The Only Time He Lied

The night sky was aglow with bright city lights. The cool breeze, along with the mellow and radiant moon, indeed made the night wondrously beautiful. After relishing their scrumptious meal, they returned back to Rumi’s summer villa and slept in their separate rooms.

Natsume couldn’t fall asleep, so he walked up to the terrace. The terrace had always been a spot where Natsume could relax and contemplate peacefully.

Akihiro was sitting there too, gazing at the starry sky. With not many tall buildings on the horizon, it really looked like they were just floating in space. The clouds were spread apart in perfect proportions to the stars and the moonlight. It seemed like an enormous ceiling.

Natsume loved nights like these. He loved to just sit on the roof and stare at the sky.

“Aki-kun, haha you didn’t get sleep too?”, Natsume asked.

“Nope. That’s why I am here.”

“Ah, you like stargazing too?” Natsume asked.

“Not really. What about you?”

Natsume looked at the sky and said, “Ah I love it! Tonight, the sky just looks enormous. It reminds me of how insignificant our lives are. The universe is massive. It’s so large; it’s beyond our comprehension. Our actions, emotions, decisions, everything is insignificant and futile. In a way, everything in this world is pointless. If nothing has any meaning in this world, then we are all truly free to do whatever we want.”

He then turned towards Akihiro and continued, “Do whatever you want, even if society disagrees. Just focus on enjoying life.”

“Yea...”, Akihiro agreed as he continued to gaze at the black sky studded with glittering stars.

“I hate it when people say ‘Oh God loves us! He’s watching each and every one of us from above.’ To me, it just sounds like something that would be said by the desperate and mentally weak section of society who can’t handle the bitter truth that everyone is fundamentally alone, living insignificant and meaningless lives. Even if there is a god, why would he care about us?”

“I’ve always wondered. Why do you always talk about society or the universe using metaphors randomly?”, Akihiro questioned.

“Haha, so that people can easily make quotes and put my name under it.”, Natsume joked around.

Both of them continued to stare at the star-studded sky. The full moon slowly emerged from behind the clouds. Lasers of moonlight spread across, making the terrace glow.

“What happened between you and Ayane? She was avoiding me also at first, but even now, despite pressurizing her, she still refuses to talk to you properly.”, Natsume asked.

“I basically told her that she has repaid her debts and now she doesn’t have to do anything out of obligation. And now, she isn’t doing anything out of obligation. That’s all.”

“Ahaha, I see. Now it makes sense. You just took away her reason to stay by your side. Well, she’s been going through a lot recently. It’s a good thing that Mizouchi is there to cheer her up at all times. I don’t like giving sympathy and she probably knows that too. Mizouchi is indeed an angel to her.”
“Mhmm…probably,” Akihiro muttered.

“Aki-kun, are you jealous?” Natsume asked with a smirk on his face.

“I don’t know…”

Natsume smiled. “Last time I asked a similar question, you lied. Maybe you refused to acknowledge your feelings. Now you seem more genuine. But you’ve changed a lot, Aki-kun, ever since you were involved in that accident. Before that accident, it was as if you never felt emotions. Now it’s more like you aren’t used to it or like you are struggling to comprehend it.”

“Yea, that’s more or less the case. It’s like these sort of weird feelings have been taking over me ever since the accident.”

“Agh, I don’t really like this side of you. I prefer the old Akihiro. But well, people change right? All we can do is accept it and move on.”

“Yea…”

The cold breeze blew across Natsume’s face.

‘Ah, if you were capable of understanding yourself, no one would get hurt.’

---

The next day, the blazing sun was still shining in the vast emptiness of the clear blue sky. The four of them were having fun at the beach. It was a bright lively afternoon with the beach being more crowded than the previous day.

“Haha, Ayane, why would you bring a swimsuit if you don’t know how to swim?”, Natsume asked. “Are you going to wear a floating tube? Hahaha!”

“S-s-shut up! I can perfectly swim like an average person.”, Ayane said, as her face got red with embarrassment.

“Here, take this surfing board. It was lying around in the villa. Looks like Rumi used to surf. Anyways, you can always sit on this.”, Natsume said, handing out a bright yellow surfing board to Ayane. “If you are brave enough, you can try learning how to surf too.”

“Of-ff course I can!”, she stuttered as she grabbed the surfing board and took it to the sea.

Mizouchi, Akihiro and Natsume went back to building the sandcastle. The castle was huge with watchtowers on the corners and a moat around it. It was built with such fine precision that it could be displayed at an art museum.

“Oh my! Aki-kun, I didn’t know you were that good at building castles.”, Ayane exclaimed.

“Is it that hard?”

“That’s wha-”, Natsume was interrupted by Mizouchi’s death stare.

“Most people struggle to build sandcastles. It keeps breaking down. Only after many tries, people succeed.”, Mizouchi explained.

“Love is like building sandcastles. It’s not easy. It will keep breaking apart, time and time again. But you have no other option, but to fix it and try again. And finally, when you have completed it, the satisfaction is at its peak. But at the end of it all, it will be destroyed and washed away, leaving behind a void or giving space for another one to be built.”, Natsume rambled on as usual.

“Damn, I don’t want to hear any more of your love philosophies.”, Mizouchi complained, sounding completely uninterested.

“I just want someone to keenly pay attention to my philosophies and turn them into quotes.”, Natsume said.

“Aren’t you gonna write a book? Write as much as you want in that book of yours.”, Mizouchi said.

“Haha, I definitely have to.”

A strong gust of wind blew past them, making the towers of the sandcastle break and fall down.

“Agh, it broke!”, Mizouchi said with a sigh. He then looked at Natsume, who was busy looking around elsewhere.

“Natsume?”, Mizouchi called.

“Everyone is looking at the sea… Is there something going on there?”, Natsume asked, but he seemed to be talking to himself.

A woman screamed and pointed at the sea.

The three of them stood up and tried to figure out what was going on.

A girl was drowning in the middle of the ocean, far away from the shore. She was desperately clawing at the water, trying to shoot to the surface in order to remain afloat, but luck didn’t seem to be in her favour. She was barely able to keep her head above the water.

“She was standing on her surfboard. The wind blew her all the way there and she fell off the board.”, a man said to the lifeguard. The lifeguard immediately began running towards the ocean.

“Surfboard…”, Natsume muttered.

“Ayane!”, Mizouchi screamed as he ran towards the ocean.

Akihiro’s breathing deepened. He could feel the blood course through his veins, reaching his limbs. His heart rate increased rapidly, as he took a step forward, towards the vast sea.

Natsume grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it, trying to hold him back. “If you go out there right now and save her, she will be indebted to you again! Mizouchi and the lifeguard have already gone to save her.”

Akihiro didn’t pay any heed. He continued to push forward. “They won’t make it in time.”

The T-shirt which Natsume was grabbing onto, tore apart, exposing Akihiro’s muscular build. He ran forward and quickly jumped into the sea. His explosive kicks in the water and his streamlined body enabled him to race Mizouchi and the lifeguard in a flash. But there was still a large gap between Ayane and Akihiro.

Water entered Ayane’s mouth. She reflexively gulped it down as she struggled to stay afloat. Exhaustion kicked in, causing her arms to remain immobile. Her nose dipped below the water level, leading her to inhale more water. She was drowning.

-Stage III-

Akihiro heard a voice in his head. But he didn’t seem to care about it. His mind was only focused on trying to save her.

Akihiro’s veins could be seen popping out. His legs and arms seemed bulkier as he dived down to reach her. His speed increased and the distance between them closed significantly. He was still swimming underwater, without having taken a breath in a long time.

Ayane’s vision blacked out. She lost complete consciousness and slowly fell into the depths of the ocean.

Akihiro grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up, placing her on his back. He kicked the water one last time and shot to the surface as fast as he could.

The lifeguard had brought a boat with him and helped Akihiro place her on the boat. Mizouchi was on the boat with the lifeguard too. The lifeguard immediately began performing CPR, pushing on her stomach as hard as possible. Water flowed out of her mouth.

“AYANE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?”, Mizouchi yelled.

As the lifeguard desperately tried to revive the young girl, the boat had reached land. Natsume ran up to the boat.

Akihiro was sitting on the edge of the boat, staring at her unconscious body.

“Should I call the ambulance?”, Natsume asked.

“Don’t worry, she just inhaled a lot of water. She should be fine any moment now.”, the lifeguard said.

After a few minutes of chest compressions, Ayane began to cough.

“Thank god you are alive!”, Mizouchi said. His eyes were drowning in tears.

Akihiro’s hair was completely wet as it weighed down, covering his eyes and forehead. Water from his hair dripped across his face and fell down to the floor of the boat.

Ayane stopped coughing. She was able to breathe normally. She slowly sat up and looked around.

Noticing the tears on Mizouchi’s face, she slowly asked, “Did you save me?”

Mizouchi remained silent. He averted his eyes.

“Ah no, I was-”, Mizouchi was interrupted by Akihiro.

“Yes, Mizouchi-kun was the one who saved you.”

Mizouchi looked at Akihiro. Akihiro pushed the wet hair away from his eyes and looked back at Mizouchi and nodded. Those eyes on Akihiro’s face radiated pain but seemed determined. Mizouchi didn’t have the heart to deny it anymore.

Mizouchi placed his palm on Ayane’s shoulder and answered,

“Yes, I saved you…”