Day 1 of the Endgame Challenge.
It should've been normal.
But Reina taped a giant banner across the courtyard.
> "Final Love Arc: Confess Before the Clock Hits Zero"
And underneath it?
A countdown.
6 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes left.
My name was dead center.
Riko's name was next to mine… but faded gray.
Yuna's?
Bold red.
---
Lunch Break – The Confession
Everyone gathered.
Phones out.
Whispers everywhere.
Yuna stood in the center of the courtyard.
Hands in her jacket pockets.
She looked like she didn't care.
But I saw the tremble in her fingers.
She looked right at me.
> "Tenma Kaito."
I froze.
> "I liked you before all of this.
Before the test. Before the games.
And yeah — I made it a competition.
I made you laugh because I was scared if I didn't, you'd forget I was hurting too."
Silence.
She stepped closer.
> "But I'm not here to win.
I'm here to say I'm still in love with you."
My chest caved in.
> "I don't need you to say anything."
She pulled something from her sleeve.
The sticker.
TEAM YUNA — the one I never threw away.
> "Just… stop carrying this if you don't mean it."
She dropped it at my feet.
And walked away.
---
The Crowd Reaction
Someone clapped.
Then everyone did.
Except for Riko.
Who was nowhere to be found.
---
Later – Reina's Cornering
I found Reina sitting on the school gate.
Legs swinging. Smile faint.
> "You going to respond?"
I didn't answer.
She jumped down.
> "You thought it was over when you chose Riko."
> "Wasn't it?"
> "No. It ends when you stop hesitating."
I stared at her.
> "I'm not hesitating."
> "You didn't throw the sticker away."
I looked down.
Pocket. Empty.
> "I saw you take it back."
She walked past me.
Whispered—
> "Don't love halfway. You'll just end up losing both."
---
Back Home – My Phone Buzzed
Yuna:
> "Sorry if that messed things up."
Me:
> "You didn't. I did."
No reply.
I sat on my bed.
Looked at the photo of me and Riko.
And realized—
I hadn't taken a new one since the day I chose her.