Yoshino and Ayame met for the next 8 days and on the 9th day, Yoshino woke up bright and early, got himself ready and went to the florist!

The owner of the store asked him with a smile on her face when she saw him walk in, "The usual?" Yoshino returned a smiled and replied, "Thanks, but not today aunty what I want is a single red rose."

The owner of the store smiled and gave him the rose and bid him goodbye.

Yoshino headed off to the park and waited for Ayame nervously.

As Ayame approached him, she saw the red rose and walked slowly towards Yoshino, they hugged and Yoshino pulled back looking sad, with tears forming in his eyes.

For him being with Ayame these last few days were the best of his life to this day and found it hard to say the following words to her because of his reluctance to part.

"Today is the last day that we get to see each other!" the smile on Ayame's face fell the moment the last word left Yoshino's mouth.

"I am going back to work tomorrow and I'm afraid of losing you! For the last few days, I got to know someone like you and you are the only one on my mind ever since the first day I met you; every second of each day for the last week, you have been on my mind and I can only guess what the reason behind all this is!" Yoshino stopped talking, pulled her close to him and held Ayame's left hand in his, then reached into his front right jean pocket and took out a blue diamond heart-shaped ring with two smaller white diamonds on each side of the heart ring.

Ayame took a deep breath in, as he put it on her ring finger, he said, "This belonged to my mother and it is very special to me, it will be even more special now if you accept it."

"I want you to know that you are the most beautiful person, that I've ever met and you are the most valuable person in my life, I never want to lose you and I know that it's been exactly eight days that I've spent with you, but it's been the most wonderful eight days of my life, I cannot explain all these emotions I've gained while being by your side but one thing is for sure, and that is that, if I never met you or even mustered up the courage to speak to you I... I..." Yoshino rubbed his nose trying to hold back his tear's and continued.

"I finally know what love is and the love"

"That love was brought to life by you Ayame Tachibana. You are the first to catch my eye, you are the one who makes my heart beat, you are the one that's bringing tears to my eyes right now because I don't want to leave you, but I know also that I can't take you away from your family because of my selfish love for you, this might be an unrequited love or you might love me back I don't know... I really don't know"

Yoshino pulled Ayame into his arms and embraced her and continued in a low and weary tone: "I lost my parents at a very young age and you are the closest person that I have felt at least a bit of love from even if it's an unrequited love only, I'm in love with you Ayame and I know it's too early to say it, but my feelings for you are true".

Ayame had tears falling from her eyes and she said to him "I won't forget you, Yoshino, I promise I'll wait for your return even if its years from now and I hope that you won't love any other woman beside me!" she said while clenching her hand into a fist causing Yoshino's white shirt to crease and shaking her head while staring into his eyes.

She continued "What you are feeling isn't an unrequited love, this foolish girl in your arms loves you back!", the tears increased unceasingly as she said these words to him.

"I'm young and inexperienced, but I do love you! You are the first true person I've met thus far, and I feel the same about you. I understand that you have to leave and I don't want to part ways with you, but I want you to also know, that you've had a place in my heart, since the day I first met you and I'll be here when you return, I'll be waiting right here where you found me eight day's ago, waiting for your return."

She buried her head in Yoshino's chest and cried her heart out. this was truly her first love and her heart ached because she didn't realize soon that he had no family and was alone, she swore to herself that she would be his family and never leave his side under any circumstances and would dedicate her life to him.

Yoshino felt touched and extremely happy that the girl in his arms felt the same way he did but felt sad for her because he knew that he would bring disaster upon her if they stayed together in the future but he couldn't bear chasing the woman of his heart away, to which determination appeared in his eyes as he vowed that he would save the country that turned it's back on him for the sake of his beloved young lady Ayame Tachibana.

Yoshino and Ayame stayed locked in each other's arms for a while and never spoke a word again; they understood each other's feelings for one another and said everything that needed to be said and sat down next to each other and enjoyed the silence.

Time passed faster than usual that day, and now seeing that it was time for the two of them to say their goodbyes, the reluctance to part was ever so strong.

Ayame knew she had to leave no matter how the situation was between the two of them, and as she looked Yoshino deep into his eyes for the last time before leaving she decided to give him a charm that would bring him back to her; a kiss goodbye!

This was her first kiss and a very scary experience for her, the first kiss they shared was an awkward one but neither of them wanted to let go of the lips of the other; leading them to prolonged the kiss for a few more minutes, then Yoshino was the first to let go of the kiss!

Once he opened his eyes he saw that Ayame's were still closed and how beautiful she looked, but he also saw the tears falling from her eyes, Ayame opened her eyes looking straight into his and to her surprise Yoshino stole one last kiss and said to Ayame with a smile on his face, "You have to fetch your sister"; at that very moment they both got the feeling that everything was going to be alright between the two of them, then they hugged for the very last time and headed off in different directions, hoping to meet the other soon.