(Naoki Aiba POV)
Stepping inside the shop, I saw white batter being poured onto a round griddle set right in front of us. With every circular swipe of the clerk's ladle, the batter spread out into a thin sheet. Sliced strawberries and bananas were lined up in the glass display case, while the overhead menu was packed with photos of crepes adorned with fruit and colorful sauces.
Since it had not been open long, the line wasn't very long yet. I lined up at the back with Mikage, and we looked up at the menu together.
"There are way more than I expected."
"Y-Yeah, there really are. And here I thought I'd looked over the menu online so many times."
"Looking at them like this, they all look so good."
Mikage's voice bounced with excitement, her eyes darting eagerly between the photos on the menu above.
"Have you decided on one, Mikage-san?"
"Um, well then, I'll go with the strawberry and custard."
"In that case..."
Trailing off, I turned my eyes back to the menu. Perhaps finding my hesitation curious, Mikage tilted her head slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I'm torn between getting the same thing as you or picking something different."
"You're stuck on that?"
"If we pick different ones, we can share our thoughts with each other, right? But if we get the same thing, we can enjoy the exact same flavor together. I thought I'd be able to decide once we got here, though."
Returning my gaze to the menu, I compared the photos lined up before us once more.
"...Now I'm even more indecisive."
Mikage burst into laughter, seemingly unable to hold it in. Though she pressed a hand to her mouth so it wouldn't carry, her slender shoulders shook.
"...Is it really that funny?"
"Sorry. I just didn't expect you to agonize so seriously over a single crepe, Aiba-kun."
"I didn't think I'd be this torn either."
Finally managing to contain her laughter, Mikage touched a fingertip to the corner of her eye as she looked back up at the menu. After studying two of the photos for a moment, she turned toward me as if struck by an idea.
"Then why don't we get different ones and swap halfway through?"
"Swap?"
"Yeah. That way, we can talk about the different flavors and still enjoy the same taste together."
Before Mikage even finished speaking, I realized what swapping actually entailed. We would be handing each other crepes we had already taken bites of.
Mikage seemed not to have realized it yet, simply waiting for my reply. But the next instant, her eyes happened to drop to my mouth, and she caught her breath. Having evidently realized the implication of her suggestion, a faint blush crept into her cheeks. I didn't have the heart to point it out and embarrass her further.
"No, but if we do that, maybe picking the same one and enjoying the same flavor together is—"
"Let's get different ones..."
Before I could finish, Mikage cut in.
"I want to try different flavors. So... let's swap halfway through, okay?"
Bringing her gaze back after looking away for a brief moment, Mikage waited for my response with lingering embarrassment on her face. Without taking it back or brushing it off as a joke, she looked straight at me.
Without touching on the deeper meaning, I offered her a soft smile.
"...All right. Let's do that, then."
Mikage let out a small breath and nodded, without a trace of hesitation this time.
When our turn came, Mikage ordered the strawberry and custard, while I ordered chocolate and banana. The two sheets of batter spread across the griddle gradually took on a golden-brown color, and the clerk wrapped them around cream and fruit with practiced hands. Side by side, we watched as the things we had only ever seen on a screen took shape right before our eyes.
When I looked up from the two crepes nearing completion, Mikage looked at me at the exact same moment. Neither of us said a word. Even so, it felt as though our thoughts were in sync; Mikage's eyes softened happily, and I naturally smiled back.
It felt as though even the brief time spent waiting for them to be made had become part of the promise that had connected us since that day.
Carrying our crepes, we moved to the terrace seating set up beside the shop. Sitting down across a round table, vivid strawberries peeked out from between the white cream of Mikage's crepe, while mine was packed with bananas drizzled in chocolate sauce.
They might have just been ordinary crepes sold at any shop in front of a station. Even so, for the two of us, it was meaningless unless it was something we ate together today.
Looking at the crepe in my hand, I couldn't bring myself to take a bite right away. Looking up, Mikage was also gazing down at hers, but she eventually turned toward me, her lips parting in a bashful smile.
"Let's eat."
"Yeah."
At the exact same time, we took our first bites. The freshly cooked batter was still warm, followed shortly by the cool cream meeting my tongue. The sweetness of the chocolate layered with the mellow flavor of the banana, and the taste I had imagined so many times in words finally took on a true flavor for the first time.
...Delicious.
Our voices overlapped almost simultaneously.
When I raised my head, Mikage was looking at me too.
Finding it funny that we had said the exact same thing, we both laughed.
"The strawberries are a little tart, which goes so well with the custard."
"Mine's pretty sweet with the chocolate, but the banana balances it out just right."
"Yours looks delicious too, Aiba-kun."
Mikage cast a fleeting glance at the crepe in my hand. When I turned toward her, she looked back down at her own as if nothing had happened, though she made no move to take another bite.
"...Want to swap?"
Mikage looked down at her crepe, gently readjusting her grip on the wrapper.
"...Yeah. Let's swap."
Mikage began to offer her crepe, but her hand stopped mid-motion.
My left hand was occupied holding my own crepe, and my right arm still couldn't move freely enough to take another.
"If you take mine first, we can swap. Could you hold it for me?"
Saying that, I offered the crepe in my left hand toward her.
Mikage reached out, but stopped just before touching the wrapper. Comparing the two crepes, her gaze wavered as if debating something.
"...Wouldn't it be easier if you just took a bite while I hold it?"
"Huh? While you hold it?"
When I asked in return, Mikage's gaze wavered for a split second. Realizing what she had just suggested, her grip tightened on the wrapper. Even so, she didn't pull the crepe back.
"That way, you won't have to switch hands. So..."
Mikage brought the crepe a little closer to me.
"Just like this..."
I looked down at the offered crepe. Taking a bite directly from what Mikage was holding. The moment that registered, I couldn't come up with an immediate reply.
Even so, Mikage waited without withdrawing her hand.
"If you're okay with that, Mikage-san... may I?"
"Yeah."
Her lips softening into a small nod, Mikage adjusted the angle of the crepe so it would be easier for me to eat.
Keeping my own crepe in my left hand, I leaned in. After a slight hesitation, I took a bite of the strawberry and custard.
The tartness of the strawberry and the smooth sweetness of the custard spread through my mouth.
"...How is it?"
"It's really good. The tartness of the strawberry makes the sweet custard easy to eat."
"I see. I'm glad."
Mikage gave a small nod and brought the crepe back toward herself.
"Now, it's my turn to give you some of mine."
"Okay."
When I held out my crepe, Mikage started to reach for it. But realizing I was still holding onto it, her hand stopped halfway.
"...Like this?"
"Eh?"
Following Mikage's gaze, it was only then that I realized I had offered the crepe without letting go.
I began moving it toward Mikage's free hand.
"No."
Mikage didn't take it, giving a small shake of her head instead.
"I was just a little surprised. I want to eat it like this too."
Saying that, Mikage lowered her eyes for a moment, then looked up at me. A soft smile was resting on her lips.
"...All right."
My response came a beat late. Earlier, I had held it out without even thinking, but this time, it felt completely different.
Mikage tucked her hair behind her ear with her free hand and slowly leaned in. Resisting the urge to tense up my left hand holding the crepe, I waited without moving.
Mikage took a bite of the chocolate and banana. Keeping her hand against her hair, she pulled back and narrowed her eyes, savoring the flavor.
"Delicious... It's not as overly sweet as I thought."
"...Yeah. I think the banana balances it out nicely."
Answering a moment late, I quietly relaxed my fingers, which had grown stiff without me realizing, making sure she wouldn't notice.
"Yeah. This one's a hit too."
"In that case, I'm glad we swapped."
When Mikage had leaned in close, I had felt a flutter of nerves. Even so, being able to take just a single bite from each other's crepes and share the same flavors together made me overwhelmingly happy.
As we continued eating, the awkwardness from when we first met in front of the station vanished before we knew it.
Our conversation drifted from our impressions of the flavors to mundane school happenings, class assignments, shops we had spotted by the station, and how we spent our days off.
Before one topic could finish, one of us would remember something else and speak up. Just when Mikage's voice was bouncing with excitement, she would pout slightly at something she disagreed with. When I gave a teasing reply, her eyes would widen in surprise, and once she realized what I meant, she would knit her brows in mild frustration and laugh.
With every exchange of words, expressions of Mikage that I had never seen before continued to multiply. Even as the crepes in our hands grew smaller bit by bit, the things I wanted to talk about with her only continued to grow.
"So, if you were to eat here next time, which one would you pick, Aiba-kun?"
"We're still in the middle of eating, and you're already thinking about next time?"
"Well, the menu said seasonal specials, after all. When the season changes, they might have different ones."
"True. Picking a limited special next time might be nice."
After answering naturally, it struck me that I was included in the "next time" Mikage was envisioning.
Mikage paused, the crepe halfway to her mouth, looked down at her hands, and then raised her face as if gauging my reaction.
"I'll decide a bit faster next time."
After looking surprised for a split second, Mikage nodded happily and brought the crepe back to her lips.
Neither of us explicitly called it a promise for next time. Even so, it felt as though a future where we would come here once more was now within arm's reach.
Eventually, the crepes were gone, leaving only the neatly folded wrappers on the table. Mikage slowly traced the edge of hers with a fingertip, gazing at it for a while.
"...We really got to eat them, didn't we? Together, just the two of us."
"Yeah. We properly fulfilled our promise."
A gentle breeze blew across the terrace, swaying the strands of hair tucked behind Mikage's ear. The voices of the shop staff from inside, the sound of cars driving along the street, and the faint chime of station announcements reaching us from afar. None of them were special, yet being able to sit face-to-face with Mikage amidst those ordinary sounds was more special than anything else.
I had waited for this day for so long. However, just because we had actually fulfilled the promise didn't mean I could accept everything from that day purely with joy. Right alongside the happiness of Mikage being here, the guilt of making my family endure the terror of thinking I might never return still lingered.
I didn't want to use one feeling to erase the other. Holding onto both, I wanted to convey my honest feelings to Mikage.
"Mikage-san."
"Mm?"
"...Coming here today, there's something I realized all over again."
Mikage let her smile fade and clasped her hands over her lap. Without interrupting, she waited for me to continue.
As I held her gaze, the voices from inside the shop and the sounds of passing cars grew distant.
"I don't think everything about that day was right. Making my family think I might never come back, and the fact that I truly came close to dying—I can't pretend none of that happened."
One's life does not belong to oneself alone. That was something I must never forget.
"Even so, walking with you today, Mikage-san, talking, eating crepes... and facing you like this right now, I can clearly say that saving you is the one thing I don't regret."
"...Aiba-kun."
"Being able to spend today with you beyond that day... I'm truly glad."
Strength slowly entered the fingers Mikage had clasped in her lap.
"...It's not like I've stopped worrying about your injuries either, Aiba-kun. Even now, thinking about how you might not have made it back safely terrifies me. Every time I remember those scars, I'm reminded that they're from when you saved me."
Mikage lowered her long eyelashes and stared at her clasped fingers. But when she raised her head again, there was no hesitation in her eyes.
"But constantly apologizing is wrong."
"...Mikage-san."
"If I apologize, you'll just tell me, 'That's not it.' That deciding to go back was your own choice, not because I asked you to. That you didn't go back just to be apologized to."
The same feelings had been written in her letter. Even so, hearing the words directly from Mikage right before my eyes carried a weight entirely different from reading them on paper.
"That's why this time, instead of apologizing, I want to tell you properly. That you're alive, and that you're here with me today. That makes me... so happy."
Her voice trembled slightly, but Mikage did not look away.
Pressing her lips together, she steadied her breathing as if swallowing down the emotions welling up inside her.
"Making it back alive together with me... I'm so truly glad you did."
I couldn't reply right away. Along with Mikage's voice, the words that had reached my back amidst the smoke came rushing back.
I'm scared, but I believe in you. Don't fall asleep. Don't forget our promise.
Every time my consciousness had threatened to fade, that voice had pulled me back.
"I was the one carrying you, Mikage-san, but the only reason I was able to keep walking to the very end was because of your voice."
"...My voice?"
"Yeah. If I had been alone, without a doubt... I wouldn't have made it."
Tears welled up in Mikage's eyes. Even so, she didn't look down to hide them; with tears brimming, her lips slowly curved into a smile.
"...Then we really did make it back together, the two of us."
"Yeah. We made it back together."
A breeze sweeping through the terrace lifted the edges of the two wrappers left on the table. Mikage and I each held down the one in front of us with our fingertips, and as we looked up, our eyes met once more.
We had fulfilled the promise of eating crepes. But to the words we had exchanged on that day, there was still one continuation left.
"Mikage-san."
"...Yeah?"
"I want to fulfill the promise from that day, all the way to the end."
Mikage's fingers holding down the wrapper froze, and before she could ask what I meant, her eyes widened.
"...Your name, Aiba-kun."
"Yeah."
I'll tell you my name outside. When we go to the crepe shop.
When I had answered that in the smoke, Mikage could hardly see my face. I hadn't given my name, entrusting it instead to the future after we made it outside.
Simply telling her my name. Something so simple was a future we couldn't have reached unless we made it out alive that day.
Now, inside that very future, Mikage was looking at me.
"...Please tell me."
With her fingers resting on the wrapper, Mikage waited for my voice without rushing me.
Gazing into her eyes, I inhaled once, then quietly spoke.
"My name is Naoki."
Mikage's lips moved silently, shaping the name Naoki.
Once more, this time along with my family name, I told her.
"It's Naoki Aiba."
◇◇◇
(Serina Mikage POV)
Naoki.
Hearing it in Aiba-kun's voice, I repeated the name once more in my heart.
The voice that had called out to me again and again in the smoke, telling me he would never leave me alone. The person I had reunited with at school, walked the street with today, and eaten crepes across from.
The voice I had been chasing ever since that day and the person right in front of me now finally connected into one through the name "Naoki."
Even if my vision blurred with tears, it wasn't like that day. This time, I didn't lose sight of his face.
"...Naoki... -kun?"
The name spoken from my mouth for the very first time trembled slightly.
Naoki-kun's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
"That's right, Naoki."
As he answered, Naoki-kun's mouth broke into a wide smile. It was the first time he had ever directed such a radiant smile toward me, one so bright his white teeth showed.
To the name I had called, Naoki-kun had responded himself. Just that voice and smile filled my chest to bursting. Even so, I didn't want this name to be something limited to today alone.
"From now on... I want to call you Naoki-kun."
Naoki-kun blinked once, his gaze wavering with a hint of bashfulness.
"...Yeah. I want you to call me that too."
The moment that answer reached me, a heat distinct from tears gathered in my cheeks, and my heart leaped.
"Okay."
Wiping the lingering tears on my cheeks with my fingertips, I called that name once more.
"Naoki-kun."
"That's the second time already."
Even as he said that, Naoki-kun was smiling gently.
"I know. But... I'm just so happy I can say it."
"In that case, you can call me that as many times as you like."
Though Naoki-kun turned his face slightly to hide his embarrassment, an unmistakable smile remained on his profile.
I wanted to take advantage of his words and call him again, but doing it over and over might end up troubling him. As I swallowed down the name that had risen to my throat, Naoki-kun turned back toward me.
"Were you about to call me again just now?"
"Ngh...! H-How did you know?"
"Just a hunch."
"...Geez."
Though I looked away out of embarrassment, I couldn't hide the smile on my lips. Naoki-kun chuckled softly under his breath, and the tension in the air eased, melting away like the wind passing through the terrace.
The bustle of the station area gradually returned to my ears. On the table, the two finished wrappers lay side by side.
Making it outside together. Eating crepes together. And hearing Aiba-kun's name.
The promises exchanged on that day had now all come true.
"...With this, all our promises have been fulfilled, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you, Mikage-san, we saw them through to the very end."
Naoki-kun nodded gently.
Those words made me happy. And yet, what pierced my chest was not joy alone.
We had come here to fulfill a promise. But now that every promise had been kept, would this time together come to an end as well?
I looked down at the folded wrapper. If I stood up, walked back to the station, and said, "Thank you for today," my goal would be completely fulfilled. But when I imagined the scenery after parting with Naoki-kun, it felt as though the thread connecting us would be severed along with today, and a chill settled deep in my chest.
The morning light was still pouring onto the terrace, and people setting out to enjoy their weekend were passing by on the street. Naoki-kun was right in front of me, and there were still countless things I wanted to talk about, and so much more I wanted to see together.
I want to talk a little longer. I want to walk beside him a little longer.
I didn't want things to just end here with someone whose name I had only just learned to call.
"Hey, Naoki-kun."
"Hm? What is it?"
Just saying his name still made my cheeks burn hot. Even so, right now, I didn't want to swallow my words out of embarrassment.
"All our promises came true, but... I still want to be with you, Naoki-kun."
The moment I voiced it, my heartbeat echoed in my ears.
Putting strength into the fingers clasped in my lap, I waited for Naoki-kun's response.
"Can I... stay with you a little longer after this?"
Naoki-kun blinked in surprise for a moment. The brief pause before his reply felt agonizingly long, and just as anxiety began to surge within me, a gentle voice answered.
"Of course you can. I don't think things are over just because we fulfilled our promise either."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. There are other shops around the station, so why don't the two of us look around while we're here?"
"Yeah!"
As I nodded, my answering voice bounced with an excitement clear even to myself.
"There's a general goods store I was curious about. I'd like to check out the bookstore too... if that wouldn't bore you, Naoki-kun."
"If I'm with you, Mikage-san, I won't be bored."
For a moment, my breath caught.
Naoki-kun was stacking the two wrappers left on the table. Looking at his profile, a warm feeling spread throughout my chest.
"...I see."
"If there's anywhere else you want to go, let's decide as we walk."
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Cleaning up the table, the two of us rose from our seats.
Even though we were supposed to have fulfilled our promise, there was no sign of today coming to an end. Just as we were about to leave the shop, Naoki-kun stopped and looked back at me.
"All right, shall we go?"
"Yeah."
Catching up to his side, this time I called the name I had just learned without hesitation.
"Let's go, Naoki-kun."
Naoki-kun smiled happily.
I smiled back, falling into step beside him.
Even after leaving behind the shop of our promise, our strides naturally fell in sync, and we walked side by side into the dazzling light.