You Came with the First Spring Breeze... - Episode 5: Wounded All Over

Episode 5: Wounded All Over

Why is Aki mentioning Suda’s name?

I have a bad feeling.

“Could it be that your boyfriend is Suda?”

I don’t want to believe it, but Aki’s silent glare at me says yes.

She looks like a completely different person from the woman I was just with in the alley.

“Why did you invite me?”

“Because you were that woman’s ex-boyfriend.”

Like the sky brightening, the truth begins to dawn on me.

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

To Aki, my ex-girlfriend is a hated woman who stole her boyfriend. Just as I despise Suda, so does Aki—perhaps she wanted to take revenge on her by being with me.

“There’s a misunderstanding. She was forced by Suda to go out with him.”

“No! She was the one who seduced him!”

“That can’t be true!”

Things were going well between us. We were on the brink of marriage, and I was already thinking about how to propose. When I found out about Suda, she cried and apologized, claiming she loved me.

We decided to give it another shot, but my suspicions grew daily, leading me to say hurtful things that made her cry.

On Christmas Eve, the day she disappeared from my apartment, I had made a reservation at a restaurant, hoping to end the constant fighting.

“At the very least, she didn’t seem to dislike Suda.”

Aki looked straight at me, pleading that this was the truth.

“Were you there?”

I asked, my voice barely a whisper, and Aki nodded.

“When I opened the door, I found a woman’s shoes. I could hear their voices from the entrance. Do you think a woman who’s being forced would say, ‘Please, let me come already?’”

I took a deep breath to suppress the rising panic. I inhaled shallowly and exhaled forcefully.

“Maybe it was a mistake? It could have been someone else.”

“Miyata Nao. I even saw their LINE conversations. When I asked Yoshii-kun who Nao was, he told me right away.”

My vision spun.

Miyata Nao is indeed my ex-girlfriend’s name.

Everything I had carefully preserved felt like it was crashing down.

No, it had already been shattered long ago. Confronted with this reality, I felt all strength leaving my body.

Aki pressed her advantage.

“You didn’t know? She’s showing Suda the messages from Tomoya-kun. She said, ‘It’s creepy that messages keep coming even though I don’t reply.'”

“Enough! Stop it!”

I gripped Aki’s arm tightly, but she continued.

“She’s just enjoying being loved by two men. Tomoya-kun is being used to draw Suda in.”

“What do you want from me? Just leave me alone!”

I held her shoulders firmly.

“I won’t leave you alone!”

Aki said this in a strong tone and shook my hands off.

“I wanted to take you from that woman…”

“Then you’ve achieved your goal. Are you satisfied?”

“No!”

Aki denied it with a voice almost like a scream.

“Not satisfied?”

She slowly backed away from me.

“I wanted to experience love.”

“What?”

“I wanted love, not just sex.”

A strong, sandy wind blew, and Aki ran toward it. The sound of her heels striking the asphalt faded, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste.

A few days passed, and the cold had eased, with cherry blossoms lining the roads in soft pink.

The gentle spring sun was so soothing that I finally washed the sheets and blankets I hadn’t cleaned for three months.

While I was processing what had happened, Aki’s last words kept scratching at my heart.

—”I wanted love, not just sex.”

Is it okay if a relationship starts with sex? I pondered, but that felt like missing the point.

I had already given up hope of my ex returning.

I thought I was right for not being able to forgive Nao that day.

A broken plate can never return to its original form. Even if you glue it back together, it will break again soon.

It’s time to let go.

As I stretched the wrinkled sheets from the washing machine and hung them on the balcony, the intercom rang.

The kitchen monitor displayed the familiar face of a man.

After pinning the sheets down so they wouldn’t blow away, I opened the front door.

“Hey! Best friend!”

Yoshii held up a plastic bag emitting a delicious smell and, without asking, kicked off his shoes and entered as if it were his own home.

The place wasn’t clean, but that was fine.

“Good timing! I wanted to ask you something.”

“Got it.”

Yoshii avoided eye contact and leaned against my bed, sitting cross-legged by the low table.

That’s my seat!

He rummaged through the bag and pulled out some Mitarashi dango.

The dango, with a perfect golden glaze, filled my vision.

I hadn’t eaten anything since morning, and the sweet soy sauce scent was making my stomach rumble.

“Thanks.”

I retrieved a bottle of tea from the fridge and brought it to the table along with a glass.

“Is cold tea okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Yoshii poured himself some tea and opened the dango package.

“What did you want to ask?”

Without looking at me, Yoshii spoke.

“It’s about Aki-chan.”

Yoshii held the dango stick in silence.

“I want her contact information.”

“Don’t do it!”

I said this in an unusually strong tone as I reached for the dango he was offering.

Then I added:

“You’re not in a good place right now.”