Saeko was shaking from anxiety. She took off the plane, gasping for air. This was her first time. Her first time on a plane. Her first time flying overseas, to a foreign country. She has always dreaded flying. Not as if she had the possibility to travel.
The cold wind hit her face, and she pulled her coat tighter around herself. Am I prepared enough for this cold weather?
She recalled the moment when she announced her plan to the others.
"Can you take me to the airport?" Saeko turned toward Tatsuya.
"Are you going to move to the airport?" Kaito asked, surprised.
"I'm moving to Norway."
"Good joke," Kaito laughed. "As if you'd do something so bold…"
"I've already made up my mind."
"That's unexpected," Tatsuya agreed.
"Is it, really, tough?" Yasushi asked with a smile.
"I wanted to discuss it with you beforehand, but you guys weren't available. And I realized there's no point in overthinking it. Why make excuses if I already know what I want?" she said, repeating Sota's words with a timid smile.
Yasushi responded with his warm smile. "I guess it's probably better I wasn't around." Some of the most important decisions should be made on our own.
"Does Sota know about it?" Tatsuya asked.
"He will, after I tell him my feelings," she said, blushing.
"Gosh, lucky him! Now I envy him," Kaito complained with a wide smile on his face. "Do you think Aya will have some magic revelation like this overnight and…"
"Shut up," Tatsuya grumbled.
Saeko carried her suitcase, but it felt impossibly heavy, as if the weight of the past hours… no, the past weeks, was pressing down on her. Her chest felt tight, her throat dry.
People rushed past, talking, laughing, pulling their luggage, moving with purpose. She understood nothing of the voices, the words merging into an unintelligible hum. The crowd was suffocating, yet at the same time, she had never felt so alone.
This was more than just jet lag.
Her body ached with exhaustion, her legs unsteady beneath her.
I should have really slept on the plane… She sighed.
When she said goodbye to the others, Yasushi's concerned gaze followed her.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem…"
"Weary." Tatsuya finished, sounding a bit too blunt. Yasushi shot him a glare.
"You can't just say such thing to…"
"Why, she looks terrible! Like a mummy," Kaito added, unable to keep the grin from his face.
Saeko managed a soft laugh.
"I get it. I will sleep on the plane. There won't be any problem," she murmured, forcing a weak smile.
But instead of resting, she spent long hours trying to gather her thoughts, filling an entire notebook with confessions she would share with Sota.
I'm ridiculous. I'm so bad at this.
The pressure in her head built with each passing second. She needed to breathe, needed something solid to hold onto, but her fingers felt numb, her grip slipping from the suitcase handle.
The world tilted.
She knew well what would come.
Dark spots flickered at the edges of her vision. Her stomach twisted as nausea surged up. She barely registered the cold beneath her as her knees buckled.
Snow.
She was on the ground.
People walked around her, giving her space, their eyes flickering to her only for a second before moving on.
Then a shadow fell over her. A figure knelt in front of her.
And then everything went blank.
When Saeko opened her eyes next, she found herself in a hospital room. The world outside was dark.
Frantic, she jumped out of bed, scanning the room as though she were looking for something. She knew exactly what had happened to her medically speaking, but that wasn't the issue. The real question was the face she had seen before passing out.
Had she imagined it? Or had she really seen Sota's face?
Hallucinations aren't common in cases like mine.
I…
Her gaze landed on her notebook, lying open on the table. She looked down at the page, and there, in Sota's handwriting, was a message:
"I wasn't allowed to stay for the night. I'll wait for you outside. Just look out, and I'll be there. Sota."
"He was really there," she gasped.
Then a wave of realization hit her. The notebook… Did he read what I had written?
Her heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she rushed to the window.
There he was, sleeping on a bench outside the hospital, huddled against the cold.
He's going to catch a cold like that.
She grumbled, then she grabbed a box of chocolate from another patient.
Not long after he had finally managed to fall asleep, despite the cold and uncomfortable position, he suddenly woke up, feeling something smashing into him. His eyes snapped open, and something hit his face. He caught it and inspected it: chocolate. Then another. He looked up and saw Saeko frantically throwing chocolates from a heart-shaped box.
He chuckled. "Did you really steal other patient's chocolate?" recalling the very same sentence she used, when he traded some chocolate for her birthday at the hospital.
Saeko waved at him. Sota picked his way toward the building. Saeko was leaning out of a second-floor window. A floor below her, there was a balcony. He considered climbing up, but it would be reckless. Saeko would surely freak out. But the next moment, he saw Saeko throw her leg over the window ledge, trying to climb out.
"No way…" Sota started climbing without thinking. Throwing himself up as though gravity wouldn't work on him, he launched himself onto the balcony just in time to catch Saeko as she let herself down. She landed in his arms, clinging to his neck, her heart pounding.
"You could've hurt yourself," he demanded fiercefully.
"I could have..." she smiled. "…if it hadn't been for you. But I knew you'd be there for me."
How can you still trust me like that after I've failed you? He thought, unable to find the words. He placed her down carefully, draping his coat over her shoulders.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I thought that question was supposed to be my line," the words slipped out before he could stop them.
Saeko froze. In her notes, she had actually prepared a few scenarios where he would be stunned to see her and ask, What are you doing here?
"How much have you read of my notes…?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't help it," he bowed his head.
She turned an even deeper shade of red. She wanted to say something, but her mouth just opened and closed, unable to form words.
"Well… I guess then…" But what else could she say that he hadn't already read?
"But I could use a little refresher! I would prefer to hear it from your mouth. Do you still want to persuade me to go back with you?" he teased, trying to shake off his own embarrassment.
"What? Of course not!" she protested.
"So… you don't want me to go back?" he asked, confused.
"Making you give up your dream job? Of course not! I'm the one moving here…"
Sota stood frozen.
"You… what?" He stared at her, utterly baffled.
Well, she might have forgotten to write about that in her notes. It seemed obvious.
"I want to be with you. So… if your dream is here, then I'm moving here too."
Her gaze was unwavering. Determined.
„Moving here? And what about your family? You wouldn't just leave them like that."
"All my life, I sacrificed everything for them. My dreams, my relationships, my friendships, my career… I could have been more than just a nurse. And I did it all without regret. But not this time. This is the first time in my life that I've found something… More precisely, someone… I'm not willing to give up on. I can't lose you," she said, her voice filled with quiet resolve.
Sota realized he had been holding his breath, afraid that exhaling might shatter this fragile, beautiful moment.
"You…" was all he managed before pulling her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her neck, where that familiar sweet scent welcomed him. The one he had missed so much. It felt like home. He couldn't resist leaning on her, his weight pressing against her more with each passing second.
"Hey, you're heavy," she gasped.
Then, they toppled to the floor.
He clung to her silently, unable to let go. Not yet.
Here she is, crossing an ocean and leaving everything behind, just to be with me. Even after I hurt her. Even after all those nasty rumours about me. Still believing in me without a shred of proof. Fighting for me, despite everything I did to drive her away.
"I'm sorry," he finally whispered, his voice thick with regret. "For turning my back on you. I didn't mean any of those terrible things I said."
"I know," she replied softly, a small, knowing smile curling at the corner of her lips. "You couldn't deceive me, not for a minute." There was pride in her voice.
He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "I still... can't believe it."
"I know it's sudden. But you don't have to worry about me. I'll find a job here, I've already started looking," she added quickly, as if afraid he might see her as a burden.
"I have an idea for one," he said with a small smile. "What about Mrs. Fujimoto's private hospital?"
"But that's back in Japan," she said, confusion clouding her expression.
"Yeah..." He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering as he looked at her with an unspoken question in his eyes. "Wouldn't you like that?"
Saeko shook her head, her eyes searching his face. "No," she replied, her voice firm, "You have a job here, and I will not leave you…."
Sota's lips quirked. "I never actually accepted any job in the first place."
"What?" she looked at him, confused. "But everyone thought…"
It was all just that girl's desperate attempt. Nothing more.
And we completely believed it without any proof.
"How could I? Didn't I promise you I wouldn't leave you?"
Saeko bit her lip. Her chest tightened as she processed his words. In that instant, she realized just how much she needed to feel wanted, chosen, not to be left behind.
"Wait..." She blinked, suddenly connecting the dots. "Is that why you were at the airport?" Her voice dropped, surprise making her pulse race.
He chuckled softly. "Yeah, I was actually on my way back home. Funny thing is, if my flight hadn't been delayed, I wouldn't have bumped into you."
It was her turn to fight back tears.
"So, is there anything else holding you back from working at that private hospital?"
Saeko hesitated.
"I hope you're not doubting your competence," Sota said, eyes sharp, almost challenging.
"It's not that… But, Satoshi started working there too after he came back. So that means…"
"You'd be colleagues…" Sota finished, unfazed. "Would that bother you so much?"
Saeko blinked, caught off guard by his indifference.
"Well… I'm sure it'd be awkward at first, but we'd get over it. But… more importantly, what about you? Wouldn't it bother you?" She asked, a bit disappointed by his calmness.
Sota met her gaze without hesitation. "You made it pretty clear who you chose. That leaves me no reason to worry." His voice was steady and serious as he leaned in closer.
"And besides…" He murmured, pressing his forehead against hers, their lips nearly touching. "I'll make sure you never have a reason to need any other man," he whispered against her lips before pulling her into a slow, teasing kiss, his hand gently cradling the side of her head.
Then, as if on cue, an angry shout interrupted them. A nurse appeared on the balcony, her voice sharp and demanding, followed by a security guard.
"I can't believe it," Tatsuya said, staring at the small stand in front of him.
"You should. It's completely, and boringly, legal," Kaito explained, rolling his eyes. "They can't call the police to drag me away, unless I do something else illegal."
"How did you even manage to arrange all of this?" Yasushi gaped, still trying to process the situation.
"I legally rented this 1m² space for my business," Kaito replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "And I have the necessary permits."
"And what's your business, exactly? What's with the sign that says 'Love Sensei'?" Yasushi raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
"I write customized love songs for my clients…" Kaito said, his chest puffing out with pride.
"You? Love songs?" Tatsuya asked, sounding incredulous.
"Yeah! You'll see how popular I'll get!" Kaito beamed, clearly excited. "It won't be anything like your... well, gibberish lyrics," he teased.
"I bet," Tatsuya chuckled. Just then, a teenage boy appeared behind him, looking eager.
"Please, give way to my first customer!" Kaito said, stepping forward with a triumphant grin.