After nearly five minutes of silence between them…
Mejiro Ramonu finally lifted her head.
They looked at each other, neither of them speaking.
Symboli Rudolf didn't know what to say.
Mejiro Ramonu didn't know whether she should say what she'd come to say.
But in the end, Mejiro Ramonu spoke anyway. "Luna?"
Rudolf didn't answer in words. She only watched Mejiro Ramonu, waiting for what would come next.
After a brief hesitation…
Mejiro Ramonu finally asked, "Want to try some?"
As she spoke, she carefully opened the dessert box, bit by bit, revealing a sweet that looked almost perfectly made.
"Natural made it," she added after opening the box.
She said it on purpose.
Hearing that, Rudolf only looked at her. "You asked her to, didn't you?"
"…Mm."
The answer was simple—ordinary.
But Rudolf could tell she was holding something back, so she asked, "Did you really just come to see me?"
"There were other things, but…"
Mejiro Ramonu's expression shifted as she looked down at the dessert. "Now… maybe there aren't."
Rudolf could roughly guess what Mejiro Ramonu had wanted to ask.
But sometimes it was better not to force those things into words.
So...
"This time, you're not going to try to persuade me to go back?"
Rudolf sidestepped the question Mejiro Ramonu hadn't asked. She looked at her and spoke lightly. "I might even agree, you know."
In that casual tone, she offered something Mejiro Ramonu could never accomplish.
Mejiro Ramonu only shook her head. "Not anymore. If it were me, you wouldn't do anything, would you?"
The moment the words left her mouth—words she'd already known the answer to—her eyes filled with tears.
Seeing her like that, Rudolf parted her lips… and couldn't find anything to say.
Because if Yayoi Natural had asked, Rudolf would have agreed.
She didn't even need to think to know that.
Mejiro Ramonu cut a small piece of the dessert with her fork and asked again, "Want to try some?"
Rudolf shook her head, still not giving her a yes.
That response made Mejiro Ramonu lower her head slightly.
The bite she'd cut sat on the fork.
She stared at it.
Then she lifted her gaze to Rudolf again.
What had once been only a feeling—now she could finally be sure.
There was no place for her in Rudolf's eyes.
Having gotten her answer at last, Mejiro Ramonu ate the bite in one swallow.
"Luna. I won't ask why."
She set the fork down.
Watching the movement, Rudolf—who had barely spoken at all—finally said, "Sorry, Ramonu. I've never felt that way about you."
After that, she added, "I've always given you a clear rejection."
"…Yeah."
Regret colored every syllable as Mejiro Ramonu asked one last question. "Why can't it be me?"
"…"
Rudolf didn't answer right away.
Mejiro Ramonu didn't mind. She simply waited.
The silence stretched long—too long—before Rudolf finally broke it.
"It's just… we didn't meet at the right time."
With that, Rudolf fell quiet again.
Clearly, more than anyone, she understood what "not the right time" truly meant.
Mejiro Ramonu opened her mouth… then closed it.
She could already guess where the story led.
If it had been back then… she really had—
So Mejiro Ramonu swallowed down the thing she'd almost said, forcing it back where it came from.
"Luna."
"Mm."
"If Natural asked you… you'd say yes, right?"
She'd switched to the question she hadn't been able to ask earlier.
Rudolf didn't hesitate. She nodded. "I did some things wrong… and I hurt her, badly. So if it's something she says out loud, I'll do everything I can to help her."
As she spoke, Rudolf looked at Mejiro Ramonu. "Just like you."
By "just like you," Rudolf meant the way Mejiro Ramonu had always been with her.
The way Rudolf would act to help Yayoi Natural—Mejiro Ramonu did the same.
Getting that answer, Mejiro Ramonu took a deep breath and swallowed down the argument she'd wanted to make.
Once she knew she wasn't in Rudolf's eyes, there wasn't much left to ask.
But still—
"Luna…"
"Mm."
"If only I didn't love you."
"…I'm sorry."
Rudolf's apology didn't earn a reply.
Mejiro Ramonu stood, turned, and walked out of Rudolf's apartment.
Rudolf didn't hesitate. She stood as well and followed her out into the narrow hall.
There, she saw Yayoi Natural waiting in the corridor.
Her gaze swept over Yayoi Natural—then settled on Mejiro Ramonu.
Mejiro Ramonu didn't look well. But…
The person Rudolf truly needed to pay attention to wasn't Mejiro Ramonu.
It was—
"Yayoi."
Not her given name, but her surname.
Hearing someone call her, Yayoi Natural drew her eyes back from the distance and turned toward the voice.
And she saw Rudolf standing behind Mejiro Ramonu.
Yayoi Natural didn't respond.
Rudolf walked up to her and, in a voice Mejiro Ramonu couldn't hear, said what she meant to say:
"Ramonu's…"
She paused for a second, searching for the right word.
"Ramonu isn't doing well. She might do something extreme. Be careful."
After saying that, Rudolf turned and went back into the apartment.
Yayoi Natural watched Rudolf disappear, then shifted her gaze to Mejiro Ramonu.
Just as Rudolf said, Mejiro Ramonu was in a bad state.
She needed rest.
So Yayoi Natural immediately walked to her side—she had to take Mejiro Ramonu back.
As for the questions Yayoi Natural wanted to ask…
Next time.
That was what Yayoi Natural thought.
---
T/N: AHJHHHH PLEASE RUDOLF!!! YOU CAN WIN THIS RACE!! YOU HAD A HEAD START THEN CRASHED HORRIBLY BUT YOURE STILL IN THIS!!!
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