The Valencia International Cycling Championship had evolved into something far beyond what anyone had anticipated. What started as a European competition had transformed into a global fundraising initiative, with Javier at its center, proposing to extend his participation into a multi-continental journey to raise money for children's medical research and gather others along the way.
"You want to cycle from Valencia to where exactly?" Coach Elena asked, staring at the maps Javier had spread across the cycling club's conference table.
"Valencia to Paris, then to Berlin, and finally to Copenhagen," Javier explained, tracing the route with his finger. "Four countries, twelve hundred kilometers, all to raise funds for children's hospitals and coma recovery research. It aligns with the research of some private donors. The race organizers are supportive, and we already have sponsors lined up."
Meanwhile, three thousand kilometers away in Tokyo, Aiko was experiencing her own milestone. October 15th had arrived quietly—her seventeenth birthday—but instead of celebration, she found herself sitting in her dorm room at Stellar Academy, staring at her phone with tears streaming down her face.
The notification from Hana had come that morning: a link to one of Javier's recent videos. Aiko had watched it once, her heart stopping as she saw his face, heard his voice, recognized immediately that this was him—the boy who had saved her three years ago.
Her hands shook as she called Hana.
"It's him," she whispered when Hana answered. "It's really him, Hana."
"I know," Hana said softly. "I've been watching his videos for weeks, wondering if I should tell you. Are you okay?"
"No... I'm not okay." Aiko's voice broke. "He's been looking for me this whole time, and I... I kissed him goodbye when he was in the coma. I thought he was never going to wake up, and now... now he's awake and I'm with Hiroshi and I don't know what to do."
"Oh, Aiko..."
"I love Hiroshi," Aiko said desperately. "I really do. But seeing Javier like this, knowing he remembers me, knowing he's been searching... How can I pretend I don't know? How can I let him keep looking when I could just... but then what about Hiroshi? What about everything we've built?"
"What do you want to do?" Hana asked gently.
"I want to hide," Aiko admitted through her tears. "I want to pretend I never saw the video and just... keep living my life. But that feels so wrong, letting him search when I'm right here. But reaching out feels wrong too because of Hiroshi."
"You have to tell Hiroshi," Hana said quietly.
"How can I tell him that the person who... the person I said I'd moved on from is awake and looking for me? What if he thinks I've been lying about my feelings? What if he doesn't trust me anymore?"
"Aiko, if Hiroshi really loves you, he'll understand that this is complicated. But you can't keep this secret from him. That would be worse than anything."
Aiko sat in silence, wiping her eyes. "What if I lose him, Hana? What if I lose everything I've built because of someone from my past?"
"What if you lose yourself by not being honest about what you're feeling?"
"I don't even know what I'm feeling. I'm so confused, Hana. I thought I'd moved on, but seeing him..." Aiko's voice got smaller. "What if I never really got over him? What if everything with Hiroshi was just... trying to fill a space that belonged to someone else?"
"Only you can figure that out. But you have to be honest with yourself and with Hiroshi. This isn't going away, and pretending it doesn't exist will only make it worse."
As they talked, Aiko clutched her phone, looking at Javier's face frozen on her screen—older now, but unmistakably the person who had changed her life in a single afternoon.
"I'm scared, Hana," she whispered. "I'm scared of hurting Hiroshi, scared of disappointing Javier, scared of making the wrong choice and ruining everything good in my life."
"I know you're scared. But Aiko, you can't make this decision by avoiding it. You have to face it, even if it's terrifying."
As night fell in Tokyo, Aiko sat alone in her dorm room on her seventeenth birthday, knowing that tomorrow she would have to find the courage to tell Hiroshi the truth about what she had discovered—and somehow figure out what her heart actually wanted before it was too late for everyone involved.