He cried.
He cried
and cried
and cried
and cried
and cried
and cried
and cried
and cried.
All those years of pain.
All those years of sadness.
All he could do was cry.
Ao didn't remember how long his tears continued to fall.
It didn't matter, however.
In the end, he finally realized something important.
He had been loved.
He had been loved for a long, long time already.
It wasn't his fault.
No one blamed him for what happened anymore.
"—That's right.
It's okay now."
—It's okay now.
And in that moment,
kneeling before her grave and sobbing in front of his childhood friend,
he did something he never thought he would ever do.
Fujiwara Ao finally decided to forgive himself.