Utaha did not understand.
She could not figure it out.
Her body seemed to be producing an intense impulse—an impulse that could only be suppressed by exerting all of her reason.
Otherwise, she would already have tightly embraced the man in front of her.
What on earth was happening?
"I like you. Please go out with me."
Haizaki said it once again.
At this moment, his final hope surged up.
Utaha… perhaps she had not completely forgotten him.
Her eyes looked at him as though he were a stranger, filled with confusion and shock, yet the tear marks at the corners of her eyes revealed that there were still remnants of memory left within her.
Perhaps the Utaha of this moment could accept his confession.
"A man who hasn't even… pursued me… how could I… possibly accept… your confession."
Utaha's words pierced through the air, pulling Haizaki's thoughts back to that day in the "Solitary Apocalypse," when Utaha had been running a fever.
With the exact same words of rejection as back then, she rejected him once more today.
The only difference was—
At this moment, Utaha's voice was choked with sobs, broken and trembling, completely lacking any persuasiveness.
As soon as those words fell, the entire scene was stunned.
How had it turned out like this?
Just moments ago, the goddess Utaha had rejected him coldly, yet now she was crying, trembling as she said that a man had to pursue her before she would accept a confession.
This was the first time they had ever seen the high mountain flower shed tears.
So there really was someone who could make Utaha cry.
Who was this man? What kind of charm did he have?
An acquaintance from her past?
What kind of new development was this?
At this moment, everyone realized that the situation had far exceeded their expectations.
Their curiosity, desire to know, and appetite for gossip surged explosively.
"Alright. I'll pursue you…"
Seeing Utaha crying so hard made Haizaki's heart ache.
Out of habit, he reached out and wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
Utaha instinctively wanted to dodge, but her body remained rooted in place, beyond her control.
She clearly wanted to refuse, wanted to stop the man's intimate gesture, yet she could not move—neither her body nor her hands.
At the instant the man touched her to wipe away her tears, the feeling of aversion vanished completely.
The only thing she wanted to do was to throw herself into the man's arms and cry loudly, venting some unknown, indescribable negative emotion buried deep within her heart.
What was wrong with her?
Utaha… was lost, confused.
…
On that New Year's Eve, the night he had promised to confess, he had already made his decision.
Now, Utaha had given her answer.
And he, at last, could steel his resolve.
To pursue Utaha—
But…
Not now.
After the apocalyptic disaster ended, after he had resolved everything, he would devote himself fully to pursuing Utaha and make her fall in love with him once again.
To make the same girl fall in love with him twice.
However, April—
Perhaps it truly was a season accompanied by lies.
"Utaha, I still have things I must do. After it's over, I'll pursue you."
He might lose his life, but for her, for this peaceful and tranquil world, he believed he would survive and appear before her again.
Haizaki's voice was not loud, yet in the deathly silent surroundings, almost everyone heard him clearly.
No one understood what this man was doing.
What kind of outrageous move was this?
Making Utaha—who was already close to agreeing—wait for him to finish whatever he needed to do. Was this a joke?
What could possibly take priority over pursuing Toyogasaki's school idol? This was absurd.
If it were them, they would have confessed immediately and begun their pursuit, securing Utaha's agreement as soon as possible, embracing the beauty and becoming a winner in life, embarking on a happy and blissful youth.
But this man's behavior—
No one understood it, and many were even indignant.
"…"
Utaha was stunned.
She did not understand what he truly meant.
Yet the emotions rising in her heart only made the sour ache grow stronger.
Tears blurred her vision.
She clearly did not want to cry, yet why were the tears continuing to flow against her will?
"Don't cry. A girl isn't pretty when she cries."
Haizaki gently wiped away the tears on her face, his words soft.
Seeing Utaha in tears made Haizaki's heart ache, but he had no other choice. Only by restoring Utaha's year-long memories from the "Solitary Apocalypse" could she truly recover.
But right now, he was powerless.
From Utaha's wine-red eyes, Haizaki understood that her memories were exactly as the system had said—completely gone.
She no longer had any memory of what had happened in the "Solitary Apocalypse."
All her current expressions and reactions were merely subconscious remnants and bodily familiarity left deep within her.
After all, he and she had spent an entire year together, day and night, growing accustomed to each other's presence.
This affection, this love—no matter how the system erased Utaha's memories, it could not completely erase the residual instinctive memory that remained.
Haizaki did not know how to describe his feelings at this moment.
But he understood that only by resolutely continuing to the apocalyptic world, saving it, and completing the system's missions could he fulfill his original wish to save the world—and now…
Haizaki revealed a faint smile.
To let Utaha once again possess that full year of memories.
Wait for me…
Utaha.
Give me a little more time.
…