But the next scene was nothing like what Renya had expected.
He had braced himself for the emotional reunion after the train passed. But instead, the screen shifted, to a quiet memory.
Nighttime. Takaki came home from work. A voice called out to him, soft and distant. He didn't respond.
Then it cut to Akari.
She was saying goodbye to her parents, smiling warmly.
Someone said, "It's fine. We'll see each other at the wedding next month…"
Wedding?
Renya blinked.
What…?
He sat up straighter. That line echoed in his mind as the scene transitioned again. On the train, Akari sat by the window reading, and the colleague beside her flipped a page in her book—revealing a small, delicate ring on her left ring finger.
Wedding. Ring. Smile.
It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together.
Akari was getting married.
And the groom... it definitely wasn't Takaki.
Otherwise, why would the two of them react the way they did when they passed each other by the train tracks earlier?
What kind of plot twist was this?
Just moments ago, Renya had been wrapped in nostalgic longing. Now, that warmth drained away completely.
...No, wait. Maybe this was just a misdirect.
Maybe she was having second thoughts before the wedding. Maybe she'd break things off and reunite with her first love. A classic dramatic reversal, right?
Reassured by his own theory, he chuckled to himself.
He wasn't that easy to trick. This kind of twist? Seen it a hundred times.
He relaxed, ready for the emotional payoff. A reunion. A warm embrace. A wedding of their own. Maybe even a few kids if the screenwriter felt generous.
But then, the screen showed Akari on the train again, gazing quietly at the passing scenery. Her inner voice began:
"Last night, I dreamed of the past."
"We were still children…"
"It must have been triggered by the letter I found yesterday."
The screen flashed: an old letter, never delivered. Her handwriting, delicate and neat. It was addressed to Takaki.
Then the scene switched to Takaki's side.
He looked at his phone—he'd just received a message from his girlfriend.
"Takaki-kun, it's been a while. Are you doing okay?"
"I've been unsure how to say this, but… I think there's still something I need to tell you."
He stared at the message, and a quiet sadness settled over his face.
His inner monologue followed:
"An ordinary life… sadness clings to it."
Even with a girlfriend, even after all these years, it was clear, he had never truly moved on.
Renya understood the feeling too well.
Even if you forced yourself into another relationship, it would fall apart. It couldn't last—not if your heart still belonged to someone else.
Then came the line that hit Renya like a punch:
"Even if we exchanged a thousand messages, the distance between our hearts would only shrink by a single centimeter."
The story began to unfold in parallel—flashes of Takaki and Akari's lives, alternating across the screen. Their voices returned, layered over nostalgic visuals:
"Yesterday, I dreamed again…" – Takaki
"A dream from long ago." – Akari
"In the dream, we were thirteen." – Takaki
"The countryside covered in snow…" – Akari
"Distant house lights, barely visible…" – Takaki
"Only our two sets of footprints in the snow." – Akari
"Someday, we'll see the cherry blossoms together again." – Takaki
"I really believed that." – Akari
"So did I." – Takaki
Their voices were calm and gentle, filled with unspoken longing. The kind that stays with you, even after years apart.
Renya started to fidget. This screenwriter… dragging things out like this? Why not just let them get married already?
But then… the music started.
A soft piano. Familiar. Painfully so.
The visuals became a montage. Moments from their youth—Akari walking away from him at the station, letters being written but never sent, their eyes quietly searching for someone who never arrived.
[TL: One More Time, One More Chance by Masayoshi Yamazaki — recommended to play while reading; it adds an extra layer to the scene.]
And suddenly, it was all too clear.
The flickering images weren't building up to a reunion—they were a farewell.
Akari watching cherry blossoms fall, but standing alone.
Takaki moving to the countryside, meeting Sumida… but never opening up to her.
Akari trying to write a letter, but unable to pen more than "Dear Takaki…"
Spring passed. Then autumn. Again and again. They both checked their mailboxes, hoping. Then, one day, they stopped.
They still thought of each other. But they stopped writing.
And even so… they never really let go.
Takaki left the countryside and moved back to Tokyo for university. Was it coincidence, or was it a quiet hope that Akari might return to the city too?
The song continued:
"Summer memories linger in my heart, thinking of heartbeats that vanished by mistake."
"I've been searching—just for your silhouette."
"In the cherry blossom town… even though I know, you're not there."
Renya stared at the screen in silence.
It was… perfect. And devastating.
Akari had found happiness with someone else. A calm, content kind of love.
Takaki had tried, he dated Risa for three years, but that same calm had never come. The further he walked from Akari, the more hollow he felt.
So this was it?
Was this really how it would end?
Sure, Akari was getting married. Maybe her parents pushed her into it. Maybe she had doubts. But… she looked too happy. Too at peace. If this was just a prelude to some grand reunion, why did everything feel so final?
And then Renya remembered it—that line Mizushiro had posted on Line, weeks ago:
"Run now... it's still not too late."
He'd thought it was just a tease.
But maybe… it was a warning.
The song was drawing to a close.
The scene returned to that moment—the very start of episode three. Akari and Takaki passing each other on opposite sides of the tracks. They stopped. Turned around.
The train thundered by between them.
Renya leaned in.
Come on, come on…
The train felt endless. Renya gritted his teeth.
Why won't it end already!?
When the last car finally passed, the screen cleared.
Sunlight spilled across the street. Cherry blossoms drifted in the breeze. The road was quiet and beautiful.
But on the other side of the tracks… there was no one.
Akari was gone.
Takaki smiled faintly, turned around, and walked away.
Renya's eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
His chest ached, hollow and cold.
This ending…
How could it be?
Shout out to Alejandro Flores, Luke, alberto garcia for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me.
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 60+ advanced chapters)