Faith
Summary: Hojo faces the truth, as he sees it. Drabble for issekiwa (250 word max).
I can't say I didn't see it coming. Though I did a superb job of denial for a while. She was at school less and less, and the illnesses she allegedly suffered got more and more obscure, increasingly bizarre. I found herbs and tinctures so rare even their sellers were doubtful as to their efficacy or even their appropriateness. But it was not because I actually believed it, any of it. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a fool. I prefer to see myself as an optimist. Faith in normalcy and ample fortitude, I guess you could say. I argued convincingly to myself that whatever Higurashi-san was going through would someday end, and she'd realize that I have always been here, waiting, patient and true. No matter what oats she was sowing (and though no one would guess it, I envisioned everything from drug addiction to single motherhood), she would eventually come to see that I was right for the long-term when the short-term ended.
And now? I face a new truth. She is gone forever, her mother says, and I must move on. It is time for the next phase of my life, now that this "puppy love" has proved untenable, unreal. "Thank you for your kindness," I say, bowing deeply, urging her to keep the little phial of rare salts to purify the sinuses. Sooner or later, she will return. Sooner or later, my faith will be rewarded.