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The ticking of the clock echoed faintly in the room. Since today was just the opening ceremony, we’d returned early, and the hands of the clock now pointed to twelve.

I was relieved to find that the chamomile tea I’d bought previously was still there. I set some water to boil.

Pouring two cups of tea, I placed them on the table. In hindsight, perhaps I should’ve prepared some snacks as well.

I was about to bring up a heavy topic. Inazuki must have sensed that too—she sat with her gaze downcast, staring into her cup. The reflection on the surface of the tea mirrored her somber expression.

“Inazuki, how do you like me? Do you love me romantically?”

For a moment, Inazuki’s expression twisted painfully, as if the words caught in her throat.

“I love you. I love you so much.”

I exhaled softly.

“Then why did you reject my confession?”
“…What?”
“It’s not like I remembered exactly, but I saw it. The memories of the me from before. …We weren’t lovers, were we?”
“That’s…”

Inazuki’s breathing grew shallow and uneven, like a fish gasping for air after being thrown ashore.

I was reminded of the time we visited the aquarium together. The goldfish we saw there might have made a face like hers now if it had been cast onto dry land.

But Inazuki wasn’t a goldfish.

“You loved the me from before, didn’t you?”
“I did. But I was scared.”
“Scared?”
“I was scared that if I accepted your confession, I wouldn’t be able to turn back time anymore. Moving forward without turning time back terrified me. So… I’m sorry.”

I shook my head.

“An apology doesn’t mean much—I’m not the me from before.”
“…Yeah.”
“You’re the one turning back time, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. When we become third-years, I can always reset things, as long as I wish for it.”

So that’s what it meant.

All this time, Inazuki had been rewinding time by her own will. But why? What was driving her to reset the world over and over again?

“Can I ask why you’re rewinding time?”
“…That’s…”

Inazuki rested her hand on the teacup.

Her hand trembled slightly.

“At first, it was fun. Reliving high school over and over, playing around—it was fun. But then… at some point, it became terrifying.”
“…”

I started to reach out to her but stopped myself.

“I couldn’t move forward anymore. Because I… I had become a goldfish. I could only survive in captivity. If I were thrown into a lake, I’d die.”

That’s not true.

Inazuki wasn’t a goldfish. She…wasn’t, but was there anything I could say to make her believe otherwise?

Her face looked like she was on the verge of tears.

For over twenty years, she had been stuck in high school, reliving the same days. The fear of stepping away from that must be unimaginable for her.

Anyone would be scared to venture into the unknown. Not knowing what lay ahead could be unsettling, even paralyzing. But time didn’t stop, and people adapted because they had no choice.

But Inazuki had the power to rewind time.

She’d kept her fear locked away and chosen to stay in the same environment repeatedly. By doing so, she’d only allowed that fear to grow.

Could I take her hand and show her the vast world beyond?

Could I offer her a world more captivating than the power to rewind time?

I didn’t know how far back she could rewind, but the fact that she was afraid to move forward meant there must be limits to her ability.

What could I possibly do for her?

“I don’t think that’s true,” I murmured softly.

Even if my feelings don’t reach her fully, that’s okay.

If I didn’t say what I needed to now, I’d regret it forever. I wanted to share the emotions that belonged not to some version of Amakawa Iroha from another timeline, but to this me, sitting here and facing her.

And those feelings weren’t just affection.

“Inazuki, you can live anywhere. I’m sure of it. After all, you managed to become close with me—even though we weren’t before—and with Chise too.”
“That’s… not the same thing.”
“It’s not as different as you think. I believe in your potential, Inazuki.”
“Why?”

I took a deep breath.

“Because I’ve felt how strong you are. The strength you showed when you took my hand and pulled me forward into a new world. Inazuki, you can go anywhere, even on your own.”

I squeezed her hand tightly, as if returning the strength she had once given me. Inazuki looked at me, her face still on the verge of tears.

I didn’t believe for a second that my words alone could erase the fear she’d carried for decades.

And yet, that didn’t matter.

No matter how she felt, these were my honest feelings, the truth I couldn’t deny.

“If it’s too scary now, then maybe someday, some version of me in some timeline will be the one to dispel your fear. That’s why… I want you to believe in me.”

Up to this point, my words were rooted in pure affection.

But what followed—this was the selfish, ugly side of me.

“…But honestly, I don’t want that.”
“What?”
“I don’t want it to be some version of me in another timeline. I don’t know the me from before or the me from the timeline before that. What I really want… is for you to see only me. To call this me—this version of Iroha—by name. To love only this me.”

Was this okay?

My doubts lingered, but the words spilled out, unstoppable now. If things were destined to repeat, if this was my only chance to say it, then I’d let it all out.

Everything, everything, everything. All of me, to Inazuki.

“I realized it, Inazuki. You’ve already become special to me. You’ve become my home… You’ve become the person I love.”

I’d pretended not to notice for so long.

I was scared too. If I let myself think about wanting to be with her forever, I’d crumble if she ever disappeared.

But I couldn’t lie anymore.

I loved her in a way that was inescapable. Saying I didn’t know if it would last forever was a lie. I wanted to stay by her side, to hold her, to touch her, not just tomorrow but the day after that, and for every day to come.

I loved her.

Of course I loved her.

I didn’t want to lose to another version of myself. Truthfully, I hated the thought of Inazuki loving anyone else.

I loved her so much that I couldn’t imagine falling for someone else again. I could never imagine wanting to be with someone else.

“I love you. I love you so much. I want to be with you. I want to kiss you. I want you to see only me. I want you to love only me. I want you to call no one else Iroha. …And I want you to stay in this timeline forever.”

I couldn’t stop.

I couldn’t possibly stop.

I loved her so, so much.

I didn’t know why. I didn’t know how I’d feel in the future. All I knew was that right now, in this moment, I believed I could stay with Inazuki forever. Right now, I loved her more than anyone else in the world. It didn’t matter whether I could trust in something tangible or whether there was some undeniable bond.

That’s why I couldn’t lie anymore.

I couldn’t keep running away. I couldn’t keep holding back.

Because I had already found the one place I belonged.

“This is my truth. The feelings I’ve held onto for so long. What you do with them is up to you, Inazuki. It’s okay if you turn me down. …Well, it’s not okay, but still. At least I’ve said it now.”

Inazuki’s eyes widened.

She probably never expected me to say something like this.

Thinking she might need time to process, I started to step outside. But before I could, she wrapped her arms around me from behind.

“Can I believe it? That it won’t change even if we go to college? No… that no matter when, no matter what tomorrow brings, we’ll stay together? That we’ll keep saying we love each other?”
“At the very least, I believe it. I’m not the kind of person who can fall for someone else over and over again.”

Inazuki chuckled softly.

“Hehe, yeah. You’re so hopelessly clumsy, Iroha. Even though you’re so good at cooking.”
“Exactly. So believe in this once-in-a-lifetime feeling of mine.”
“You’re way too in love with me.”
“I wouldn’t know. This is the first time I’ve ever fallen in love with someone.”

I slipped out of her arms and turned to face her head-on.

Inazuki was looking at me. At me, not anyone else, not some other version of me, not another place—just the me who was here and now.

I wanted her to keep looking at me like that forever. I didn’t want her to ever look at another version of me again.

“I want to believe. In you, Iroha.”
“Yeah. I’ve never wanted to stay with anyone forever before, but you made me believe in ‘forever.’ That’s why I want you to believe in me, too.”

We gazed into each other’s eyes.

The sound of our breaths, the warmth in the air, all of it seemed to intertwine. Even though we weren’t holding hands, it felt like time itself was blending together.

I couldn’t tell who closed their eyes first.

Before I knew it, Inazuki’s lips were pressed against mine.

It was a feeling I had never experienced before. Warm to the point of melting, soft and tender, it sent a wave of comfort through me. My heart felt so full, and I couldn’t help but crave more of her touch.

When I gently brushed my tongue against her lips, they parted in quiet acceptance, welcoming me in. Overwhelmed by joy, I leaned in further, letting my tongue entwine with hers as if trying to savor every moment of her presence.

The heat between us was almost unbearable. Our tongues moved together, blending in a messy, intoxicating rhythm. It was a kiss unlike anything any version of me had ever known—hot, deep, and drawn-out, as if melting me from the inside out.

All my restlessness, my sadness, my pain—even the loneliness I had carried for so long—dissolved into that moment. They mixed with the feelings Inazuki gave me, reshaping into something entirely new.

When I slowly opened my eyes, they met hers. Inazuki gazed at me, her eyes narrowing affectionately, filled with tenderness.

Our bodies, our gazes, everything about us seemed to meld together. A tangled, heated, blissful mess, we stayed locked in what felt like an eternal embrace, lips and tongues intertwined as if we were the only two people in existence.

Even when we finally pulled apart, I could still feel her presence etched into me, just as I seemed to have left a mark on her.

I didn’t know what meaning our brief yet eternal connection held. But in that moment, it felt like the thin thread that had always seemed to bind us yet somehow didn’t was now tied firmly between our pinkies.

“I love you.”
“I love you too.”

I couldn’t even tell which of us said it first. It didn’t matter. Our feelings had found each other.

Seeing nothing but each other reflected in our eyes, I realized for the first time how soothing and fulfilling it could be simply to breathe in the same space together.

For that moment, there was no fear, no obstacle between us. Just us.

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