Chapter 3- The Train That Took You Away

There are moments that change your life.

Not because they happen loudly.

But because everything before them suddenly becomes a memory.

For me...

It began with an ordinary white envelope.

---

"Hayate!"

Mom called from downstairs.

"There's a letter for you."

I slowly walked down the stairs, expecting another school notice.

Instead...

My name was printed neatly across a large envelope from the university.

For a second...

I couldn't breathe.

My hands felt strangely heavy as I opened it.

The paper trembled.

Not because of the wind.

Because of me.

My eyes searched only one line.

Congratulations

I read it again.

And again.

I had made it.

The university I had worked so hard for...

Had accepted me.

"...I actually did it."

Mom hugged me before I could even react.

"I'm proud of you."

Dad smiled.

"You earned it."

I smiled too.

I should have been happier.

I really should have.

So why...

Why was the first person I wanted to tell not standing in this house?

---

I ran.

Not because I was excited.

Because my feet already knew where they wanted to go.

The familiar streets passed one after another.

The old bakery.

The little park.

The vending machine that never seemed to work.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Until I reached her gate.

I didn't even knock.

"Yui!"

A few seconds later...

The front door opened.

She looked surprised.

"You're out of breath."

"I..."

I held the letter toward her without saying anything.

She stared at it.

Then at me.

Then back at the letter.

Slowly...

A smile spread across her face.

"You got in."

I nodded.

"I got in."

She laughed.

Actually laughed.

Not politely.

Not quietly.

The kind of laugh that made everyone around her smile too.

Without warning...

She threw her arms around me.

"I'm so proud of you."

Everything stopped.

The wind.

The birds.

Even my thoughts.

All I could feel...

Was her.

It only lasted a few seconds.

She quickly stepped back.

"...Sorry."

"No..."

I scratched the back of my neck.

"It's okay."

Neither of us mentioned it again.

But my heartbeat refused to slow down.

---

That evening...

We climbed our favorite hill.

The same one we'd visited almost every summer.

The river reflected the orange sky below us.

Yui handed me a bottle of juice.

"Congratulations."

I accepted it.

"...Thank you."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

"You worked harder than anyone."

I smiled.

"You watched me."

"Of course I did."

"You always knew when I was pretending to study."

"You were terrible at pretending."

"I wasn't."

"You spent half your study time staring out the window."

"...You noticed?"

She laughed.

"I notice everything."

For some reason...

That sentence stayed with me.

She notices everything.

Then...

Had she noticed how my heart felt lately?

No.

Impossible.

Even I didn't understand it completely.

---

The evening breeze was unusually cool.

Neither of us spoke for a while.

It wasn't awkward.

It never had been.

Finally...

Yui broke the silence.

"So..."

"When do you leave?"

The question hit harder than I expected.

"...About three weeks."

"Oh."

Just one word.

Yet somehow...

It sounded heavier than the entire conversation before it.

Three weeks.

Twenty-one days.

Five hundred and four hours.

It suddenly didn't feel like enough.

---

"I'll visit."

I looked at her.

"You don't have to."

"I wasn't asking."

She smiled proudly.

"I'm informing you."

I laughed.

"You make it sound like an order."

"It is."

"You know university is several hours away, right?"

"So?"

"You'll get tired."

"I've known you for seventeen years."

She looked toward the sunset.

"A few hours isn't enough to stop me."

My chest tightened.

Not painfully.

Just...

Warmly.

Sometimes...

Yui said things so naturally that she had no idea how much they meant to me.

Or maybe...

She knew.

And simply pretended not to.

I couldn't tell anymore.

---

As the sun slowly disappeared beyond the mountains...

I found myself wondering something.

When had sitting beside Yui become the most peaceful place in my life?

When had hearing her laugh become my favorite sound?

When had I started wishing...

These evenings would never end?

I didn't have the answer.

I only knew one thing.

For the first time...

The university I'd dreamed of reaching for years suddenly felt very far away.

Not because of the distance.

Because she wouldn't be there.

---

The next three weeks passed far too quickly.

Every morning, I woke up thinking there was still plenty of time.

Every night, another day had disappeared.

Time was cruel like that.

It never asked whether you were ready.

---

Yui somehow found a reason to see me almost every day.

Sometimes she'd ask me to carry groceries.

Sometimes she'd bring over homemade food, claiming she'd "made too much."

Sometimes she'd simply stand outside my gate and call my name.

"Hayate."

"Hm?"

"Come outside."

"What for?"

"You'll see."

Most of the time...

There wasn't actually a reason.

We just walked.

Through streets we'd known our entire lives.

Past the old shrine.

Across the little bridge over the river.

To the hill where we'd watched countless sunsets.

The town hadn't changed.

Maybe...

That's why leaving it felt so difficult.

---

Two days before I left, Yui insisted we visit the summer festival.

"It's tradition," she said.

"You can't leave without going one last time."

The streets were filled with lanterns.

Children laughed as they chased each other.

The scent of grilled food drifted through the warm evening air.

Everything felt alive.

Yui stopped at a goldfish stall.

"You still can't catch one."

"I absolutely can."

Five minutes later...

I had failed.

She laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach.

"I've improved."

"You caught the bucket."

"That was intentional."

"No, it wasn't."

"...Maybe not."

She won a small goldfish with her second try.

As always.

"I'll name him after you."

"Why?"

"He looks confused."

"...That's rude."

She laughed again.

For a second, I forgot I was leaving.

---

As the fireworks began, we found a quiet spot overlooking the river.

The colorful lights reflected across the water.

Everyone around us cheered.

Neither of us did.

We simply watched.

"It's beautiful," Yui whispered.

"Yeah."

I wasn't looking at the fireworks anymore.

I was looking at her.

The colorful lights danced across her face.

She smiled like she always did.

Warm.

Gentle.

Comforting.

Without thinking, I wondered...

Will someone else get to see this smile every day someday?

The thought stung more than I expected.

I looked away immediately.

---

The night before my departure, sleep refused to come.

I packed my suitcase three different times.

Checked my documents four times.

None of it helped.

Around midnight, my phone vibrated.

Yui:

> Are you awake?

I smiled.

Me:

> Yeah.

A few seconds later—

> Come outside.

I quietly slipped out of the house.

She was already waiting beneath the streetlight.

"...Couldn't sleep either?"

She shook her head.

"No."

The streets were empty.

Only the sound of insects filled the night.

We began walking without deciding where to go.

Just...

Walking.

Like we always had.

---

"You'll make lots of friends."

Yui broke the silence.

"I hope so."

"You'll probably forget this town."

"I won't."

"You'll be busy."

"I'll still come back."

"You'll say that now."

"I'll say it later too."

She smiled.

"...Good."

There was something different about her smile tonight.

It looked...

Lonelier.

---

When we reached the hill, neither of us sat down.

Instead, we stood looking over the sleeping town.

"So..."

Yui spoke softly.

"You're finally leaving."

"Yeah."

"I'm happy for you."

"I know."

"...And I'm a little selfish too."

I turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

She laughed quietly.

"I wish time had stopped for just a little longer."

Her words settled deep inside me.

I wanted to tell her...

I don't want to leave either.

Instead, I only smiled.

"Three years."

"Hm?"

"I'll graduate before you know it."

"I know."

"I'll come back every holiday."

"I know."

"We'll still meet here."

"I know."

She answered every promise with the same two words.

"I know."

But somehow...

Neither of us sounded convinced.

---

The next morning arrived far too soon.

The station was quieter than I remembered.

People came and went.

Announcements echoed through the platforms.

My train waited with its doors open.

Dad loaded my luggage.

Mom wiped away tears she tried to hide.

Yui stood quietly beside me.

Neither of us had spoken much.

It felt as though every word had become too heavy.

The announcement played.

"The train will depart shortly."

I picked up my bag.

"...I guess this is it."

She nodded.

"...Yeah."

For the first time in years...

I didn't know what to say.

There were so many things I wanted to tell her.

Thank you.

I'll miss you.

Take care of yourself.

Wait for me.

None of them came out.

Instead...

I smiled.

"I'll see you soon."

She smiled back.

"You'd better."

The train doors began to close.

I stepped inside.

As the train slowly pulled away...

I looked through the window.

Yui was still standing there.

She wasn't waving.

She was simply watching.

The town disappeared little by little.

The platform became smaller.

Until...

I couldn't see her anymore.

Only then did I finally understand.

The hardest part about leaving wasn't the unfamiliar city waiting for me.

It was realizing...

For the first time in seventeen years...

Tomorrow would begin without Yui beside me.

And somehow...

That frightened me more than anything else.