(Kouta's pov)

I found mikasa at the school bleachers crying.

"Mikasa! "

She looks up at me and smiles.

"Have you come to your senses yet? " she asks almost bittersweet.

"I love her you know. " I said.

She laughs.

"I love you, you know. "

"Mikasa, why do you love me? "

She smiles.

"I fell in love with you when I first met you. You were walking to school and I was new. Nobody gave me a slip of paper telling me where to go and I got lost pretty quickly. Soon, I ended up stuck in one of the old classrooms. Time passed. No one came. No one, but you. You told me you had been waiting at the school gates for me, just to ask if I liked the school on my first day. You got worried when I never came and started searching for me. When you found me, I... "

She began to cry.

"I was so happy. You cared for me. You came when no one else did. You looked at me and told me everything would be alright. People had told me that lie before, but I could only believe it, when you said it. All I've ever wanted since that day is for you to look at me and say you love me. I want you to look at me like you look at Noriko. But I know, you can't. I'll always be a friend. You'll always be her friend. We can never win can we? "

I didn't know what to say so I held her hand.

"Everything will be okay. " I said and she smiled.