The moment Hina ended things with Reiji, she thought she would feel relief. Instead, there was only silence… and guilt. The echoes of every moment she had pushed Ren away came crashing down like a tidal wave. The way he smiled despite the pain. The way he quietly stepped aside for her happiness. She felt the weight of it now — and it was unbearable.
She tried to distract herself, burying her emotions in schoolwork and routine. But the smallest things kept reminding her of Ren — the music they used to share, the hallway they always walked together, the lunch table that now felt far too empty.
And then it happened.
She saw him.
Ren… walking down the same path they used to take home together. But he wasn't alone.
Beside him was a girl with soft, shoulder-length hair and a kind smile — Akari Minazuki. They weren't holding hands. They weren't touching. But there was something in the way they moved together — light, comfortable, genuine.
Hina stopped in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat. The laughter that floated through the air hit her like a slap.
She turned around quickly, heart pounding, tears stinging her eyes. She ran — not because she hated what she saw, but because she realized something she had ignored for too long.
She had lost him.
And it was her fault.
---
The days that followed were quiet. Hina barely spoke to anyone. Her friends noticed her silence, but she brushed them off with empty smiles. At night, she stared at her phone, hovering over Ren's name again and again.
It took her three full days to gather the courage to type out a message:
"Can we talk?"
She didn't expect an answer right away. But within minutes, his reply came.
"Sure. Same place?"
Her heart thudded. He still remembered.
---
That afternoon, the sky was cloudy. The wind was gentle, brushing past as if nature itself knew something fragile was about to unfold. Hina stood in the quiet park where they'd last spoken — where Ren had poured his heart out, and she had shattered it.
Then she saw him.
Ren, standing near the bench, hands in his pockets, eyes calm but unreadable. The moment their eyes met, Hina's resolve crumbled.
She walked up to him, barely able to hold herself together.
"I'm sorry," she blurted, voice already cracking. "I know I don't deserve to even say this to you, but… I'm so sorry, Ren."
He didn't say anything.
"I avoided you," she continued, "I lied, I pushed you away... when all you ever did was be there for me. And I— I didn't realize what I had until I lost it. Until I saw you... with her."
Ren's eyes softened, but his expression remained steady.
"I didn't cry when Reiji cheated on me," she said, tears falling freely now. "But I cried when I saw you smiling with someone else. Because that's when it hit me. I lost the only person who truly cared."
Ren finally spoke, his voice calm and clear.
"I never asked you to choose me, Hina. I just wanted you to be happy."
She looked at him, trembling. "Can we… can we be friends again?"
A pause.
Then, with the gentlest smile — the kind that once made her feel safe — Ren replied,
"What do you mean be friends again? We never stopped."
The words struck her like lightning. A breath escaped her lips, half-laugh, half-sob. He hadn't held it against her. He hadn't closed his heart.
He still cared.
Ren stepped closer, brushing a tear from her cheek with the back of his hand. "We all make mistakes. And yeah, it hurt. But I'm okay now. And if you're trying to make things right… then I'm here."
They walked slowly back together, side by side. No more forced smiles, no more awkward silence — just two people slowly healing the distance between them.
As they reached her house, Ren turned to her with that same soft smile.
"Then… see you tomorrow?"
Hina nodded, her heart finally feeling a little lighter.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Ren."
And for the first time in a long while, she meant it.
THE EDGE OF SOMETHING LOST
ONE MESSAGE LEFT UNSENT, AND SUDDENLY, EVERYTHING FELT DIFFERENT.~