The emptiness inside my chest refused to fade.
It clung to me, heavy and unshakable, like a shadow that belonged to someone else yet lived within me.
Why did I feel so guilty? Why did her story wound me as if it were my own?
Evangeline was still standing beside me, smiling softly.
From the outside, she looked as radiant as ever—her lips curved into that delicate crescent, her voice gentle, her posture calm.
She kept staring at the night sky, and then stood up to have a better look at it.
For some reasons, there were a lot of more stars that night.
Everything was really beautiful and peaceful.
-But deep down I knew.
I knew that her smile was a mask.
Behind it lay years of solitude.
Nights without warmth.
Days without comfort.
She had carried that silence alone for so long, and now… I could see the cracks forming through the fragile expression she wore.
And for some reason, it mirrored me.
Her loneliness… I recognized it.
I felt it resonate within me, echoing like a faint memory I couldn't grasp.
I've always had Ema's company through all these years, but after my breakup, I felt that we shared a pretty similiar pain: losing someone, with the fear of being alone, having a missing parent...
I couldn't look away from her.
Her green eyes reflected the faint glow of the stars above us, their depths shimmering as though the night sky itself lived inside her.
And her blue hair, flowing gently with the evening breeze, caught the moonlight in a way that made each strand seem woven from silver threads.
She was luminous.
Unreal.
In that moment, I thought the word "beautiful" and understood what it truly meant.
Evangeline then turned her gaze to me and smiled weakly, by saying "Do you like this sky, Fumi?".
Her voice was gentle and soft.
After hearing her words, my chest tightened.
I didn't think.
I didn't plan.
I just moved.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I reached out and pulled her into my arms.
Tightly.
Her body stiffened against me.
Evangeline froze, her eyes widening in shock.
Her breath hitched as if the world had suddenly tilted beneath her feet.
For a brief moment, I feared I had crossed a line, that she would push me away, laugh it off, or pull back behind her mask again.
But she didn't.
Instead, her trembling and delicate hands hovered uncertainly before finally resting against my chest.
I felt the faintest shiver run through her as if she couldn't believe the warmth surrounding her was real.
The silence grew heavier, deeper, until the night seemed to hold its breath with us.
I closed my eyes, resting my chin gently against her hair.
The scent of her filled me—something faintly sweet and nostalgic, like rain lingering on wildflowers.
And then, without thinking, I whispered:
"This girl… will never be alone again. She has people who truly care for her now."
The words slipped out unbidden, as if drawn from somewhere deeper than my mind.
Yet, the instant they left my lips, I knew they were true.
Evangeline's breath trembled.
She stayed still, but the tension in her frame began to melt away.
Slowly, carefully, she leaned into me, as if testing whether my arms would truly remain around her.
They did.
Her body softened against mine.
I could feel her heartbeat—fast, uneven, almost frantic—as though she was afraid it might betray her.
A long moment passed before I heard it.
A faint, almost imperceptible sound.
She was laughing.
But it wasn't the bright, cheerful laughter she often showed the world.
This one was fragile, delicate, like glass on the verge of breaking.
A laugh born from disbelief, from vulnerability, from the feeling of finally being seen.
She was caught between laughter and tears.
"Fumi…" she whispered, her voice shaking. "Why… are you saying that now? To me?"
I tightened my hold slightly. "Because it's true. You won't be alone now. You have friends, so there's no need to carry your pain alone.
She didn't answer right away.
All I could hear was nothing more than a small and delicate sigh.
Her eyes were still closed, and I felt a damp warmth against my chest.
Tears—silent and hidden, the kind one doesn't want anyone to see.
I didn't call them out.
I didn't move away.
I just held her.
And I didn't know why I was doing that.
The thought of touching another girl after my breakup had always been off limits…
But for Evangeline, I didn't feel any kind of shyness.
It felt like hugging a member of my family.
Moreover, I also felt that she completely needed that, like she was desperate to receive some affection.
The night wrapped around us, quiet and infinite.
The wind whispered through the leaves, the stars shimmered in silence, and the city beyond the park felt impossibly distant, as though it no longer belonged to us.
For once, there was no need for words.
Her breathing gradually steadied.
The trembling in her hands lessened.
And though she said nothing, I knew.
I knew she had let herself believe, even for a fleeting second, that maybe she wasn't as alone as she had always feared.
Finally, Evangeline pulled back slightly, her eyes meeting mine.
They were shimmering now, glistening with the traces of tears that caught the moonlight.
And yet… she was smiling.
Not the mask she had worn before.
Not the smile meant to fool the world.But a true smile—fragile, uncertain, yet real.
"You're strange, Fumi," she murmured, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"Maybe," I admitted.
Her smile deepened just a little.
She chuckled at my response.
"Haha~ I knew you would've been interesting. But..." She said, while drying her eyes.
I kept looking at her.
"But... what?" I asked, curious.
"...I didn't expect you to be so... bold... hugging someone you barely know ~" Evangeline said in a "flirty" tone, joking about what I did.
Considering my shyness, she was right.
A hug like that isn't something my normal self would do., especially to a "stranger".
I blushed at her teasing.
"H-Hey... come on..." I said, while looking away and scratching the back of my head.
I chuckled a little.
Evangeline had the strange gift of making everyone feel better.
I could sense that she wasn't part of this world, like an angel.
"Hahaha! Tu es adorable!" She said, while patting my head.
"Jeez... stop this already..." I said, with a sigh.
After that, Evangeline took some steps back, before offering her hand to me again.
"Now... can you take me home?" She asked , with a very soft voice, her expression seemed full of "love".
She was too pure for this world.
A fragile and delicate soul in such a cruel place full of people who could hurt her.
The stars above seemed brighter.
The air between us warmer.
And the pain in my chest—the inexplicable guilt, the confusion, the emptiness—shifted into something else, at least for the moment.
Something I couldn't name yet, but that felt like the beginning of an answer I had been searching for without knowing.
And then, I wondered… Who was the guy who abandoned her...? For the first time, I feared the answer.
I then accepted her offer and then we started to walk together.
She led the way, looking truly… happy.
For a moment, it seemed as if the sadness in her heart had finally lifted, just like me.