・・・ i ・・・
Once, there was a little boy who had everything.
A mother.
A father.
A sister.
A friend.
Happiness.
But,
one by one,
he lost them all as he grew up.
It wasn't soon before the boy realized that he was making the people around him suffer.
When his words finally killed someone precious to him,
the boy decided never to cause problems again.
So he shunned everyone and wrapped himself in an empty world of loneliness.
He closed his eyes.
He covered his ears.
He locked his words and mouth away.
As a result, the little boy became a hollow human.
In the end,
he couldn't even hear the sound of his own cries anymore.
"Ah... what a boring story."
・・・ ii ・・・
Tick.
Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. To—
・・・ iii ・・・
Time passed as it always did.
Soon, two years had gone by.
For Fujiwara Ao, it didn't matter.
For two years, he had continued his bleak existence,
hating himself and regretting everything.
Again,
and again,
and again,
and again.
A cycle. A loop.
An unchanging isochronism.
As the days passed, he no longer knew what mattered to him anymore.
He doubted if he even had one.
Fujiwara Ao had become empty.
Or... at least he was.
Because something had changed.
And it was all because of a single person.
Someone as warm as the sun.
Someone as gentle as the snow.
Someone as kind as the rain.
And that person...
That person's name was—
"—'Hashimoto Rie', right?"
・・・ iv ・・・
That's right.
At first, she was just like her.
Rie's wide smile.
Rie's cheerful personality.
Rie's stubborn determination.
—Even the way she laughed.
Everything about her reminded him of Ame.
And every time it did,
there was always that pain in his chest that wouldn't go away.
Ao had never intended to get close to her.
But Rie didn't give up.
Day after
day after
day after
day after
day.
It scared him.
It scared him a lot.
Because Ao knew it was only a matter of time before he would be abandoned again.
Because it was only a matter of time before something happened and he would ruin everything.
It was scary.
It was painful.
But Rie didn't stop. Just like Ame once did.
Maybe that was why Ao was the one who finally gave up.