"C-Can we... talk...?"
King's fingers tightened around the strap of her bag. Across from her, Asaji slowly lowered her head. Her hand gradually curled into a fist.
"Halo... I..."
She muttered, but the words caught in her throat.
Before she could finish, instead of answering...
She turned and ran.
"A-Asaji!"
In an instant, Asaji rushed past King as King instinctively reached out.
But her fingertips brushed against nothing but empty air.
Without another thought, King pushed off the ground and gave chase, refusing to let Asaji slip away.
One ran.
The other refused to let her go.
"Asaji!" King called after her again and again.
But the only reply was the sound of hurried footsteps.
"Asaji, please!"
"Hear me out!"
"I..."
"I just want to...!"
Yet despite her desperate pleas, Asaji ignored every word and kept running.
Meanwhile, she had a considerable head start.
But against King... It wasn't enough.
No matter how desperately Asaji ran.
No matter how much distance she tried to put between them.
King steadily closed the gap.
And by the time they reached the campus courtyard...
King finally caught up.
"Asaji!"
She lunged forward and caught Asaji by the wrist.
"Please..."
"Hear me out."
The moment King grasped her wrist, both of them came to a stop.
Asaji immediately pulled her hand free. She stumbled back several steps before finally stopping; her gaze remained on the ground.
"W-What is it... Halo...?"
Her voice trembled.
"I..."
"I thought there was nothing left for us to talk about."
"Asaji..." There, King took a hesitant step forward.
"Please... C-Can we..."
Before King could say anything, Asaji forced a faint smile.
"Y-You know, Halo..."
"I'm transferring."
"And..."
"Today's my last day at this school."
"So, please..."
"Don't make this any harder than it already has."
"Anything you say now..."
"It won't change anything."
"Even if..."
"Even if you wish it could."
She lowered her head further as her hand slowly curled into a fist.
Before King could find the words to respond, Asaji continued.
"I-Isn't it strange?"
"That someone as ordinary as me managed to stay by your side for so long?"
"The way I slipped into your life..."
"The way I spent every day beside someone so far beyond my reach..."
"Don't you think..."
"...it's unfair?"
"Unfair to you..."
"To someone who worked so hard to earn her place?"
A tear then rolled down Asaji's cheek.
"And yet, I was there..."
"Benefiting from the prestige that belonged to you..."
"So..."
"Wasn't it only inevitable..."
"That our relationship would come to an end?"
"We're simply..."
"...too different..."
"...to stay together."
There, disbelief filled King's eyes.
"A-Asaji..." She trembled as tears welled in her own eyes.
"T-That's not true!"
She took another step forward.
"None of it is true!"
Asaji shook her head.
"No, Halo..."
"It is. No matter how much you want to deny it..."
"You can't. And that's..."
"...the inevitability of fate." A sad smile then crossed her face.
"That's why..."
"We were never meant to be together."
Her head lowered.
"I-I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Halo."
"I don't think..."
"I don't think we were ever meant to be friends."
"A-Asaji..."
King's lips quivered as silence settled between them.
And no words came for a moment.
Meanwhile, King's head lowered as her fists clenched until they trembled.
Then...
A single raindrop landed between them.
One.
Then another.
Soon...
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Within moments, the sky opened, and rain poured relentlessly over the school grounds.
Neither of them moved.
They simply stood there...
Soaked to the bone.
Unable to find the words.
Unable to face one another.
Until...
"Then... I'm sorry, Asaji."
King finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry..."
"For everything I've done."
"For everything I let happen between us."
She slowly raised her head.
"I'm sorry for the words my mother said to you."
"I'm sorry..."
"...for being such an incompetent friend."
"When you needed me most..."
"I couldn't stand by your side."
"So, please..." She sobbed.
"Please... Forgive me, Asaji."
"I'm begging you."
"I don't want..."
"I don't want our friendship to end like this!"
"I don't want us to—"
Before she could finish—
Asaji suddenly threw herself forward and wrapped both arms tightly around King.
"I'm..."
Her shoulders trembled.
"I'm sorry too, Halo!"
"I..."
"I never wanted..."
"...I never wanted us to end like this, too!" She then clung to King even tighter.
"Not now..."
"Not ever...!"
She buried her face against King's shoulder.
"But..."
"Don't you think..."
"...it's better if we..."
"...let each other go?"
"And..."
"...move on...?"
"For..."
"The sake of both of us—"
"No, Asaji...!"
King cut her off, tightening her embrace.
"No... It isn't!"
She held her even tighter.
"No friend should ever abandon another."
"Even if we're different..."
"Even if we end up standing on opposite sides."
"Friends learn to understand each other."
"They grow together."
"They make room for each other."
"No matter how much they argue..."
"No matter what others expect of them..."
"A friend should never..."
"...abandon another..."
"...friend...?"
King's eyes suddenly widened, and the word stuck in her mouth.
She froze.
As if a forgotten piece had finally fallen into place.
A sentence.
A feeling.
Words she had heard from someone else.
Someone she should have been looking toward all along.
Slowly, before King could react... Asaji smiled.
She gently loosened her embrace and stepped back, looking directly at King.
At that very moment...
The dark clouds began to part and sunlight broke through the sky.
"Now you understand, Halo."
The sorrow on Asaji's face was gone.
In its place was the warm, cheerful smile King thought she would never see again.
"A-Asaji..."
King blinked in confusion.
"What..."
"What do you mean?"
"What happened?"
Asaji chuckled softly.
"Do you remember..."
"What I told you before I left?"
"What... you told me?" King repeated.
Asaji nodded.
"Yes."
"Remember, I told you..."
"To find someone willing to sacrifice for you, just as I was."
"Someone who would earn your trust."
"Someone who would stay by your side despite your pride."
"Who is willing to give you a chance."
"No matter what."
She smiled gently.
"Build a friendship even stronger than the one we had."
"And..."
"Heal the parts of yourself they broke."
"Just like you... and her—"
Before Asaji could finish, King quickly added.
"But...!"
"What if I can't?" She clenched her fists.
"What if..."
"It was doomed from the very beginning?"
"What if fate really can't be changed?"
"What if everything ends the same way as us...?"
Asaji shook her head.
"Then..."
"You keep trying."
"Just because our story ended..."
"Doesn't mean someone else's has to."
"Just because we lost our chance to reconcile..."
"Doesn't mean you'll lose this one."
She took a small step forward.
"You still have time."
"So much time."
"So..."
"Don't throw it away..."
"The way you lost mine."
"It's because..."
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through King's mind.
A voice she knew better than anyone.
A voice she had spent the past few months hearing every single day.
"We'll never know if we never try!"
Urara's voice.
King slowly turned toward the familiar voice.
And the rain-soaked courtyard suddenly faded away.
In its place...
She saw herself.
The King right before Urara's second trial race.
Sitting beside Urara in their dorm.
The very same day...
The day Urara invited her to watch her Trial Race.
"Are you sure about this, Urara?"
King sighed.
"What if you lose again like last time?"
Urara only grinned.
"Then..."
"I'll try again!"
King smiled helplessly.
"I truly admire your optimism, Urara."
"But... That's not how the world works."
"Just because you believe..."
"Doesn't mean a miracle will happen."
Her expression dimmed.
"And I used to believe that too."
"Well!"
Urara beamed without the slightest hesitation.
"We'll never know if we never try!"
She pointed a finger into the air proudly.
"Just like you'll never know how tasty carrot pudding is if you never try it!"
"Urara..."
King muttered as she blinked.
She couldn't help but stare at the cheerful girl before her.
Then...
A faint smile escaped her lips.
"Fine, fine."
"But if you lose..."
"Don't you dare come crying to me for comfort."
"Don't worry!"
Urara puffed out her chest confidently.
"I won't! Just because I lose once..."
"Or twice..."
"Doesn't mean I'll stop!"
"I'll keep running until the very end!"
"Just like I promised everyone back home!"
She leaned closer, her eyes shining brighter than ever.
"And just like the promise I made to you."
She smiled.
A smile so genuine that it pierced straight through King's heart.
"The promise that I..."
"I wanna run with you, King!"