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“So, he will be really late then…” Nanami murmured after hanging up the phone.

Shuuichi had told her he would be late that day. Much too late to make it back for their anniversary. He advised her to stay at home and not go to the hotel reservation.

With a sigh, she picked herself up and made some curry rice, refrigerating it for Shuuichi when he came back.

A little frustrated, she had to find a replacement for the knife she brought into Kamata’s house, but despite this, she muscled through using a vegetable chopper.

“Alright..! Now should I clean or…?”

It was then that a game-like interface appeared before her eyes.

[DING! By preventing a misfortune, you gain a peek into your lover’s alternate past! Scenario: His worst fear coming true! May this give you more insight and help your love prevail!]

“What…?” Nanami exclaimed, her mind instantly trapped in a trance-like state, her eyes compelled to follow.

There, she witnessed Shuuichi, her lover, staring at divorce papers on the night she divorced him.

“Shuu-kun…?” she whispered.

His mind went blank, his eyes wide with disbelief.

‘What is this? What am I seeing? Is this when he saw the divorce papers?’ Nanami thought as she watched.

“This… This can’t be real, right? Nanami…?” Shuuichi stammered, his voice trembling.

Nanami knew quickly that this was some sort of projection. Yet, upon hearing her lover’s cracking voice and seeing his pale face, she couldn’t help but call out to him.

“S-Shuu-kun! Look at me! I’m right here!” Nanami called as her consciousness floated in the apartment room, gazing at Shuuichi’s growing distress.

“Ah… Ah…!! Ahh!!!” Shuuichi’s breathing became labored as he tightly clutched Nanami’s ring.

“I… What…? What have I done…? N-Nanami! I’ve pushed you away!” he blurted out with a shaky voice and fragmented words.

“S-Shuu-kun, please; look away from that! I’m here with you!”

“You gave me everything… And I’ve gone and done something like this… I’m… I’m sorry… I’m the worst…” Shuuichi’s voice cracked as he tightly held onto Nanami’s ring.

“You haven’t done anything wrong! Please, listen to me! Please hear my words! I don’t care about that escort girl! I’m here with you, aren’t I!? I’m here! Look at me!” she called out, longing to caress his weary face but unable to interact with him.

“R-right… Her phone! If I can just talk to her! If I can just talk to her!” he exclaimed in distress, reaching for his flip phone and dialing her number.

“This number is no longer in service.”

“W-what…? What…? M-maybe her sister knows what’s going on with her?” Shuuichi wondered, dialing Chihiro’s number.

“This number is no longer in service.”

His heartbeats grew more frequent, pounding with worry and disbelief.

‘Why… Why am I witnessing this?! Make it stop…! I already know what I did, there’s no point to seeing this!!’ Nanami cried, anguishing over seeing her beloved in such pain.

“Maybe… Shinagawa-san knows where she is!?” he blurted out.

‘No… Anything but that…!! Please, don’t discover it like that…’ Nanami pleaded.

He rushed outside the apartment, knocking on Shinagawa’s door. No answer. He kept knocking… still no answer.

He tried calling him…

“This number is no longer in service.”

“What… What is going on…? Shinagawa-san is gone too…?”

“Oh, Mr. Honda,” the new landlord exclaimed, climbing up the stairs and finding Shuuichi visibly worried and stressed.

‘That’s… Shuu-kun’s future wife… But… younger. She became our new landlord after that pig?’ Nanami deduced.

“A-ah… the new landlord. Do you happen to know where Shinagawa-san is…?” Shuuichi turned to the landlord, seeking answers.

Nanami, a silent observer unable to intervene, felt her heart collapsing and her face paling.

‘No… please don’t tell him… It will shatter his heart…!’

“Hm… Mr. Shinagawa moved out recently. I believe I saw him leaving in his car with your wife. I assumed you were aware…” The landlord pressed her finger against her chin, seemingly lost in thought as she recalled the events.

Nanami tried to close her ears and shut her eyes, but she could only observe. She watched her beloved, in that moment, have the breath knocked out of him, his complexion turning paler. He rushed back into his house and vomited in the toilet.

“So it’s true… Shinagawa-san and Nanami… Just as I feared…”

He muttered to himself, gazing at his own ring, while the concerned voice of the landlord reached out to him, inquiring about his well-being.

“It wasn’t just a feeling… Haha… I truly was… Inadequate compared to someone like Shinagawa-san… Compared to him, I’m a pathetic excuse for a man… I even resorted to cheating… I… I deserve… this…”

“No…” Her voice faltered, the intensity dimming, “…Shuu-kun, Shinagawa is nothing but a shallow man. It was I who should have confessed everything. Please, don’t torture yourself over someone like me. Don’t compare yourself to him. You’re worth more than a thousand of him. I love you! I love you more than anything. Please, don’t blame yourself…”

Her calls streamed like a phantom waterfall, constant, yet unfelt and unseen. Time seemed to fast-forward from her perspective. In a flash, she witnessed months passing by, Shuuichi returning home from work, drowning his sorrows in alcohol while gazing at their photos together.

Her heart crinkled as she witnessed him gradually losing weight, neglecting his diet and relying on takeout for every meal. The sight of him deteriorating physically tore at her soul. And yet, he kept the door constantly unlocked, holding onto a glimmer of hope that Nanami would one day return.

She longed to reach out to him, to console him, but her ethereal presence rendered her powerless. She could only watch as he spiraled deeper into despair, his once vibrant spirit fading away. Each passing day, his eyes grew emptier.

Nanami’s presence lingered in every corner of their home, haunting him with memories of their love and the happiness they once shared. He clung to those memories, desperately hoping for a chance to rewrite their story, to tell her how much he still loved her.

But as time slipped through his fingers, he became a mere shadow of his former self. The pain of her absence weighed heavily on his shoulders, leaving him trapped in a world where the sun no longer shone bright.

With no fighting spirit remaining, she shifted her consciousness and lay down beside him, feigning the gentle caress of his body to offer solace. Yet, deep within, she understood that this was an alternate timeline. The Shuuichi before her eyes was beyond salvation, for his future and past were irrevocably etched in fate’s script.

With a heavy heart, she slowly opened her eyes, awakening on their bed inside the familiar walls of their apartment. Tears welled up in her eyes, cascading down her face and saturating the pillow beneath her.

The moon shone brightly outside. It was already early morning, around the time Shuuichi would be on his way home.

… Not that Nanami noticed.

[DING! You have borne witness to your lover’s cruel fate! Sticks and stones may break his bones, but your actions did a much better job! May this knowledge help with your true love!]

“Don’t mess with me… How does that help…!? How does seeing him in such a state help anything?! How dare you…!!” She mumbled, her tone shaky as tears streamed down to her pillow.

Just as she was about to burst out her emotions to that digital, game-like interface, the door to their house had been opened.

“I’m home, Nanami-san…”

As if a switch had been flipped within her, she relaxed upon hearing his voice. As she heard footsteps quietly walking toward their room, she looked at the time: It was 2:12am. Shuuichi must have gone back from work.

She closed her eyes, listening to his tiptoeing footsteps as he moved throughout the house. The door had been closed and locked with utmost delicacy. He entered their room and found Nanami lying there, her form peaceful. He presumed she was asleep.

He sat down beside her, gently caressing her arm, still believing she slumbered. Earlier that day, he had sent her a text, asking her to stay home. He wouldn’t be able to make it to their hotel reservation.

His first words, whispered, were filled with remorse: “I’m sorry for being back so late. I know you were looking forward to our anniversary. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

No response came from her, but he smiled nonetheless. Rising from the bed, he walked toward the bathroom to prepare for sleep.

[BACKGROUND MUSIC: YOU REMEMBER – PAUL KIM]

“Shuu-kun…?” Her soft voice reached him as she lay there.

“Nanami-san?” He halted, turning to face her.

“Why… Why do you even care for… a woman like me? Why… Why do you even love me?” She asked, her gaze still averted.

“Where did that come from, Nanami-san?”

“Just… Please, answer me?” Her plea hung in the air.

Shuuichi sighed softly. “Hmm, why do I love you…? I… Can’t pinpoint a specific reason. I just do, I suppose.” He replied casually.

“Huh…?”

Nanami was unaccustomed to such an answer. 

She had posed the same question to Shinagawa before, and he would effortlessly reel off a litany of reasons: her kindness, tenderness, beauty, musical taste, her soothing voice, friendliness, and willingness to connect with others—a plethora of qualities. Yet there was Shuuichi right now, offering this peculiar response.

“You don’t… know why you love me?”

“Yeah, I suppose I don’t really know why,” he replied. “I just do. It’s like how I prefer eating gyoza over ramen, even though they’re both tasty. There’s no specific reason—I just… love you because I do. Is that wrong?”

Nanami’s eyes widened.

‘Shinagawa-san…’ she mused. ‘I’ve recently started to wonder. You’ve showered me with beautiful words, praised my singing, cherished my kindness and openness. But what if my voice grew raspy one day? What if I became colder over the years? Would you still love me if I closed my heart, shutting others out?’

‘Hearing this man say he can’t fathom why he loves me…’

‘… Does it mean that his love doesn’t rely on any of that? That even if my voice grew raspy, if I was rough around the edges… He’d still cradle me 30 years from now as he does currently?’

‘But… Even if it’s true…’ she thought, gripping her pillow.

‘Despite knowing that, I cannot alter the course for the Shuu-kun of that timeline… the man who loved me unconditionally over that accursed timeline will endure that pain of me cruelly leaving him alone once more. But, at the very least, he’ll find someone as kind as himself.’ She thought, as images of the landlord came to her mind.

‘Meanwhile, the least I can do, right now… Is be there for you. The you that is here, right now.’ She thought as she tightly hugged him from behind.

“You stayed here for me… Despite knowing it would impact your workday… I’m the one…” She mumbled from behind him as she tightened her grip on him.

“…Who should make it up to you.”