Weeks later, Haru and Ren wandered through the town's annual Lilac Festival, a tradition older than the boys who'd read the poem.
The streets were alive with music, paper lanterns, and the faint scent of lilacs drifting on the breeze.
Ren stopped by a small stall selling pressed flowers and held up a lilac.
"Do you think they ever saw this? The lilacs?" Ren asked softly.
Haru shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe the poem gave them something to hold onto."
They walked in silence, fingers brushing, the world buzzing around them like a half-remembered dream.
That night, beneath a sky spilling stars, Ren whispered, "I want to be brave. Like them. To love who I want, no matter what."
Haru smiled, squeezing his hand.
"Then let's be brave together."
-A Few Days Later-
Inspired by Ezra's words and haunted by their story, Haru began writing again—the first poems he'd dared write since middle school.
One evening, he showed Ren a page filled with words about lilacs, love, and lost boys.
Ren read quietly, then looked up, eyes shining.
"We should send this to Ms. Nakamura," he said. "Maybe the poem could help someone. Like the others."
Haru nodded.
For the first time, he felt like he wasn't alone.
And maybe, just maybe, love could be enough.