The final run.

It was evening when Masato saw a text.

“What… this can’t be, right?” He mumbled under his breath, looking frantically at his surroundings.

He gritted his teeth, for he was now pushed into something he didn’t want to deal with. But that was the consequence of his past actions.

He left his home in a hurry, grabbing a jacket he had left on the desk.

“I hate this… I wish I had left this horrific… arghh!!! I don’t care anymore!”

***

Faint lights… blurry hallways… desolate air…

Suddenly, I felt like my senses had heightened. What was I doing? I forgot. Just Ayane-chan’s voice kept ringing in my ear.

My dizzying head almost made me fall. But I kept going, clinging to the little hope of meeting her.

I never knew I would miss her this much. I know not talking to her would hurt. But I prioritized her personal space, even though I knew she was hurting.

But that hurt me as well. Now that she told me herself, I was overwhelmed.

All I heard was footsteps. My footsteps. All of them made me closer to her, to our rendezvous.

“Oh! I am so sorry!” I apologized as I bumped into someone. But I had no time to waste. She was waiting for me.

It's been so… so long…

***

“You should be careful,” Masato said as he bumped into an unexpected face inside the karaoke center. But before he could initiate a conversation, that person ran away with his might.

“That guy… I think I have met him before.” He mumbled to himself. “But where? It doesn’t ring any bells…”

He pondered in thought. “He seemed… off. I hope he is gonna be okay.”

He ignored the fact. Many people use karaoke these days, and it’s not unusual to catch some familiar faces here and there.

He continued walking straight ahead, alternating between moments of frantic activity and calmness. It’s as if he is battling with his own inner self.

“I can’t believe this.” He muttered. Turns out he got a text from one of his friends telling him that his girlfriend was planning on cheating on him.

“If you plan to cheat… then why are you keeping me? Why can’t you let me go and set me free? Why can’t you just… let me atone for my sins…?” He thought.

His guilt kicked in the moment he thought about the bullying he had done to Ayane during his previous life.

Suddenly, that all too familiar face that he couldn’t recognize before flashed in his memories.

“Wait… isn’t he the one I saw with Ayane-chan? Why is he here?” He looked back from the place Kanako had just run off. “He looked drunk as well. Did something happen?”

His first impressions told him that that guy, Kanako wasn’t that sort of person. But looking at him then, there was no other logical conclusion.

“Hey!!! Wait!!!” Masato heard an all-too-familiar voice in his ear. There was no denying it. That was his girlfriend’s.

As he looked in the direction of that voice, he saw Sakiko coming out of a Karaoke room.

Her clothes were all crumpled and messed up.

Both of their eyes met at once.