remained connected. That was probably her answer.

Memories of that day resurfaced in my mind. The feeling of seeing Hajime's back as he walked into the hotel with Kagura, like my heart was being clawed at. Aoi must be suffering just as much.

But Aoi now is not the same as I was back then. Back then, I didn't understand Hajime's feelings, or Aoi's. But now, I do.

“Aoi… Have you read Hajime's novel yet?”

I broke the silence with a quiet question. I heard a faint gasp from the other end of the line.

“…Up to partway… But I haven't read the final scene yet…”

Her hoarse voice reached my ears. I closed my eyes. As I suspected. Aoi was afraid of knowing the ending.

Just like I once was.

Back then, I was made to read a fake version of the novel, rewritten by Godai. In it, Aoi was portrayed as just a friend, and the story was twisted into some unsettling narrative where I ended up with Godai—something I can hardly stand to recall now.

But in the real novel Hajime wrote, our precious memories from childhood—mine, Aoi's, and Hajime's—were carefully woven into it. Every day we spent together lived within the pages of that story.

Yet, the further I read, the more anxious I became. I had no idea whom Hajime would choose, not until the very end. Would it be Aoi, or me? I was terrified of knowing the answer.

But I kept reading until the end. Because it was clear how much Hajime had struggled, how deeply he had agonized, and how earnestly he had poured his feelings into that story. That pain was palpable with every word.

Hajime cared for both of us equally. Choosing between us wasn't something he could do lightly. That's why the novel continued to portray both Aoi and me as “the protagonists” right until the very end.

I finally realized that. And because I did, I was able to tell Hajime how I truly felt.

And now, it's Aoi's turn.

“Aoi, you're scared, aren't you? Afraid of what will happen to you… Afraid of knowing how it ends…”

I heard a faint sniffle over the phone. I could tell she was trying hard not to cry.

“It's okay. It's going to be okay. Believe in Hajime… Believe in the Hajime who's always kept our childhood promise, and find the courage to read it through… I'm sure it'll give you the strength you need.”

There was no reply to my words, but the call ended quietly. To me, that felt like Aoi's way of answering with all she had.

I slowly placed my phone back on the table. Then, I reached for Hajime's novel sitting beside it.

Gently, I ran my fingers over the cover. The texture of the paper brought back memories of the promise we made that day.

“Hajime… please, save Aoi…”

In the room, bathed in the light of the moon, I silently wished.

I prayed that the promise we made would once again be the light that ties the three of us together.