In the silent depths of night, the "tick, tick…" of the clock in the living room sounded unusually clear.
Utaha was curled up, her face buried between her knees, waiting in a daze.
She did not know how much time had passed. She only felt that time was moving unbearably slowly.
Why hasn't he come back… why hasn't he come back?
She only wanted him to come back. That was all.
So please, don't torment her. Don't abandon her… alright?
As if heaven had heard her thoughts, the roar of a car engine came from outside the villa, pulling her slightly back to her senses.
Not long after, with a click, the front door of the villa opened. When the light shone in, she finally snapped out of her blank stupor.
The strong light made Utaha instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes. It was a little dazzling, and she could not clearly see Haizaki's figure.
"It's so late—how did you fall asleep in the living room?"
A familiar voice, a familiar tone. Haizaki was back.
Utaha felt a surge of excitement, a warm current slowly thawing her cold body and heart.
"I just… fell asleep by accident."
She made up an excuse.
"Click, click…"
Haizaki tried flipping the light switch, but the living room lights showed no response.
"There's a power outage. The other rooms on the first floor don't have power either."
"I know. I'll go check the fuse box."
Hopefully it was just a tripped breaker. If the diesel generator had failed, repairs would have to wait until tomorrow.
"I'll get you a flashlight."
Utaha quickly wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, afraid that Haizaki would see her unsightly state.
"The fuse box on the first floor is in Room 101. If there's a power outage in the future, check whether the circuit breaker has tripped first. If it's just a trip, you only need to flip it back up."
Haizaki let out a small sigh of relief. It was only a tripped breaker.
As the breaker was reset, the living room lights came back on.
Utaha lowered her head slightly, her hair messily draped over her shoulders. She remained silent, struggling over how to speak. The words of apology were stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
She had clearly made up her mind—so why, at the critical moment, could she still not say it?
As the light returned, Utaha finally saw Haizaki's current condition clearly.
He was wearing a pilot's suit. It was common attire; every time Haizaki went up in a plane, he wore this specialized equipment.
But why was the suit covered in so many stains and patches of dust? And what was that—why were there scratches and tears?
"What happened?"
A bad feeling surfaced in the girl's heart as Utaha spoke with obvious concern.
"What exactly happened?"
Seeing that Haizaki remained silent and seemed unwilling to answer, Utaha immediately raised her voice.
Her wine-red eyes fixed on Haizaki, waiting for his answer. No matter what he said, she was willing to believe him—but why, why wouldn't he answer? Why did he remain silent? Was it something too hard to say, something he couldn't tell her?
"You… crashed."
Her breathing instantly became rapid. Her heart pounded violently, her rising and falling chest filled with panic.
"No, I—"
"Tell me the truth, Yusuke-kun. I don't want to hear you lie to me."
Utaha grabbed Haizaki's arms with both hands, gripping tightly as she spoke with a trembling voice.
"..."
Haizaki's silence was the best possible answer.
Now she finally understood why Haizaki had come back so late.
He had almost never come back at all. And she would have truly become alone—left by herself in this lonely world.
"You… you shouldn't…"
Utaha's words caught in her throat and stopped abruptly.
Her wide eyes suddenly dimmed.
She wanted to tell Haizaki not to fly planes anymore in the future.
Flying was simply far too dangerous.
But what standing did she have to persuade him?
The last two humans? Needing to depend on each other to survive?
That wasn't enough.
She was not his wife. Not his girlfriend. There wasn't even the slightest hint of romantic ambiguity between them.
What right did she have?
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Asking that… should at least be acceptable, right? Even so, Utaha felt uncomfortable inside.
"No, I'm fine. It's late—you should go back to your room and rest."
Right now, Haizaki only wanted to return to his room, check his injuries again, and then sleep properly. He did not even have the energy to think about taking a shower.
Utaha quickly scanned Haizaki with concern. Seeing that his complexion looked relatively normal, she could only accept his suggestion.
"Then I'll go back first…"
Hearing the girl's retreating footsteps, Haizaki finally let out a breath of relief.
Although there was some bravado involved, he still did not want to show his injured state in front of her.
Dragging his aching left foot, Haizaki turned off the first-floor lights and slowly went upstairs.
At the corner, he came face-to-face with Utaha, who was calmly looking at him.
His plan shattered in an instant.
"I'll get the medical kit for you. Hot water or ice water—which do you need?"
Just as she had expected, this man was deliberately hiding his injury.
Even this—he was unwilling to tell her?
"Ice water…"
Since he had already been discovered, there was no point in continuing to hide it. Haizaki sighed. The girl was sharper than he had expected.
Utaha ran downstairs.
There was a medical kit on the first floor, and ice in the refrigerator in the kitchen.
When Haizaki returned to his room and was undoing his shoelaces, Utaha ran back in with the medical kit and ice.
"I'll do it."
Without giving Haizaki any chance to refuse, Utaha jogged a few steps forward, set the medical kit and ice aside, and immediately crouched down, reaching out to help him untie his shoelaces.
She saw the swelling around his left ankle, and her heart ached.
It must hurt a lot. It was swollen like a steamed bun.
After removing his shoes, the girl immediately took off his socks as well, not caring about dirt or odor at all. Her movements were gentle and careful, afraid of causing him pain.
Faced with the girl's tender actions, Haizaki felt warmth spread through his heart.
He turned his gaze away, no longer looking at her delicate face.
"Thank you…"
"It's nothing. This is all I can do, anyway."
Her tone sounded calm, but Haizaki could sense an undercurrent of frustration—frustration at her own lack of ability.
Why did she feel that way?
In the end, Haizaki attributed the change in the girl to the villa's power outage.
She really was afraid of the dark.
Utaha wrung out the ice towel, folded it neatly, and then said, "I'm putting it on."
"Mm…"
This was probably the gentlest side she had shown him in the past three months.
This time… their stiff relationship should be able to ease, right?
...