Sae Itoshi

The distance didn't hurt at first. He was in Spain, she was in Japan, two time zones, two routines, the same attempt at love. During the first few months, Sae kept his promise: late-night calls, midnight messages, fleeting photos from training. She treasured every word, every gesture, as if they were proof that the ocean hadn't completely separated them. And he responded, not with passion, but with a calmness that confused tenderness with habit. Football consumed everything; every training session, every match, every second he spent on the field was a battle to stay on top. And in that constant struggle, love began to slip away. He stopped responding so quickly, stopped calling, stopped promising.

"I've been training more," he said in a neutral voice.

She nodded, feigning understanding, though inside something was tearing apart. She knew he wasn't lying, but she also knew he wasn't telling her the whole truth. Sae didn't miss her, and that was the worst part. Not because he didn't love her, but because he had learned to live without her. The routine, the pressure, the stadium noise—all of that had become his world. A world where there was no room for late-night calls or the "I miss you" messages sent between flights and sleepless nights. Every time his phone vibrated with her name, he put it on silent, not because he didn't want to hear her, but because he didn't want to be distracted. Love, for Sae, was a luxury he couldn't afford. She waited for him, waited for his messages, his excuses, his return, repeating in her head, "24/7 for you." She waited until the silence became unbearable, and in her mind, she kept thinking, "I don't want another one, another night alone, sixty thousand miles away now. "

One night, when he finally logged on, his voice sounded cold and distant. "Are we still the same?" she asked, with a glimmer of hope.

Sae took a while to answer —I don't know... don't bother me now, I'm tired from training— he finally said

And that was enough; there was no argument, no goodbye, just a long, heavy silence.