Hi everyone, I'm new here. This is my first ever fanfic, and I've never written stories before, so please be gentle. Also, it would be great if you gave feedback.
Ah, some of you might be wondering (like my friend did, if you read this, you know I'm talking about you) if Acchan was sick in this fic, she wasn't. The following sentence kind of explained it.
Surreal BeautyIt was 23:49. The night was only beginning.
There was a clinking noise as someone put a key in, the other keys dangling beneath it, and turned the lock. As the door was opening, a figure silently slipped in thought the small space available, its curvy and slender feature, its smooth hair, and its flawless visage indicating a woman—a girl in her twenties, to be precise. She slowly closed the door and sighed as it gave a click. After taking off her shoes, she tiredly dragged herself into the house, lifting her feet only an inch above the ground to avoid making any unnecessary sound.
Stopping in front of a closed door, she placed her hand on the knob, knowing well that the owner of the room never locked her door, in case something happened. Tightening her grip, she hesitantly turned the knob halfway, stopped, and, after a few seconds of staring at it, gently twisted it back in place.
She leaned on the door, rested her forehead on its surface and closed her eyes, savoring the coolness of the wooden object. The young girl shakily drew her lips open, “Minami…” her voice quavered.
~~~~~~
(Flashback)
It had been a few months since her graduation announcement, and everyone had learned how to cope with her absence by now. She thought it wasn’t a dilemma as they had made it seem to be, since she had never led the group, it was Minami.
Having been friends and colleagues for seven years had driven away any possible awkwardness between her and the members. They would occasionally invite her to hang out with the groups or to go shopping together as they used to. Oshima Yuko, Kojima Haruna, Minegishi Minami, and Itano Tomomi—and sometimes the two Matsuis from SKE, too—would often call her up and they would have a girls’ day out.
Her life had been fulfilling: she had her job as an actress, and once in a while, she would join AKB48 in some of its huge concerts.
The young actress was used to waking up at five in the morning, working all day, and sleeping at one or two. She knew she didn’t have any outstanding talent; all she did was try to give her all, give her smile, and work hard. Her colleagues and the filming staff all loved her, it would seem, “Even when she’s tired, you never see that smile disappear. It’s admirable,” they said in interviews.
Was she content?
Although she was overloaded with filming, Maeda Atsuko, AKB48’s former Ace, still dedicated some of her free time for the group that had shaped her everything, especially for her best friend, Takahashi Minami. Over the course of her career with the group, Atsuko and Minami had always been together. But since she was busy with her new work, they hadn’t seen each other for a while.
In the shows she participated in recently, Atsuko had a far-away gaze and often staggered or fell asleep when everyone was filming. Minami was the first to notice her friend’s behaviors, but dismissed them as her own imagination. Soon, it became visible to everyone else as the idol called her fellow actors and actresses by the wrong names and as her eye bags grew darker and darker. The producers had to interfere and asked her to take a few days off to rest.
As soon as Atsuko was released from the studio where she received the order to rest, Minami—who had called and agreed to take her home—confronted Atsuko, her eyes flashing the usual glint when she wanted to make her point without arguments.
The small leader took her friend’s hand without hesitation and looked into her eyes. Maeda Atsuko was not someone who could easily put her thoughts and feelings into words; with her head slightly bowed, she retreated to her little world of insecurity and cloaked herself with her usual stoic expression.
Night had just begun: the breezes still had the lingering warmth of the setting sun. Silence enveloped the two. The tension between them was suffocating, slowly creeping up their limbs, crushing their already heavy hearts with its weight. They stood, one patiently waiting, one consistently avoiding eye contact, until the silence became unbearably strident. Minami, looking as if she had had enough, started.
“Acchan…” she paused and waited for the other girl’s attention before continuing, “Acchan… you haven’t been taking care of yourself.” She slowly drew her sentence, her voice dripping with genuine worry.
Atsuko found herself losing her voice; her lips formed something, but her vocal chords did not vibrate, nor did her brain function the way she wanted. Biting her bottom lip, she knew she didn’t need words, so she searched her friend’s eyes and waited.
It had always been like this. Minami smiled tenderly as she recognized the familiar actions. Atsuko would always be Atsuko; she would always be like this when she was troubled.
“Acchan,” she called again, “I know you often forget to treat yourself properly (more like she didn’t care, but Minami didn’t think she needed to add that). We’ve always taken care of each other, but lately I haven’t been seeing you much, since you’re no longer in AKB…” She stopped and locked her eyes with Atsuko’s.
“I know you’re not blaming me,” Atsuko finally spoke, her eyes twinkling with slight amusement.
Giving a relieved smile, Minami continued, “We live a little bit far away from each other, so it’s inconvenient for me when I want to check up on you. Should something happen to you, I might be too late. And seeing how you’ve been these days, I can’t stop worrying.” Squeezing the hand that she was still holding, Minami closed the distance between them. She raised her head and said, “Atsuko, I want you to move in with me.”
Said girl opened her eyes wide as Minami stared into her friend’s whirlpool of emotions; shock was apparent on her face.
“I’m worried about you, Atsuko. You always work… I hardly see you rest now. I want to properly take good care of you.”
“I— I…” a single teardrop fell from her eye, her lips shaking, her nose clogged with unsaid sentiments.
Atsuko hadn’t even thought this day would come. She had stated in her interviews a long time ago that she would like to “live with Takamina,” but she didn’t dare to dream of this day. But she froze after realizing something in what Minami said.
“What… did you m-… why…?” Carefully choosing her words, Atsuko made sure her voice wasn’t too shaky.
“Eh? Why?” Surprised by the question, Minami stared hard into the ex-Ace’s eyes. She replied in a skeptical manner, as if she could not fathom her friend’s strange question, “I’m worried. I have to make sure you won’t kill yourself from overexertion.” It was quite ironic, since she also worked too much. “And,” she flashed a toothy grin before continuing, “am I not your personal alarm clock?”
With her head bowed so low that her bangs were hiding her face, Atsuko tried to lift the corners of the mouth into a smile, but it came out as a self-loathing smirk. “Wistful…” she whispered to herself.
“Hmm? What did you say?” Minami asked with her all-time innocent face.
“No… nothing…” Averting her gaze, Atsuko frowned and pouted a bit.
Minami laughed delightfully. Slowly, she cupped Atsuko’s cheeks and smiled lovingly. “You’re really cute when you pout,” she giggled. “But as I thought, I prefer your smile; it always brightens my day… Please smile for me, okay?”
With that, she wrapped her arms around Atsuko’s waist and hugged her close. The taller girl left her hand hovering in the air, looking indecisive, before resting them on the other girl’s waist, her chin snuggling in the crook of Minami’s neck. Her eyelids wrapping down her beautiful brown orbs, she smiled bitterly.
(End Flashback)
~~~~~~
Lifting her head, Atsuko pushed herself up from the door and turned to her left. Her eyes already familiar to the dark, she made her way to her room at the end of the hall. The wooden floor dully reflected the dark ceiling. Without any light, the narrow hallway seemed cold and lonely. The only noise, which was barely audible, was Atsuko’s quiet footsteps. For every step she made, the chilly floor sent shivers up from her bare feet, to her spine, and to the back of her head. She frowned; she started to feel a freezing headache coming.
Then she thought of Nezumi, a character played by her friend Watanabe Mayu in their drama Majisuka Gakuen. Spreading her arms sideways, she lifted her left leg, unstably balanced herself on her right leg, and took a step forward. She walked as if on a tightrope, counting, one step, two steps, three steps. Halting approximately one hundred and sixty centimeters from Minami’s door, she stood still with her arms spreading to her sides awhile, then she dropped her arms, her shoulders slumped forward.
Her head slowly tilted thirty degrees to her right, the pair of moonstones blinking, but unmoving and unseeing. Right now, this moment, Maeda Atsuko would agree to anyone saying that she was crazy. Her throat was itchy, her nose was stiff, and her mind was hazy. She felt like screaming, but stopped herself before she could disturb her friend’s sleep. Sighing, Atsuko absentmindedly headed for her own room.
She took her time in changing and bathing, enjoying the little distraction. Sleep was lulling her to its welcoming arms; she yawned and flopped on her bed. Reaching for her calendar lying on the bed table, she grabbed something when her hand felt the smooth texture of the papers.
The calendar was opened on July. “Today… 14th…” she tapped her forefinger on the square marked with the number fourteen. All the little squares were filled with writings. Most of them had “Up 04:30,” and “Home 02:00,” or “Home 23:30,” like today. It had been a few weeks since she moved in with Minami. Although she had promised to not work herself to death, Atsuko still signed new contracts and worked overtime for the past week or two. She tightened her grip and crumpled the calendar in her hand, almost tearing the thing to pieces. Her chest felt heavy; it was becoming hard to breathe. She felt as if someone turned the air conditioner to the lowest temperature, then forcefully ripped her chest open and crushed that beating pump inside her.
Her heart was beating fast, pushing all the emotions to her throat, only to be stuck there and never released. She awfully wanted to cry right now, only she couldn’t cry; the tears wouldn’t come. Her mouth slowly opened wide; the muscles on the face were contracting and tired. With a gasp, the inside of her mouth was filled with air. She gave a silent yell. At the same time, there was a blinding flash of light, following by a loud, rumbling noise.
Thunder drowned her mute shout. Something growled outside. A drop of water landed on the glass windows. Splashing sounds filled her ears not five minutes after the thunder. Soon, it was pouring, beating harshly on the houses and the ground below.
No one heard her. No one came to save her. As her body shook lightly, she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.
~~~~~~
The clock’s hands indicated 04:02 in the morning. She blinked her eyes a few times to get the sleep out of them. She tiredly removed her gaze from the clock and snuggled against the pillow. Her left temple was throbbing, but she didn’t want to go back to sleep. Her body was sleepy still, yet her mind was already awake.
The bed seemed so hard she felt as if she was sleeping on a rock. Pushing her body up by the elbows, with her back arched, she slowly rolled off her bed and went to the bathroom to clear her mind. Turning on the faucet, she splashed water on her face.
The mirror on the wall reflected every detail on her feature: her messy hair, her dark and purple eye bags, her pale lips, and the droplets of water running along the lines of her jaw.
Coming out, she grabbed a towel to dry her wet face and took a look at the calendar. Work would start at 06:30. It was now 04:29, and she was surprised by how much time she spent in the bathroom.
When she and Minami moved in together, they had chosen a house near a beach. It was Minami’s idea. Atsuko had told her that she would like to live in a house with nice scenery—as she did in an interview before, so Minami chose this place so that they could go to the beach together. She decided to take a walk to that beach.
~~~~~~
The chilly wind blew on her face, tossing her shoulder-length hair slightly as she looked up at the sky. The moving, gloomy clouds above reflected itself in the dark puddles of rain below. Everything was in total silence, except for the rustling sound as the wind wrapped itself around the green leaves of the trees on the side of the street. The dark orange light still lingered in the bulbs of the street lamps, leisurely vanishing as the seconds went by. Side-stepping the puddles, Atsuko noted the cold and loneliness of the painting before her.
She tilted her head as her mind wandered to her little captain. Recently, Minami had been acting strange around her. It was the reason why she pushed herself to work; she couldn’t stop thinking about Minami and hurting herself otherwise. Minami, who had never reacted much when Atsuko hugged or kissed her, had been avoiding her friend.
Minami didn’t encourage it, but she never protested when Atsuko got too close. However, now she seemed to dedicate all her time to avoiding the Ace. For every step that Atsuko took toward her, Minami turned and quickly walked away. For every hug that Atsuko gave her, Minami returned with a push and an uncomfortable smile. She was never a good liar; her eyes always spelled awkwardness whenever they met Atsuko’s affectionate ones.
“Maybe… I was pushing too much…” she whispered, bowing her head as she thought about Minami’s strange behaviors.
She had always been clinging onto Minami, and Atsuko was sure that the small girl liked their closeness, too.
Her fingers felt prickly because of the cold wind blowing from the beach. Raising her shaking hand to eye level, she made a gesture as if touching an invisible wall. She knitted her brows as her lips slightly pursed, forming an emotionless pout.
There it was…
That annoying feeling weighing on her chest…
There it was…
That absolute coldness and loneliness…
That fuming disappointment at herself. Her little, useless self…
“Pitiful…” That was how she looked, she was sure. Following Minami like a lost dog, she could feel,
see, the cold wall growing thicker and thicker, pushing them further away. She swore she could hold that icy emptiness and it would provokingly crawl along her arm before engulfing her existence.
Life to her was a mystery. Life was simple. And she had been doing all she could to keep it that way. However, a small wrong could make it convoluted. It did. Being a shy girl, Atsuko found herself losing courage at times like this. She wasn’t brave enough to talk to Minami. It was like tying life in a knot; the more she tried to pull and hasten the disentangling process, the bigger and more complicated it got. She had been crumpling that tangled knot and was now afraid it would snap all at once.
Like her fourteen-year-old self… too afraid to speak… ensconcing herself in a dark corner, all alone.
~~~~~~
Mellifluous music played from a phone and spread across the room. From time to time, the vibration could be heard on the wooden bed table. The figure on the bed reached out its hand to grope for the source of sound.
Flipping the phone open, the figure poked its head out from under the blanket and stopped the alarm. The girl, her face now visible in the hazy light from outside, stared at her phone before closing it and put it back to its previous place.
After getting ready for the morning, she left her room, swaying on her feet like a zombie. She knew her posture was like that of an old man, but paid no mind to it. The muscles of her thighs were screaming at her, although it wasn’t unusual. She had been practicing non-stop lately with even more intensity than she was used to.
Stopping to look outside a window, she felt more refreshed to feel the cool floor beneath her feet. At least it wasn’t hot. The little morning dews clinging on the green leaves outside gave the place a bit of a quaint look. She had made sure that there was a small garden outside for times like this: to relax. Turning her gaze away from the view, she thought of what to have for breakfast.
Because the kitchen was on the other side of the house, she had to pass by the front door. Glancing at the rows of shoes, she noticed something off: a pair was missing, and in its place was a different pair. She could tell they were Atsuko’s work shoes that were in place of the missing sandals. She was sure her friend only wore those sandals when she wanted to take a walk.
Realizing what she was doing, she immediately shook her head and scolded herself, “Stop that! Stop thinking about her…” She frowned, “Why is it that I always notice every little detail about her…? Why do I know so much about her…?”
A whole storm of confusion was apparent in her eyes. She couldn’t understand why every time she saw Atsuko, she wanted to embrace her and greet her before anyone else did. Why her chest tightened when hers and Atsuko’s eyes met. Why there was a heavy weight of chagrin pressing down on her when someone got too close to her housemate. She never told this to anyone; she had only ever been honest when it was Atsuko, but how could she when Atsuko was the reason she was feeling so wretched?
Casting her eyes downward, she thought about the past weeks trying to avoid Atsuko, avoid the pain. She was tired, and she was sure Atsuko was too. In the end, one of them had to push the stop button for this hide-and-seek game.
Sighing, she turned and began her daily routine: prepare breakfast, leave some for Atsuko, and go to work early. Normally, she would be doing her routine at 03:30 or 04:00, but she knew today Atsuko would work at 06:30 (she had snuck in Atsuko’s room when she wasn’t home to have a look at her calendar). She glanced at the clock, 05:14. It was still too early for other members. She would have to practice by herself if no one came early.
~~~~~~
That headache was insistent. It moved from her left temple to her right temple and the back of her right eye. She tried to ignore it, but to no avail.
As if in a daze, her unfocused eyes caught the heaving waves; she carelessly gave her head a flick and caught sight of the sluggish clusters of clouds above. Shadows covered the upper half of her face; she was now staring at her feet and the ripples dancing glisteningly around them. Her mind drifted back to those days, when she was once a radiant, dreamy girl who cared not what future had in mind for her, when she was able to dance, her body bending and her legs moving nimbly, without a lump on her shoulders and in her throat.
“The wind blows towards the future…” She opened her mouth slightly and sweetly murmured the line of the song.
She shivered as a gust of wind breezed by, unconsciously bringing her pale hands to her mouth. She tried to blow hot air on her palms, and as the warmth seeped in and spread over her skin, the back of her mind longed for the comfort of someone.
The sun was dawning. It never rose, nothing ever rose. All were just illusions made by the Earth revolving around itself. She smiled sourly. She wasn’t one to think about things like this; Akimoto-san would be more likely to say it.
Her eyes were sore, she couldn’t see clearly. Wherever she looked, it seemed as if everything was moving out of her retina. It was getting hard to concentrate on something.
She jerked her head away, narrowing her eyes. The sunlight was getting in her eyes; maybe that was why. It must be past 05:30 by now. Blocking the transparent golden ray, she decided to take her time on the way home.
~~~~~~
Tick… tock… tick… tock…
The ticking sound of the clock was starting to annoy her. Nine thousand sixty-eight seconds… nine thousand sixty-nine… nine thousand seventy…
She impatiently tapped her fingers on the edge of the bench. She was sitting there, but her heart was somewhere inside the room before her. Looking up, she glared at the white door, her hearts—“this” heart and “that” heart, figuratively speaking—were behind that door.
“When did she become my heart, anyway…?” she grunted. She turned her head to look at the clock on the wall, finally giving up on counting how many times she had done it. It read 04:30 in the afternoon.
Nine thousand eighty-one… nine thousand eighty-two… nine thousand eighty-three…
Arriving here at 01:59, roughly one hundred fifty-one minutes ago, she had been staying out here with the sun glaring down on her back, all because there was a window as wide as the bench she was sitting on. Evening was coming, thankfully, and the temperature decreased a little bit.
It was silly, she knew it, but she wanted to talk to whoever was coming out of the door as soon as that person came out. After all, her “hearts” were in there, and she wanted to know about their conditions right away—especially “that” heart—even just one-tenth of a second sooner. So she never went over to the other bench only seven feet away.
Her phone rang about two hours ago when everyone was taking a break in the practice room. The strange number that called her turned out to be from Atsuko’s film studio, as the voice introduced itself. Then she wondered what could have happened. Since she and Atsuko were living together, they decided to use each other’s number as emergency numbers in case something happened to one of them. Imagine how she felt when that voice told her, “Maeda-san collapsed when we were in the middle of filming.”
Shutting her eyes, she tried not to remind herself of that feeling anymore.
The sound of the door sliding open brought her face up… She made up her mind.
~~~~~~
“Let’s go home, Acchan,” Minami smiled as she held her hand out to the other girl. If Atsuko was surprised, then she didn’t show it, but her eyes were wider than before. Her eyes darted back and forth between the outstretched palm and the smile on the face that she had come to love so much.
Seventeen seconds… eighteen… nineteen…
Her smile didn’t waver; she knew the girl was seriously considering her offer.
Finally, Atsuko lifted her hand, her fingers slowly extending toward those of the small captain, and placed her palm on top of Minami’s.
~~~~~~
They walked in silence; it wasn’t suffocating anymore, but nowhere near natural as it used to be. Their footsteps were in perfect synch, and probably their hearts, too. Atsuko had walked this road, this street, times and times before, but now it seemed to have changed. This long, narrow road, with a row of green trees, seemed strange to her somehow. Life was beautiful; she was aware of that. But this moment seemed to make life’s pulchritude visible, palpable almost. She wouldn’t be surprised if something happened right here, right now—
“Atsuko,” Minami’s voice pulled her out of her reverie. They had slowed down and came to a stop while she was busy thinking about the scenery, and Minami was staring at her now. Still holding her hand, Atsuko deliberately touched Minami’s eyes with hers, carefully tracing every possible detail on her friend’s feature as she did so.
“Atsuko,” Minami called again, her voice stern, “You promised me you’d take good care of yourself.” Those mesmerizing orbs once again focused all of their love to the person reflected in them. That golden light of the setting sun imbued those beautiful orbs, giving them a surreal color.
It was as if someone took the moon in its most glorious night, doubled it, and placed the two moons in this girl. If it were true, then her personality explained it.
She was never shining too brightly until no one could see none other but her. She shined in her own little space, never too radiant, but never too dim, and there was never any one who could erase her. She was always there, consistently complementing others with her own beauty, but never giving up her light. She seemed to always have more than enough to give.
“You were avoiding me.” Atsuko realized Minami was independent, and she was afraid that independence might one day take her heart away from her.
“Is it because of me, then?” Minami questioned. Atsuko didn’t answer, just stared at her with such intent gaze.
There it was again. Atsuko was the sun in her life, always giving her the light to live. But there were times, such as this, when she felt that magnetic force from Atsuko’s silent pearls. They were dark. They were intent. They were beautiful.
They were honey pulling her close. Those twinkling pearls left her breathless every time she laid her eyes on them, somehow, she couldn’t help but stop thinking, breathing; she seemed to be drawn into those pools of magnets. Those dark, intent eyes were like black holes, spinning everything out of order, pulling her closer and closer at such fascinating speed. She couldn’t tear herself away. What could she, a mere human, do, with her slow body, when even that 299,792,458 meters per second of light were nothing compared to the spiraling winds of the abyss?
… She felt someone pulling at her heart. She prepared to—
“You’re running away again,” Atsuko finally spoke, dissipating the silence. Minami stopped in her track, reminding herself that she had already made up her mind, and began taking deep breath.
They stood in stillness—one pulling the other in with her mysterious gravity, while one was hypnotizing, leaving the other blank-minded.
Taking her hopefully last deep breath, Minami gave Atsuko’s hand a light squeeze. Immerging in each other’s soul, Minami didn’t need to say anything, and Atsuko didn’t need to hear anything. Opened books: that was what they were to one another.
An evening breeze blew by, gently shaking the green leaves above the girls with its soothing hands, its song in harmony with that of the dancing leaves on young branches. The dusk gave off such light brighter than any artificial luminosity, more tender than any dance ball, and softer than any bed lamp; never had the burning ball of gas been this loving and kind. Somewhere in the sky, the clouds dissolved into small clusters, absorbing yet allowing light to pass through at the same time. That illusorily beautiful scene only lacked a colorful rainbow until it became a fantasy.
One hand blocking her hair from the wind, she looked to the side and at the horizon, “Isn’t today beautiful?” It wasn’t a question, but Atsuko nodded anyway.
Minami returned her gaze to Atsuko, her cherry lips curving into a contented smile, her eyes brimming with love. This was the image of perfection, Atsuko believed. Was there anything, anyone more perfect than this…? A lot. There was always someone better than Minami, but she was the only one for her, the only perfection.
Minami lifted her face as Atsuko leaned down. Slowly, they drew their faces closer together, each wearing a small smile.
Their noses touched, and finally, they rested their foreheads against each other.
Atsuko reached out to take Minami’s other hand, the tips of their fingers softly touching before intertwining.
Minami’s eyes squinted as her smile grew wider. “I’ve always loved your eyes,” she breathed. Atsuko curved her lips and opened her mouth slowly. “And I…” She stopped—as if her voice were captured by those staring orbs waiting for her—and reorganized her words before continuing, “… Have always loved you.”
The wind had stopped blowing. The light lost its golden glint and took a purple-orange form.
Minami stared into the pearls before her, feeling that pulling impulse again. This time, she knew why. As her face broke out into a grin, her happy laugh invaded Atsuko’s heart. The taller girl then grinned as well, showing her trademark nose wrinkle. And as she laughed lightly, the sweet sound reminded Minami that she was the only one to whom that music-like laughter and that nose wrinkle were directed. It didn’t matter as to when and where; these gestures were for and hers alone.
Taking her hand back, Minami wrapped her arms around her Ace’s waist and pulled their bodies close. Lowering her chin until it rested on Minami’s shoulder, Atsuko did the same, closing her eyes and inhaling the short girl’s scent. Not surprisingly, her scent and warmth always did a good job of calming her down and giving her a sense of security.
“Atsuko?” She only hummed in response—“Doesn’t this feel like déjà-vu?”—and gave a small nod. She knew Minami was remembering the day she asked Atsuko to move in together.
“Atsuko.” She gave a noise of acknowledgement. “I’m sorry.” Needless to say anything more, she knew in the back of her mind it was about the cold shoulder she received. She didn’t know why she knew, she just understood everything from Minami, so she nodded again.
Minami knew Atsuko heard every single word she said. Leaning her cheek against Atsuko’s neck, she knew the girl forgave her. Atsuko never said anything, and even if she did, only ten percent would express her feelings. Minami just understood her; her eyes said it all.
“Atsuko.” She loved this name. “I won’t do it again.” She felt another movement on her shoulder and smiled contentedly.
Atsuko loved the way her name sounded, coming from this girl. She trusted Minami’s every word. She had absolute faith that Minami would never try to hurt her. It was okay if she was being an idiot.
“Atsuko.” She hummed again. “I get it now.” She had an idea of what Minami was talking about.
“Minami…” she whispered as a dew of tear escaped the corner of her eye.
“Yes,” Minami replied as her hand reached up to rub Atsuko’s back, tenderly patting and drawing small circles.
“Minami…” She couldn’t stop her hears from coming out now; she didn’t mind, though, and Minami didn’t either.
“Yes, Atsuko.” Still smiling, Minami closed her watery eyes as her lips formed the sentence, “I love you, too.”
The end.
I'm sorry if my characterization isn't good.