Chapter 159: The Cherry Trees and the Summer Confession
A soft summer breeze whispered along the sloping path that wound up Detective Hill. The cherry trees on either side rustled gently, their green leaves shimmering under the afternoon sun. One sparrow flitted down from the pale blue sky, landing delicately on a thin branch. Another was already there—still, calm, as if waiting. The two tiny birds nestled side by side, their feathers brushing softly together, a silent closeness blooming between them.
Kato Megumi stood beneath that same slope, her shoes planted on the gravel, fingers quietly twirling a strand of her hair. That little movement—barely noticeable to most—betrayed her unease.
She didn’t speak immediately.
In front of her stood Yukima Azuma, his eyes searching hers with a rare seriousness. He watched every subtle shift in her expression, every flicker of hesitation or resolve. He knew the weight of this conversation. One wrong word—one careless slip—and everything he’d built with her could crumble.
"Why suddenly bring this up?" she asked at last, her tone light, almost casual. But the tight way she wound her hair around her finger revealed the storm behind her calm.
Azuma didn’t flinch.
"Since you accepted my love letter, aren’t we already a couple?" he said, meeting her gaze head-on.
He emphasized the words—love letter—on purpose. Not to soothe her, but to stir something deeper. A reaction. An emotion. He wasn’t trying to escape the tension—he was walking right into it.
And just as he expected, the moment he brought up the love letter, her expression shifted.
Megumi looked up at him sharply. Her usually soft, unreadable gaze turned clear and piercing. Those eyes, shimmering with a quiet frustration, locked onto him.
She remembered. Of course she did.