The man's eyes fluttered open. He glanced at his phone, the night was still late. The sound of the clock could be heard in the distance.
He sat on the edge of the bed, wondering how many nights had passed. Leaving his youth. Leaving his past. Leaving all his memories.
The place that he had forgotten.
How many years had passed? He tried to count. Five years... that was not a short time. He should have forgotten the memories of his past. But that dream seemed to wake him up.
It had been a long time since he dreamed of her again.
The images flashed quickly like slides show, but they always showed the same figure. A figure of a 17-year-old girl. She had long, blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail, the girl was waving her hand as she approached him.
"Kiyotaka ~ "
The image of the girl flashed in his mind again. The man tried to remember her name.
No, he always remembered it.
Kei. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he always remembered. Her violet eyes that always filled with playfulness, her movements, her body, her hair, her face, her silhouette.
Her voice.
"Let's go, Kiyotaka!"
The man sighed. The girl's sweet smile had never left her face—not until that day when he took it away. He was the one who made her cry.
The girl who was always by his side. Begging him not to leave. Saying that she loved him.
Love... the word felt foreign to the man.
It felt so heavy. To leave your memories. The place where everything seemed new to you. The place where you spent your youth, where all your dreams shattered and disappeared.
And the place where he met the girl who loved him.
The image of the smiling Kei reappeared in his mind. He slumped his body on the bed, trying to close his eyes. Five years had passed since then.
I have chosen to leave her.
And that won't ever change.