"I used to be head over heels for this Englishwoman.
She was gorgeous.
Just a real beauty.
And full of life."
"So me and her,
we dated for a while.
A long while.
Then, one day, we got to talking.
I told her how much I loved her."
A pause.
"And she looked at me and told me 'I don't love you. I never will.'"
"What did you do?"
"I told her, I thought I could change that.
Maybe she didn't love me right now,
but she would eventually."
"She said okay. And we stayed together. And we fought. We fought alot."
"And then I realized.
I had made a big mistake."
"She had given me her youth, and now it was gone.
I did not know how to get out of it. And then she got sick.
And she was dying."
"So I made good with her, and I stuck by her.
And then she died.
And I felt horrible."
"Because I felt like here was this woman who didn't want to be with me,
she told me that,
and I ignored it."
"And she was spending the end of her life with someone she didn't love.
And now, she is gone."
"A part of me felt relieved that I was freed out of this relationship,
and that made me feel so terrible,
I couldn't deal with it.
I couldn't tell our daughter."
He takes a deep breath, and looks at the young man to his side.
"The fuckin' point is,
People are always trying to tell you how they feel.
Some of them say it outright,
and some of them,
they tell you with their actions."
"And you have to listen.
I do not know what will happen between you and Yumiko."
"I think you are a good person, Hikigaya-san. And I hope you get what you want.
But do me a favor; Listen, and do not ignore what you hear."
