Cherreads

Chapter 4 - 2nd Composition - chp. 4

🌊 "You're back..."

β˜” "..."

🌊 "I thought I'd be cleaning this place alone"

β˜” "What are you doing here? Whoβ€”"

🌊 "Lady Land came to me after work. She saw you talking to me that day. She's been looking everywhere for you."

β˜” "Why..." /looks down

🌊 "Ughh..." /crouches down

🌊 "Ughh, huhuhu..." /sobbing

β˜” "I didn't ask you to do this..."

🌊 /gets up, walks toward Senei

🌊 "Since when have you become like this?" /takes Senei's hands

🌊 "You're so thin. I should've left you food."

🌊 "I'm sorry."

🌊 "You must've been suffering too..."

🌊 "I'm– (sob) I'm s-so sorry..." /hugs Senei

β˜” "I...." (I'm so pathetic...)

🌊 "Let me help you clean up, okay?"

β˜” "That's not what I asked for."

🌊 "It's okay. I want to."

β˜” "..."

Humiliating. That might be what Senei felt.

But I couldn't bring myself to look away. No matter what he did, he was still once a part of my life.

Could I really act like he never existed just because of one mistake?

What if I were in his shoes?

Would people treat me the same way?

That kind of pain... it's enough to make you want to end everything. Right?

β˜” "... You can stop if it's too much."

🌊 /sobbing "No, I'm sorry. I justβ€”ugh..."

β˜” "... Am I really that pathetic? This is humiliating."

β˜” "Go home."

🌊 "I used to be like this too."

🌊 "It's just a phase. I believe you'll be okay."

I began organizing a pile of music sheets.

His works, probably. But they were worn out, wrinkled.

Still, that wasn't what broke me.

I found signs... of suicide attempts.

Like staring at my past self.

It was heartbreaking.

This wasn't just some hikikomori's messy roomβ€”this was the room of someone drowning in depression.

How many times had he tried to end his life?

Just thinking about that made my tears fall again.

🌊 "Three years ago..."

🌊 (It's really been three years...?)

🌊 "I had a fight with my mom. I left home and went back to the city."

🌊 "I felt like everything I worked for was taken from me."

🌊 "At first, I thought I was just mad. So I let the anger consume me."

🌊 "But days passed. I hadn't eaten a thing."

🌊 "I couldn't lift my head from the bed. Not even to eat."

🌊 "I used to cry all the time, and then... I went completely silent."

🌊 "I thought... if I acted like a corpse, maybe I'd eventually become one."

🌊 "Then, out of nowhere, someone came in with a kitten."

🌊 "I didn't lock my door, so they just walked in. I thought maybe the smell finally got to someone..."

🌊 "But then I heard itβ€”the soft sound of a kitten."

🌊 "I didn't recognize the person. But they talked to me like they knew me."

🌊 "They made me sit up, handed me the kitten in a little box, and saidβ€”"

🌊 "'I know you're sad. I know you need something to hold onto. This kitten will stay with you.'"

🌊 "I didn't really understand what they meant.

But seeing the kitten... I realizedβ€”my cat was gone."

🌊 "I didn't feed her. She left. Or... died."

🌊 "Then that person said, 'Your cat came to me, gave birth, then vanished. But this kitten kept coming backβ€”like he's knew where it belonged.'"

🌊 "They even buried my cat. They told me everything."

🌊 "It shattered me. I was so caught up in my grief, I forgot my cat."

🌊 "And now her kitten... came back. Like she returned to me."

🌊 "I hugged it tight. Then that person saidβ€”"

🌊 "'I can't let you raise a cat in a place like this. Let me help you clean up first. Then you can raise her again.'"

🌊 "It felt strange at first, but that person became the turning point of my lifeβ€”something I'll forever be grateful for."

🌊 "That cat... is the one you've been feeding."

β˜” "Y-you knew I was feeding him?"

🌊 "Of course."

β˜” "I'm sorry..."

🌊 "No, it's okay."

β˜” "You know..."

β˜” "Music has always been my passion."

β˜” "I've loved it since forever."

β˜” "I did everything to get people to hear my songs."

β˜” "And it worked. Vivelune became real. Our music was loved... even by you."

β˜” "But in the end... I'm still human. I gave in to my ego. And guilt."

β˜” "They weren't wrong to cut ties with me."

β˜” "But did they have to reject my music too?"

β˜” "When even my songs were refused... I felt worthless."

β˜” "Like the only thing of value in me was Viveluneβ€”and I'd destroyed it."

β˜” "And I hurt so many people too..."

β˜” "I'm sorry."

🌊 /picks up a framed photo

β˜” "Ah, do you know that person in the photo?"

🌊 "Mmm... looks familiar."

β˜” "She was the one who interviewed you."

🌊 "Waitβ€”her!?"

β˜” "Yeah. My wife."

🌊 "HUH!?"

β˜” "Well... ex-wife."

🌊 "Oh my god... waitβ€”I forgot you were marβ€”huff, what happened?"

β˜” "It's karma, I guess. I deserved it."

Time passed as we talked.

So many things were said.

And sometimes... I forgot he was that Sorren.

🌊 "What if you mess up again?"

β˜” "Sorry?"

🌊 "I want to help you. Sing your songs. But... what if you repeat it?"

β˜” "... I know. If I say 'I won't,' it'd be a lie. No one knows what'll happen."

β˜” "But if I do slip up againβ€”

remind me.

Don't sugarcoat it.

Slap me. Punch me. Kick me.

Kill me, if you have to."

β˜” "There's no point in saying more.

I'll prove it."

β˜” "Please... give me a second chance." /bows deeply

That was it.

Our conversation ended with sunrise.

I remembered again who he wasβ€”Sorren.

But... the one speaking to me then didn't feel like the same man.

Will he become Sorren again?

Or has he truly changed?

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