August 4, 2016
Dear Saki,
I don’t know where to begin. Tomorrow, I return to Tokyo. When I arrived in this town and met you at the spring, it was the first time I’d experienced love at first sight.
The moment my eyes met yours, I felt something indescribable. You held an aura of uniqueness, and it captivated me instantly. Within just four days, I fell deeply and irrevocably in love with you.
I had heard about your first love and contemplated keeping my feelings to myself and silently departing. However, my emotions surged uncontrollably, and I could no longer contain them. Therefore, I pour out my heart in this letter, knowing it will never reach your hands, hoping to find solace.
Saki, I love you. Every fiber of my being is consumed by this love.
Yours truly,
Keiichi Tani
“I’m so grateful that we crossed paths.”
On the last day of the blue moon, Keiichi had uttered those words to me, gently releasing the hand that had held mine, and departed from the forest. After a while, I followed him.
I rushed out of the forest, toward the town of Arashiyama, but it was too late. He had vanished, and without his phone number or address, I had no means to search for him any further.
I scolded myself for allowing my heart to be swayed by someone other than my first love. It was my mistake to desire to be by Keiichi’s side despite cherishing my initial love.
With conflicted feelings, I chastised myself as I returned to the dormitory. The blue moon had already vanished from the sky. As I approached the mountain path, a white paper hanging from a distant tree branch caught my eye.
Normally, an out-of-reach white paper would not have captured my attention. However, this one felt inexplicably special. I made my way through the back alley to reach it. Unfolding the torn and worn white paper, my eyes widened in surprise.
It was a letter addressed to me. As I read the letter, titled Dear Saki, tears naturally welled. Did he long to be with me simply because he found solace in my presence? Did he desire more conversations and shared moments together? Keiichi-kun had been thinking of me.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I read the letter again, tracing its words with my finger and stopping at the final line. The date indicated today, six years in the future. Could he have come from the future? In that moment, I felt an inexplicable connection.
“I’ll be waiting for you in the future, always. ”Was it Keiichi-kun who had given me a reason to keep living on that night six years ago, claiming to have traveled from the future? It may seemed like a convenient thought, but I could not comprehend this passionate feeling without embracing it. My heart trembled whenever I saw Keiichi-kun because he was undoubtedly the person I was once more destined to fall in love with.
“I met high school-aged Saki the other day.”
Could it be that I had fallen in love with the same person twice? Would Keiichi-kun continue to meet the younger version of me in the past? I could no longer ask him these questions, but deep within, I believed it to be true. I must have fallen in love with him twice — once with the one who traveled back in time, and again with the one I was destined to meet.