Tokyo Ravens - Volume 9 - Chapter 5.6

Part 6 
She could hear someone's voice. Ah, it was Harutora-kun. Harutora-kun's calling for me. Just that made her feel very happy. 
Harutora-kun's calling me. Natsume, he called. She inadvertently felt at ease and her heart felt warm. 
Harutora-kun's calling me. 
Then-- 
Suddenly, Natsume woke up. 
She felt like she had been bedridden for an extremely long time. Her mind was fuzzy and she unconsciously looked around. 
An unfamiliar room. An unfamiliar bed. An unfamiliar pillow. Unfamiliar covers. When she suddenly felt scared, an extremely familiar warm voice called out. 
"Natsume." 
Natsume absentmindedly looked towards the direction the voice had come from. Her childhood friend sat next to the bed. Natsume's expression naturally bloomed as she sweetly whispered "Harutora-kun". 
"You woke up. How are you feeling?" 
How was she feeling? She felt like her mind was hazy, like she was floating in the sky wrapped in clouds. It was a kind of slightly disconcerting feeling, but it didn't matter if Harutora was next to her. There was no problem at all. She wasn't concerned at all. 
Fine, Natsume replied. She smiled at him with sincere feelings. Then, Harutora also smiled back gently, nodding slightly yet firmly. 
Then, she suddenly noticed. Harutora's left eye was covered by cloth. 
What happened? After she asked this, he smiled bitterly. "Some things happened." 
Did you get hurt? She felt worried, naturally reaching her hand out from the covers. Harutora laughed and gripped her hand, saying: 
"It's not important." 
His palm overlapped with hers. 
Harutora's warmth was sent through Natsume's hand. A soft feeling, comfortable and relieving. 
But the moment she became conscious that she was holding hands with Harutora, she rapidly became embarrassed. Her cheeks reddened and she wanted to take her hand back. But Harutora smiled and didn't let go, tightening his hand instead. 
Her face heated up. Harutora-kun? She mumbled in confusion. 
"Baka-Natsume." 
Harutora smiled and said. 
"Why did you have to meet me as Hokuto? I always thought you were avoiding me back then, you know?" 
Sudden and extraordinarily fast, like a dead-center straight ball. Fortunately, her fuzzy mind couldn't work very well. Still submerged in the sheets, Natsume flailed her limbs in a panic inside her constricting cloud. 
She didn't need to look at a mirror to realize that her face was red and her eyes were definitely moist. It was finally exposed. The secret she had always kept silent about and concealed in her heart. 
Moreover - moreover, that night of the fireworks. She had said it, crying as she told him. 
Her hard-to-suppress thoughts. 
Her innermost love. 
H-Harutora-kun. After she said that, Natsume half-covered her face in the sheets, unable to say anything else. She kept staring at Harutora's face. Her childhood friend grinned deliberately as if teasing Natsume. 
Natsume felt like he was being very sly. It wasn't fair that she was the only one being teased like this. 

Hence, she mustered all her courage. She stared into Harutora's eye, doing her best to speak in a trembling voice. 
Harutora-kun...... A serious expression also appeared on Harutora because of Natsume's appearance. Though she suddenly became frightened, even so, she couldn't stop. 
I, love you...... 
Her yearning feelings and desires were conveyed into words. 
Then, she searched for confirmation. 
Harutora-kun, what about you? 
Harutora returned a smile. It was an embarrassed smile mixed with tears. 
Then, Harutora continued gripping Natsume's hand and quietly moved his face closer. Natsume felt her heartbeat leaping and even trembled involuntarily. But even so, she wasn't going to flee. She shook - while closing her eyes. 
A warm, soft feeling touched her lips. 
It was definitely the most beautiful magic in the world. 
A magic that bound her soul. 
However-- 
"......Sorry." 
 
Harutora said this, pulling back from her lips. Eh? Natsume opened her eyes slightly. 
"Sorry, Natsume. But someday...... I'll definitely meet you again......" 
The words that continued afterwards vanished into thin air without being heard. Harutora-kun? Natsume whispered, desperately looking around her hazy vision-- 
"......Harutora-kun?" 
When she opened her eyes, Harutora's figure wasn't there. Huh? Natsume sleepily looked around. 
An unfamiliar room. An unfamiliar bed. An unfamiliar pillow. Unfamiliar covers. But this wasn't the first time. It was the place she had been with Harutora until just now. 
"......Harutora... kun?" 
She mumbled again in disappointment. 
Was it a dream? She wasn't sure. Her fuzzy brain still wasn't working well. The sheets completely covered Natsume, and everything was unclear, so she couldn't make a normal judgment. 
But-- 
Natsume softly touched her lips with her fingers. The sensation lingering there was inexplicably fresh, clear, and real. Natsume's face reddened and she buried her face in the covers again. 
After she did that, the sheets immediately pulled Natsume's consciousness into warm darkness. Natsume closed her eyes again. The face of the boy she loved emerged within those closed eyelids. 
Harutora-kun - she murmured as if sleeptalking. Natsume returned to the dream she had been having because of her happy feelings. 
The sunlight was shining on the curtains of the window to the side of the bed. But Natsume continued to enjoy the sheets for a while, unconcerned. 
A bit longer. 
Just a bit longer...... 
To gather the courage to fly alone into the deep, dark sky after she awoke...