The days following their conversation about Javier's livestream passed in a tension that neither Aiko nor Hiroshi knew how to address directly. They maintained their usual routine—Wednesday café meetings, weekend walks through Tokyo—but there was an unspoken weight between them that made even casual conversation feel loaded with significance.
"You've been quiet lately," Hiroshi observed as they sat in Ueno Park, watching families enjoy the autumn afternoon. "Are you still thinking about the video?"
"I can't stop thinking about it," Aiko admitted, her voice carrying the uncertainty that had become constant since learning Javier was awake. "Every time I close my eyes, I see his face. And I keep wondering what he wants to tell me, what message he thinks he has."
Hiroshi nodded, though she could see him wrestling with his own emotions. "Have you decided whether you're going to reach out to him?"
"I don't know how. What would I even say? 'Hi, I saw your viral video and I'm the girl you're looking for, but I'm dating someone else now'?" Aiko shook her head. "It feels impossible either way—contacting him or not contacting him."
"Aiko," Hiroshi said carefully, "I need to be honest about something I've been thinking."
"What?"
"I'm scared," he admitted, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. "I'm scared that if you contact him, you'll realize that what you feel for him is stronger than what we have together. And I'm scared that if you don't contact him, you'll always wonder what might have been."
The vulnerability in his admission made Aiko's heart ache. "Hiroshi..."
"I know it's selfish of me to feel this way. I know you didn't ask for this complication, and I know it's not fair to put pressure on you when you're already confused." He took her hand, his grip gentle but desperate. "But I need you to know that losing you would... it would change everything for me."
"You're not going to lose me," Aiko said, though even as the words left her mouth, she wasn't sure she could promise that.
"How can you be sure? You said yourself that seeing him brought up feelings you thought you'd moved past."
They sat in heavy silence, both aware that they were discussing the potential end of their relationship without saying it directly.
"Aiko," Hiroshi said suddenly, his voice taking on a different quality—more urgent, more intimate. "I know this might not be the right time, but I need to ask you something."
"What?"
He turned to face her fully, his eyes intense with emotion she'd never seen from him before. "I love you. Completely, desperately. And I'm terrified that I'm going to lose you to someone who represents your past instead of your future."
"Hiroshi..."
"Let me finish, please." His hands moved to cup her face gently. "I want to be with you completely. Not just emotionally, but physically. I want to share everything with you, to show you how much you mean to me in every way possible."
Aiko felt her breath catch as she understood what he was asking. "You want us to..."
"I want to make love with you," he said quietly, his forehead resting against hers. "I want to show you what we could have together, what real intimacy feels like when it's mutual and present and not based on memory or fantasy."
The request hung between them, heavy with implications beyond just physical intimacy. Hiroshi was asking her to choose him definitively, to commit to their relationship in a way that would make turning back more difficult.
"I know it might seem like I'm trying to claim you before he can find you," Hiroshi continued, his voice strained with emotion. "But that's not what this is about. It's about us, about what we've built together, about not letting fear of the past prevent us from fully embracing what we have."
Aiko pulled back slightly, studying his face. She could see the love there, but also the desperation, the fear that she might slip away from him if he didn't anchor her somehow.
"Hiroshi, I..." she began, then stopped, unsure how to respond to such a significant request when her own emotions were so conflicted.
"You don't have to answer now," he said quickly, seeing her struggle. "But Aiko, I need you to know that I'm willing to fight for us. Whatever happens with this situation, whatever you decide about contacting him, I'm not giving up on what we have without trying everything."
As they walked back toward their respective campuses, Aiko felt the weight of yet another impossible decision settling on her shoulders. Hiroshi's request wasn't just about physical intimacy—it was about choosing a future with him over the uncertainty of reconnecting with Javier.
But making that choice when her heart was still calling toward someone else felt like a betrayal of everyone involved, including herself.
The question was whether she was brave enough to face her true feelings before making a decision that could change everything for all of them.