Bittersweet Faith in Love

-Yuki-

I don’t want to be alone anymore. I have to get Shizuma back. Why did he leave me? Everything was going well. It looked like we were going to get our relationship back on track. Then he just left. Now, I don’t have a boyfriend and or my voice. The latter feels like a punishment for not staying away. That still wasn’t enough to keep me away.

I hadn’t expected him to find me.

I remember that I was floating in the darkness. I couldn’t move my body. The only thing that I could do was move my eyes. So many thoughts ran through my head. Was this her doing? I tried to move any part of my body, but I couldn’t move.

I looked up when a shadow was cast over me. A figure shook over me, shaking their head. I couldn’t see their face. Wait… I know that guy.

Shizuma?

“You just had to try and follow me, didn’t you?” he asked. He sighed and shook his head.

“You just can’t stay away, can you?” he asked.

What do you mean? Where are we and why can’t I move?

He leaned in closer to my face.

“Why aren’t you talking with your mouth?” he asked.

She took my voice.

Shizuma froze. “What?”

I went out to that shrine to look for you. I ran into her and well… I ended up like this.

“Why did you follow me?” he asked. He didn’t sound angry. He just sounded so disappointed. I wanted to reach out and grab him.

Please don’t leave me. I could see in my mind that I was reaching out to him. He didn’t try to back away. Part of me wondered if that was really him or not.

“Yes, I am here,” he said.

So why are here? What is this place? Why can’t I move?

He had a dry smile on his face. “I can’t answer all of those questions. But I do know that you drew me here with your need to be with me.”

I’m so sorry.

“No. I should’ve known. Too late to do anything about it now.”

Please don’t leave me. I wished that I could reach out and grab him. I didn’t want to let him go. I couldn’t let him leave me again. My cheeks felt wet.

I felt his hand seize my wrist.

Shizuma…

“You win.”

Huh?

“You can stay by my side. I won’t run away from you again.” He smiled, but he looked so defeated at the same time.

Do you still love me?

He leaned in close to my face. “Yes.”

I closed my eyes. Thank you. Well okay, I had my answer. He didn’t sound like he was lying. I was going to be okay with this. However, we still had our problems.

Hey, Shizuma.

“What?” he asked.

 I opened my eyes. You never really answered my question. Where exactly are we? How do we get out of here?

Shizuma sighed and smiled to himself. That I do not know. He reached down and caressed my cheek. That was another problem we were going to have to solve.