After returning to the villa, Haizaki carried the flower basket and bouquet back to his room as quickly as possible.
"Clatter, clatter…" After rummaging around, Haizaki found scissors, a small knife, and other tools.
Giving a girl flowers without any trimming or preparation would be discourteous.
So, without any professional guidance, Haizaki could only rely on his own sense of aesthetics to work on the bouquet, making its overall appearance more pleasing—at least to human standards, or rather, to his standards.
As long as he thought it looked good, that was enough.
With this thought in mind, Haizaki carefully trimmed the flowers for more than twenty minutes.
"That should be fine."
At the very least, the bouquet now looked much more visually appealing.
He then stood up, picked up the flower basket, and went to the bathroom.
Five minutes later, the hair dryer started up.
"Whoosh, whoosh…"
Hot air blasted over the damp basket, and all the remaining moisture quickly evaporated.
Haizaki moved on to the final step.
Flower arranging.
Flower arranging was a technical skill.
But for him, as long as the sentiment was there, it was enough.
Holding a single flower branch, Haizaki's hand paused in midair.
Sentiment…
It really was a word hard to define.
Shaking his head and putting the thought aside, Haizaki refocused on the arrangement before him.
Ten minutes later, the gift was complete.
Gazing at the finished piece placed on the table, Haizaki smiled.
He hoped she would like it.
…
"I'm heading upstairs first… You should rest early too."
After dinner, Utaha finished washing the dishes, nodded slightly to Haizaki in the living room, and prepared to go upstairs.
"Um…"
In less than an hour since dinner began, Utaha had lost her usual warmth toward him.
This was the result of his reckless words at noon.
No one to blame but himself.
"Is something wrong?"
Utaha made it clear—she was unhappy, very unhappy.
At noon, Haizaki had once again mentioned that long-forgotten girl's name. In response, she had shown her stance, leaving the dining room early and returning to her bedroom.
She had thought that once Haizaki realized the problem, he would immediately come upstairs to comfort her and apologize. But instead…
She waited and waited, yet Haizaki never came.
Unable to concentrate, with no mind for writing, she could only angrily take a nap to ease the frustration in her heart.
She was angry that Haizaki still couldn't forget that woman, and even more angry that he hadn't come to comfort her.
As a result, during what should have been a pleasant dinner meant to strengthen their bond, she remained particularly cold toward him.
"Come to my room."
With a hint of confusion, Utaha chose to follow him.
She had a guess.
"This… is for you."
So it really was that.
He had actually gone out to look for a gift in the afternoon.
That alone improved her mood quite a bit.
She had assumed that Haizaki, after going out in the afternoon, was probably training again. Even if he really had gone to buy a gift, she thought it would just be something casual, like a bracelet.
But the moment she saw the flower basket, she realized how much time and effort Haizaki had put into this gift.
She could feel that sincerity.
However, there was still one question.
"Haizaki-kun, thank you for the gift, but… are you really mentally prepared for giving this to me?"
As a girl—and due to her profession—she knew quite a bit about the meanings of various flowers.
And the flowers before her… she happened to know their meaning, and it carried deep implications.
If Haizaki had given them to her while knowing the meaning of the flowers, then—
Utaha-chan, total victory!!!
"You don't even know the meaning of these flowers, do you? You just thought they were pretty and that I might like them, so you decided to give them to me?"
Haizaki was momentarily stunned.
The truth really wasn't far from what Utaha had said.
The only difference was that he saw in these flowers a spirit of struggle and resistance, and fell for them at first sight, thinking they were suitable to give to a girl.
From Haizaki's reaction, Utaha knew she had guessed correctly.
She felt a bit disappointed. If Haizaki had known the flower's meaning, that would have been wonderful—it would have meant that their half-year of living together had entered a new chapter.
At times, she even wondered whether her own charm was insufficient, whether she, as the only woman, couldn't attract Haizaki, the only man.
"You shouldn't casually give flowers to a girl. But this time, I'll accept them. I really like them."
Kasumigaoka gazed at the bouquet, reaching out with slender fingers to gently touch the pale blue flowers, her movements soft and careful, afraid of hurting them.
"Forget-me-not. That's their name."
"Their meaning is eternal memories."
Haizaki felt a sense of coincidence.
"And everlasting love."
Noticing Haizaki's reaction—or perhaps having already prepared herself—Utaha didn't make things difficult for him.
"As a return gift, please come with me…"
Holding the flower basket in both arms, Utaha led Haizaki to her bedroom.
"Give me your wallet."
"My wallet?"
"Just take it out, that's all…"
"I'll go get it."
Haizaki immediately returned to his room and brought back the wallet from the drawer.
"Here."
A completely ordinary black wallet.
Utaha opened it, and what came into view was a smiling, beautiful girl—yes, an anime girl.
She froze for a moment, then smiled helplessly.
She had thought there would be a photo of Yukinoshita Yukino or Isshiki Iroha inside, but the result surprised her. She hadn't known Haizaki was interested in two-dimensional girls.
"I'll give you this photo. Being too obsessed with anime isn't good."
It was the only photo of him and Utaha wearing flight suits together.
In the picture, the girl clung to his arm, looking intimate, her smile bright and radiant.
"Thank you…"
At that moment, Haizaki felt that his wallet had gained a sense of vitality and warmth, as if bound by a newfound emotional connection.
"Keep it properly. Without my permission, you're not allowed to take the photo out. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I'll keep it well and cherish it for my entire life."
His right thumb gently stroked the new photo in his wallet. Haizaki gazed at it with a faint smile on his face.
Beside him, Utaha's heart brimmed with joy.
The tsunami had pushed her to accelerate her pursuit, but three months of time made her realize that acting too hastily might backfire.
Gradually influencing and changing Haizaki without him noticing was the best approach.
Three months of stable life allowed Utaha to slowly set aside her worries about sudden disasters. Those few catastrophes were perhaps just accidents and coincidences.
His life and hers were still long.
The longest-lasting confession was companionship.
She was willing to keep waiting.
Waiting for the day Haizaki truly let go, and waiting for the day he told her everything.
…