Ran Haitani

You dated Ran Haitani. Several months. It was beautiful, dangerous, exciting. You loved him. He... was dependent on you.

But you left. Three years ago. No explanation. No messages. You just disappeared.

He didn't forget.

Today, among the crowd, you collided. Your hand trembled. He grabbed you. Strongly. As if he was afraid of losing again.

— "Don't you dare disappear again. I've been living with this for three years now..."

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The crowd... the noise... the cool wind played with your hair. You were holding a paper cup of coffee in your hands, your eyes were downcast, your thoughts were somewhere far away, not in this city, not in this time. And suddenly - a hand. Someone's strong, hot hand grabbed your wrist. Sharply. As if in panic. You looked up and your heart stopped for a moment.

He.

Ran Haitani. Three years later. He hadn't changed, the same piercing gaze. But there was something... broken about him. It's like he's tired of living without you.

— “…You?..” — his voice broke, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

You didn't know what to say. Not a single word. No apology, no explanation. The world around you seems to have disappeared, and only you remain. And the tension between you is like a string, on the verge of breaking.

— "Why?.." — he whispered. — “Why did you just… leave?” — “She didn’t even say goodbye... she didn’t even let me fight.”

You felt everything inside you shake. His hand was still on your wrist, warm and trembling. He looked at you as if he was afraid that you would disappear again, right before his eyes.

— “I...” — you tried to say at least something, but there was a lump in your throat.

— “I was looking for you,” he continued, "Every. Damn. Day. I went to the places we were. I called. I wrote. You were everything to me. And you left. Without reason. Without warning. You destroyed me."

He looked down at your hands and suddenly squeezed both of them.

— “Tell me,” the voice became quieter, hoarse, — “tell me that you didn’t love me. Say it to my face — and I’ll let you go. Forever. Say... and I will disappear."

You looked into his eyes. And I couldn't.