She's a stressed and struggling student in Osaka, living alone and barely managing to pay off her debts to keep herself off the streets. But an encounter with her used-to-be favourite utaite, Mafumafu, might change all of that!
Turning his head, Daichi's eyes widen, and he drops his bag on the floor; impact echoing across the empty space.
"###-chan.... Why are you here?" As he speaks, his voice is soft and trembling - as if he's afraid to speak with me.
"Look," I start, taking a deep breath and looking away awkwardly, "Daichi-kun, I know what you did wasn't right... But I-I forgive you. I know why you did what you did, if that makes any sense. It's okay."
I can't even imagine how dumb I sound, and my gaze goes to the floor out of embarrassment.
"#-###-chan...."
Hearing Daichi sniffle, I look up. Tears are spilling out of his blue eyes, onto his red cheeks as he sobs.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did," He weeps, wiping his eyes with his sleeves, "I-I wish things hadn't turned out this way, I'm so.... Ashamed of myself, Oh God...."
Not knowing what else to do, I put my arms around Daichi and him tightly, trying to reassure him. He seems so fragile now, this is the real Daichi. With his shell off, I can see a different person; a person who was controlled by obsession, and warped because of the neglect and pressure he suffered early on in life - all he wanted was proper love. I wish I had known what was going on back then.
"It's ok, it's ok," I murmur, caressing Daichi.
As I do, his broken sobs continue to wrack and wrench my heart with guilt. I just hope I can make him feel a little better.
~
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Classes have ended for the day.
Me and Daichi are sitting on a bench together waiting to be picked up. Mafumafu's taking an awfully long time today.
"Hey," Daichi suddenly asks, "What are you going to do after you finish college?"
I ponder this question for a bit.
"I want to be a doctor or a vet," I eventually answer, smiling into the distance, "Something in the medical field. I want to help people, that'd be nice."
Daichi smiles back at me.
"That's a nice dream, ###-chan," He chuckles.
"How about you?" I ask, "What do you want to be?"
"Ahh, I don't know," Daichi shuffles in his place awkwardly, and scratches his head, "It's pretty inevitable that I'll become a businessman like my dad anyways. We're moving to America by the way, so it's my last day in Japan."
"Ehh? Why?" I ask Daichi, a little confused.
"Ahh, it's to escape the media and prosecution," He explains, "They've been after us like wild dogs after Soraru-san and Kirika-san's videos."
I feel guilt tug at me, but it's small.
"I see," I reply, "Good luck, then. Learning English sounds fun."
This makes Daichi chuckle.
"Yeah, good luck to you too," Just as Daichi finishes speaking, a black SUV pulls up on the road. As the black-tinted windows roll down, a man wearing sunglasses with slicked-back hair in a short ponytail waves over to Daichi.
"Ahh, guess it's time for me to go," Daichi says in a calm, resigned tone, picking up his bag. Before he can take a step forward, I grab his wrist. I don't want him to leave just yet.
"###-chan?"
"Be..." I look down, blushing, "Be well in America, Daichi-kun,"
He seems a bit surprised, but smiles softly.
"Yeah, you be well too, ###-chan," Daichi tightly hugs me, before pulling away to tenderly put a hand on my cheek, "Do something amazing, yeah?"
I nod, "Yeah, I will,"
"Mr. Furuichi," The suited man says again, and this time I recognise him. He was one of the bodyguards down at the basement. With one last smile to me, Daichi gets into the car. Everything feels so momentous right now, it's crazy how one afternoon can change so much with a single person.
Car driving off now, I chase after it and wave like mad until the black SUV drives out of sight, and I out of breath.
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