Sometimes I think about things that used to exist inside me, and things that have disappeared. Passion for certain things, habits, and feelings toward people. If they vanished naturally, I am able to tell myself logically that maybe I no longer needed them. But not everything disappears like that. Some things disappear even when we don’t want them to because the environment has changed, or the object of a certain feeling has been lost. Single-minded passion, habits we are attached to, feelings toward others.
How should we respond when we are forced to give up things we had wanted very much to keep? This book is about a young woman who loses someone she loves. It is also the story of her discovering beautiful emotions within herself even as she loses something she cared about more than herself.
As long as we are alive, no matter how peaceful our lives, we cannot remain without wounds. Still, even if we lose something important, I believe that we don’t also need to lose the love we had for that thing or our desire to hold it dear. Things that we think we have lost can remain in other forms.
The remainder of this afterword is acknowledgments.
This book is a spinoff of Even If This Love Disappears Tonight and a story I had wanted to write from the time I was working on that book. I am very happy that thanks to the support from many people, I had the opportunity to send it out into the world.
As a result, I’ve been with my editor for a bit longer. I hope we continue to work together in the future.
To everyone who was involved in the movie adaption of the book, I would like to acknowledge that the reason I was able to publish Izumi Wataya’s story is thanks to your hard work on the film. I am deeply grateful.
To Koichi, who designed the cover, thank you for creating another beautiful book. Since it is difficult to meet in person right now, please let me express my appreciation here. I first encountered your work on the day of the awards ceremony for the 26th Dengeki Novel Prize, about an hour before it began. The editor in charge of covers for the winning manuscripts showed me some samples, and I remember very well that I told them I wanted you to design my cover. Ever since, my books have included your photographs. You handled the cover for my second book as well, and fortunately both have been translated and published abroad. You express the outlook of the world within the story in a single photograph and capture the crucial moments and emotions. You make people smile. Through knowing you, I have become aware of the many powers of photography, and that became one of the themes in this book. I truly look forward to the day I have the opportunity to thank you in person.
Finally, let me thank all the readers. Although the following words may be clichéd, the feeling of gratitude is always new. Thank you so much for picking up this book. Since I cannot thank each of you individually, please let me once again bow in appreciation to you through these words. May we meet again one day.
MISAKI ICHIJO