Ayaka stormed to the door, grabbing her coat with trembling fingers.
She didn't even know where she was going—all she knew was that she had to get away.
Away from him.
From the whirlwind of emotions he brought crashing back into her carefully rebuilt life.
But before she could even twist the knob, she heard the sound of movement behind her.
Fast.
Determined.
"Wait." Akihiko's voice called out—low, commanding.
She didn't stop.
Not until she felt his hand wrap around her wrist, firm but not forceful. "Ayaka!"
She turned sharply, eyes blazing. "What now?"
He stared at her, jaw clenched, chest heaving slightly from the fever and the adrenaline. "It is important to me." he said, voice lower now, rawer. "If you're dating someone. I needed to know."
"Why?" she hissed, eyes narrowed. "So you can decide whether or not to claim me again? Like I'm just some trophy you left on a shelf and suddenly remembered existed?"
"No." Akihiko stepped closer.
"Because it's been hell living with the idea that someone else could be standing where I should be. Because the thought of another man holding you, knowing you, loving you—drives me insane."
Ayaka's breath hitched.
"I kept telling myself I had no right." he continued.
"No right to feel jealous. No right to come back. But when I saw you again—saw he looked at you— whether on camera or not..."
He didn't say the name, but she knew.
She knew he meant Makoto.
"I had to know." He said. "Because I can't pretend I don't feel it anymore."
Ayaka turned her face away, fighting the emotion rising in her throat.
"Well?" he asked, the voice trembling despite himself. "Are you?"
Silence.
Ayaka squeezed her eyes shut. "No." she finally whispered.
Akihiko stepped in. "Because you're still in love with me."
She flinched. "Don't."
"You are."
"I said don't."
"I can see it, Ayaka." He said, taking her chin gently, forcing her eyes to meet his. "It's still there. You still feel it."
Her lips trembled, heart pounding painfully against her chest. "You don't get to come back and—"
"I never stopped loving you." Akihiko said, his voice is nearly a growl now. "And I'm done pretending I can walk away."
Then, without warning, he pulled her into him and kissed her.
It wasn't gentle.
It was desperate.
Possessive.
The kind of kiss that burned with three years of longing, guilt, pain, and love.
Ayaka gasped into it, fists clenched into his shirt, torn between shoving him away and melting into him.
When he finally pulled back, both of them breathless, Akihiko looked into her eyes with a fire she hadn't seen in years.
"I'm taking you back." he said—low, final, absolute.
Then, just as abruptly, he released her, turned on his heel, and walked out the door.
Ayaka stood frozen, her fingers brushing her lips, heart racing, thunderstruck.
She heard the roar of his car engine a few seconds later.
He didn't look back.
She stood there, alone, breathless, dazed.
-----
The car door slammed harder than he intended.
Akihiko gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands, his breath ragged, heart still thundering from the taste of her lips.
He hadn't planned to kiss her—not like that.
But the second she looked at him with those defiant, wounded eyes, he snapped.
Three years.
Three goddamn years.
And yet… one kiss, and it all came rushing back like a tidal wave—her warmth, her scent, the familiar electricity of her presence.
He still knew the way her breath hitched when she was trying not to cry, still recognized the tiny tremor in her voice when she was angry but hurt.
Still... He knew her.
Still... He loved her.
He pulled onto the road, jaw tight, his knuckles aching from how hard he gripped the wheel.
That guy.
He didn't even have to say his name.
Just the thought of another man standing beside her, touching her, made his vision blur with heat.
Was that what she'd been doing all this time?
Laughing with someone else?
Giving someone else those quiet looks she used to give him?
No.
"No."
She hadn't said yes.
She could've lied.
She could've said she was with him.
But she didn't.
She'd hesitated.
And even if Ayaka didn't admit it Akihiko felt she kissed him back.
That was all Akihiko needed.
The moment their lips met, he knew—it wasn't over.
It had never been over.
He parked the car in the lot of a convenience store, his head falling back against the seat.
Rain began to tap gently against the windshield, as if the sky itself was trying to cool the fire burning inside him.
He wasn't done.
Not by a long shot.
Maybe before, he thought walking away was the right thing—protecting her from the weight of his past, from the shadow of his guilt.
He thought she deserved someone normal, someone stable.
But watching her eyes spark with pain—pain he caused—only made one thing clear:
He never stopped being hers.
And now, he wanted her back.
No matter what.
"I'm taking her back..." he whispered to himself, fingers loosening slightly from the wheel.
And this time, he wouldn't walk away.
He'd fight for her—even if it meant tearing down every wall she built between them.
------
The cafe smelled of roasted coffee beans and vanilla syrup, the low hum of background music blending with the buzz of late morning chatter.
Ayaka sat by the window, her untouched latte sitting on the table, steam no longer rising from the cup.
Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her expression unreadable.
Across from her, Yuki and Keiko stared at her as if she had just announced the world was ending.
"Wait. Wait, back up." Yuki leaned forward, eyes wide.
"Did you just say Nakamura? As in Dr. Ice Prince, the man who vanished off the face of the earth three years ago?"
Ayaka nodded stiffly. "He came back."
Keiko blinked. "As in, came back from a trip? Or came back from the freaking dead, because I thought we buried that chapter."
Ayaka let out a breath, her voice low. "So did I."
Yuki's mouth dropped open. "You're serious. He's really back?"
"He showed up at my place." She stared down at her cold drink. "He looked the same. Still so... infuriatingly calm."
Keiko looked like she was having trouble breathing. "Oh my... what did he say? What did he do?"
Ayaka hesitated, then swallowed. "He asked me if I was seeing someone."
Both Yuki and Keiko fell silent. Yuki's brows rose nearly to her hairline. "That's what he opened with? Not 'sorry I disappeared' or 'I missed you' or anything remotely decent?"
Ayaka gave a hollow laugh. "Yup. Just straight to the point. 'Are you dating someone?' Like we're picking up a conversation from last week, not after three years of silence."
Keiko frowned. "And what did you say?"
"I said no. But I got angry. I just—I lost it. I said, 'After three years of disappearing, that's the first thing you want to ask me?'"
Yuki exhaled sharply. "Honestly? Valid."
Keiko leaned back in her chair. "Did he explain why he left? Why he didn't call or write or—anything?"
"He started to..." Ayaka said, eyes clouded. "But I didn't want to hear it. Yet.. And then... he kissed me."
Both girls gasped at the same time.
"What?!" Keiko cried.
"You let him?!" Yuki practically shouted.
Ayaka squeezed her eyes shut. "I didn't mean to. It just—he pulled me in, and it felt like everything I tried to bury just exploded. And I kissed him back."
Silence.
Then Keiko whispered, "You still love him."
Ayaka's jaw tightened. "I don't want to."
"But you do." Yuki said softly. "I can see it all over your face."
Ayaka suddenly stood, her chair scraping against the floor.
She snatched her bag from beside her chair. "I shouldn't have come here."
Keiko stood too, reaching for her arm. "Ayaka, don't run—please. You're not alone in this. You don't have to carry it all by yourself."
Ayaka's voice cracked. "I need to carry it alone. Because if I let someone else hold it with me, I'll admit the truth. And I'm not ready."
Yuki got up slowly. "We're not saying you have to forgive him. Or even take him back. We're just saying... talk to us. Let yourself feel it. We're here."
Ayaka's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "I know. And that's why I can't stay. Because if I do, I'll say it out loud."
Keiko frowned. "Say what?"
"That I never stopped loving him." Ayaka whispered. "Even after everything."
She turned and walked out the door, the tiny bell chiming above her head, leaving her two best friends standing in stunned silence.
Outside, the wind hit her like a splash of cold water.
She closed her eyes, breathed in, and felt the ache pulse in her chest again.
Akihiko was back.
He kissed her.
He said he was taking her back.
And the worst part?
Part of her wanted him to.