🌊 "You're back..."
☔ "..."
🌊 "I thought I'd be cleaning this place alone"
☔ "What are you doing here? Who—"
🌊 "Lady Land came to me after work. She saw you talking to me that day. She's been looking everywhere for you."
☔ "Why..." /looks down
🌊 "Ughh..." /crouches down
🌊 "Ughh, huhuhu..." /sobbing
☔ "I didn't ask you to do this..."
🌊 /gets up, walks toward Senei
🌊 "Since when have you become like this?" /takes Senei's hands
🌊 "You're so thin. I should've left you food."
🌊 "I'm sorry."
🌊 "You must've been suffering too..."
🌊 "I'm– (sob) I'm s-so sorry..." /hugs Senei
☔ "I...." (I'm so pathetic...)
🌊 "Let me help you clean up, okay?"
☔ "That's not what I asked for."
🌊 "It's okay. I want to."
☔ "..."
Humiliating. That might be what Senei felt.
But I couldn't bring myself to look away. No matter what he did, he was still once a part of my life.
Could I really act like he never existed just because of one mistake?
What if I were in his shoes?
Would people treat me the same way?
That kind of pain... it's enough to make you want to end everything. Right?
☔ "... You can stop if it's too much."
🌊 /sobbing "No, I'm sorry. I just—ugh..."
☔ "... Am I really that pathetic? This is humiliating."
☔ "Go home."
🌊 "I used to be like this too."
🌊 "It's just a phase. I believe you'll be okay."
I began organizing a pile of music sheets.
His works, probably. But they were worn out, wrinkled.
Still, that wasn't what broke me.
I found signs... of suicide attempts.
Like staring at my past self.
It was heartbreaking.
This wasn't just some hikikomori's messy room—this was the room of someone drowning in depression.
How many times had he tried to end his life?
Just thinking about that made my tears fall again.
🌊 "Three years ago..."
🌊 (It's really been three years...?)
🌊 "I had a fight with my mom. I left home and went back to the city."
🌊 "I felt like everything I worked for was taken from me."
🌊 "At first, I thought I was just mad. So I let the anger consume me."
🌊 "But days passed. I hadn't eaten a thing."
🌊 "I couldn't lift my head from the bed. Not even to eat."
🌊 "I used to cry all the time, and then... I went completely silent."
🌊 "I thought... if I acted like a corpse, maybe I'd eventually become one."
🌊 "Then, out of nowhere, someone came in with a kitten."
🌊 "I didn't lock my door, so they just walked in. I thought maybe the smell finally got to someone..."
🌊 "But then I heard it—the soft sound of a kitten."
🌊 "I didn't recognize the person. But they talked to me like they knew me."
🌊 "They made me sit up, handed me the kitten in a little box, and said—"
🌊 "'I know you're sad. I know you need something to hold onto. This kitten will stay with you.'"
🌊 "I didn't really understand what they meant.
But seeing the kitten... I realized—my cat was gone."
🌊 "I didn't feed her. She left. Or... died."
🌊 "Then that person said, 'Your cat came to me, gave birth, then vanished. But this kitten kept coming back—like he's knew where it belonged.'"
🌊 "They even buried my cat. They told me everything."
🌊 "It shattered me. I was so caught up in my grief, I forgot my cat."
🌊 "And now her kitten... came back. Like she returned to me."
🌊 "I hugged it tight. Then that person said—"
🌊 "'I can't let you raise a cat in a place like this. Let me help you clean up first. Then you can raise her again.'"
🌊 "It felt strange at first, but that person became the turning point of my life—something I'll forever be grateful for."
🌊 "That cat... is the one you've been feeding."
☔ "Y-you knew I was feeding him?"
🌊 "Of course."
☔ "I'm sorry..."
🌊 "No, it's okay."
☔ "You know..."
☔ "Music has always been my passion."
☔ "I've loved it since forever."
☔ "I did everything to get people to hear my songs."
☔ "And it worked. Vivelune became real. Our music was loved... even by you."
☔ "But in the end... I'm still human. I gave in to my ego. And guilt."
☔ "They weren't wrong to cut ties with me."
☔ "But did they have to reject my music too?"
☔ "When even my songs were refused... I felt worthless."
☔ "Like the only thing of value in me was Vivelune—and I'd destroyed it."
☔ "And I hurt so many people too..."
☔ "I'm sorry."
🌊 /picks up a framed photo
☔ "Ah, do you know that person in the photo?"
🌊 "Mmm... looks familiar."
☔ "She was the one who interviewed you."
🌊 "Wait—her!?"
☔ "Yeah. My wife."
🌊 "HUH!?"
☔ "Well... ex-wife."
🌊 "Oh my god... wait—I forgot you were mar—huff, what happened?"
☔ "It's karma, I guess. I deserved it."
Time passed as we talked.
So many things were said.
And sometimes... I forgot he was that Sorren.
🌊 "What if you mess up again?"
☔ "Sorry?"
🌊 "I want to help you. Sing your songs. But... what if you repeat it?"
☔ "... I know. If I say 'I won't,' it'd be a lie. No one knows what'll happen."
☔ "But if I do slip up again—
remind me.
Don't sugarcoat it.
Slap me. Punch me. Kick me.
Kill me, if you have to."
☔ "There's no point in saying more.
I'll prove it."
☔ "Please... give me a second chance." /bows deeply
That was it.
Our conversation ended with sunrise.
I remembered again who he was—Sorren.
But... the one speaking to me then didn't feel like the same man.
Will he become Sorren again?
Or has he truly changed?