Akane entered the classroom.
Everyone quickly rushed back to their seats. She smiled, thanked them all, and then started her math lesson.
As usual, Yuji and Yukino walked home together. After a moment of silence, Yuji broke it.
"So… how was the cake?"
Yukino glanced at him.
"It was good."
Yuji smiled.
"So… you have friends now, right?"
Yukino hesitated for a second—then nodded softly.
"Have you been alone for a long time?" Yuji asked, his voice low, careful, as if afraid of breaking something fragile.
Yukino didn't answer immediately. She looked up at the sky, where countless stars were scattered across the dark sky, calm and distant.
"For years," she said at last, her smile faint but steady.
The night breeze moved gently around them, carrying her words into the silence. The stars above seemed to pause, listening—
Yuji slowed his pace.
After a brief pause, he asked, "So… what did you usually do when you were alone?"
Yukino answered softly, her voice calm and honest.
"I'd close my eyes, take a small breath… and sing."
Yuji stopped walking and looked at her.
"Then… could you sing now?"
The question came without pressure—but it still caught her off guard.
Yukino froze, standing there in the quiet night, unsure what to do.
"Just one," Yuji said softly. "Please, Yukino. Even four lines are enough."
She hesitated, her fingers trembling slightly. There was no way to escape now.
"But… I've never sung for anyone before," she admitted quietly.
Yuji looked at her and smiled, sincere and gentle.
"Then let me be the first, Yukino."
"What song should I sing?" she asked hesitantly.
Yuji unzipped his bag and pulled out his rough notebook, handing it to her.
"Can you sing this?" he asked.
Yukino glanced at the lyrics, her eyes widening slightly.
"Did you… write this yourself?"
Yuji's face flushed red, and a shy smile spread across his lips.
Yukino gripped the notebook tightly. The cold night air wrapped around them silently, as if holding its breath. Above, the stars and the moon seemed to lean closer, waiting to hear her voice—singing the song Yuji had written himself. Finally she began to sing.
"Two hearts, shattered like petals.
Torn from a fragile flower.
Each dreaming of holding the sun… in the darkness of night.
They walk the same path, yet stumble in silent struggle,
While time itself weaves walls between them.
Without you... life feels lifeless—
You are my breath, my only life."
She closed her eyes, letting the melody spill from her lips like sunlight spilling over water. Yuji couldn't move. He couldn't breathe—her voice wrapped around him, soft and warm, pulling him into a world where nothing else existed. *No words… no language… could capture her beauty,* he thought, utterly spellbound.
She opened her eyes and continued. her voice tender, trembling like the first touch of dawn.
"Every single day, my life feels alive—only to die in your memory.
Till the end of my life. My heart will say your name.
Even if a bird dreams of the ocean. It's wings will never touch the sea.
In endless darkness and loneliness. Whales still sing their melodies.
The sun leans toward the moon, yet fate always pulls it back.
The sky weeps... and melts into the sea—its quiet way of loving the earth.
Even if my body is away from your,
My love… will always find your hands..."
Somewhere between awe and longing, Yuji lost himself in her voice—forgot the night, forgot the stars, forgot everything except her.
"Let our souls meet.
where words can never reach."
Yuji stood frozen, the final note lingering in the night air like a delicate echo. For a long moment, there was only silence—broken only by the soft rustle of leaves and the distant murmur of insects or night birds.
She closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling as she finished, yet the weight of her song lingered, filling the space around them. Yuji's heart felt as if it had stopped and started all at once, each beat resonating with the tenderness, the longing, the vulnerability she had poured into every word.
Finally, he exhaled, almost shakily, as if letting go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His eyes softened, glimmering in the faint starlight.
"That… that was…" he began, his voice breaking slightly, "…incredible. Yukino."
She opened her eyes then, meeting his gaze. A faint blush colored her cheeks, and she looked down at the notebook she still clutched, unsure if her voice had been enough.
Yuji stepped closer, a gentle, almost reverent smile on his face. "You… you made me feel every word," he whispered. "I want to hear this everyday."
Yukino's lips trembled, a soft smile forming. The tension, the doubt, the years of loneliness—all of it seemed to dissolve in the quiet warmth between them.
The night sky above held them in its vast silence, the stars twinkling as if echoing the song. For the first time in a long time, Yuji and Yukino were not alone—each had found a small piece of home in the other.
And in that fragile, fleeting moment, nothing else mattered but the melody, the night, and the quiet bond that had begun to take root between them.
They started walking home, a strange, unspoken feeling lingering between them—something neither of them could put into words.
"Yuji… when did you write these lyrics? They're really nice," Yukino asked softly, her eyes bright, no trace of the loneliness they had once held.
Yuji scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Uh… don't laugh… I wrote it back in elementary school."
Yukino's eyes went wide. "Elementary school? You wrote a love song back then?"
A small, teasing smile appeared on her lips. She nudged his shoulder with her elbow.
"Yuji… who's the lucky girl? Tell me!"
Yuji's face immediately turned red, the blush spreading all the way to his ears. He froze for a moment—but then, looking at her, something inside him shifted. Calm replaced embarrassment.
*The girl who said she never wanted friends… the girl who was always silent…
…the same girl is now teasing me, laughing, singing a song for me.*
His hand flew to his stomach as laughter bubbled up from deep inside him. He burst into laughter., tears of joy slipping down his cheeks.
Yukino blinked, confused and a little concerned.
"Hey… Yuji, what's happening to you?"
But Yuji didn't stop smiling. Not even for a second.
Yukino watched him, bewildered. "Yuji… you're… laughing and crying at the same time. Are you okay?"
Yuji wiped a tear from his cheek, still grinning like an idiot. "I've… never felt like this before," he admitted, voice trembling with happiness.
Yukino tilted her head, a soft smile forming. "Never? Even in elementary school?"
For a moment, they walked in silence, the streetlights casting long shadows behind them. Yukino's small hands were tucked into her sleeves, her steps quiet, yet somehow lighter than usual.
Finally, she nudged him gently. "You're acting weird, you know. But… it's kind of nice."
Yukino giggled, a soft, musical sound that made him pause mid-step. He looked at her, really looked, and felt his chest tighten.
*The girl who used to hide behind silence… she's smiling at me now. Laughing. Playing. Singing…*
He laughed again, quietly this time, letting the warmth of the moment sink in. And for the first time in a long while, both of them walked home with hearts a little lighter, carrying a feeling that words could barely touch—but smiles, laughter, and shared songs could.