In Aki Rosenthal's Shadow: Feria's Secret Confession
A slightly strange school where Hololive talents attend. The popular Aki Rosenthal is everyone's idol, always having fun. But right next to her is always her best friend, Feria. Feria adores Aki. But that 'adoration' isn't just friendship. Deep down, she's secretly in love with her.
One day, a popular boy at school confesses his feelings to Aki. Watching that, Feria feels her heart shatter. 'I have to support her... as her best friend.' She thinks that, but inside she's a mess. Jealousy, sadnes
In Aki Rosenthal's Shadow: Feria's Secret Confession - Before the flames, the first and final lie
Fire lit up the schoolyard.
Orange flames danced atop the massive pyre built at the center of Stella Arena. The heat shimmered through the cold October air. The crackle of bursting wood echoed above the students' heads, all of them wrapped in quiet excitement.
The post-festival celebration. A traditional event that closed out the Hoshizaki Festival.
True to the legends, a crowd of students had gathered around the campfire. Third-years, second-years, first-years. They stood shoulder to shoulder with classmates and clubmates, gazing at the flickering flames.
*(It's starting.)*
At the very back of the crowd, Feria stood alone.
Her flaxen hair swayed gently in the hot wind. The pink ribbon tied into a braid on her right side caught the firelight, casting flickering shadows. Her palms were damp with sweat, her fingertips chilled by the October night air.
Her heart pounded loudly.
The warmth from talking with Yuu-senpai in the literature club room still lingered deep in her chest. But now that she was actually here in Stella Arena, she couldn't stop trembling.
*(Where's Aki?)*
She searched with her eyes.
But before she could find her, the murmuring around her swelled.
"It's starting."
"Who's gonna confess?"
"They said it's Mizuki-senpai!"
"Wait, seriously?! To Aki-chan?!"
The students parted swiftly to the left and right.
Beyond the wall of people, two figures stood.
Aki and Mizuki.
Aki had taken off her festival committee jacket and was in her school uniform. Her waist-length blonde hair billowed in the fire's hot wind. Twin sky-blue ribbons tied on her left side. Eyes as blue as a clear sky. But her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her usual radiant smile was absent.
In its place was a complicated expression — a mix of bewilderment and a hint of hope.
Before her stood Mizuki.
A tall frame at 178 centimeters. Neatly trimmed dark brown hair. Black eyes that looked strong-willed. Over his soccer club jersey, he wore the school's designated blazer. The dog tags hanging from his neck reflected the firelight with a sharp glint.
He stepped forward.
The murmuring fell silent.
The eyes of the entire student body focused on the two of them.
"Aki."
Mizuki's voice rang out across the quiet schoolyard.
Aki lifted her face.
"There's something I want to tell you."
Feria's fingertips went cold.
*(Stop.)*
She screamed it inside her heart.
*(Stop. Don't say any more.)*
But no voice came out. The back of her throat burned, and only air escaped.
"A month ago, I confessed to you on the rooftop. I meant it back then. But I still haven't heard your answer."
Mizuki looked straight at Aki. The firelight flickered in his black eyes.
"So today, let me say it one more time."
He drew a breath.
"I want you to go out with me."
A moment of silence.
The next instant —
"Kyaaaaaa!!"
"It's totally happening!"
"Go for it, Mizuki-senpai!!"
The crowd erupted. The shrill cheers of female students echoed into the night sky. Male students whistled. Someone started clapping, and it spread in a chain reaction, rippling outward like a wave.
At the center of the frenzy, Aki kept her head down. Her blonde hair covered her face, hiding her expression. But her fingertips trembled faintly.
*(Are you going to answer him?)*
Feria's knees began to shake violently.
*(Before I've said anything at all?)*
The blood in her entire body roared as it flowed. Deep in her ears, only the pounding of her heart thudded relentlessly. The edges of her vision blurred and warped.
No.
She was scared.
But —
*— The regret of losing something by doing nothing cuts far deeper than the pain of acting and getting hurt.*
Yuu-senpai's voice resurfaced in her head.
The old sofa in the clubroom. The bitter scent of canned coffee. *"I was the one who ended it."* — The green of that person's eyes when she said it.
*(Isn't regret the scarier thing?)*
On trembling legs, Feria stepped forward.
She kicked off the asphalt.
Another step.
Another.
She pushed through the crowd. Her shoulder bumped someone, and a small "Ah" cried out. But she couldn't afford to care.
*(Aki —)*
Her lungs ached.
*(I —)*
Her throat felt like it would tear apart.
"Wait just a second!!"
Her own voice rang out across the schoolyard.
The crowd turned around all at once.
The murmuring vanished in an instant.
The eyes of the entire student body pierced into Feria. But she couldn't stop anymore.
Feria broke through the wall of people and leaped out in front of the two of them.
Aki was looking at her with a startled face. Her blue eyes were opened wide.
"Fe-Feria...? What's wrong...?"
Mizuki's face stiffened for a split second. But he quickly recomposed a calm expression. The corner of his mouth twisted slightly.
"What do you want, Feria."
His voice was composed. But deep in his black eyes, a faint irritation flickered.
Feria didn't look at Mizuki's face.
She only gazed at Aki.
The firelight illuminated Aki's blonde hair. Her blue eyes wavered. Troubled, worried, yet somewhere expectant — eyes like that.
*(I have to say it.)*
She clenched her fists. Her nails dug into her palms.
"I've... been lying this whole time."
Her voice trembled.
"Huh...?"
"I thought staying best friends was fine. I kept telling myself this was enough. But — I couldn't do it anymore."
Tears spilled over.
The back of her eyes burned hot, and Aki's face blurred before her. A sharp pain stung deep in her nose.
"I love you, Aki. Not as a friend, but in a special way. I've loved you for so long!"
Her own voice warped messily with tears, but the words wouldn't stop.
"Ever since our first year. All along. When you smiled, I was happy. Every time you called me your 'best friend,' I was happy, but it hurt so much. I screamed inside my heart — no, that's not it, that's not what I want."
Aki pressed both hands over her mouth.
Her blue eyes were wide open. Without blinking, she stared at Feria.
"If I never said anything, I'd never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life. So — so!"
Her voice cracked.
The tears wouldn't stop. They ran down her cheeks, fell from her chin, and stained the chest of her uniform.
"I thought I had to support you as your best friend, no matter who you dated. But I couldn't. Seeing you stand beside someone else — it scared me, I hated it, it hurt so much —"
She forced the words out between sobs.
"I don't care if you hate me. I don't care if we can't be best friends anymore. But — I don't want this to end without me ever saying how I feel!"
The schoolyard had fallen completely silent.
The frenzy from moments ago had vanished as if it were a lie.
No one said a word.
Only the crackling of the campfire logs echoed through the stillness.
Feria lifted her tear-streaked, messy face.
She looked at Aki.
Aki was crying.
Large tears overflowed from her big blue eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Still pressing both hands over her mouth, her shoulders trembled.
"I'm sorry..."
Aki's voice shook.
"I'm so sorry, Feria. I didn't notice at all. That you were suffering so much — even though I'm your best friend, I had no idea..."
Aki took one step forward.
Another step.
And then she broke into a run.
"Feria!"
Aki threw her arms around Feria.
Slender arms wrapped around her back. Blonde hair brushed against Feria's cheek. Aki's warmth seeped through their uniforms.
Crying, she held Feria tight.
"I'm sorry, I'm really so sorry...!"
Burying her face against Feria's shoulder, Aki let out a sob.
Feria lifted her own arms. With trembling fingers, she gently touched Aki's back.
It was warm.
*(Aki is here.)*
*(In my arms.)*
Tears overflowed again.
No.
These tears were a different kind than before.
The two of them held each other and kept crying.
The entire student body watched the scene. Several female students, crying in sympathy, pressed handkerchiefs to their eyes. The male students, too, stood frozen, at a loss for words.
The firelight illuminated the profiles of the two embracing figures.
Mizuki Shion had stepped one pace back.
His face was twisted as if he'd bitten into something bitter. The mask of the perfect, refreshing sportsman had completely peeled away.
"...So that's how it is."
His murmur reached no one.
With the curious stares of the crowd on his back, he slowly retreated. Then, turning on his heel, he left Stella Arena.
Only the sound of his footsteps echoed strangely loud across the quiet schoolyard.
No one went after him.
★
By the window of the literature club room, Hinata Yuu stood.
Her short bob of bluish-black hair swayed in the night breeze blowing through the window. She gently tucked her long bangs behind her ear with a finger. Deep green eyes behind round glasses gazed at the scene in the schoolyard.
The two embracing figures.
Feria's flaxen hair and Aki's blonde hair, illuminated by the firelight.
"You finally delivered it. That letter."
She murmured to no one in particular.
Yuu opened the old poetry collection in her hand. *Star Sand* — the gold-lettered title on a faded cover. From between the pages, a white envelope fluttered down.
A letter with no addressee.
The feelings she herself had never been able to deliver.
Yuu traced it gently with her finger.
"For my share, too... I want you to live honestly."
Saying that, she lifted the letter —
And tore it.
She tore it again. Again, and again.
The finely shredded scraps of paper danced up into the wind blowing through the window. The white fragments scattered and flickered into the October night sky, then vanished.
Yuu quietly closed the poetry collection.
On the ring finger of her left hand, an old silver ring caught the moonlight and glinted.
★
How much time had passed?
In Aki's arms, Feria kept crying until her tears ran dry.
Aki had been crying, too.
Finally, they pulled apart just a little. But Aki's hands still held Feria's arms, refusing to let go.
"Feria..."
Aki lifted her tear-soaked face.
"I still can't sort out my feelings. I love you so much, Feria. But whether that's as a friend, or something different... I don't know yet. Not right now."
Feria nodded slowly.
"...That's okay."
Her voice was hoarse. But strangely, her heart felt clear.
"I'm just glad I could say the truth. That alone... is enough for me."
With her face still wet with tears, Feria smiled.
It wasn't a forced smile.
It was her first real smile, the one she showed Aki for the very first time.
Aki gazed at that smile and whispered "I'm sorry" one more time. But this time, her voice was just a little stronger than before.
Side by side, the two of them gazed at the campfire flames.
In the schoolyard from which everyone had gone, just the two of them alone.
The orange fire flickered quietly.
*(This was the right thing.)*
Feria murmured in her heart.
*(Even if this means we can't be best friends anymore. I didn't lie about my feelings.)*
At that moment —
Something stirred in a corner of the schoolyard.
The great cherry tree, the symbol of Hoshizaki Academy. Though it was October, at the tip of one branch — just a single one.
A tiny, tiny flower had bloomed.
No one noticed.
But its petals, illuminated by the moonlight, were unmistakably the color of spring.
Their new relationship would begin tomorrow, with no answers in sight.
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