Prologue
'Cause everywhere I go
There's a love song that reminds me of you.
And even though I knew I had to be strong
I was still not over you.
—"So Not Over You" by Simply Red
The Inn, Funbari Hill, Tokyo, Japan
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
3:05 am
Five years.
That's how long it had been since he last saw her. Since he last heard of her. Since he was last able to feel her touch, to smell her perfume.
She left without a note, without a warning, without a word. She disappeared without a trace, and had it not been for his friends, he would have probably never found out where she had gone.
Sure, it wasn't like he hadn't deserved that, because he most definitely had. Despite that vivid knowledge, however, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of remorse whenever he thought back to what she had done—not only to him, but to all of them. That feeling was instantly replaced by guilt and by an intense need to hit himself, because every time he thought about her actions, memories of what had caused them flooded his mind. He had been so stupid… He'd had everything. Everything. How could he have pushed it away so easily, he would never know.
She was happy now. At least, that was what he had heard. She lived in New York, in one of those huge penthouses at the top of a skyscraper. She had graduated with flying colors from the best university in town, and now had a successful career as a psychologist. Quite obviously, she had already moved on.
And him? He was still there, right where she had left him. Still trying to forget her, still trapped in the past. He lived in Tokyo still, in that old inn she once used to call 'home'.
Pushed by his friends, he went to college and got his MBA without really putting much heart into anything. He now had a job and was well-paid. Ren had taken it upon himself to buy him a nice, expensive car which, even though he liked quite a lot and used regularly, he didn't care much about.
His most prized possession was a picture. An old, rumpled photograph. A photograph of her.
It was taken a long time ago, right after the Shaman Tournament had ended. Powered by Manta, the entire gang went to an exotic island for New Years, and easily had the fun of their lives.
The photo was taken at sunset by one of their friends. She was dressed in a pair of black shorts and a yellow, strapless top, matched with a pair of yellow flats. She looked gorgeous in the dim light, her blonde hair glowing along with her slightly tanned skin. And she was smiling. Not a smirk, not a sneer. But a true, beautiful smile.
He may have forgotten many details about that vacation, but not this. Not the fact that it was him who had made her smile like that.
And he would give anything to be able to do that again—at least once more.
This is something that I wrote this summer. The chapters will be short—around this length—and I will update every Sunday.
You can find pictures of Anna's outfits on my profile and pictures of her make-up—whenever it is mentioned—on my blog.
Review!