At midnight, Haruto sat on his bed, leaning against the wall behind him, seemingly lost in thought. Flashbacks of Kanna filling his mind, her smile, her eyes and the beautiful moments they shared together. A faint smile touched his lips as he remained lost in her memories.
He then picked up his phone and opened his messages. He saw a text from his big brother Rensuke which says, "Haruto, it's been seven months since we last met. We still live in the same city, and you haven't visited us once during this time. Whenever I come to your place, I find your apartment locked. Do you have any idea how much Mom and Dad miss you? Please, for their sake, come visit us at least once."
Haruto stared at the message for a moment before replying, "Alright, I'll visit any day this week. I'll let you know once I've finalized the day." He sent the message.
He came back from his brother's inbox and opened the 'Grand Reunion 2018 Batch' group chat. The discussion was lively, with everyone making plans for the reunion. He then saw a message from Baku stating, "Tomorrow is the final day to submit your payment. The final list of confirmed participants will be posted tomorrow night."
"Should I really go to this reunion?" Haruto asked himself. "I don't want Kanna to see me like this… I know It's all over between us, and she probably wouldn't care whether I show up or not. But I still love her… And this might be my last chance to see her. I should go… even if it's just for a moment. I want to see her again" Haruto pondered to himself.
Haruto came back from the group chat and searched for Kanna's contact, opening the inbox where the last message had been sent eight years ago. As he absentmindedly scrolled down, their old conversation reappeared.
Haruto continued scrolling, and more messages kept coming up. Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization. He sat up straight, his focus intense on the screen he kept scrolling through the messages.
Haruto's surprise kept growing as he scrolled rapidly, their old conversations continuously appearing.
"What? How is this possible?" He whispered to himself "I'm sure that I deleted all our messages. So where is this all coming from?"
Haruto continued scrolling through their old conversations until, abruptly, the feed halted. He was taken aback to find the first message on that chat was nine years ago, revealing a year of conversations from a time when their relationship was strong. His gaze fixated on that very first message.
Momentarily stunned, Haruto stared at the initial text he had sent which said, "Hey, why did you wear additional sleeves today?"
In response, Kanna's reply was, "You didn't like it? I'm really sorry, I thought you would."
A warm smile spread across Haruto's face as tears began to well up in his eyes. He scrolled up slightly, reading the conversation.
Haruto: "I liked it, but sometimes I prefer it without the additional sleeves."
Kanna: "Alright, I won't wear it tomorrow. Happy now?"
Haruto's response was a simple smiling emoji.
As Haruto looked at the exchange of conversation, a smile warmed his face, and he continued to scroll through the messages.
Kanna: "You know what happened today at my house?" Upon reading this message Haruto smiled and leaned back placing his back against the wall as he was ready to hear.
Haruto: "Tell me, what happened?"
Kanna: "When I got home today, I was heading upstairs to my room and I tripped and fell, hitting my elbow on a step. It's really hurting now :(
Haruto: "What? You should have been more careful. Why were you rushing in the first place? How bad is the pain? Have you seen a doctor? If you want, I can come over and take you to one."
Kanna: "It's alright, I'm fine now. I've bandaged it up myself."
Haruto: "What do you mean, 'fine'? You fell on the stairs, it must still be hurting. Please, Kanna, you need to take better care of yourself."
Kanna: "Why should I? when you're here to take care of me." Upon reading this message a warm smile appeared on Haruto's face, his eyes welling up with tears.
Haruto: "I am here for you, and I always will be. But for now, we're apart. Please take care of yourself during this time. When we're together, I promise to protect you with my life."
As Haruto read through the exchange, a warm smile remained on his face, tears flowing uncontrollably down his cheeks. He continued scrolling, immersing himself in their daily conversations… Good mornings, good nights, and the shared details of their days, each message, filled with joy and togetherness, brought a tearful smile to Haruto's face as he relieved their moments of happiness.
As Haruto scrolled through the messages, he came across voice notes. His smile grew wide as he played one of his own voice notes, which said, "Why didn't you show up? I was waiting for you. We all had a great time, and I really missed you."
Haruto then opened Kanna's voice note, which said, "I'm really sorry, I got caught up with something, and I also missed you a lot, I mean, a lot."
With a smile, Haruto played the message again, closing his eyes to savor the familiar sound of her voice. He then continued scrolling through the messages, reliving each moment.
Then Haruto came across a message from Kanna that said, "Haruto, what if we got separated? What if I had to spend all my days without seeing you? I'm really afraid of that day. I don't think I could survive without you."
As Haruto read the message, his expression darkened with sadness, and tears began to stream down his cheeks.
Haruto's reply to this was heartfelt, "Why are you worrying about this? Don't be afraid, we'll stay together forever. Nothing can separate us, even as we grow older, I promise we'll be together. I'll work hard and become a very successful man, then I'll marry you and we both will spend a happy healthy life together. We'll share our lives, even into old age."
Haruto's tears flowed freely, though he wasn't crying. His heart ached with an unfamiliar deep sadness.
Kanna's message simply asked, "Promise?"
Haruto's response was, "I promise."
Haruto was momentarily paused, staring at the message. He then snapped back to reality, quickly coming back from the inbox and opening Baku's inbox and he started typing, "Sorry, Baku, but I won't be able to join. My apologies." After sending the message, he slammed his phone onto the bed and buried his face with his arms, struggling to control the tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I've never cried since we broke up," Haruto whispered to himself, his voice barely audible. "I don't know why, but I couldn't cry." His words choked as he continued, "But now I want to cry. I want to cry my lungs out. I want to." With that, Haruto began to cry in a low tone, his quiet yet deeply painful sobs filling the still, dark room.