—Naoaki's POV—
I used to think love was a warm, bright thing. Like sunlight spilling through leaves.
But with Ren… love was heavier.
It was everything unsaid, everything remembered.
It was pain, and it was hope.
It was the moment I looked into his eyes and realized I had always loved him—long before I knew what that meant.
The rooftop was quiet the next day.
No rain. No wind. Just the ghost of yesterday still hanging in the air between us.
Ren stood by the railing again, hands tucked in his pockets like he didn't know what to do with them. I took a slow breath and walked up beside him.
"I couldn't sleep," I admitted.
He didn't look at me, but he nodded. "Me neither."
"I kept thinking… about the things I never said. Not in this life. Not in the others."
He glanced at me then, just slightly. "And?"
I stared at the horizon, heart thudding.
"And I thought, if I never say them now, I never will."
I turned to face him fully.
"Ren," I said, steadying my voice. "I know we wasted so much time. Pretending. Running. Hurting. But if I only get one chance in this life to be honest with you…"
I stepped closer.
"I loved you then." My voice cracked, but I didn't stop. "In every life you told me about. The ones I didn't remember. The ones you carried alone."
His expression shifted—like the world had tilted beneath his feet.
"I don't care how many lives it takes," I whispered. "I'll LOVE you in all of them."
He didn't say anything at first.
Then:
"I waited so long to hear that."
He looked up at me, and in his eyes I saw everything:
The soldier. The boy with ink-stained fingers. The man who walked through fire. The lover I had lost and found again.
He was trembling.
"Say it again," he asked softly, like he didn't believe it.
So I did.
"I loved you then. And I love you now."
And just like that, he broke.
Ren pulled me into his arms, held me like I was something sacred.
And when he kissed me, it wasn't soft. It was desperate, aching, full of years we lost and futures we feared.
We kissed like we didn't know how much time we had left.
Because we didn't.
But in that moment, none of it mattered.
He was mine. I was his.
And maybe, just maybe, this time…
We'd stay.