...

I'm still dreaming, aren't I? I'm not dead, am I? My mind is blank, and yet I can still vaguely feel pain somewhere around my face. I don't remember what happened. Stand still on the center of the void, lies an idiot which is me. Could this represent how empty I feel right now?

...

The space surrounding me, I have a feeling they are something I hold important dearly and yet I cannot make a solid manifestation of it. I just realized, my existence as a living being doesn't really matter. I'm not depressed and all, but I do feel relieved that I get to meet many strange people. More importantly, I feel that in the bottom of my heart, I, Akihiko Taniguchi, certainly do not feel regret for what I have done.

I have offered everyone an equal amount of coldness from my personality, and that's all it matters. If I fade away right here, right now, that would be for the best. Knowing I didn't make any friends that would cry for me, but rather hate me is the best route I've taken in life, that is if I am dying.

The only regret I have, is not remembering my purpose for being here.

No. I wanna remember why I left my place, and I wanna remember why I am currently being emotional about all this. My place is in Japan, and that is the only place for me. However, living there is a hundred-percent certified hell. The more I long my stay there, the more I suffer mentally because of how stupid people can become at times, me included. And yet, I must not give up too steadily fast... yet. I know inside me, there are things I still need to find out and be curious about. Perhaps atleast I wanna live the remainder of my life about what it's like to experience peace and happiness, bounded in the existence of a certain person that would offer you an abound mount of gratitude and expression.

Yes, that is certainly it. I am the selfish and greedy type. I want everything to myself, and I wanna be thought of as superior among all things, because that's the fake personality I've developed deep within me.

The more I use my lifespan's extent, the more that fake personality becomes real. The only way to extinguish this shitty side of me is to accept the sides of people for who they are. An example of accepting someone would be --

Well, I can't remember her name but I do remember what she looks like. Bit by bit, I'm remembering our first encounter with each other, and I definitely can still recall of how much of an obnoxious brat she is.

...

Sayo... was it? That's what her boyfriend called her, that is if it's even her boyfriend. Whatever, just recalling her shitty behavior makes me sick to the bone even. Was it even my fault that I shoved a deep shovel into her ass that she felt pain for it? You could call it her divine punishment for her being careless.

But to know I've been argued with and be insulted, that is my divine punishment for meeting a demon who I accidentally never got to acknowledge and accept for being who she wanted to be.

I've learned my moral lesson in life. Too long, don't listen;in my book, you are to accept and be responsible. That is my golden rule.

Now that I've let out what I felt deep in me, I do realize that I no longer feel any sentimentality, hatred and vagueness.

All that is left is to...

...let...

...-go.

[In an instant, a human shaped manifestation of Akihiko Taniguchi in the deep void darkness has faded away. Presumably, he lets go of the past, and is renewed.]

"Keep strong. Please."

[A voice from the distant, called out for someone to keep strong.]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

- AUTHOR'S NOTE: [--] means a boy's voice, {--} means a girl's voice.

[ "D'nt fuck up y'hear? Gotche'r back, bro." ]

{ "Realize as you speak. No matter where, no matter how far behind we are, we are there following you." }

{ "I don't know why, but I do feel like now you know where you're headed. So for now, I'm relieved of letting you go. Hopefully you don't lead yourself astray too much, friend." }

[ "I may be stupid, but you're more stupider than I am. Since we're graduating from middle school, and this will be our last meeting, don't forget about us when you find your true happiness man!" ]

- END OF AUTHOR'S NOTE -

[One by one, everyone's voices are gathering until there's an indefinite amount of supportive messages. The dark, void slowly brightenning anew, awakens a new space that's to fill Akihiko Taniguchi's sense of void. Blackness slowly getting cancelled, and the new light succumbing the deep layer, finally reunites. Like how flower's bloom, his heart self has also bloomed anew.

Until later...]

"TANIGUCHI-SAAAN!"

-----!

AGH! ... What a nightmare that was. What were all those voices I've heard? Haha... I am crazy, aren't I? I'm sitted standing on my bed, pinching my skin and everything I possess.

Ah, right. Now I remember. I've been one punched by a guy for no reason other than a misunderstanding. He's one crazy bitch, the same amount of bitchiness as that Sayo girl. Anyway, with all things out of the way, where am I-

Oh, my home. A wood cabin, and simple furnitures. As lively it looks, the more I stay here, the more boring it gets. I wanna get out fast soon, I don't wanna further my stay here any longer, but before that...

"Hmm?" I expressed. Something heavy is holding on to my hand, and to my surprise, it is that bitch girl's hand holding on to me! She's sleeping soft and soundly, but the question is... why is she here?! Did she visit me to insult me more or what-

"Mmmmhm, s..tay quiet... ugh."

She moans. Wow, even in her sleep, she's still a bitch, ain't she? Not cute at all. Though, my right hand feels very warm to the touch and protected. It feels like I've met my girlfriend after a long absence with the reality, like I was in my deep sleep due to problematic reasons that I would encounter. One example of this... would be meeting her.

"ZzzZZzzz...."

Well, after seeing her snore like that, I don't feel as heavily furious with her, but more like I've found redemption. Everything else feels lighter now, and all deed is paid and done.

Now that I think about deeds and all, I do remember many voices calling out to me in my dreams, though I have forgotten their names but faces. That's all that matters, I suppose.

Anyways, what am I supposed to do in this situation? Until this very moment, she's still clinging unto my right hand like nothing even happened between us! She even left herself vulnerable to me. How much does she even trust me... jeez, ridiculous.

I let go of her hand with swift and gentleness, and without a word, she hasn't caught my attention of letting go yet. I stand to my numb legs and stretched... wait, numb? How long was I out anyways. Not that it matters, but it did feel long, considering the fact that my back is very heated up and head feeling heavy. No, after standing up, my mind feels very light now and I feel very sick like I could vomit anytime.

"Hggrk!" I covered my mouth in an instant, to not alert her any further, or else God knows what would happen if she caught me woke up. She's merciless and obnoxious, afterall. Not the type I would befriend at all cost.

With all said and done, I've regained my composure. So what do I do from here on...?

"ZzzzzzZzzz...." She snores. Atleast she has a cute side of her that I may find fond of, now that is attractive- wait no, I should stop. This feels very creepy of me to do.

As she continues sleeping, I should atleast test my biceps and see if they're still working, and my crazy self mind thought, why not give her a "bridal carry" to my bed so she can rest there. There's no deeper meaning to what I'm about to do, but just to be sure so she doesn't scold me anymore further for leaving her sitted upright sleeping worrying for nothing.

As I'm preparing myself to regain my confidence and worth, finally I'm feeling worked up to carry her.

Slowly and carefully, I place my arms on the proper places of her body for the so called bridal carry, hopefully she doesn't notice this embarassing and great development happening between us so frivolously. Forgive me, for I am about to sin, Sayo-san.

I take my left and right steps silently and stealthily, without noise. Those three subjects don't even make any sense on one sentence because of how similar their definitions are, that they're more of a synonym. I don't get why I blurted those out, but it doesn't matter.

Anyhow, maybe I should just bring her to the guestroom and not further anymore guilty debt by letting her stay in my room. It's for the best-

"Mmmmmmphhgg..." She moans. She still hasn't caught my attention yet, that's amazing. She's a deep sleeper, that's one more point for her cute side. However, why is she even holding her arms around my neck so naturally?! This is insane, I need to make haste and carry her to the guestroom. It's a minute and ten seconds long to reach the room by slow walk, so I'll take my time.

Furthermore, no one's on the cabin house yet. My parents and two sister siblings are out, leaving only me and her in this house. Question is, why was she even allowed to stay here? Not that it matters, so I'll atleast welcome her for once for all the troubles she gave me.

Thirty-seconds has passed by, and we're nearing the destination. Until...

"Mgpha- ah?" She blurts out. Her eyes are fixated on my eyes with wonder and beauty I've never seen on anyone, calm and intently blushing to my scary eyes. Until she regains her consciousness of what's happening, she finally figures out her situation.

I think I'm fucked. I've done my sin, forgive me Lord. I wanna ask for redemption once more before I move on to afterli-

"KYAAAAAAH!" She screams with reddish face.

"WAIT WAIT! STOP, LET ME EXPLAIN! I WAS JUST CARRYING YOU TO THE GUEST ROOM, NOTHING ELSE!"

"ECCHI HENTAAAAAAAAAAAAI! PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT! GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!"

And this... is the story of my unfortunate daily life. I've made faults at life, and this is one of them. The Miss Toxic Bitch is not at fault here, but me!

"YOU'RE CRAZY, CALM DOWN! ATLEAST LET ME REPAY YOU FOR YOUR STAY HE-"

After that, I got slapped and knocked out again. Am I even that... we...a...k.

[His conciousness, once again fades away.]

"AH! TANIGUCHI-SAN, TANIGUCHI-SAN! SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!"

[She constantly bows on an unconscious Akihiko after landing a finishing blow. What a mess.]

///END///