Chapter 4.5:
Silence filled the condominium of Usami Akihiko. Although it had always been tranquil, this certain kind of silence meant something else. In his room, the youngest recipient of the Kikukawa and Naomori Award slumped on his chair. He was still holding on to his phone after a brief chat with his friend. His other hand covered his eyes.
Usami Akihiko couldn't fathom what to feel by that time. Was it happiness? Shock? Or he just noticed that he was a big idiot for not noticing the possible connection.
The silver haired man sat up and tried to gather his thoughts about the possible hint from the past that will connect Misaki to Takahiro. The writer rushed to his office and tried to unearth the box which was filled with everything from Takahiro. 'There must be something here!' he told himself as he tried to pry away the clutter building up in that particular room.
And at last, he found it, the box which contained every single memory of his beloved. Akihiko quickly brought the box downstairs to examine its contents. There wasn't any room left in his office to put down the contents.
Akihiko put the box on the coffee table and ripped the masking tape off in frenzy. Then, he slowly opened it, revealing the notes, pictures and other memento of his unrequited love. He picked up a particular notebook and skimmed through it. A soft smile graced his lips. It was the 'so-called' diary he wrote which kept track of his days with Takahiro. It was in a story format and he whenever he would write there, he would end up writing a different ending for each day, a happy one; one where they would not part so casually like normal friends although it was far from the truth. Thus, it gave him a bit of hope for requital.
As Akihiko read through it, his eyes widened. He kept reading and just a few moments, he closed the note. He put it down and let out a deep groan of frustration. He covered his face with both hands. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. He didn't know why but he felt very ironic.
He leaned on the sofa and looked up the high ceiling, 'Why am I feeling like this now?'
'How can I not remember clearly anything now?'
'Anything about you?'
'The person I swore to love forever and wholeheartedly…'
'My mind is now somehow clouded by something… So clouded that I can no longer recall clearly our memories… The things you said before… Your laughter… Everything seemed to fade all of the sudden.'
'Takahiro…'
Akihiko looked back at the pictures. Surely, he remembered what day it was but he can't recall what happened. Was he abandoning Takahiro? No, of course not. He can never do that… all of the sudden?
"I must be tired… This is just lack of sleep… I'll remember in the morning…" he told himself and went up to his room.
However, he didn't have a clue that it was a sign that he was slowly moving on from the past that trapped him in despair and sadness for the past 10 years…
