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The light was blinding. An immaculate white light was the only thing that surrounded Takashi as he fell into the void slowly and softly, like the fall of a feather swayed by the wind. It seemed as if he was rocking in absolute peace for the few seconds he had left before…
Dying.
That's why the place where he woke up next puzzled him. He looked around, trying to take in as much as he could while his mind slowly came back to itself. Then he blinked to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It was a cozy, spacious, Japanese-style room. The light there was quite dim. In a way, it reminded him of a ryokan room. Everything seemed calm around him, until he realized that he was not alone. Sitting on the tatami near the window, he spotted a familiar face. He was petrified.
“Aoki-kun…” He murmured, barely audible to himself.
He was about to get up from the tatami and run away —he didn't want to be in the same room as the individual who made his life miserable in class. But something in the other's gaze made him freeze in place. The moment their eyes met, Takashi realized that Aoki was just as lost as he was at that moment. His breathing was laboured and he looked around with some fear, as if he had witnessed something horrible. Had they both just returned from another dimension or something?
Takashi then directed his gaze towards the hands of his classmate, who tremblingly grabbed the orange handkerchief with a small embroidered soccer ball that he himself had given him that time he thought he had finally managed to establish a meaningful relationship with someone.
Aoki opened and closed his mouth several times without making a sound, before he was able to articulate a sentence that came out of his lips in a muffled manner.
“Takashi, would you believe me if I told you that I've seen… death face to face?”
Takashi frowned, not looking away from him. It was Aoki who decided that looking away from him to the ground was the most sensible thing he could do at that moment. In any case, a feeling of guilt mixed with shame was beginning to become more and more present inside him. Something had changed, he didn't know what. He only knew that he couldn't bring himself to look Takashi in the face.
He looked at the bottle of Japanese liquor that remained still half full in the center of the room, a bitter aftertaste suddenly settling on his taste buds. “You reek of alcohol”, he remembered Takashi saying when he entered the room. And then he looked at him again, for just a few seconds, and saw that his hair was still wet. He lowered his gaze again, embarrassed, fiddling with the handkerchief he held in his hands. He felt disgusted with himself. What he had done had no justification. What he had done to Takashi in those last few months was despicable to say the least. He had bullied him. He had humiliated him in front of the entire class. He had made fun of him with his friends. He had behaved selfishly. He hadn't stood to see Takashi happy with people other than himself. He hadn't wanted to share Takashi with anyone else, because the thought that Takashi might have found someone more important in his life had terrified him. Now it was too late to realize what it all meant.
He looked back in Takashi's direction when he noticed that he had stood up from the ground suddenly, uneasily.
“I need… to go to the bathroom”, he muttered, before hurrying out of the room.
Aoki stared at the sliding door in silence, not really looking at anything. When he realized that the minutes were passing and that Takashi wouldn’t return to his side, he got up from the ground, putting the handkerchief with the embroidered soccer ball back into his pocket. He turned towards the window, his gaze falling on the old iron railing that protected anyone from a certain fall. His pulse quickened suddenly. He took his trembling hand out of the window and wrapped his fingers around the rusty iron, exerting some force to check its safety. It was half loose. A shiver ran down his spine —a macabre image of himself lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood had flashed through his mind, just for a split second, but enough to make him turn away from the window back to the center of the room. He stood for a moment not knowing what to do or how to react.
Shortly after, he decided to pick up the bottle of liquor from the floor, which he was willing to pay for, and left the room. He also decided he would report the precarious state of that railing before anyone had to regret it.
Two weeks had passed since that school trip, and Takashi still couldn't understand why everything felt so strange. So different. There was something that didn't quite fit, but he didn't know what.
The class environment was calm. At least it had been calm those last two weeks. Aoki hadn't bothered him again. In fact, he barely dared to look at him, although many times he seemed to want to get closer to say something, or he looked at him out of the corner of his eye, believing that Takashi didn't notice, or he helped him in a selfless and indirect way. Takashi wondered if he was truly sorry or if he had simply gotten bored of bullying him. Either way, he didn't care. He could now get along with his classmates without having to put up with Aoki's jealousy or bullying. During that period of time, Takashi had discovered that one of his female classmates also listened to rakugo monologues, and he was especially excited to be able to share his hobby with someone else. It was the first time he didn't feel alone in class. It was a shame that graduation was barely a month away, and that taking different paths from those of his classmates was inevitable when starting university.
“People come and go, it's part of the stages of life,” he had said to himself. “Some even give you a life lesson in their wake.”
Remembering that sentence, he thought about the person who sometimes appeared out of nowhere in his subconscious. A tall, thin man in his thirties, with an unfriendly face. He didn't remember ever seeing him, but, for some strange reason, Takashi didn't feel him like someone strange. What's more, he found himself unconsciously smiling every time he remembered him, as if he had shared with him some moment that his memory seemed to have erased. Could it have something to do with the flashbacks that have invaded him lately? Flashbacks of things he didn't remember doing, of places he didn't remember being, and of that man he had never met. Or so he thought.
Engrossed in his train of thoughts on the way home, he found himself standing in front of a convenience store: Oshino. Where did he know that name from? He tried to look inside from the automatic entrance door, but he only saw a man reading the newspaper sitting behind the counter, wearing round-rimmed glasses. He waited a few more minutes, but when the man looked up from his reading and gave him a serious look, Takashi bowed quickly in apology and left.
It was at that same moment that Kouki came out of the warehouse, at the back of the store, and looked with a frown towards the entrance door. He may have been hallucinating, but he seemed to have seen someone strangely familiar looking inside the store… Just a few weeks ago he had changed his work shift to the morning because he had had a bad feeling after a very strange dream where he was stabbed and an angel dressed in pure white came to take him to the afterlife. He thought it had just been that, a simple dream, but scenes of memories he had never had suddenly began to appear in his mind from that moment on, memories that included a young man with wings on his back, whom he seemed to have seen just a moment ago… Yes, he was definitely delirious.
He turned his gaze to his boss, reading impassively behind the counter. He had been thinking for a few days about telling him that he wanted to quit that job, but he hadn't been able to do it. First, he wanted to make sure he found a job that paid better before he quit that one, which wasn't too difficult under the circumstances, and second… He was just a coward by nature. But if he wanted to redirect his life once and for all and start building a better future, cowardice would get him nowhere —it would only leave him stuck and lamenting in the same place, as he had been doing for as long as he could remember, so it was a risk he had to take sooner or later.
The next few days Takashi had deliberately walked past the convenience store, one of them he had even gone inside to buy a soda, but he had only seen that manager with horn-rimmed glasses inside. How strange. He would swear that the man who appeared in his subconscious worked in that place. Maybe he worked the night shift, or on weekends. The truth is that Takashi only passed by there after leaving school, so that may not have been the man's work schedule.
Or maybe it was all a product of his imagination, although with each passing day it became less clear to him. There was something he didn't fully understand, starting with Aoki, who had become serious, thoughtful and taciturn since they had returned from the end of school year trip. He was alone most of the time, especially during breaks, when he would disappear out of class until the bell rang again. However, he still kept trying to get closer to him, although he always did so in vain. Takashi didn't know how he should feel about that. Too much time had passed for it to be a simple act, or a game to get his attention. The orange handkerchief that he gave him a few months ago seemed to be safely stored in his pants or his backpack pockets. Why was he still keeping it? He now regretted having thrown away the fan keychain that he had given him in exchange. Then it was also…
“Kouki-san.” He said without thinking, loud enough for the aforementioned to turn in his direction.
A few meters away, both eyes met in front of the convenience store where the older man worked. He had come out from inside with a garbage bag in his hand, like every day, ready to change the full garbage can at the entrance. He stood petrified looking at the teenager in front of him, his black uniform contrasting with the pure and immaculate white that had invaded his thoughts for weeks. All those flashbacks were suddenly starting to make sense.
"Angel." He answered unconsciously, and he didn't know why his eyes suddenly watered.
Takashi smiled. Kouki approached him cautiously, as if he still couldn't believe that he was real. When he was a step away, his first instinct was to grab his shoulders and turn his body, looking carefully at his back. He frowned when he saw that there were no fluffy white wings there.
“I’m a normal, ordinary human. I no longer… have wings.” The last thing came out of his mouth almost like a question, as if it had been a strange thing for him to say. “But it's okay, I don't need to fly anymore anyway.”
“Why am I so afraid? Why do I feel like I can't fly? If I can fly… I wouldn't know where to go. Where is heaven? I don't know.”
Kouki looked at him, eyes widening.
“Wait… Do you remember that? Do you remember all that?”
Takashi nodded.
“Although not completely. They're like sudden flashbacks, but lately they've been more vivid.” Takashi wrinkled his nose at the meaning of the word 'vivid'. “Which reminds me that the putrid smell of your room remains in my nostrils even in this dimension… I hope that at least you continue to keep it clean and tidy.”
“I see you're still just as rude…” Kouki responded, letting out a small smile.
“By the way… What do you think it was?” Takashi asked suddenly, his tone serious. “Did we meet at the same time in a dream? Or maybe… Maybe we went through an interdimensional portal and met in a parallel universe.”
“Don't you have too much imagination? It was probably just a product of my subconscious.” “Or my depression.” He thought next.
“If it was a product of your subconscious, how do you explain that I exist in real life then?” Takashi asked, crossing his arms smugly, implying that his theory was the most accurate.
“And what makes you think that this is real life? Haven't you thought that you can still be inside my subconscious yet? All of this might not exist right now.” Kouki replied, pointing around.
Confusion hit Takashi accurately, making him blink a couple of times.
“…Shit, you're good with theories of the universe.”
Kouki couldn't help but snort with laughter. He didn't quite remember his connection with that boy, but his expressions were strangely familiar. Takashi watched him, a comforting feeling at seeing Kouki laugh rising in his chest.
“Don't think strange, but… I have a feeling that my mission in that parallel universe was to make you smile or something like that. Imagine this scenario: in the other dimension, you were a human being tired of living, depressed, with suicidal thoughts… And I was a fallen angel, lost in the world, not knowing how to return, who depended on your mood to be able to fly. But your gloomy and negative energy didn't help at all… so I decided to make you happy every day until I was finally able to return to where I belonged.” He explained, making dramatic gestures with his hands. “I know… it sounds like a cheesy j-drama. I could sell it with copyright to a production company.”
Kouki bit his lower lip, suppressing with difficulty the tears that threatened to slide down his cheeks at any moment. Why did he feel like crying suddenly? He didn't know, but he wasn't going to do it in the middle of the street, in front of a high school student. He tried to keep his mind occupied by resuming his task of changing the garbage bag at the entrance, leaving Takashi in place, a couple of meters away.
“You should be a rakugoka, angel. Your monologues are quite original.” He responded to the minor shortly after, without taking his eyes off his task.
“What I said wasn’t a monologue, it was just a made-up story… I think.” Seeing Kouki busy, he pursed his lips unconsciously. “I'll stop bothering you for today, I have things to do too.” Announcing this, Kouki raised his head and looked for him —the student walked away from the store up the street, turning around one last time, a pretty smile appearing on his lips. “By the way, my name is Takashi, not ‘angel.’ Angels don’t exist.”
“I'm not so sure anymore.” Kouki said to himself, until he lost the boy from sight.
To be honest, Kouki thought at first that the encounter from days ago with that strange boy in black uniform had been another of his dreams, just like the fragment of his life that he shared with the strange angel dressed in immaculate white. But the reality was that his life had never been the same since then. Something inside him had changed. He had the feeling that he had been reborn, that life had given him another opportunity to start from scratch and do things better —to learn to value every moment, to have goals and dreams in his life, something to fight for every day.
That angel had changed his life for the better. He didn't remember much about him, only that he had taught him how to live again, and then he had simply disappeared, when his wings had healed and nothing held him back in the mortal world. Was it the ghost of a student who committed suicide, or had it just been a figment of his imagination? He could never know for sure, but the emptiness he left after his departure he still could feel it in a way, even if he barely remembered him.
Now he had the feeling that that student who visited the store often after class was a reincarnation of that angel, or something similar. He remembered that aura perfectly —so pure, so bright… so different from his own in the past. Kouki had found himself those days looking impatiently at the clock on his phone, waiting for three-fifteen in the afternoon to arrive. The boy —‘Takashi’, he forced himself to remember that name more than once, instead of ‘angel’, would simply go inside the store and buy some soda or snack, and stay a few minutes talking to him if he was working behind the counter. Other days Kouki would go outside the store to change the garbage bag, and Takashi would accompany him to extend the talk for a few more minutes. Afterwards, he would go straight to his house. “My dad doesn't like it when I'm too late after class… Lately he's been very overprotective of me,” he had said one day, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Kouki had smiled sadly, briefly remembering Mr. Takashina and his small altar in the corner of the living room of his house.
Sometimes Kouki was terribly aware of the age difference between them, now that they were both human —Takashi was barely 17 years old, and he was almost 31. For some reason, he felt weird about it. He felt that it was not okay for him to approach a minor, even if it was just to talk about trivial things or joke around. People sometimes looked at them strangely, especially when they were talking outside the store. But the bond he felt with that student grew stronger every day, and it was a fact that he could no longer ignore. It wasn't anything romantic or sexual —that would have been quite problematic. It was another type of connection. An emotional bond. Spiritual, if that existed. They had saved each other's lives once, after all. Kouki also knew that his physical appearance had a lot to do with it —tall, serious, intimidating, with the look of a rundown yakuza… There had already been several women who had changed sidewalks, or even streets when they had ever crossed paths with him. That hurt his pride. He knew that if he looked more attractive, people wouldn't judge him so lightly. But what could he do? He had never been too careful with his physical appearance, especially since he left high school, eons ago.
And, as if he had read his mind, Takashi showed up one day when the convenience store was especially empty with a bag in his hand. It was from a clothing store nearby. Kouki had walked past its facade several times, but had never entered.
“Happy birthday.” He said confidently, pushing the bag against his chest.
“My birthday is in two months.” Kouki replied, before approaching the counter and inspecting the contents of the bag. The first thing he took out was a pair of black chino pants, then a blazer of the same color, and, finally, a white long-sleeved shirt. This one was quite simple, if it weren't for the detail that Kouki noticed, and that made the garment special —a feather embroidered with gold thread on each collar flap. He unconsciously ran his fingers over the embroidery. It wasn't as gentle as the touch he remembered, but it was nice.
“I know when your birthday is. Actually… I wanted to invite you to my graduation.” Takashi commented next to him. Kouki turned to him, with a curious expression. “It's next Friday, at eleven in the morning. I know that you’re busy and that you may not be able to change your shift so easily, I also know that you don't like being looked at strangely when you are next to me, and that…”
“I'll go.” Kouki interrupted. “I'll go to your graduation. I'll be there. I promise.” He shifted his gaze to the pile of new clothes on the counter. “That's why you bought me all this, right? I'll pay you as soon as I can.”
“No way! It is a gift for you. I wanted you to try something new… you don't seem like the type of person who wears a suit often, and the few times I've seen you in casual clothes you always wear t-shirts printed with advertising. Besides, you're tall and thin, I'm sure it looks cool on you.” Takashi replied.
“I understand. You don't want me to embarrassed you on your graduation day.”
“Oh, come on. I didn't say that and you know it.” Takashi rolled his eyes. “Just try something new for once in your life.”
Kouki smiled. It was already usual for him when the two of them had a conversation.
“Alright. I guess a little change never hurts.” He commented, putting the clothes back in the bag.
Takashi looked at him and nodded in approval. Then he headed towards the refrigerator where his favourite melon soda drink was located, allowing himself a small reward for a job well done. When he got it, he turned back to Kouki, giving him the amount in his hand, shortly before heading towards the exit.
“Do you know what would go great with that suit? A smile of yours.” The younger said, and immediately disappeared behind the automatic door, realizing too late that had sounded, indeed, too cheesy for his liking.
A few days later, Kouki was heading towards one of the many high schools that were celebrating their students' graduation that day. This, in particular, was the high school where Takashi would graduate. Only a few meters separated him from the building, but the closer he got, the more restless he felt.
Early that morning he had gone to his appointment with the barber for the first time in a long time, he had taken advice for the first time in his life on what type of hairstyle would suit him best and he had cut and styled his hair differently. After getting home he had look at himself in the bathroom mirror along with the suit that Takashi had given him. He looked… weird. But it was a different kind of 'weird'. It wasn't an ugly weird, nor intimidating, nor unattractive —it was a type of weird that suited him. He felt weird because, for the first time, he liked what he saw. And that seemed to have been extrapolated on the outside in some way —the feeling he always had of being looked at strangely had disappeared. Now, in front of the entrance door of Takashi's high school, his appearance had taken a backseat. Would it be okay for him to enter even though he isn't related to Takashi? Even though he isn't really close to him? He had promised him to attend, but sometimes he still felt like a stranger in the student's presence.
As he walked through the front yard of the school, tense, rigid, somewhat out of place, a few curious glances fell on him, most of them teenage girls, probably Takashi's classmates, who smiled and whispered confidently among themselves. Kouki tried to ignore them and focused on looking for the student responsible for him to be there that day; the one responsible for him not having to go to work that day; the one responsible for having turned his life upside down in all possible dimensions, worlds and realities. He found him in a somewhat secluded corner of the yard, sitting on a bench with another boy his age. Takashi didn't seem particularly happy to be next to him, and the other boy looked a little down, even though it should be a happy day for him. Some cherry trees in full bloom next to the bench made the scene look like something out of a manga, something that made Kouki cringe a little, although he tried not to give it too much importance. He watched their interaction from enough distance to not be intercepted. A sentence suddenly came to his mind, in the form of a flashback: “…Let’s call him ‘A-kun’ for now.”
“So… That's the famous ‘A-kun’.” Kouki said to himself. His expression tightened involuntarily.
Takashi had been avoiding him all morning, but he knew this moment would come, and today seemed like the perfect day. Aoki had wanted to talk to him for weeks, specifically since that school trip last month, but he always backed out at the last minute; out of fear, out of cowardice, Takashi didn't know it, but today he seemed to have gathered all the courage that he had been accumulating in that time, so he had agreed to give him a chance to talk to him and clear things up.
Aoki had tried to organize his words before speaking to Takashi that day —in fact, he had been trying to say the right words for weeks. But, right at that moment, right when he needed it most, he had gone blank. And he was afraid. He was afraid of not knowing how to express himself clearly and hurt Takashi again. He didn't want to make more mistakes than he had already made for not knowing how to manage his emotions. He supposed that fate was testing him at that moment to put aside his rigidity and freely express everything that his mind had been repressing until now. He took a deep, silent breath before speaking.
“I… I don't know where to start. I know that I don't deserve a second of your time, and I also know that an apology cannot fix all the damage I have done to you in recent months… My behavior has no justification. I have been a selfish person, who couldn't stand not having the constant attention of someone who had become important in my life in a short period of time and who I was terrified of losing for that same reason.” Aoki's voice broke a little on the last sentence. Takashi looked up and dared to look at him. He was surprised to see that the other boy was on the verge of tears. “I couldn't stand… Seeing you happy surrounded by other people. I wanted that happiness just for myself. I wanted… I wanted you to smile just at me. I wanted… it to be just us… But, instead of talking to you about my feelings, about that frustration I felt, I used it against you and did you the worst possible damage, because I was damn selfish and I only thought about my own pride. I didn't think for a minute about how you might feel… I'm… such a despicable person…” With each word, Aoki's mask of indifference broke into a thousand pieces, letting the tears he had been holding back for so long fall down his cheeks. Takashi felt a lump in his throat at the sight. “…I'm not trying you to pity me, or beg for your forgiveness, or anything like that. I just wanted to get this burden off my shoulders... I wanted to express my feelings, even though it sounds pathetic. I know it's already too late.”
“No feeling is pathetic if it’s expressed appropriately, from the bottom of the heart… And you just did so.” Takashi responded, with a calm voice. “Listen Aoki, I just want you to know that I don't hold a grudge against you. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it either. Holding a grudge against someone is living stuck in the past, and we must both look to the future. We still have a lot to live. I have seen everything you have done in recent weeks to correct your mistakes —how you tried to help me indirectly, how you defended me when a classmate bothered me, even if it was a joke, how you shared rakugo monologues that I had taught you with the rest of the class, and yet you always gave me the credit.” Takashi smiled. “And I know that you did everything selflessly —I have noticed your repentance in your actions and in your words. I keep it in mind every day. I think… something happened to both of us on that school trip last month, I still don't know exactly. But it feels like the world has reset and life has given us another chance… Or something like that.”
Aoki looked at him, confused, the tears that dried on his cheeks had left a trail in their wake.
“As if we had been reborn…” He responded, and Takashi nodded silently. “Did you also have that feeling? I thought I was the only one. I felt as if… I had died and resurrected again in the same place, and a lot of images crossed my mind in the form of flashbacks.”
Takashi froze in place, his blood running cold for an instant. He was remembering everything suddenly —Aoki falling out of the window on the school trip, him throwing himself from the roof of his building a few days later due to social pressure, resurrecting in the form of an angel and living in a small, dirty room with a thirty-year-old whom he had to help to be happy again so he could heal his wings and return… Return again in his human form, here and now. Takashi blinked, bewildered. Had all of that been real?
“No… I think I was just drunk.” Aoki concluded, remembering the bottle of sake he had drunk with some classmates and which he had later paid for out of regret. The same one he felt now remembering the run-in he had with Takashi that same night. For a second, Takashi thought he had answered his thoughts. In any case, they both let those strange memories pass, associating them with the mental saturation of the moment. After a while, a notification suddenly rang on Aoki's phone, making him get up from his seat after taking a look at it. Takashi imitated his gesture. “…If I could really go back in time, I wish I could have shared quality time with you instead of behaving like a coward… Maybe things would be different now.” Aoki bit his lower lip, holding back the tears that wanted to come out again. “I have to go to finish preparing some things. My parents and I are moving to another prefecture tomorrow, although I suppose you've already heard it in class… I wish you the best in your university years, Takashi. And after that. I really wish you to have a happy life.”
“I also wish you the best in your new stage, Aoki-kun. The past can't be changed anymore, so make the best of your life from now on, okay? I hope you can continue to show your feelings honestly to the people you really care about.”
Their gazes met for a few seconds —their eyes were glassy, full of questions that it was too late to answer. It was clear that they had both harbored feelings for each other, but, by some quirk of fate, their happiness lay elsewhere. After a while, they both smiled, like they hadn't in months, and Aoki said goodbye to Takashi for the last time.
He stood watching him, one of the corners of the orange handkerchief he had given him sticking out from the pocket of his pants as he walked away, revealing the small embroidered soccer ball, until he lost sight of him behind the front door.
“Don't you think you were too permissive? I wouldn't have forgiven him so easily.”
“That's because you need to soften your heart a little, Kouki-san.” Takashi replied with a smile and turned around. The new image of Kouki in front of him surprised him. “Wow… I really have good taste in choosing clothes, don't you think?” He commented, crossing his arms smugly. “Oh, you cut your hair too! Even with a tousled look you seem to be more groomed than before.”
Kouki frowned at the strange compliment.
“I don't know what that last sentence means, but I'll take it as a kind of… compliment.”
“It was a compliment.” Takashi confirmed, still looking at him. “So, a hairstyle and nice clothes can make so much difference to someone… It's amazing.”
Kouki felt his heart skip a beat inside his chest, and he cleared his throat involuntarily.
“Congratulations on your graduation,” he commented, pointing to the white flower sticking out of the student's jacket pocket. “I hope you make the most of your college years… Don't be like me.”
“It's never too late, you still have time.” Takashi shrugged. “We could be uni mates if you wanted.”
Kouki smiled.
“I haven't told you yet, but… I quit my job at the convenience store yesterday. Next week I will start working as delivery person for food products in small local businesses.”
“What!? That's awesome, Kouki!” Takashi grabbed his arm and shook it encouragingly, the happiness he felt transferred to Kouki's body like an electric current. Then the young man realized something, and stopped swinging his arms, adopting a serious expression. “Tell me you're also moving to another apartment. Please.”
“In a month I will have everything ready to move, yeah.” Kouki confirmed, with a gentle smile. “A much larger and brighter apartment, about fifteen minutes from where I live now.”
Takashi sighed in relief. Kouki found it funny that, even though the student had a vague memory of his past life, he still remembered the precarious situation in which he lived in his old apartment before the angel arrived to his life.
“You'll let me come visit you, right? We could even live together, like old times.”
“We'll talk about that when you come of age.”
Takashi pursed his lips, though not for too long.
“So… The deal is, when I finish college, I can move in with you, right?” He asked, with a big smile on his face, offering Kouki his pinky finger.
Kouki let out a long sigh. That boy's persuasive ability on him was incredibly effective.
“You're really going to make me think about it, aren't you?” He responded with a shy smile, and intertwined his little finger with Takashi's.
“You have nothing to think about, you just accepted the deal.” The younger announced, raising his hands with his little fingers intertwined as reliable proof. “By the way, let's exchange contacts. Now that you have a decent smartphone we can communicate via LINE.”
“Don't overuse social media too much, okay?” Kouki told him, taking the smartphone out of his pocket and bringing it closer to the QR code that showed Takashi's.
“I hardly have social networks… I made an Instagram account, but I have barely used it yet.” The student commented, while triumphantly observing his new LINE contact. “…As for that Twitter account that you and I know… Don't worry, I've deleted it. Forever. The new Takashi no longer needs to take refuge from his problems in a private Twitter account.”
“’Tks_jugem2’, probably a SNS account name or something. (…) And then, combining Takashina-san's story with the records left by his son Takashi-kun, we learned a part of the memories lost by the angel.”
“…If there is something that worries you, you know that you can talk to me whenever you want. I will be busier with the new job, but I will find time to respond to you if necessary. That's what friends are for… right?”
“I'll keep that in mind, Kouki-san.” Takashi responded, a pretty smile appearing on his face. “By the way, now that you've promoted me to the status of friend, don't think you'll be free from seeing me while I'm at university —I’ve decided that I’ll visit you from time to time, at your new apartment. Anyway, I have to adapt to the place where I'm going to live in a few years.” They both looked at each other for a few seconds, without saying anything. Then Takashi rolled his eyes, and, almost as if he was doing Kouki a favor, he added: “I'll bring you food, okay?”
“So… actually, that angel never really left my side. He just came back to keep reminding me that, despite everything, life is worth living.”