Waiting for You in the Rainy Garden - Chapter 3

Hiyori’s “Me too” dissolved into the greenhouse’s stillness.

Her voice resonated softly, as if being absorbed by the humid air, gently settling deep within my chest.

In that moment, I felt the tightly drawn string in my heart suddenly loosen.

The feelings I’d been too afraid to touch finally seemed to be taking shape.

But along with the relief, another anxiety surfaced.

—What happens now?

Hiyori and I could no longer remain “just friends.”

While this change made me happy, somewhere deep down it also frightened me, making my heart restless.

Hiyori kept holding my hand, smiling with a hint of embarrassment.

It was the same smile she always wore, yet somehow it looked different now.

The distance between us felt closer.

The warmth of our touching hands quickened my heartbeat.

“Mashiro, don’t make that face. You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I’m not crying…”

“I said you look like you’re about to.”

Hiyori’s fingertips gently stroked the back of my hand.

That tenderness made my chest grow warm again.

With every touch, it felt like the depths of my heart were slowly melting, making it slightly harder to breathe.

“Hiyori, how long have you felt this way?”

It was a question I both wanted and didn’t want to ask.

What if the answer wasn’t what I hoped for?

That anxiety tightened around my chest.

“Hmm… I only realized recently. But you’ve always been special to me, Mashiro.”

“Special…”

As I repeated the word, savoring it, Hiyori’s cheeks flushed slightly.

That gesture was so adorable it made my chest tighten again.

“You know, Mashiro, you always care about who I’m talking to, don’t you?”

“Th-that’s not…”

“You do. I can always tell.”

Hit right on target, I found myself at a loss for words.

Hiyori had effortlessly pinpointed feelings I’d been pretending not to notice.

She chuckled softly and rested her head on my shoulder.

The weight felt comforting, yet simultaneously made my heart leap.

“You know, I also feel a little bothered when I see you getting along with other girls.”

“…You do?”

“Yeah. So when I realized that, I thought, ‘Ah, so this is what liking someone feels like.'”

Hiyori’s voice resonated softly in the greenhouse’s humid air.

It felt as if her voice was touching the deepest parts of my heart, making my chest grow warm.

I gently tucked her words away deep inside my heart.

Carefully, tenderly, so they wouldn’t break.

But the happy moment didn’t last long.

Outside the greenhouse, the wind blew, causing the glass to tremble faintly.

The sound seemed to foretell the turbulence yet to come.

A small anxiety began to sprout in the depths of my chest.