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Running his finger across the pictures that are beginning to tint sepia, a flurry of poignant memories flooded Sakuya's mind. He spends minutes, maybe even hours, looking over each and every piece of memory safely tucked away in a box from the dollar store.
Sakuya doesn't have the time for this. The moving company will be coming in a few hours time and he is no where near done packing up for the move. Even so, he gives himself the time and space to go through every little memento he had picked up during his time in Mankai. Surely, the packing can wait a bit longer, right?
It is amazing how full the box of mementos had become. For the longest time, Sakuya had been saving mementoes from the precious moments in his life, little things that reminded him of the good times. It helped ground him and keep him sane. Though, it seems that the box that once stayed pathetically empty for years was now bursting at the seams. He really met so many wonderful people, Sakuya thinks to himself.
The box contained an assortment of mementoes - ranging from photos that Omi had taken of the trope members to the plane tickets from the first trip that everyone went on so many years ago; from brochures of every spring trope play to the birthday cards he had received from Citron, misspellings and all.
Sakuya's eyes moistened at the sight of the small plasticine sankaku-kun that Misumi had made for him when he, too, left the company. Over the years, everyone had begun dreaming bigger dreams, chasing bigger ambitions that were too large to be contained within the small confines of the Mankai stage. One by one, everyone began to leave. First, it was Tenma, who had left to further his acting career. Then, Tasuku and Tsumugi followed suit. Chikage and Hisoka left without a word, and eventually the numbers in Mankai began dwindling down to a small handful of people. At the end, only Izumi, Matsukawa and Sakuya were left. The first three to resurrect the company from the rubble were also the last three to hang around until the company returned back to the rubble it came from.
It was inevitable, really. But, that doesn't make saying goodbye any less painful.
Sakuya thinks back about all the memories that he's had at Mankai. He thinks back about the numbing feeling when he first heard Sakyo threatening to tear down the only home he had and laughs when he recalls the shock he felt when Sakyo had later joined the company as well. He laughs when he recalls how Tsuzuru's face had twisted and changed colour upon tasting Matsukawa's abomination of a dish (if he could even call it a dish) and how the trope only had the option of eating curry or tasting the living embodiment of death on a plate until Omi finally came around to provide delicious meals everyday. Though, it has been a while since Sakuya had tasted Omi's cooking since he had left overseas.
He thinks about how far he has come, going from camping outside, left to his own devices with only a pillow and blanket in his bag, to being a part of the biggest and warmest family that he could have ever asked for.
The tears begin to overflow, spilling out onto the floor. The loneliness and sadness that had compounded over the past few years finally crashed over him all at once. It was overwhelming, torturous even. Clutching the last photo that the company had ever taken together, Sakuya curled over on the floor and began to sob loudly.
There was no one left in the building. The memories of Citron telling Sakuya about his adventures in his homeland were now beginning to fade away. Even the smell of spices was no longer there. Nothing was left. It was as if the precious memories Sakuya held so close to his heart were never there to begin with. The dormitory is now but an empty husk of the life the place used to have - the home Sakuya used to have.
Choking back the tears, Sakuya begged for the past to stay.
"I don't want to say goodbye." He cried out, but Sakuya Sakuma has to. Sakuya Sakuma has to pick himself up again and trudge on forward even when letting go feels like ripping himself apart and leaving behind his precious home.
Since
There was no one left to welcome him home again.