It had been three months since the Kokuyoku event.
Risa was now fifteen years old, but she still often wandered outside at night, desperately trying to remember that memory.
No…
Was it a dream?
A dream that felt so real?
She didn't know anymore.
There, she met him. That light blue-haired boy.
He wasn't wearing his glasses, and he stood quietly beneath a street lamp.
Risa stopped for a moment. Just as she decided to turn back, he called out to her.
“Did I disturb your night walk, Harada?”
Risa flinched and slowly turned toward him.
“Hi-Hiwatari-kun…”
Silence settled between them.
After the Kokuyoku event, they'd grown much closer. At least, compared to before. But there was still a wall between them—or perhaps, that was just how Risa felt.
She still didn't understand why he had hugged her that night.
And somehow, whenever she thought about it, she couldn't shake the feeling that his warmth had felt strangely familiar.
Hiwatari remained calm, not a single expression changing on his face. Then he sighed.
“You should go back. It's late, and it's not good for a girl to walk around at night. I'll escort you home.”
“Say, Hiwatari-kun… how's your arm?”
He walked a little closer before stopping. For a few seconds, he looked surprised and averted his eyes.
“Yeah… it's already healed.”
That's not what she meant.
Not physically.
The wound on his arm had healed long ago.
But what about everything else?
“Now that I think about it, you still never told me about your family business.”
Her voice grew stronger, pushing against the walls between them without giving him the chance to hide behind them.
“Harada, I—”
“Hiwatari-kun. What do you know? About that night?”
Again, she didn't let him finish.
She was afraid he would give her some ordinary answer.
Something like his father being in the police department.
It wasn't a dream, right?
“Harada…”
His voice sounded almost pained.
He's changed so much over these past three months.
She guessed Niwa-kun and Saehara had a lot to do with it. And somehow, she had gotten to witness those changes too.
The old Hiwatari-kun would've simply ignored her.
“Harada, are you still—”
He tried to reach for her arm, but she stepped back.
“Yes! I still have nightmares! I can't sleep! It keeps bothering me! Tell me, Hiwatari-kun, was it really just a dream?”
He finally looked at her.
At first, he seemed surprised.
Then his expression changed.
He looked so hurt.
He grabbed her hand. His grip was firm at first, but gradually softened.
“Harada, please…”
His left hand reached toward her face, and very slowly, he touched her now wet cheek.
“I don't want to see you cry.”
Again.
Those words.
He said the same thing that night, didn't he?
“It feels like I'm looking for something… someone. But I've never been able to remember his face, his voice, or even his touch…”
Tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
He gently pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her.
This warmth…
Why did it feel so familiar?
“…Hiwatari-kun, please… tell me.”
She tightened her grip on his shirt.
“Was it a dream?”
His arms around her tightened in response.
She could tell he was fighting something within himself.
His thoughts seemed to be racing, searching for words that could comfort her. But for a long while, he said nothing.
Eventually, she calmed down, and he slowly released her.
His shirt was damp with her tears, though he didn't seem to notice.
“I'll help you remember it.”
Risa blinked.
“I'll help you try and remember it.” His voice was quiet. Almost hesitant. As though he wasn't entirely sure himself.
“But…”
He paused. Then, very gently—
“I don't want to see you cry anymore.”
For a moment, Risa could only stare at him. Under the dim light of the street lamp, Hiwatari-kun looked away.
“…Let's go home.”
And just like that, he started walking.
As though he hadn't just said something that made her chest ache.
Risa walked to his side, and they made their way to her home in silence.
The school decided to climb a mountain during winter. Risa's hat got blown away, and Riku tried to reach for it but slipped.
At the last minute, Daisuke tried to save her, causing both of them to fall down the mountain.
Satoshi looked down the snow-covered slope.
Both Niwa and the older Harada were already out of sight. Only broken trails in the snow and a few snapped twigs remained.
Even though the slope was not steep, they might have fallen around 20–30 feet. That could be catastrophic if they hit a large tree or some rocks.
Niwa is there with the older Harada, so they should be fine. But just in case, tell the teacher.
He sighed and walked away from the other students, who were still screaming and calling out the names of the two teenagers.
After reporting it to the teacher, he suggested that they head downhill to get a signal and call for a rescue team.
As they quickly made their way down, Satoshi realized that the younger Harada was crying.
“No… What should I do… It’s because of me…” she murmured between sobs while the other classmates tried to comfort her.
Satoshi had a tendency to observe all of his classmates. It was something he had picked up while studying criminology.
Of course, there were limits to that.
He knew everyone's names, their rankings at school, and sometimes even their parents' connections. (Who knew? Such information might prove useful someday.)
But he only knew Niwa in detail (for obvious reasons), and Saehara (for another obvious reason).
And he knew the Harada twins because they were the only pair of twins in the school.
Still, he knew how different they were.
The short-haired older sister was calmer and very active at school. The younger one was noisier, had more friends, and cried a lot.
How could twins be so different?
But of course, he knew another person—or perhaps another thing—that looked almost identical, yet could not be more different.
Like two sides of a coin.
Like water and oil.
They would never mix.
Heck, they should never even be near each other.
He then realized that his phone had finally picked up a signal. He quickly stopped to call the police and request a search and rescue team.
After the call, he noticed that he had fallen behind and was now at the very end of the group. Somehow, the younger Harada was still beside him, walking very slowly.
Satoshi glanced around. The mist had gotten thicker, and they still hadn't heard anything from Niwa and the older Harada.
Maybe I should go back and look for them myself, just in case.
He quickly turned on his heel and started climbing back up when he heard someone call out to him.
“Wait, where are you going, Hiwatari-kun? We should stay with the group and—”
Satoshi didn't want the others to know that he was heading back up, so he quietly shushed the younger Harada and continued walking.
The younger sister looked surprised.
“Wha—”
But Satoshi didn't want to waste any precious time, so he left her there.
Of course, he was convinced that Niwa was Dark, so they should be fine. But it had already been twenty minutes since the fall, and they still hadn't heard anything from them yet.
Maybe something had happened.
Even though Satoshi was rather slim, he had trained during his time overseas, so he was capable of climbing the mountain fairly quickly. Still, it would take some time to reach the area where they had fallen.
He had only been climbing for less than ten minutes and still had some distance to cover, so he quickened his pace.
Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed upward, and there it was—a black-winged angel shooting into the sky.
Satoshi could clearly see a young lady cradled in that angel's embrace, and he let out a short sigh.
He quickly called the station back.
“Cancel the rescue team. Yes, the rescue has already been completed.”
Satoshi looked up at Dark. He was already flying away to safety with the older Harada in his arms.
What took him so long?
But this made him one hundred percent certain that Niwa was indeed Dark.
The family name was obvious enough, but Niwa always tried to hide it. Didn't he know the history between their families?
Such a troublesome person…
He sighed again and started walking back down the mountain.
With all the fuss surrounding Niwa and the older Harada, Satoshi doubted that the teachers or the other students would even realize he had left the group. As long as the younger Harada had not said anything or called someone to follow him up the mountain, he should be able to rejoin them before they reached the bottom.
Well, he had been walking for a minute, and nobody seemed to be looking for him.
So, safe to say, the little Harada had tight lips. Or perhaps she wasn't as much of a gossip as he had initially thought.
“Hiwatari-kun!”
He blinked when he heard his name being called loudly.
A few feet ahead, the younger Harada stood with visible sweat on her forehead. Her short breaths formed white puffs in front of her face.
“What are you doing?” he asked calmly, reaching her in a few long strides.
“You were walking by yourself, so I followed you!” she said, taking another deep breath. “We should stay together and quickly call for rescue.”
The younger Harada bent over and put both hands on her knees.
She's really out of shape, isn't she…
“You didn't have to do that. I'm fine,” he said, remaining beside her.
Now he'll have to guide her down the mountain, or they'll end up needing another rescue team.
How troublesome.
He sighed.
“Anyway, can you walk?”
He offered his hand, and she blinked.
Ah…
He had forgotten that such things were uncommon in Japan.
But after offering it, he couldn't very well take his hand back, so he left it suspended awkwardly between them.
After averting her gaze, she slowly raised her right gloved hand and placed it on top of his.
Her face, already red from the cold, turned even redder. The color had reached her ears.
“Th-Thank you,” she whispered quietly as she straightened herself.
She quickly withdrew her hand, and Satoshi resumed walking down the slope, slower this time.
The younger Harada was trying her best to match his pace, so he slowed down even more to accommodate her. Even so, a few steps still separated them.
“So—” she began.
“Hiwatari-kun…”
She took another breath.
“What were you—”
Then she hurried a few steps to catch up with him.
“—doing just now?”
Satoshi glanced at her. Her brows were knitted together.
Why was she angry at him?
He remembered the day after Dark first appeared. All the girls in class had been fangirling over him. This girl right here was definitely one of them. He was pretty sure he had seen her among that noisy crowd.
So it would be wiser not to say anything.
“Nothing in particular,” he answered. He could clearly hear Harada huffing beside him.
“What?” she exclaimed. “You left the group and came all the way up here… without doing anything?”
From the look on her face, he could tell she wasn't going to let him off without a proper answer.
Such persistence… It might be better to divert the conversation.
“Harada, we should hurry and regroup. They might have already reached the bottom and called for rescue.”
The girl suddenly fell silent and began walking faster.
It seems she remembered her sister again, he thought, trying not to look too pleased that she had finally stopped bothering him.
They continued walking down the mountain in silence.
Now that he thought about it, the younger Harada might be noisy and almost always surrounded by people. But she was different from the other girls who liked to send letters, ask for his time after school, or follow him around.
Well, at least she wasn't bothering him about that.
Satoshi glanced at her and realized that she was crying.
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and every time she blinked, they rolled down her cheeks.
Her nose was getting redder too.
He didn't know whether she cared or not, but she didn't make a sound.
It was a very quiet cry.
Satoshi sighed and started to feel uncomfortable.
Since he was matching his pace with hers, he was stuck beside her while watching her cry.
“Harada,” he finally managed.
She looked up at him, and another tear rolled down her cheek.
Satoshi quickly averted his gaze.
“I believe your older sister will be fine. Niwa is with her.”
She sobbed and slowly nodded. Wiping her tears with her white gloves and began walking faster.
Satoshi easily matched her pace, and they continued in silence until they reached the bottom of the mountain.
As he had expected, the teacher had realized they were far behind the group, but Satoshi quickly came up with a believable excuse and she accepted it.
He noticed that Saehara was already talking to the mountain rangers.
Satoshi had no intention of stopping them. Niwa and the older Harada still hadn't returned, and although he knew they were safe, the mist at the top of the mountain was getting thicker.
Ten minutes passed as they discussed the situation with the rangers and watched them prepare for the rescue mission.
Then suddenly, several students screamed Niwa's and Harada's names in relief.
Satoshi looked up and found Niwa carrying the unconscious older Harada on his back. The younger Harada's hat was clutched in his right hand.
Everyone rushed toward them, and Satoshi watched the teacher kneel beside them and carefully lift the older Harada from Niwa's shoulders.
The younger Harada was crying loudly now.
Involuntarily, Satoshi let out a small sigh of relief as well.
He looked up and saw the mist slowly dispersing, revealing the bright blue sky above them.
