(V4) Chapter 10: Between Two Broken Hearts (II)

When everything seemed to lay down, I picked up my crutches and started limping back to the hotel.

After all, the early risers are already heading to the beach armed with inflatables and rubber duckies.

But before I could take my fourth skip, a voice called out from behind.

“So it really is like that now, huh?”

I turned.

"Takamine-san?"

She stood several meters across, her white hoodie barely fluttering in the wind. Her hair, normally pristine, was tousled by the salty breeze. Her eyes weren’t cold, not soft—but somewhere in between.

"Do you need anything?"

She didn’t reply. She walked closer, each step measured.

Purposeful.

Her shoes crunched softly over the sand, her hands tucked into the sleeves of her hoodie like she was restraining herself.

She stopped a few steps away. Her gaze switched between the surroundings, dropped to my crutches, then rose again straight to my face.

“She left already?” she asked softly.

“Yeah…she went to drop off a kitten that popped up. There’s a caretaker at the reception who is willing to foster it until we leave.”

Takamine-san nodded once. "Sorry for the intrusion. I didn't expect you two to be early risers."

"It's okay." I answered. "I guess we're not doing anything that will put us on a hot seat—"

WHAP.

Her hand moved faster than I could track. Within one blink of an eye, my cheeks burned from the intensity of her slap. And that strength alone—was enough to drag my head into its trajectory.

Silence.

My crutches laid flat on the sand. I placed a hand in the part where pain exploded like a grenade.

The wind howled between us. Waves murmured nearby. The world held its breath.

And Takamine-san's expression stiffened. “I’ve spent most of my life calculating every step I took. Keeping my image. Making sure I never said the wrong thing, never did something unworthy of the ‘Takamine’ title. I must always be ahead, always perfect.”

She turned back to me.

“But it turns out that all those walls…doesn’t mean a thing when you’re watching someone you care about fall for someone else.”

My breath caught, internally asking if I was the 'someone' she is referring to.

That slap alone must be enough of an answer.

“I was supposed to leave, Ishida-kun." her voice shook slightly. "I was supposed to keep that image clean. Untouched. But then you—” she pointed at me accusingly, as if blaming me would somehow ease the pain, “—you showed up at the riverbank. You even stood between me and my father like an idiot. Like a damn someone that never cared about himself or the risks.”

She steadied her breathing.

“Why do you even have to go that far to save me? Was it a noble thing to do? Are you some tragic hero in a story no one asked to be written? I already rejected you before...but why can't I even stop thinking about you afterwards? I already lost count of how many people I had dumped and you, you made me feel like regretting it.”

Her fingers clenched into fists inside her sleeves. "But now, I'm heads over heels for you, and I see her…with you."

She laughed—dry, hollow. Her eyes shimmered faintly at the morning sky, and it was like a storm brewed up beneath them.

"And it hurts.”

And all that I can muster up right now was to lower my head in apology.

"Sorry, Takamine-san."

“I hate it!" she exclaimed, tears now starting to stream from her eyes. "I hate how she makes you smile like that. I hate that she looks so fragile and you hold her like she’s going to fall apart without your arms! I hate that I rejected you because I don’t have the right to choose for myself!”

She stepped forward, head down, and then clutched my shirt.

Tight. Her arms were shaking.

“I hate that you keep throwing yourself into danger just to protect someone. And…”

She pauses, and let out an emotional sob.

Tired.

Regretful.

"I hate that you moved on so quickly.”

I looked away. My jaw clenched.

"I may have gotten over that, but it never meant our friendship was over. Besides, I never wanted you to leave."

“Then why didn’t you do anything after that?!” she snapped, pulling me right to her trembling and damped face. “You kept me here—and then ignored me! You act like Ayase’s the only one who matters right now. So tell me, Ishida, what was the point of saving me if you're not going to love me back?!”

My mouth opened. Then closed. I was speechless.

I turned toward the sea for a moment, as if something out there had an answer I couldn’t find on land.

She laughed bitterly. “You think I don’t know how this looks? I’m not stupid, Ishida. I know I deserve better than to be strung along like this.”

“It’s not like that,” I managed. “I just—”

“If you weren’t planning to love me back,” she said, voice cracking, “You should’ve let me go! I expected that you bled to win me over, but today says otherwise!”

That one hit me deep.

The wind blew again. This time, it was colder. She released her grasp from my sweater and turned around to leave.

I scrambled for my words, trying to remember every moment we spent at the riverbank.

The bitter taste of shochu, her thoughtful tears, her unspoken vulnerability.

And her eyes, begging for salvation.

“Is that really what you wanted?”

She stopped.

“To leave?” I limped forward. “To go abroad? You were miserable. You didn’t want to be separated from Shizumi. You kept pretending you were fine, but I knew you weren’t.”

She didn’t reply. Her shoulders tensed.

After a pause, she took her steps again. "It's better than to see you each day proving that I don't deserve love or to be loved at all. Do I need to keep living my days seeing you and Ayase together? I just can’t."

"That doesn't sound like you." I argued. "Besides, I didn’t save you to make you owe me anything. It wasn’t some selfish act. I just...knew how much it would hurt you. And I couldn’t let that happen.”

“So it was a pity?”

I scrambled for words, but none surfaced.

"Answer me, Haru!" she snapped and turned around. “What did that mean?! You’re not even looking at me, Haru! You keep looking over your shoulder for her!”

“No. It was my duty.” My voice rose. “Shizumi doesn't even know that you were bound to leave that night. Like you, I am just scared for her to lose her youth. That if you weren't there to protect her from being turned into a puppet like you, I may not be able to sleep at peace again. She's still young, with a lifetime ahead of her. Just like you. I never wanted it to get stolen like your father had planned.”

Her eyes shimmered. “Then what am I to you?”

I didn’t have a clean answer.

“Something I can’t afford to lose,” I said finally.

I expected for her reaction to soften, but instead, it sharpened even further.

“That’s not fair!” she barked a laugh, her eyes wet and furious. “You think this is about playing the hero? I rejected you, yes, and I thought I was doing the right thing! But now…you keep dangling me at arm's length—saying I’m too important to lose but not important enough to choose!"

That silenced me, as if held by a gunpoint. She was right.

“You promised me, Haru! You promised that we’ll enjoy summer break together! But this—” she paused, stifling a sob, “...you’re killing me inside, Haruki. Emotionally. I trusted you and told you all of my insecurities and…you hit them all.”

“...”

Why am I even trying to play the hero here?

I clenched my fists.

Why am I still dragging along these feelings I had for her despite everything I've done before to break free of them? What kind of guy does that make me? I can't lose her, but I can't choose her. That alone made my stomach churn, and I let myself get trapped with my complicated feelings and dragged two girls along with me.

I'm a coward for not knowing where my heart stands between the two people I promised to take care of.

I sighed deeply, my chest tightening with guilt.

The morning sun had finally broken over the sea. But I didn’t feel its warmth.

I just stood there—wondering how I could save someone and still be the one making them hurt.

“You’re not a placeholder, Takamine-san. You never were.”

She took a shaky breath. “You always say just enough to make me stay.”

“I don’t mean to.”

“But you do,” she said, wiping her eyes. “You always do. And it’s killing me.”

We stood in silence—waves lapping, wind shifting. The kind of silence that hurts.

She straightened, wiping every trace of emotion from her face like a mask clicking back into place.

“I’m tired of waiting.”

The wind pushed between us, then calmed.

And then, with no more hesitation, she closed the gap.

Takamine-san walked right up to me with slow and deliberate steps, her eyes never breaking from mine—and without a word, she rose to her toes and pulled the back of my neck with one hand, and our lips met.

Her other hand curled into the fabric of my shirt, soft and desperate, as if anchoring herself to this one moment, like she knew it could change everything or nothing at all.

I barely had the space to breathe, and she took me in with passion.

The kiss was mostly slow, steady, gentle at first.

But she started clutching me tighter and kept chasing me with her lips, and her tongue, it sought mine.

I never knew how I managed to pull a kiss like that, but our ceremony went smooth as the waves beneath us.

Her lips tasted like salt and fire. Her kiss was raw and honest. Maybe even a little angry. But above all—she sent me the weight she’s been carrying with it.

When she pulled back, her eyes were glassy but steady. Both of our faces were burning.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she murmured. “I just needed you to feel it. What my love means.”

Then she turned away, brushing a hand through her hair, as though sealing the moment in time—unapologetically hers.

“I’m not going to be the quiet girl in the background anymore, Haru. I’m declaring war.”

I flinched. “Takamine-san—”

“On her. On you. On whatever this half-built maybe-love is. Because if you’re not going to choose me, then I’ll fight for myself.”

She turned, taking a few steps up the dunes.

Then paused.

“I won’t be your second choice. Not ever again.”

Then she disappeared into the mounds of the beach trail, leaving the sound of waves—and a trembling heartbeat—behind.

And all I could do was stand there, the ghost of her kiss still burning against mine, while my heart begged me to run after her.

But no, it wouldn’t help untangle the situation I am currently in.

I have to…make the choice sooner.