She was about to ignore it and run to the apartment next door when something caught her eye .

An envelope stuck to the parcel

An envelope inscribed with her name a familiar, untidy scrawl .

It was from him .

Her toe swelled up , bright red , making its displeasure at being banged against a hard box clear but Chizuru ignored it and everything else as she picked up the parcel , walked back inside and placed it on thr floor.

She knelt down beside the parcel before slowly running her hands across it . It had been perfectly , painstakingly wrapped, with a precision she would not expect from him .The wrapper didn't seem like the one he'd have lying around his place either .

That worried her. Clearly whatever this was had taken a great deal of effort

That really worried her .

She slid her fingers across the box towards the envelope, tracing the word he'd written on it .

"Chizuru "

She closed her eyes and slowly as she pulled the envelope off the box .

She gently cradled the envelope in her hands as a feeling of dread crept up from the pit of her stomach and encircled her heart, suffocating it .

She was afraid . Of what the letter could be . Of what he wanted to tell her .

The possibility of the end .

"It's not ... that ", a now trembling Chizuru tried to tell herself.

"He ... wouldn't... do that .

He ...wouldn't. He ... " .

The ghost that she thought had been exorcised seemed to control her again, whispering in her mind the words that she'd said .

"Then ... what are we even doing... ? "

Her fingers were trembling , no longer under her control . The envelope fell from her hands and onto her lap and for a moment all Chizuru wanted to do was run . All she wanted to do was run and hide . All she wanted was to run , hide , make herself as small as possible and escape everything.

She buried her head in her knees as she felt those terrifying fears swallow her up again.

But somehow, without her knowledge, suddenly her lips moved as she whispered.

"Kazuya " .

It was the first time since that day . Since the day Kibe had approached her , she hadn't said his name .

"Kazuya ", she whispered again.

From somewhere deep inside her , she somehow felt it , or maybe she just remembered it .

The eclipse was now over , her terrifying moments in the dark had passed and now she felt it again.

His comfort , his warmth , his strength .

His love .

"I want ... ", she whispered yet again.

"I want ... Kazuya " .

She raised her head up and found that she was no longer trembling, she was still scared but she was done trying to run away .

She picked up the envelope, tore it open , pulled the letter out and began to read .

"Chizuru,

I've been thinking about the last few days a lot and it's only now that I realize and understand what I did to you .

I hurt you .

Every single decision I've made since Kibe told me that he was going to ask you out has been a mistake. And after making all those mistakes, I walked around acting like what I did was perfectly justifiable , like I had done the right thing and that you were upset for no reason .

And when I finally did realize what I'd done , I moped around feeling sorry for myself instead of doing what I should have done all along .

Apologizing .

I'm sorry Chizuru.

I'm sorry for not stopping Kibe .

I'm sorry for not telling you what'd happened .

I'm sorry for not doing anything to warn you or even stop you from going there that day .

I'm sorry for not understanding how you felt .

I'm sorry for thinking that I'd done the right thing .

I'm sorry for trying to convince you that my actions were justified .

I'm sorry for being selfish .

I'm sorry for hurting you , Chizuru.

I know that the way I've acted and the way I treated you , it's the opposite of what I promised you ,that night at the shrine when you trusted me and told me how you felt .

I betrayed that trust.

I know that if Kibe had tried to do this a couple of months ago , I would've stopped him . Even though I wasn't your boyfriend then , I would have stopped him . I would have punched him , lied to him , I would have done whatever it took to stop him .

That's why I can't stomach the fact that I didn't stop him even though I was your boyfriend.

That's why after you asked me what we were even doing together, I told myself that you were right to feel that way . Right to wonder why you're in a relationship where you're taken advantage of .

That's when I started pitying myself , almost like I was preparing myself to lose you .

But I've stopped thinking that now .

I'm not ready to give up .

No matter what, I'm not going to give up .

That's why this letter is only the first apology.

I'm not going to avoid you anymore . I'm going to face you, everyday , look you in the eyes and apologize to you .

I'll do it again and again and again, as many times as I need to .

If you need time or space I'll give it to you , but I'm not going to stop trying .

I'll do whatever I need to mend our relationship.

And if you give me another chance, I swear I'll never hurt you again , I'll never put someone else , whoever it is above you .

I'm sorry for everything Chizuru .

And ... I know that right know I don't deserve to say this... but ...

I love you ."

She had started crying , long back , at the first few words itself and now her face was wet with tears .

She read his last line again and again, her tears growing more torrential each time she did as finally her fear vanished, Kazuya's affirmation that he loved her , was more than powerful enough to do just that.

She finally put the letter aside and picked up the box .

She tore the packaging off and found inside a gift that she had received from him , once before.

A box of dried plums.

She smiled through her tears , unable to help herself.

The memories came flooding back and she knew what he was asking her, the very thing she'd told him the last time he'd gifted her this very item .

Her trust .

She slowly got up, she picked up the box and walked towards her door . She didn't bother with anything else, she could only see him as she stepped outside .

She didn't even know what time it was , she had no way to know if he was awake or he had left already but still unhesitatingly she walked up to his door .

It was unlocked as it often was and so she pushed it open gently .

And finally she saw him , sitting up on his bed staring at his phone .

She saw his red eyes , swollen and puffy , she saw the worry on his face, she saw the weight that he was being crushed under .

And then he looked up and saw her .

He was stunned at first , his mouth falling open in astonishment .

Then she saw his eyes narrowing in worry , she could see the distress of seeing her tears , etched on his face.

She paused for just a moment as she tossed the box of plums aside .

Then she ran to him , she fell on the floor when she reached him and then she embraced him

She felt his warm chest pressed into hers, she felt the strength of his heartbeat , her head found that crook in his neck where it always fit perfectly .

"Chizuru... I'm sorry ", he tried to say , but she ignored him ,pulling him into her more fiercely instead, holding him even tighter .

And then she felt him, his familiar arms coming around her trembling , hesitant at first before they enveloped her .

Tears started to flow from her eyes again, happy tears as she let herself fall into his arms.

Kazuya once again started to tell her ,

"I'm sorry, Chizuru. I ... "

"You don't have to ... anymore . You've apologized enough ", she whispered.

"I'm the one who should . I'm the one who... "

"No ", Kazuya told her softly but firmly.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You were ..."

"I did ", she interrupted him slightly forcefully .

"I questioned us being together. That's more than just something wrong. That was horrible of me .

You don't have to take all the blame, Kazuya.

I played my part in this whole thing " .

She could feel him shivering slightly , she could feel his tears running down her back,

she could feel his guilt and his fear and so she held on even tighter .

"It's okay ", she whispered.

"We both messed up , we both did some terrible things .

But we ... our feelings haven't changed .

So let's put this all behind us "

She felt him slowly exhale , the weight seeming to vanish from him as he clutched her .

She raised her head slightly, just to look at him , but when she saw the pure joy on his face , she couldn't stop herself .

Or maybe that was why she'd raised her head to begin with .

She let go of his back and instead caressed his face , gently pulling him towards her , raising herself up more before she kissed him and he kissed her , slowly , gently and undoubtedly lovingly .

They broke apart some moments later , but kept their faces close , as they watched each other shine with happiness.

A/N : And so a difficult phase in their relationship ends with lessons learnt that'll hold Chizuru and Kazuya in good stead as the days go by .

Another important arc in Resonance has finished now and after the couple take a little time off together , the story will head into some more exciting moments . Don't forget, there's still many people blissfully unaware of the complete truth not to mention Mami who is always looking to pounce .

I'm back after a break , new chapter tomorrow

Next time : A weekend getaway.