During the first day at the campus, Hina stood under a blooming cherry blossom tree just inside the campus gate. She wore a cream cardigan over a tucked-in blouse and soft denim skirt, her hair clipped back loosely as she checked her phone for the third time in two minutes.
He was late or maybe she was early.
Either way, her heart wouldn't calm down.
"Looking for me?"
Hina turned—
And there he was.
Yuto.
Tall, calm, more composed than ever in a simple black shirt under a fitted blazer, hands in his pockets, that quiet gaze resting on her like nothing had changed.
"Hi," she said, her voice catching slightly.
"Hi."
They stood there for a moment, smiling awkwardly till Yuto asked, "You ready for this?" .
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied, adjusting the strap of her tote bag. "Wait, which faculty did you get into again?"
"Law and Politics," he said. "Seemed like the right direction. Strategy, negotiation, international policy… it'll help later, with what I need to take on."
Hina nodded, already seeing the dots connect. "Prepping to run the world, huh?"
Yuto smiled faintly. "Just learning how to survive it."
"What about you?" He added.
"I'm in Letters. Language and Communication. I like stories. And people," Hina said.
"You always did," he said. "You were the best at making things feel real when we were kids. Remember the pillow fort monologues?"
She laughed. "Don't bring that up. I was eleven."
"And brilliant."
She looked away, cheeks warming. "Let's go find our buildings."
*****
As it turned out, Yuto and Hina ended up in different faculties, with clashing schedules and full workloads.
Yuto dove into lectures on international law, political strategy, and negotiation theory, his days a blur of case studies and policy papers. Meanwhile, Hina found herself immersed in linguistics, media theory, and narrative structures, often getting lost in books and discussions about the power of words.
They rarely crossed paths between classes. But when they did meet, brief moments between lectures or after a long day, they would sit together at the benches, sharing coffee from the vending machines or bentos packed from home.
It wasn't often. But it was always enough.
Still, something unspoken lingered between them. Something that neither distance nor time had erased.
During a group project lunch break one afternoon, Hina sat at a café table with three girls from her faculty. They were laughing over a trending video when one of them nudged her and pointed subtly out the window.
"Hey. Isn't that the guy you're always talking to?"
Hina looked up. Yuto had just passed by outside, casually walking with a book in hand and earphones in.
Tall. Clean-cut. Effortlessly composed. Even in his most relaxed outfit, a plain white shirt, jeans, and a light jacket, he stood out.
One of the girls whistled. "Wow. He's tall."
"And seriously good-looking," another added. "That jawline? Please."
"Is he your boyfriend?" the third asked, turning to Hina. "You guys look way too natural together."
"What? No!" Hina blurted, nearly choking on her tea. "We've just… known each other forever. That's all."
All three girls raised their eyebrows.
"Girl," one of them said flatly, "you better move fast before someone else does."
"Yeah," another nodded, sipping her drink. "A guy like that won't stay single long. The quiet, loyal type? He's a walking fantasy."
Hina could only stare down into her cup, cheeks burning, heart racing.
The truth was—
She had noticed how other girls looked at Yuto.
On campus. In cafés. Even at the library.
They noticed the way he held doors open, the way he listened intently when spoken to, the way he smiled, rare but unforgettable when it happened.
And even though they weren't officially anything, even though they hadn't talked about feelings or labels…
The thought of another girl slipping into that space beside him made something sharp twist in her chest.
She didn't say anything to her classmates after that. Just quietly stirred her tea and stared out the window, watching as Yuto disappeared around the corner. Right now he could still be hers, but for how long, she didn't know.
****
One afternoon, as spring warmth settled gently over the city, Yuto found Hina sitting beneath a familiar sakura tree on campus. Her hair was tucked loosely behind her ears, her cream cardigan sleeves slightly pushed up as she typed quietly on her laptop. A half-eaten croissant sat on a napkin beside her, untouched for a while.
He walked over without a word, the soft crunch of petals under his shoes announcing his presence.
When she looked up, her eyes lit up in a way that made the air around them feel a little warmer.
"You're here," she said, smiling.
"I said I'd be," he replied, sitting down beside her and placing two canned peach soda on the stone bench between them.
She blinked at the cans. "You remembered my favorite?"
"Peach Soda," he said. "Always has been."
Hina took the can slowly, her fingers brushing lightly over his for the briefest second. She looked away quickly, cheeks warming.
"I always do," he added softly.
Her heart skipped.
She opened the can and took a sip, trying to hide her blush behind the rim. "You look tired."
"Law readings will do that to you," he replied, leaning back and stretching out his legs in front of him. "It's not romantic. But it's useful."
"Useful how?"
"I'm learning how power works," he said, gazing up at the canopy of blossoms. "How people bend it. How systems control people. And how to not get crushed by any of it."
Hina studied him for a moment, her eyes drifting to the soft curve of his jaw, his long fingers resting on his lap, the way he always looked like he was carrying something unspoken.
"Do you like it?" she asked.
Yuto was quiet. Then said, "I don't know yet. But I think I need it. If I'm going to be who I need to be."
There was a pause.
"Do you ever get scared?" she asked quietly.
He turned to look at her. "Only about one thing."
Hina's voice dropped into a whisper. "What?"
Yuto's eyes stayed on hers, unwavering. "Losing the people who matter."
The air changed.
And in that stillness, Hina forgot how to breathe properly.
She looked down at her lap, her heartbeat embarrassingly loud in her ears. Her cheeks were warm again, this time not from embarrassment but from something far more dangerous.
Before she could think of what to say, her phone buzzed with a group message from her literature class.
"Group meeting in 10," she read aloud, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice.
"You should go," Yuto said, voice gentler now.
She nodded, slowly rising. Then paused, standing above him as he remained seated beneath the blossoms.
"Will you… still be here after?"
Yuto looked up at her, the corners of his lips turning up. "I'll wait."
She smiled, small but real. "Okay."
As she turned to leave, her fingers lingered at her side, wanting to reach back but not quite brave enough.
And Yuto watched her go, the petals catching in her hair like she was still some soft part of a dream he never wanted to wake up from.