✦ Chapter 2 – The Alignment of True Friendship into Love ✦
The day after my stepmother's cruel words, the hospital door opened to someone I hadn't seen in years.
Cha Velora.
She entered with her father, carrying the same gentle smile I remembered from childhood. Time had only made her more beautiful. Her presence swept away the shadows in my chest, like dawn breaking through a storm.
For the first time since my collapse, I felt… safe.
"Makoto," she said softly, pulling a chair to my bedside. "You look terrible. But… you're still you."
Her words were light, teasing almost, but her eyes shimmered with worry. She came every day after that—sitting with me, telling stories, reminding me of the childhood moments I had buried under years of bitterness.
She spoke of the times we laughed together, of games played in the dust roads of our neighborhood, of moments when her poor but warm-hearted family gave me shelter from my own broken home.
I had forgotten so much. But she remembered everything.
Her laughter turned my loneliness into something bearable. Her presence turned my despair into light.
Even when she teased me about how reckless I'd been back then, her tone was filled with affection. "You were always hurting me, Makoto. Always making me cry. And still, I…"She bit her lip and shook her head, her cheeks faintly pink.
I didn't understand then, but her visits wove a new thread of strength inside me.
Days passed like that. On the fifth day—the final day of my choice—she came to my bedside as the sun dipped low.
This time, her smile trembled. Her hands fidgeted in her lap. And then, her voice broke the silence.
"Once you recover," she whispered, her face glowing red, "I'll tell you… how much I've always loved you."
Her confession lingered in the air like perfume. My heart, heavy with betrayal and grief, felt a new warmth I hadn't known I needed.
And then time stopped.
The Lord's voice returned, echoing in my soul.
"Makoto Taro. Your five days are over. Have you decided?"
I closed my eyes, feeling the echo of Cha Velora's words in my chest. The answer was clear.