For a while, we were in a daze, fully enjoying this exact moment, but then we suddenly came back to our senses.

"...Come to think of it, what time is it now?"

"Um... it's 10 PM."

"Eeeh!?" No, no, no, I did think it was awfully dark outside, but I never imagined we had gone that far over time. "Wait, Chifuyu, weren't you going to wake me up?"

When I asked her accusingly, Chifuyu made an awkward expression.

"I was planning to at first, but... your novel, Miyuki, pierced me much deeper than I had imagined..."

"So, you were reading it and crying, and before you knew it, it had gotten late...?"

"...I am very sorry."

Seeing Chifuyu hang her head dejectedly, I couldn't bring myself to blame her any further. Her expression was like a puppy being scolded, and I, the one doing the scolding, felt like I was going to be hit with a wave of guilt.

I hurriedly checked my smartphone and saw several messages from my mother. It was fortunate that it was only ten o'clock, but she seemed to be intensely worried about me since I hadn't contacted her at all.

...I had it on silent, so I didn't notice at all.

I sent a quick text to tell her I was safe, and my phone immediately rang. It seemed she had been practically glued to her phone out of worry. Feeling apologetic, I pressed the answer button.

When I explained that I had gotten too carried away after the closing ceremony and ended up sleeping like a log at a friend's house, my mother accepted it surprisingly easily. Well, my family is pretty hands-off to begin with, and she was only worried today because I hadn't contacted her. So, I hung up after finding a good stopping point.

...If it had been my dad on the other end, it probably wouldn't have gone this smoothly.

Just as I was feeling relieved at having somehow averted a crisis, a LINE message arrived immediately.

Wondering what it was, I checked it with slight trepidation:

"About what time will you be coming home?"

It was a completely normal message.

Because both my mother and I had been panicking, we had hung up without confirming the most crucial part. How should I put it, I guess we really are two peas in a pod, I thought, convinced in a weird way. If I leave now, I should be able to get home before eleven... But as I was simulating my trip home in my head, a desire bubbled up from a completely different direction, and my heart began to sway heavily.

"...Hey... Chifuyu."

I hesitated over whether I should say the words that popped into my head, and they slipped out awkwardly.

Perhaps finding me suspicious, or simply out of concern, Chifuyu furrowed her brows slightly.

"What's wrong? That phone call just now was from your parents, right? Shouldn't you be heading home soon—"

"Um, about that."

A different kind of heart-pounding than what I felt during our earlier conversation was getting in the way of my words.

It felt like my throat itself was pulsing, and I could only pronounce the words in broken fragments.

Even so, I hyped myself up and somehow managed to voice the words that had come to mind.

"Is it... not okay if I spend the night here today?"

"Huh?"

Chifuyu's reply consisted of perfectly round, wide-open eyes and mouth, and a sound like air leaking out.

She blinked several times and then stared at me again with wide eyes.

"Spend the night, wait, in this prep room?"

"Yeah. Is there anywhere else we could stay?"

"No, yeah... my parents' house is out of the question, and they say those kinds of hotels are crowded on Christmas..."

I could catch fragments of her muttering. No, where did you even get that information... I wanted to retort, but I swallowed it down. I hadn't even said what I wanted to do in the first place, so how far had Chifuyu let her imagination run wild and gotten herself worked up?

"If you're fine with a room like this, I don't mind at all... but Miyuki, are you really sure?"

Won't your parents worry...? Chifuyu asked in a tone that sounded more worried than anyone else.

"It's fine. I ended up sleeping like a log on Christmas of all days, and I want to spend a little more time with you, Chifuyu."

"I-I see... well, yeah... I feel the same way, so, saying that... um, makes me happy."

The fact that it took her nearly ten seconds of groaning just to convey the single word "happy" was incredibly typical of her.

Suppressing the urge to just hug Chifuyu right then and there, I asked my mother if it was okay to spend the night at my friend's house. I got her permission and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, we began preparing our beds.

We laid the fluffy sleeping bag open flat on the floor and covered it with a blanket, making an impromptu futon. The room itself was fairly warm from the heater, so the thinness of the blanket didn't bother me too much.

Since sleeping in my uniform felt weird, I decided to change into the casual clothes I had packed in my bag.

They were outdoor clothes, but they felt many times better than a stiff uniform. Chifuyu had also changed properly into what looked like her everyday pajamas. They were fluffy, soft, and warm-looking, with a pattern of deformed little owls on them. However, it was funny that she made sure to bring her pajamas while running away from home to a weird place like the music prep room.

...Even so, she looks cute.

Combined with Chifuyu's small stature, she herself looked like a doll or a stuffed animal.

It seems I just really want a reason to cuddle Chifuyu while I sleep.

It was a little early for bed—or rather, I had just woken up, so I was wide awake—but dragged along by the novelty of the sleeping bag futon and a tension akin to a school trip, we slipped into the futon side-by-side. We weren't planning on seriously going to sleep just yet, so we left the fluorescent lights on. The fact that Chifuyu was lying right there, close enough to touch if I just moved my hand a little, made my heart pound unnaturally. We had touched and hugged each other many times, yet a different kind of elation was attacking my heart. Chifuyu beside me also seemed unable to settle down in this situation, fidgeting restlessly, adjusting her position every few seconds, and letting out feverish sighs.

For my part, as I faced my pounding heart trying to calm myself down, a certain question surfaced in my chest. I had almost let it slide in the flow of things, but I realized I hadn't confirmed a very important detail. Unable to stay quiet any longer, I spoke up.

"Can I ask you... one thing?"

"If it's something I can answer."

Chifuyu spoke in a stiff tone, as if forcefully pretending to be calm.

Thinking I might have a similar voice, I took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't know if this is the right way to say it, but—when you were still a ghost, Chifuyu, the last thing you played for me was the Moonlight Sonata, right? After finishing it, you said something to me. You said I was your Giulietta Guicciardi. What did that... mean?"

When I glanced at Chifuyu's profile, she was also staring at me.

"You... aren't you asking that already knowing the answer?"

Her cheeks were dyed a faint crimson, twitching slightly.

Watching her reaction, I knew I was about to make a similar expression. But desperately holding back my relaxing cheeks and keeping my composure, I continued.

"I wonder. I won't know unless you properly put it into words."

That was an undeniable fact.

Chifuyu did say she would choose me, and she even kissed me.

But that was just the result; she hadn't voiced the reason, her feelings for me. The answer was obvious. Even so, I couldn't stop the desire to hear her say it in words.

For a while, a probing silence and mutual staring continued.

"Aah..."

Letting out a feverish sigh, Chifuyu scratched her reddened cheek.

She then looked away from me and muttered while looking up outside through the gap in the curtains.

"Let's put that on hold for now. Because if you're going to ask that, I have something I want to ask you too."

"What is it?"

I couldn't help but feel a little displeased at having the subject changed. Still, I didn't think she would bring up something completely unrelated at this timing, so I reluctantly listened to her.

"That novel... I can take it as a love letter... a confession of love, right?"

"Huh...?"

Come to think of it, I realized that I hadn't voiced my feelings in a clear form either.

Well, I had said things like "like" or "love," hinting at romance and affection. But it wasn't a clearly formed confession, just a byproduct of the flow of conversation.

Even so, if she had listened to our earlier conversation, she should have understood my feelings.

"...Chifuyu, you're definitely asking that already knowing the answer, aren't you?"

Looking at Chifuyu's teasing, incredibly triumphant expression, it went without saying that she looked like she knew the answer. So I could feel my lips naturally forming a pout.

"I wonder. I won't know unless you properly put it into words, right?"

Having my exact words thrown back at me, I almost groaned in frustration. Still, I somewhat understood that Chifuyu felt the same way I did. After all, it really is unfair to want the other person to guess without putting it into words. In her case, though, it seemed like her desire to tease me was stronger.

As expected, a proper confession with words is indispensable for these kinds of things.

It wasn't something to say while lying down, so I sat up. As if drawn by that, Chifuyu also sat up. Then, to give myself momentum, I exhaled deeply and looked into her eyes. I wonder why the eyes staring back at me looked somewhat teary.

Staring straight at that wavering gaze, I opened my mouth.

"...I like you, Chifuyu."

Having said that much, I realized those words weren't enough at all.

Like.

Because I had already said that word many times before.

"I said I liked you in the Infirmary the other day, and even then, I probably meant it in that way, but... I'll say it properly. I love you... I am in love with you."

The moment I voiced it, the words—my feelings for her—began to overflow.

To the point where I surprised myself with just how much I yearned for this person.

"So I want to go out with you, Chifuyu. I want to make you my girlfriend. I want to walk through life together with you."

I hadn't been this nervous when my high school acceptance results were announced, or when I let someone else read my novel. It felt like my entire internal organs were pulsing, and my insides were going to flip upside down.

"........................"

And yet, Chifuyu didn't give me a reply, let alone show any sign of opening her mouth.

So I couldn't help but feel impatient, desperately swallowing down the heart that felt like it was going to leap out of my mouth.

"...Chifuyu?"

Finally unable to bear it any longer, I called her name. Then,

"Ah..."

A deflated-sounding voice reached me, and the very next moment—

"W-Wait, Chifuyu?!"

Large tears began to overflow and fall from her eyes one after another. Tears the size of pearls streamed down her cheeks, the droplets catching the fluorescent light and sparkling brightly.

"Why are you crying?"

"Ah, well... I wonder why."

Perhaps lacking the leeway to cover it up with an excuse like usual, Chifuyu herself wiped away her tears over and over, going "Huh? Huh?" in a voice laced with bewilderment. It seemed she couldn't properly grasp her own emotions.

"Are you really... okay with someone like me?"

Chifuyu asked, her expression colored with strong anxiety.

"I'm a ghost trapped by music, a child who couldn't grow up properly, you know...?"

I couldn't help but laugh at Chifuyu's words.

Because the words she lined up were, from my perspective, completely old news.

"Being told something so obvious now won't shake my resolve at all."

"But... I'm deeply jealous, ignorant of the world, and... I'll probably cause you a lot of trouble, Miyuki."

"I know that too. But Chifuyu... that part of you is what's cute."

Sniffling her nose like a sobbing child, Chifuyu glared at me. Well, her gaze was so intense it looked like she was glaring, but it was probably her own expression of resolve.

"I-I... I love you too, Miyuki. I love... I love you. I'm in love with you."

The moment she stopped wiping her tears, everything from her eyes to her eyelashes was filled with transparent droplets.

Within the gently wavering water surface, her pupils alone stared straight at me.

"Let's go out, let's become lovers... let's promise to be together forever."

As if overcome with emotion, Chifuyu squeezed my hand tightly.

Her small hands were burning hot, as if filled to the brim with her feelings.

"So... please, don't let go of this hand... don't abandon me."

"Yeah. It's okay. Because I... won't abandon you like the piano did, Chifuyu."

I wiped the tears welling in Chifuyu's eyes, then wiped her cheeks, repeating the process over and over. During that time, she just kept crying. As if washing away the feelings she hadn't been able to spit out until now, and as if anticipating the tears of regret that would surely strike her in the future, she cried what could only be described as a lifetime's worth of tears. Therefore, it took a full thirty minutes before she stopped crying and completely regained her composure.

"...Were you always this much of a crybaby, Chifuyu?"

I said this to Chifuyu, reeling in the words she had said to me once before.

I couldn't stop my face from breaking into a smile, relaxing like soft clay.

Perhaps her soft tears had made my facial muscles go soggy.

"S-Shut up! This is the first time in my life someone has told me they like me like this, so I just didn't know what to do and panicked!"

Perhaps having exhausted her last bit of strength with that shout, Chifuyu slumped her shoulders wearily.

"Haah... crying so much has made me kinda sleepy."

This time, perhaps to fight off sleep, Chifuyu rubbed her eyes vigorously and even let out a yawn as a bonus.

It made me want to give her a teddy bear big enough to tuck under her arm as an optional accessory.

"Crying until you fall asleep, you really are like a child."

"Hey, don't say I'm like a child! I'm sensitive about that!"

The way she fussed and complained like that was exactly what made her seem childish... but if I pointed that out, she would definitely start sulking for real, so I reluctantly decided to change the subject.

"But well, it's true that talking about so much made us tired... I might be a little sleepy too."

It was a fact that I, too, wanted an environment where I could calm my overly excited heart, so I decided to turn off the lights to prepare for sleep. The lights went out, and only the modest moonlight creeping in through the gap in the curtains dyed the room in a gentle night color. There was no wind outside, and the school building was, needless to say, completely silent, making it feel as if only our breathing and my own heartbeat dominated the room.

Thinking that the two of us were the only ones in this massive school gave me a very strange feeling.

When I checked the current time on my smartphone, it was past eleven, and the date was still Christmas.

"Come to think of it, we didn't say the most important part—Merry Christmas."

"Now that you mention it, yeah... and I'm the only one who got a present..."

"Eh, did I give you a present?"

"That novel was the best present of my life."

"Ah..."

I realized that given the timing, it wouldn't be strange for it to be taken that way. It's not like I had intended it that way, but having it pointed out made me feel incredibly embarrassed.

A girl who gifts a novel featuring themselves as the main characters on Christmas.

Putting it into words made me feel like an incredibly cringeworthy existence.

"No, that novel wasn't meant to be a Christmas present or anything..."

"Even so, there's no doubt that it was the greatest present from you, Miyuki."

When she stated it so definitively, I couldn't pile on any more words of denial.

"I was debating it, though. I should have properly bought a present too."

"You were going to buy me something? What was it? I'm curious."

I wasn't pressuring her; I was genuinely curious about what Chifuyu had intended to give me. At my question, Chifuyu opened her mouth without seeming particularly daunted.

"A ring."

"Huh?"

"I said a ring. Since it's Christmas, I thought maybe a pair of matching rings..."

"Oh..."

...Heavy.

At the start of today's party, our relationship was something complex that couldn't be described in a single word, but we definitely weren't lovers. Chifuyu probably just very naturally thought along the lines of "We're close, and it's Christmas, so matching rings." Because she's a very extreme person.

"Oh?"

Picking up the "oh" that had accidentally slipped from my mouth, Chifuyu piled on question marks in an anxious tone.

"Um... O-Overpriced, aren't they?"

I managed to connect the conversation from "oh" so it wouldn't sound unnatural.

I felt like I was being forced to play a high-difficulty game of word chain.

"I looked into it quite a bit, and they were pretty reasonable, like 20,000 yen for a set. Since it's a special occasion like Christmas... and now that we're lovers, I could buy something a little more expensive..."

"Ah, no, no! It's fine! Well, it's not fine, but! Matching rings and stuff can wait until we've spent a little more time together... like maybe next year's Christmas? I only wrote a novel, after all."

I don't know the market price for rings, but knowing Chifuyu, I was scared she might easily drop 50,000 or 100,000 yen. I wanted her to wait for that kind of thing until I was at a stage where I could prepare a present too. Being given something so expensive one-sidedly would just make me restless.

"Hmm... is that so? Well, if you say so, Miyuki, I won't force it... in that case, I'll just ask directly: is there anything you want for Christmas, Miyuki?"

Perhaps because it was her first Christmas party, Chifuyu looked slightly dissatisfied.

I struggled to wring out a compromise that would satisfy Chifuyu without hurting my conscience.

...Why is the person receiving the present agonizing this much?

That question popped up out of nowhere, but the sensation was surprisingly fun.

It was fun, but I couldn't think of a single appropriate answer. Tracing it back, the situation had become complicated because Chifuyu treated that novel as the "best present." The words themselves made me very happy, but that's a different story. Because there's no way I could easily think of a present equivalent in value to that novel. Asking for a present worth tens of thousands of yen would be too conceited, but on the other hand, something on the level of a few hundred yen felt too modest. Fundamentally speaking, putting a price on my own novel is way too high a difficulty level. Spinning my brain around and around, I ultimately reached the conclusion that there was only one thing in this world worthy of being a return gift.

"Then... tomorrow morning, play the piano for me again."

Chifuyu looked at me in the dim light. My eyes were used to the darkness, so I could tell what kind of expression she was wearing. Therefore, I could also somewhat guess her response.

"Are you sure you're fine with just that?"

I chuckled at the expected response.

"'Just that' nothing. Your performance, Chifuyu, is a treasure to me."

It was the same as Chifuyu calling my novel the "best present."

"Songs I know and songs I don't, easy ones and difficult ones, classical and non-classical—I want you to play and express them just for me, and I want to hear lots... lots of them."

"But... I already... the piano is..."

Perhaps because my vision was only functioning at about half its usual capacity, I was able to read the emotions from her voice more keenly than usual. Right now, she was probably dominated by anxiety and fear.

I, too, can painfully understand the anxiety and fear that accompanies expressing oneself.

And in her case, that pain is likely unusually strong.

"Chifuyu, you're probably just too much of a perfectionist. Since you've dedicated your life to the piano, maybe it can't be helped that you have that kind of stance. But I think it's okay for you to take it a bit easier."

That wasn't a word of comfort, but my undeniable true feelings. Because her thought of "I have to become a pianist" was too strong, she inevitably ended up running toward extreme thinking.

I do think that's a virtue of hers, but it's too suffocating for living everyday life.

"I think that as long as I'm with you, Chifuyu, I don't mind making mistakes, failing, or losing. So, I said what I did earlier, but I'll probably continue writing novels itself."

"...Yeah."

It's just that the starved, desperate thought of "I parted with Chifuyu, so I absolutely must become a novelist!" isn't there anymore. But the situation of having Chifuyu by my side will change me.

"I might lack momentum and passion, but... if I don't fear making mistakes, if I know there's someone to pull me up when I fall... I think I can move forward, even if it's slowly. So I... won't fear regret or mistakes. Because with you, Chifuyu, I think I can even enjoy those things."

Sniff... Chifuyu's nose sounded.

Had she started crying again? Or did she just get a little teary-eyed? She was probably making a stubborn expression, desperately trying to hold back the tears from flowing.

"So Chifuyu, you too... even if you can't satisfy yourself, I want you to play the piano for my sake."

Putting it into words, a mix of embarrassment and various other emotions swirled around, making even me feel like I was going to cry, unable to stop my nose from sniffling. Perhaps Chifuyu, in the same way, had sensed that I was about to cry. If so, I think that's fine.

Because when it comes to each other, we're both crybabies who immediately burst into tears.

"That, to me—is the best Christmas present."

"If you're going to go that far, Miyuki, then alright. I'll make that my Christmas present. It won't be like that farewell performance from before... I'll play a tremendously bright song, one that blesses our future together. I highly doubt whether I can actually play a bright song, but I'll do my best anyway."

"Yeah."

"Well then... I'm tired today, so I'm going to sleep. Good night, Miyuki."

Good night, Chifuyu. Saying that, I also closed my eyes.

We must have been truly exhausted.

Before long, I heard the sound of her sleeping breathing from next to me.

Now alone with my thoughts, I thought about it just one more time.

Was this really the right choice?

That question will probably follow us around for the rest of our lives. We will spend our entire lives continuing to question ourselves, continuing to regret, continuing to make mistakes, and only accumulating more lingering attachments, living a life far removed from "passing on."

Even so, a life like that might not be so bad.

—As long as Chifuyu is by my side.

Even if we can't clear our regrets, if we have the courage to swallow them down, being a ghost isn't so bad. Because even if we are ghosts, we have hands that can connect with someone, and feet that can move forward.

Under the blanket, I gently squeezed her hand.

As I gently stroked that burning hot palm with affection, she squeezed my hand back, perhaps unconsciously. Through our palms, her heat transmitted all the way to my chest.

—Let's walk together, as far as we can go.

The weak her, and the weak me.

Two crybabies, yet still moving our hands and feet with all our might, let's go somewhere far away.

Thinking about such things while listening to Chifuyu's sleeping breaths, I started to feel sleepy too.

For today, I'll chase after her and immerse myself in the dream world.

I hope that dream isn't a nightmare, but one that spells out a happy future for me and her.

Wishing that, I squeezed her hand tightly just one last time.