[Naoki Aiba POV]
"...Good morning, Aiba-kun."
Mikage's reply drifted across the crisp morning air to reach me.
We had merely exchanged a simple greeting, yet it felt as though something tightly wound deep within my chest was quietly coming undone.
All throughout yesterday while resting at home, I had imagined our next encounter over and over again.
Even so, seeing Mikage standing here in this same morning light, calling my name just like this—that simple, ordinary reality made me happier than I could have ever imagined.
Mikage kept her eyes fixed on my face, her brows furrowing slightly.
"Are you feeling all right now?"
"Yeah. My fever hasn't come back since yesterday, and I was able to eat breakfast without any trouble. My mom checked on me before I left the house, too."
"...What about your right shoulder?"
"It still aches a bit, but I managed to put on my uniform by myself."
Mikage's gaze dropped to my right shoulder, lingering there as her eyes wavered slightly.
Unable to take off my drenched shirt on my own, I had let Mikage help me. Though I had tried to refuse at first, in the end, I had let my body go limp and entrusted everything to her.
Recalling that exact moment, a belated wave of embarrassment washed over me.
However, Mikage didn't mention it, instead looking back up at my face as if to make sure.
"Are you really not pushing yourself?"
"I checked my temperature today, and I was told to head straight to the nurse's office if I feel even a little off."
"Told by whom?"
"My mom."
"...All right, then I believe you."
"My word alone isn't enough, huh...?"
"After seeing you the day before yesterday, do you really think I could just take 'I'm fine' at face value?"
"Ugh, when you put it like that, I don't have a comeback."
When I let out an embarrassed chuckle, Mikage smiled faintly in response.
Still, her gaze shifted over me for a while, checking my complexion and posture, before she finally let out a soft breath.
"Still... I'm glad."
Her voice was so quiet it could have been lost in the wind.
"That I could... see your face today, Aiba-kun."
Those words made my heart thud hard in my chest.
The moment she finished speaking, Mikage abruptly looked away. Her cheeks, catching the morning light, flushed faintly pink.
I tried to say something in return, but I couldn't find any clever words.
"...I'm really glad I got to see you, too, Mikage-san."
In the end, I simply voiced what was in my heart.
Mikage's eyes widened slightly as she looked back at me, before her expression softened into a gentle look.
A morning breeze drifted between us.
There were almost no other students along this street. The distant hum of cars and the rustling leaves of the roadside trees were the only sounds filling the pauses in our conversation.
Mikage turned her gaze toward the mall standing behind me.
"Were you planning to stop by here too, Aiba-kun?"
"Yeah. When I came out of the station, this street caught my eye... For some reason, I just felt like coming here this morning."
"I see."
"What about you, Mikage-san?"
"Same for me. I was heading to school with the three of them, but when I saw this path along the way, I just couldn't walk past it."
Mikage answered as she looked up at the mall.
Reflected quietly in the windowpanes was the cloudless morning sky.
"Weren't you... scared?"
When I asked, Mikage didn't answer right away.
The softness from moments ago faded slightly from her profile as she gazed at the building.
"If I remember that day... I guess I'm still scared."
Her voice was quiet.
"I haven't forgotten the smoke, or the heat, or the moment when I couldn't see anything at all. When I got close to this place, it all just came rushing back from deep inside me..."
Even so, Mikage didn't look away from the building.
"But this place isn't just somewhere scary."
Mikage turned toward me.
"Because it's also the place where I... first met you, Aiba-kun."
Those words settled quietly in the depths of my chest.
To me on that day, this building had been the place where I found Mikage.
Following the voice calling from beyond the smoke, I had reached Mikage when she couldn't move. Without even knowing how the two of us could make it outside, I had reached out my hand anyway.
Yet to Mikage, this had also become the place where she met me.
Not just a site of terror, but a place where the words we exchanged that day still lingered—and on her own two feet, she had come back.
"Maybe it's the same for me."
"The same?"
"Coming here brings back that day. But now, that's not all it is."
Putting my thoughts into words, I looked up at the building bathed in morning light.
"Because it's also the place where I made a promise with you, Mikage-san."
Mikage's eyes widened slightly.
Without saying anything more, we stood side by side for a while, gazing at the building.
We hadn't planned to meet.
Yet on the same morning, by our own choices, we had taken a different route than usual and crossed paths in this very place.
That fact brought the words I had rehearsed in my head until last night rushing back to the front of my mind.
The next time we meet, I'll say it myself.
Now was that moment.
I turned toward Mikage.
Almost at the exact same time, Mikage looked at me too.
Mikage's right hand lightly brushed against her uniform pocket. Her lips parted as if to speak, and I drew a short breath.
"Mikage-san, if you'd like—" "Aiba-kun, your contact—"
Our voices overlapped perfectly in the morning street.
We both stopped short and met each other's eyes.
I thought I should say something first, but caught off guard by the unexpected timing, the words wouldn't come.
Mikage seemed to be in the same boat. With her hand still touching her uniform pocket and her eyes wide, her cheeks flushed a light red.
After a few seconds of silence, a small laugh slipped out from both of us at once.
I had thought about it so seriously last night, even practicing the words until Koharu caught me. And yet, on the very first word, my voice had collided with Mikage's.
Even so, strangely enough, I didn't feel like starting over.
Mikage had also tried to tell me something on her own initiative.
Without knowing it, we had both prepared our words and tried to offer them to each other at the exact same instant. That realization gently warmed my heart.
"...Please, go ahead first, Mikage-san."
When I said that, Mikage lowered her gaze, hesitating for a moment.
However, she quickly gave a small shake of her head.
"No. You tell me first, Aiba-kun."
"But you were going to say something too, Mikage-san—"
"Mine can wait until after."
Mikage looked straight at me.
"I want to hear what you were trying to say on your own first, Aiba-kun."
Her eyes were the same as they were the day before yesterday.
Just like when she hadn't assumed my answer and waited until I could put it into words, she was waiting right now to accept what I was about to offer.
Naturally, I was afraid of being rejected.
Even so, if I stayed silent out of fear, Mikage wouldn't even have the chance to choose. I would go back to imagining Mikage's feelings all by myself and deciding the distance between us on my own.
That was the one thing I didn't want to do anymore.
Taking a steadying breath, I looked straight into Mikage's face.
"Mikage-san."
"Yeah."
"That day... in the smoke, we promised that if we both made it outside, we'd go get crepes together, didn't we?"
Mikage's eyes wavered slightly.
Her fingers, clasped in front of her, tightened, and after a brief pause, she gave a small nod.
"...Yeah. Of course I remember."
Her voice was slightly raspy.
Even so, unlike that day, it didn't vanish into the smoke; it reached me with perfect clarity.
"I want to fulfill that promise this time."
Mikage froze as if holding her breath.
Up to this point, I had rehearsed it countless times since last night.
However, that alone didn't convey the full reason why I was asking Mikage out right here and now.
"But it's not just because we made a promise."
Mikage said nothing, waiting for me to continue.
"After the fire, I met you at the same school, Mikage-san, and we started talking little by little."
Passing each other in the hallways, stopping to talk, we had become able to exchange far more words than before. The day before yesterday, without overlooking the pain I tried to hide, she had stayed by my side and waited until I could rely on her.
With every new thing I learned about Mikage, feelings that went beyond simply seeing her as the girl I rescued in the smoke that day began to build up inside me.
"Now that I know the Mikage-san I didn't know back then, I don't just want to fulfill a promise—I want to invite you because of my own feelings."
The more I spoke, the faster my heart pounded in my chest.
Even so, without averting my eyes, I offered my final words to Mikage standing right in front of me.
"So, if you'd like... would you go get crepes with me?"
Having finished speaking, I waited for Mikage's response.
A single car drove past on the morning road, its sound fading into the distance.
The breeze that had been rustling the leaves of the roadside trees settled, and a stillness fell between us.
Mikage didn't say anything.
Her lowered eyes trembled slightly, and her tense lips moved as if trying to convey something. Even so, it didn't immediately form into words.
The time spent waiting for an answer felt far longer than it actually was.
Maybe I hadn't said enough.
Maybe being suddenly asked out had put her on the spot.
Such anxieties began to surface in my chest, but I didn't voice them.
Just as Mikage had waited for my words, this time I had to wait for Mikage's own answer.
The wind blew again, softly swaying Mikage's hair.
Holding her hair down, Mikage slowly lifted her head.
At the edges of her eyes, reflecting the morning light, something clear began to well up.
The moment it turned into a single tear that traced down her cheek, I almost reached out my hand without thinking.
However, not knowing if it was all right to touch her, my hand stopped midway.
"Mikage-san..."
Perhaps my confusion seeped into my voice, because the moment Mikage saw my face, she frantically wiped her tears and gave a small shake of her head.
"No... it's not that. It's not that I don't want to..."
Her raspy voice fell into the clear morning air.
Mikage pressed her lips together, steadying her breath as if holding back what threatened to spill over. Then, with eyes still wet with tears, she looked straight at me.
"I'm just... so, so happy."
The moment I heard those words, the tension wound tight in my chest eased slightly.
Even so, I couldn't reply just yet.
Wiping the remaining tears on her cheek with her fingertips, Mikage slowly continued.
"Just now, hearing you bring up that day's promise on your own, Aiba-kun... it made me truly happy."
"...Yeah."
"But remembering it and wishing for what comes next aren't the same thing."
Her voice carried the weight of the time she had spent carrying this alone.
"I've always wanted to go with you, Aiba-kun. But I didn't want to just assume you felt the same. I didn't want to make you feel like you had to fulfill it just because it was a promise we made in the fire."
Mikage wiped her tears once more.
"That's why I decided to wait. About your name, and about the crepes—until you wanted that future yourself, Aiba-kun."
I finally understood.
Just as I hadn't wanted to bind Mikage's choices out of guilt, Mikage hadn't wanted me to fulfill the promise purely out of a sense of obligation either.
It was precisely because we tried to cherish each other's feelings that neither of us had been able to take a step forward.
Yet right now, the tears trailing down Mikage's cheeks were spilling from the joy of learning that I, too, had wished for the same future.
"I wasn't the only one who wanted a continuation of that day."
Along with that voice, another tear traced down her cheek.
"You... wanted to go with the me of today too, didn't you, Aiba-kun?"
"That's right."
This time, I answered without hesitation.
"It wasn't just you, Mikage-san."
Mikage's eyes turned straight toward me.
"That promise belonged to both of us from the start. I was just the one who couldn't move forward; it was never something you carried alone."
The words written in the letter resurfaced in my chest.
—I don't want the promise from back then to be something only I remember.
Mikage had kept holding onto that promise all by herself.
Even during the time I walked away without saying anything, even during the time I didn't give my name after we reunited at the same school, she had waited without letting it go.
"...I'm sorry it took so long."
When I blurted that out, Mikage immediately shook her head.
"Don't apologize."
There was a clear strength in her voice.
"I wanted to wait for the words you'd give me on your own, Aiba-kun. So I don't think it took too long at all."
With traces of tears still on her face, Mikage nevertheless smiled softly.
"Because I've properly found it now."
"Found it?"
"The person I was searching for all along, and the continuation of that day's promise—they're both right in front of me now."
A powerful tremor ran through my chest.
"That's why... I'm glad I waited."
The morning light illuminated the tears lingering in Mikage's eyes.
That day in the smoke, we couldn't even see each other's faces properly.
Even so, Mikage had believed in my voice and taken the hand I offered.
Now, there was nothing blocking the view.
Mikage's expression, her voice, her slightly trembling fingertips—everything was crystal clear.
Mikage took a single, steadying breath.
Then, this time without any hesitation, she nodded.
"I want to go."
That voice passed straight through the morning light and reached me.
With her tear-streaked eyes still turned toward me, Mikage continued without a hint of doubt.
"I want to go eat crepes with you too, Aiba-kun."
I thought I should reply immediately, but my voice wouldn't come out.
I was the one who had invited her.
And yet, her answer sounded as though Mikage had finally brought the promise we left behind in that day's smoke out into the open world.
Back then, there had been no guarantee that the two of us would make it outside.
In a place where we couldn't even see what lay ahead, we had talked about what we would do after getting out anyway.
Let's go eat crepes together.
I'll tell you my name then.
I won't forget. Never.
The future we had promised in the smoke remained unfulfilled even after we made it out.
Still, Mikage hadn't forgotten.
She had searched for me, written a letter, and wished for it not to remain a memory held by just one person.
And now, not simply because she was saved on the day of the fire, she had told me she wanted to go with the me she got to know at school.
I, too, didn't want to go just because she was the girl I saved that day; I wanted to go with the Mikage standing right here.
The promise that had been frozen in the smoke had finally connected to who we were today.
"...Thank you."
The voice I finally managed to produce was slightly raspy.
I couldn't narrow down just one thing to thank her for.
For not forgetting that day's promise.
For continuing to search for me even without knowing my name.
For holding onto the future that lay ahead even while I couldn't offer my own words.
And for telling me right now that she wanted to go with the me she had exchanged words with at school.
A single phrase wasn't enough to return all of that.
"...Thank you for finding me."
When I put it into words once more, tears spilled from Mikage's eyes again.
Even so, she didn't try to hide them this time.
"Yeah."
Softening her tearful eyes, Mikage smiled.
"I'm so glad... I found you."
The morning light gently shone through her ash-beige hair as it swayed in the wind, faintly illuminating the tears remaining on her cheeks. Mikage's smile directed straight at me in that light was breathtakingly beautiful, making me forget to reply for a split second.
Standing right beside us was the same shopping mall from that day.
However, there was no black smoke covering the sky, no sound of flames, no sound of collapsing structures, and no voices crying out for help.
Reflected in the building's windows was an endlessly clear blue sky.
When I breathed in, it wasn't smoke, but air carrying a faint morning chill that filled my lungs.
Mikage was breathing the same air, standing right before my eyes.
The future we could only envision beyond the smoke that day had already arrived at a place where our voices could reach each other without even having to stretch out a hand.
"Mikage-san."
"Yeah."
Having wiped her tears, Mikage looked at me.
To connect the promise we could only put into words that day to our future, I spoke.
"Let's go together."
With tear marks still on her cheeks, Mikage smiled with genuine joy.
"Yeah. Let's... go together this time."
The wind returned, gently swaying Mikage's hair.
The blue sky stretching beyond it was endlessly bright.
I wanted to stand in that lingering warmth for a little while longer.
However, the distant sound of a train running reminded me that we were on our way to school.
Realizing the same thing, Mikage's eyes widened slightly, and she touched her uniform pocket.
"Come to think of it..."
"What is it?"
"Do you remember what I was trying to say earlier?"
"I think you mentioned contact info, or something like that..."
"...So you did hear."
Mikage, who had just been speaking so directly through her tears, suddenly let her gaze wander.
"If I misheard—"
"No. I was trying to ask."
Mikage answered before I could finish.
She pulled her smartphone from her pocket and held it against her chest with both hands.
"I'd like you to tell me... your contact info, Aiba-kun."
Her cheeks, still bearing traces of tears, were now faintly flushed with red.
"I want to talk even when we can't see each other at school, and when I don't know how you're feeling like today, I want to check for myself... so."
"I feel the same way. I want your contact info too, Mikage-san."
"...R-really?"
"We have to decide on a day to go get crepes together, don't we?"
Mikage's expression visibly brightened.
"Yeah. You're right."
We both took out our smartphones and exchanged contact information.
After entering my number, Mikage's finger stopped over the name field.
Starting to type something on the screen, she looked at me with slight hesitation.
"For now, is 'Aiba-kun' okay?"
"Ah, yeah."
"I'm not putting your first name in just yet, okay?"
The other promise we made that day.
I'll tell you my name once we're outside.
I'll tell you myself when we go to the crepe shop.
Mikage was preciously waiting for that promise, too.
"I'll tell you from my own mouth when we go get crepes."
Mikage looked up from her screen, her eyes softening as she gave a small nod.
"...Yeah. I'll be waiting."
There was no longer any need for her to search and wait alone for someone whose name and face she didn't know.
I was right in front of Mikage, and from now on, I could deliver my own words directly to her.
Just as I finished registering Mikage's number on my end, my phone vibrated briefly.
Looking at the screen, I saw the first message had arrived.
[It's Mikage.]
It was so straightforward that I looked up with an involuntary chuckle.
"Yeah. I know that."
Mikage pulled her smartphone slightly closer to her chest.
"I-it's the first message, so... I thought this was fine."
"Is that how it works?"
"...Probably. Send something too, Aiba-kun."
Just as told, I typed out a short message.
[It's Aiba.]
When I sent it, Mikage's eyes widened slightly upon seeing the screen, and she turned to me.
"...Yours is just as straightforward, Aiba-kun."
"I thought matching yours was the safest bet."
"...Now that I've received it myself, maybe something a little different would've been better."
"Then let's just say we both messed up."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Mikage puffed her cheeks out slightly, but soon couldn't hold back a smile from softening her lips. That expression was so adorable that I couldn't help smiling too.
Until just a little while ago, we could only exchange words when we happened to run into each other at school by chance.
Now, however, opening the device in my hands connected me straight to Mikage.
I could send words even on days we didn't meet at school.
We could decide on a day for crepes, and talk about what comes after that, too.
Such a future was no longer just an imagination; it was right here in our hands.
Checking the time, there was plenty of time before the morning bell, but not enough to linger here leisurely.
"We should head to school soon."
"Yeah. My friends went on ahead, too."
Mikage looked down at her smartphone once before slipping it back into her uniform pocket.
"Let's decide on the day for crepes after we make sure you can get through today okay, all right?"
"Yeah. Since I'm finally going with you, Mikage-san, I want to make sure I'm in full health when we go."
Mikage's eyes widened slightly, her lips curving into a smile as a faint blush rose to her cheeks.
"...Yeah. I want to go with a healthy Aiba-kun, too."
With that unexpected reply, this time I was the one who slightly looked away.
"I'll message you when I get home to let you know how today went. If I seem fine, let's pick a day then."
"Yeah. I'll wait."
Her voice was soft.
It wasn't a word meant to leave Mikage waiting alone in an unknown place.
It was a promise for me to send a message, and to receive her reply in return.
Without either of us prompting the other, we turned our steps toward the road leading to school.
Mikage naturally fell into step beside my left side, away from my still-aching right shoulder.
Noticing her position, I said nothing for now and matched my pace to Mikage's stride.
On that day, I had pulled the immobilized Mikage by the hand, searching for a way outside through the smoke.
This morning was different.
I wasn't walking ahead, nor was Mikage trailing behind.
On our own two feet, we were now beginning to walk in the same direction.
Behind us stood the same shopping mall from that day.
There was no smoke covering the sky, and reflected in the windowpanes catching the morning light was an endlessly clear blue sky.
The morning sun illuminated the town, vividly highlighting the contours of the path leading from the mall to the station, and from the station to the school.
Within that town, people hurrying to the station, shopkeepers opening their doors, and uniformed students heading toward school were all walking toward their respective days.
Slightly apart from that main flow, two uniformed figures moved forward at the exact same pace.
The morning light poured down onto their backs, and the two shadows stretching across the pavement swayed closely together with every step.
That day's promise was no longer words left behind in the smoke, nor a wish carried by just one person.
It had become a future they could decide together and reach on their own two feet.
Having made it out of the smoke that day, the two of them were now walking side by side down the morning road leading beyond the promise.