"Marry me, Dr. Ichiro."
It had been three months since the accident. Three months of daily rejections. Three months of Aria never wavering, never leaving, never once letting him breathe without her scent in the air.
At first, people thought it was pity. Then they whispered it was obsession.
But to Ichiro, it was annoyance along with comfort. Other then his family and friends aria was always there for him. Never leaving the room even for second. She was always there when he needed water or going to the bathroom, even food, he couldn't lift his arm so other then his mother aria was always there to feed him. He rejected her tried his best to make her go away, but always failling to do so every time. Aria was there for him in his every moment, in his despire in his breakdown, she was always there, telling him him that he will get better, he will see the love of his life amy again, someone aria knew he always misses and he needs. After the accident aria and his friends tried to reach amy but they couldn't, she changed her number. Ichiro never mentioned amy after the accident nor the fact that he misses her. But aria always knew, like she knows him inside out, telling him that he will see her again. Telling him that he will get better. Everything will go back to normal.
Giving him hope.
The one thing he had sworn to bury the moment the doctors told him he might never walk again.
"Aria," he sighed, not even turning to look at her. "I've said no a hundred times. Why are you still doing this?"
She leaned forward, resting her chin on the edge of his hospital bed. Her voice was soft, but her eyes were burning.
"Because I meant it a hundred times. And I'll mean it a hundred more. I want to be with you. I don't care if you're in a wheelchair or on your feet. You're still Dr. Ichiro. My Dr.Ichiro."
"I'm not yours." The words came sharp, instinctive.
She went quiet for a moment.
And then, she said something that made the air in the room still.
"If you don't marry me… I'll disappear."
He frowned. "What do you mean disappear?"
Her eyes shimmered—not with tears, but something heavier.
"I mean I don't want to exist in a world where you aren't mine. I don't want a life without you. I don't care how pathetic that sounds. Without you… I'm nothing."
He turned his head slowly, jaw clenched. "Don't say things like that."
"But it's the truth. You were the only thing in my life that was ever truly mine. And I'd rather have a few months with you—even if you don't love me back—than live a whole life without you at all."
A silence dragged between them like a blade.
Ichiro hated emotional manipulation. But this didn't feel like that.
It felt like despair. Real, raw, heartbreaking despair.
And something inside him cracked.
Not love nor like. Not yet.
But resignation.
"Fine," he said, his voice like a closing door. "We'll marry."
She gasped, barely able to breathe.
"But only for a while," he added sharply. "Until you come to your senses. Until this fantasy of yours dies on its own."
Aria nodded, already smiling through her tears. "Okay. A while is enough."
Ichiro looked away, guilt eating at his gut like acid. He told himself she'd wake up from this dream eventually. That she'd leave once she saw what a burden he was. Once she realized love wasn't enough to build a life on broken bones and dead nerves.
But what he didn't know…
Was that Aria had no intention of leaving.
Not in a month. Not in a year. Not even if it meant growing old beside a man who only gave her his name but not his heart.
Because she had decided long ago.
If she could never be anything else in this world—then at least, she would be his.