The room smelled faintly of herbs and smoke—the kind of smell that clings to you even after you leave.
Pale light crawled through the thin paper walls, tired in the same way we were.
Kana was healing.
Faster than we ever expected.
We didn't need this room anymore.
Outside, people whispered.
They always whispered now.
Renji hadn't come in weeks, and everyone at camp avoided saying Hayato's name.
When they did, it was with lowered eyes.
Some said he'd gone mad.
Some said he'd become a monster.
I didn't believe any of it.
I couldn't.
It's pathetic… but every time the door opens, I look up hoping it's him.
Kana and I walked through the snow toward the hill behind camp.
Watari's grave was simple—two stones and a wooden marker.
I brushed the frost from the top with my glove.
Cleared the leaves and dirt.
Placed wilted flowers at the base.
Kana stood beside me, unmoving, letting the wind drag her hair across her face.
When we returned to camp, we sat at our usual spot.
I kicked the frost off the ground.
Kana… she's blaming herself.
She kept rubbing her palm.
She always did that when she felt guilty.
She didn't mention Hayato.
She didn't even ask.
That kind of silence…
She needs her sharpness back.
Her smiles.
I need to get a reaction out of her.
"Life's cursed and cruel. If Watari had lived, he'd be my brother-in-law."
She froze.
It landed perfectly.
"I didn't know that," she said quietly.
"Yeah. Figured it out years ago.
Maybe if I'd told you, you'd have a child by now."
Her eyes narrowed. "Yui… are you insane?"
"Why not? Watari was handsome. You think I didn't notice?"
Her face darkened. For a moment, I thought she would scream.
"I didn't have feelings for Watari. Maybe you should've gone for him.
And don't talk like that about the dead. It's disgusting."
Good. I got what I wanted.
"True. You have feelings for Naoki."
She stepped back like I'd stabbed her.
"Where is this coming from?
I don't have feelings for anyone."
If I didn't laugh anymore, I'd break.
If I didn't joke with her, I'd start crying.
If she stayed silent any longer, I would've shattered.
"Arata?" I said casually.
"Sure… you could be his second wife. Rin and Kana throwing daggers at each other? That would be fun."
Kana glared death at me. Her gaze sharpened.
"Really? Arata? Second wife? Rin would punch you so hard if she heard this."
I pushed more.
"What about Hajime, Akira, Mic—"
She cut me with her ice-cold voice.
"Yui. Shut up."
I lunged three steps closer.
Leaned into her space.
Smiled.
"I know it's unlikely. But what about… Hayato?"
The faint wind tugged at her hair.
She'd been hit harder than she wanted me to see.
Her gaze flickered.
Then she looked far away.
"He's our sensei. The three of us… it's a long friendship.
No more than that."
A tiny twitch crossed her lips.
I smirked. "He's nearly our age. And you wouldn't want a cursed husband anyway— not with how you avoid looking at his white eye."
The moment I said "cursed," a sting shot through my chest.
Because that word was how others saw him. Not me.
For a moment, I hated myself.
Kana's voice sharpened instantly. "Are you an idiot? Don't make things up in your twisted head!"
Good. Talk to me, sister.
We always fought like this.
But this time, something sharp hid under our jokes.
"Three weeks ago, when you first woke up…" I smiled faintly. "The first thing you said was his name."
Kana's lips parted— but she didn't speak.
"Look," I said softly.
"You probably know this. But I'll say it anyway."
I breathed in.
"I love Hayato.
For a long time.
Longer than you think."
Kana went silent.
Thinking—too long.
A bird chirped once.
Even that annoyed me.
Then she said,
"Yui… we don't know if he's alive. Or if he's coming back."
She rubbed her palm.
Again.
The birds stopped.
Even the air felt afraid to speak between us.
Then she actually smiled.
"And I already figured it out years ago.
You're very careless.
And don't call him cursed.
If Hayato heard you say that, he'd reject you so hard."
I snorted and touched my hair.
"He'll reject someone like me?
For what—your archer body?
Not a chance…
That's blasphemy."
Kana tilted her head.
She looked like the sister I knew.
"You have the same body as me, idiot.
I'm even lighter than you nowadays.
And stealing my sister's future husband… that would be fun."
I grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at her face.
"Enough snow, Yui—" she wiped her cheek— "I already said I don't think of him that way."
But her eyes darted away.
Just for a moment.
"Good," I said.
"Then don't come back later. You'd have to be second wife.
And most men would envy your marriage with Hayato— though not as much as my marriage."
Kana's lips curled.
"What if Hayato looks at you and says,
'I love Kana'? That would be fun too."
I threw another snowball.
It burst softly against her cheek.
For a moment, despite everything, we looked like we always had— two sisters trying to heal a broken world with jokes.
But her last words stayed with me… long after the snow melted…
He wouldn't say that.
We both knew it.