After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

The national flower of the Island Nation is the chrysanthemum, which is also the royal family's insignia, representing the Island Nation people's pursuit of beauty.

Even that famous anthropological study of the Island Nation written by Americans— "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" —uses the chrysanthemum as a symbol for the Island Nation.

But the flower most recognized by the populace is actually the cherry blossom.

The cherry blossom represents dreams, romance, hope.

And, love.

Among students, there is a tradition related to cherry blossoms, which could also be described as metaphysical.

—The success rate of confessing love under a cherry blossom tree increases.

Although everyone knew it was false, simply changing locations wouldn't make you more likeable in the eyes of the boy or girl you liked, but at least the blooming cherry trees are quite beautiful, aren't they?

Although in the Island Nation, there is also another notion about cherry blossoms—that the reason cherry blossoms are so splendid is that corpses are buried under the cherry trees, and the more bodies buried, the more radiant the blossoms when they bloom.

This is a bizarre rumor that had spread widely before the society entered modernization.

It can also be termed a folk legend.

Ordinarily, average individuals would keep their distance from such rumors, even if they didn't believe in them.

But Island Nation students formed the tradition of confessing under cherry trees despite knowing the connection between the cherry trees and corpses.

In a perplexing way, they linked love and death together.

Does this corroborate the inherent pessimism in their lives?

Those young people realized it.

If marriage is seen as entering a tomb, then confessing love is akin to a dying person buying their own tombstone.

Historically, cases of lovers maintaining their relationships until the end are rare.

Many begin to dislike each other midway.

Couples who get past the stage of distaste don't become more loving but merely maintain the status quo.

And for the majority that don't make it past, the ending is predictable.

Therefore, love is something short-sighted, nobody can maintain it for long, such emotions are exhausted within about ten years or so. The reasons to continue being together afterward are no longer out of romance.

Yes, Kagura Hikaru belonged to those who didn't believe in 'eternal love', but his hidden perfectionism made him seek out things that lasted.

Moreover, he firmly believed that he was not a lucky person, that fairy tale stories of growing old together would not happen to him.

Love is fragile, utterly incompatible with him.

Even before his rebirth, Kagura Hikaru harbored this belief—since they were bound to part eventually, why bother being together from the start?

Frankly, he used to be a believer in 'rejecting romance', a faithful advocate of singlehood.

Love? Women? He needed none of those.

In a consumerism-driven society, these fell below money, which could buy far more happiness than the former two.

Moreover, matters of love inherently split joy and pain equally, with a very high likelihood of gaining painful memories, a typical case of low return, high risk.

However, when he was reborn, obtained the mind-reading ability, and possessed the capability to create wealth at will, Kagura Hikaru realized that his longing for wealth was probably more a reaction to environmental crises.

Yet, the Golden Finger that came with his rebirth erased such concerns, ensuring he would have endless ways to generate income in the future.

Once material needs were fulfilled, human instinct naturally progresses to the next stage, spiritual needs.

The person who broke his declaration of singleness was Ayakoji Chiyoko.

They met during elementary school, dated through middle school, and have been deeply in love to date.

Even though he lost three years of memories due to a car accident, his girlfriend's attitude alone was enough to show that their feelings for one another hadn't weakened at all in those three years.

It was absolutely the ideal outcome.

Perhaps it was his excessive exuberance that made him forget the fact that under the cherry trees symbolizing love, corpses were also buried.

Behind the beautiful things, there are even more unpleasant things, and people always fail to see this, don't learn from their mistakes, and remain blindly optimistic.

That's why so many people fall on this path, unwillingly singing 'Marriage is a grave, love is a cage' to warn others.

Kagura Hikaru looked up at the cherry blossom tree in front of him, pressing his hand against its rough trunk, silently.

"Kagura," Kohinata Motoyo approached him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep it from you."

".....There's no need to apologize, it's not your fault," Kagura Hikaru sighed, "Chiyoko, she... isn't my girlfriend, right?"

"Yes."

"Then who is my girlfriend, Kiryu Hina? Or does she not exist at all?"

Kohinata Motoyo offered a slight smile, "You could trust her a bit more, I mean Hina. Your impression of Ayakoji Chiyoko in your memory, it's mostly her."

The more Kohinata Motoyo spoke, the more Kagura Hikaru's head hurt, and he was nearly overwhelmed by the pain and the dizziness that came with it.

Fortunately, his hand was still on the tree; otherwise, he might have fallen over right then.

However, compared to last time when he fainted at Yoshou Elementary School, there had been a significant improvement.

Kagura Hikaru took a moment to recover, and Kohinata Motoyo remained timely silent, giving him space to think.

She said that her memory of Chiyoko was mostly Kiryu Hina?

This meant that when Kiryu Hina first came to his house, what she said wasn't a lie, the liar was Chiyoko then.

Kagura Hikaru didn't doubt Kohinata Motoyo's words as he believed she wouldn't lie, nor did she have a reason to lie.

"Suse...." Kagura Hikaru wanted to ask more questions.

But Kohinata Motoyo, as if guessing what he would say, smiled and raised her hands, waving them in front of her chest and said, "We have talked enough for today. If we continue, you'll run out of painkillers, and eating so many pills in one day isn't good for your health."

".....Alright." Kagura Hikaru reluctantly agreed, "Just one last question, Chiyoko, what exactly was her relationship with me before I lost my memory?"

"Ex-girlfriend... maybe that's the best description."

"Maybe?"

"There are many complicated details, perhaps it's better to let Hina explain it to you personally after some time, telling you now would only confuse you more."

"It sounds like you're shirking responsibility, but since you said it, it must be true."

Kagura Hikaru shook his head, wiped his sweat with his sleeve, and struggled to keep his eyes wide open to stay awake, "Let's go back, I want to go home and rest."

"Don't you want to walk around a bit more?"

"No, I'm exhausted."

"Wait a second." Kohinata Motoyo grabbed Kagura Hikaru as he turned to leave, and when he looked back in confusion, she smiled and pointed upwards towards the cherry blossom tree, "I have something else I want to try, to see if it can awaken your memory."

"What do you mean?"

"I once said something very important to you under this cherry blossom tree, do you remember?"

Kagura Hikaru looked puzzled.

"I thought so." Kohinata Motoyo sighed with a smile, "I'm going to recreate the scene now, focus your mind."

"Ah... okay?"

Kohinata Motoyo took a deep breath.

It was autumn now, and the cherry blossoms had all fallen, yet, for some reason, Kagura Hikaru could faintly see cherry blossoms raining down.

A sudden, immense fear engulfed him from nowhere.

The girl opened her eyes, looked up at him.

Just like that bright afternoon three years ago.

"I like you, Kagura Hikaru, please be with me."