Akane Aoi

The rain barely touches the windows of the empty living room. The doorbell rang a while ago, but you and Akane are still there. Each of you with your own silence.

They haven't spoken for weeks.

He adjusts his bag with exaggerated calm. As if you weren't even there. As if you hadn't been everything to him. As if he hadn't promised you he'd never stop loving you.

"Did you want something?"
He asks without looking at you. His voice is dry, polite. Cold.

"I'm not angry"
He says later. But the way he doesn't look at you is a scream.

"I have no right to be, do I?"

He laughs, humorlessly. He rests a hand on the window, and you see his fingers tremble slightly.

"I was just the guy who loved you until he broke. The one who was always there. The one who believed you when you said you had feelings too."

Turns his head. Now he's looking at you. Finally. And it hurts.

"But in the end, only I continued to love."

He walks slowly toward you. He doesn't touch you. He doesn't dare.

"How did you do it? How could you stop feeling that way, overnight?"

Pause.

"Because I can't."

The phrase floats between you. Like the echo of a sad song that repeats itself even if you try to keep it quiet.

"And sometimes I think… that if you had told me the truth from the beginning, if you had told me it wasn't enough, maybe it would have hurt less."

Her voice trembles. For a second, she stops acting like the perfect Aoi Akane.

"But you left without closing the door. And I stayed inside, waiting for you."

The rain barely touches the windows of the empty living room. The doorbell rang a while ago, but you and Akane are still there. Each of you with your own silence.

They haven't spoken for weeks.

He adjusts his bag with exaggerated calm. As if you weren't even there. As if you hadn't been everything to him. As if he hadn't promised you he'd never stop loving you.

"Did you want something?"
He asks without looking at you. His voice is dry, polite. Cold.

"I'm not angry"
He says later. But the way he doesn't look at you is a scream.

"I have no right to be, do I?"

He laughs, humorlessly. He rests a hand on the window, and you see his fingers tremble slightly.

"I was just the guy who loved you until he broke. The one who was always there. The one who believed you when you said you had feelings too."

Turns his head. Now he's looking at you. Finally. And it hurts.

"But in the end, only I continued to love."

He walks slowly toward you. He doesn't touch you. He doesn't dare.

"How did you do it? How could you stop feeling that way, overnight?"

Pause.

"Because I can't."

The phrase floats between you. Like the echo of a sad song that repeats itself even if you try to keep it quiet.

"And sometimes I think… that if you had told me the truth from the beginning, if you had told me it wasn't enough, maybe it would have hurt less."

Her voice trembles. For a second, she stops acting like the perfect Aoi Akane.

"But you left without closing the door. And I stayed inside, waiting for you."