Three days after returning from Valencia, Aiko was walking through the Retiro Park with Miguel when her phone rang with an international number she didn't recognize. When she answered, the familiar warmth of Hiroshi's voice on the other end made her heart skip unexpectedly.
"Aiko? I hope I'm not calling at a bad time. I'm actually... I'm in Madrid."
"You're here? In Spain?" She stopped walking so abruptly that Miguel nearly collided with her.
"I arrived this morning. The social work placement I mentioned finally came through, and I thought... well, I hoped we could see each other. Are you free for coffee?"
An hour later, Aiko found herself sitting across from Hiroshi in a small café near the Puerta del Sol, still somewhat stunned by his sudden appearance in her Spanish life. He looked older somehow, more confident, but his eyes held the same gentle warmth that had drawn her to him back in Japan.
"I can't believe you're actually here," she said, studying his face as if to confirm he was real.
"The university partnership was too good an opportunity to pass up. But I'll be honest—the fact that you were here definitely influenced my decision to accept." Hiroshi paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. "How have you been? Your letters stopped coming about a month ago, and I was worried something had happened."
Aiko felt a pang of guilt. In her obsession with finding Javier and processing everything that followed, she had neglected her correspondence with friends back home.
"I'm sorry about that. Things became... complicated. I actually found what I was looking for."
"The person you were searching for?"
"Yes. But Hiroshi, the situation isn't what I expected it to be." She found herself sharing the entire story—finding Isabella, learning about Javier's accident, visiting him in the hospital, the kiss, and her realization about the weight of waiting she had been carrying.
Hiroshi listened without interruption, his expression shifting from concern to understanding to something that looked like relief mixed with sadness.
"That must have been incredibly difficult," he said when she finished. "Finding him but not being able to have the reunion you'd hoped for."
"It was. But it also gave me closure in a way I hadn't expected. I was able to thank him, to tell him what his kindness meant to me. And I realized that I've been holding part of myself in suspension, waiting for something that might never happen."
"And how do you feel about that realization?"
Aiko considered the question carefully. "Free, in a way. But also uncertain about what comes next."
Hiroshi was quiet for a moment, stirring his coffee with what seemed like nervous energy. "Aiko, I need to tell you something. The social work placement was real—I really am here for academic reasons. But when the opportunity arose, I accepted it immediately because I was hoping to see you again."
"Hiroshi..."
"Let me finish, please. These past few months apart have clarified something important for me. My feelings for you haven't diminished—if anything, they've grown stronger. Not because I've been pining or waiting, but because I've had time to understand what kind of connection we have."
He leaned forward slightly, his expression earnest but not desperate. "I know you came to Spain with a specific mission, and I understand that you needed to complete that journey. But now that you have, I'm hoping you might be open to exploring what could develop between us."
"What exactly are you asking?"
"I'm asking if you'd like to go on a real date with me. Not a friendly coffee or a study session, but an actual romantic date where we both acknowledge that we're interested in each other and want to see if this connection could become something more."
The directness of his proposal caught Aiko off guard. After months of complex emotions and unresolved feelings about Javier, Hiroshi's straightforward honesty felt both refreshing and slightly overwhelming.
"When you say a real date..."
"I mean I'd like to take you to dinner at a nice restaurant, maybe walk through the city afterward, treat you the way someone I care about deserves to be treated." His smile was gentle but confident. "I want to court you properly, Aiko. I want to show you what it feels like to be pursued by someone who's available to build a future with you."
The contrast with her situation with Javier was stark. Where Javier represented love for someone who couldn't reciprocate, Hiroshi offered the possibility of mutual connection with someone who was present and available.
"I'm not asking for any promises," Hiroshi continued. "I'm not expecting you to know exactly how you feel about me or what you want our relationship to become. I'm just asking for the chance to explore these feelings together, without the complications of long-distance communication or other people's needs taking priority."
Aiko found herself studying his face, noting the way his eyes crinkled slightly when he smiled, the careful way he chose his words to avoid pressuring her while still being clear about his intentions.
"How long will you be in Madrid?"
"The placement is for three months initially, with the possibility of extension if both the university and the host organization are satisfied with my work."
"And what happens if I say yes to this date? What are you hoping for?"
"Honestly? I'm hoping that spending time together will confirm what I already suspect—that we're compatible in ways that go beyond friendship, that we care about each other's dreams and goals, and that we could build something meaningful together."
The sincerity in his voice was undeniable, and Aiko felt something loosening in her chest that she hadn't even realized had been tight.
"Hiroshi, I need you to understand something. I'm still processing a lot of emotions from finding Javier. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into something romantic immediately."
"I understand that. But Aiko, from what you've told me about your visit with him, it sounds like you found the closure you needed. Maybe the question isn't whether you're ready for romance in general, but whether you're ready to explore what we specifically could have together."
As they prepared to leave the café, Hiroshi placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Think about it. If you decide you'd like to try that dinner date, I'll be here for the next three months. If you decide you need more time or that you're not interested in exploring romantic possibilities, I'll respect that too."
Walking back through Madrid's busy streets, Aiko found herself comparing the afternoon's conversation with all her previous interactions with Hiroshi. He had always been thoughtful, supportive, genuinely interested in her goals and happiness. But today, there had been something different—a confidence and directness that made his romantic interest clear without being overwhelming.
The possibility of saying yes to his invitation felt both exciting and slightly terrifying. After years of loving someone who couldn't love her back, the prospect of exploring feelings with someone who was emotionally available seemed almost too good to be true.
But as she made her way back to Carmen's apartment, Aiko realized that maybe it was time to discover what reciprocal affection felt like, what it meant to be pursued by someone who could actually build a future with her.
The question was whether she was brave enough to find out.