"Because I love you."
Whispered the girl weakly with tears in her eyes. She read the astonishment in Shinya's eyes. For a long moment silence fell between the two.
"(Y/n)..." Those words sounded like a death sentence for the girl. A death sentence that would end her agony.
"We've only seen each other a couple of times, how..." The boy's confusion was all too perceptible.
The girl laughed. After all, she had always known that she had aimed too high. In what parallel universe could Shinya Hiragi ever have wanted someone like her? Perhaps in the universe of fairy tales, certainly not in reality.
"It's from the first moment I saw you that I can't get you out of my mind... and when I got to know you better, I only fell even more in love. I... I have no doubts. I love you Shinya." The boy sustained her gaze for a little longer.
"You're putting me in a difficult position."
"For Guren?"
Shinya looked at her surprised. (Y/n) smiled. "Does he really have feelings for me?" Shinya sighed. "While I don't matter to you, do I?" "(Y/n)..." But Shinya did not add anything else. He didn't have the strength to do so.
The love for Shinya had consumed her to the core, more than Guren could have ever understood. That had taken time, although (Y/n) was convinced that her feelings had begun to change before she was rejected.
With the albino it had been love at first sight, something that had come overpoweringly into her life occupying every single space, whereas with Guren it had been very different. He was Shinya's best friend, the filter with which she had always seen him. Shinya's friend. A way to get to know better the person who didn't want to be part of her life.
Yet over time she had realized that perhaps she could aspire to find an island of peace even with Guren. Especially since she had been assigned to his unit and they spent much more time in close contact.
After the scene she had caused in Shinya, the boy had stopped hanging out with the team. He was a big shot in the army, it almost made sense that he had better things to do. Guren knew what had happened too, but she had never gone into too much detail. Guren was aware that she had been in love with Shinya, but it was likely that he didn't know several things. Unless Shinya had revealed something to him.
But Guren's constant care had heartened her and, slowly, she had developed feelings for him too. She enjoyed spending time together and they had many things in common. And so it was Guren who had taken the initiative this time. He wanted to have (Y/n) beside him. He knew that the girl had feelings for his friend, but he also knew that Shinya was not interested. So he had decided to make a move on her. If Shinya didn't want to take the chance to have (Y/n) next to him, he would do it before it was definitely too late.
(Y/n) expected that sooner or later Guren would make the first step, she knew she had to prepare for that moment. What would she do? Would she accept Guren's advances or would she continue to live in a faint illusion? She had thought it over for a long time and, perhaps, she too was entitled to find some happiness in her love life. And Guren seemed willing to offer her just that. Was there any point in shirking to hold on to something that could never happen?
And so, when Guren decided to declare himself, the girl tried to be as sincere as possible with him. She was still bewildered by Shinya, but she was fine with Guren, in short she believed she was ready to start an affair with him if he wanted to. Guren was happy with the answer he had received, less so knowing that Shinya still had an effect on her, but he was convinced that if they were good together he would make her forget about Shinya.
