Chapter 107
After parting ways with his two gentle and beloved "angels," Lisa and Rika, with a heart-wrenching heartache, Ryosaku has once again begun to walk a new road.
Ryosaku no longer has any hesitation.
None at all.
The last remaining angel...his beloved angel, Mieko, was surely waiting for him.
Ryosaku firmly believed that even at this very moment, she was anxiously waiting for him.
However, two months passed, then three months, after the promise made to Mieko's father, Isao, and there was still no news.
Isao told him, "Once things have settled, I'll be sure to contact you."
Believing those words, Ryosaku waited patiently.
...He just continued to wait.
But autumn passed, then winter, and then the new year came and spring, and still there was no contact or news.
Ryosaku intuitively knew that something bad was happening around Mieko.
And also, that it is something troublesome... something tragic and hopeless that Ryosaku alone cannot solve...
What supported Ryosaku during these difficult days, shrouded in anxiety and uncertainty, were the beautiful, yet somewhat sad, memories of his days with Mieko, Lisa, and Rika...and the tunes of Matsumoto Seiko's hit songs, which he often sang with both Mieko and Lisa.
Whenever Ryosaku was feeling pain, sad, or enduring something alone, he would always listen to Seiko's nostalgic songs, which would provide him with some solace.
As he listened to them, the adorable images of Mieko and the others came vividly into his mind...and for just a brief moment, he was able to forget the painful reality of his current situation.
And again, in the reading room of the student dormitory, he flicks through the precious "memory notebook" of his memories with the girls that he had written alone, and tries with all his might to stop the sparkling, fleeting memories of them that are rapidly fading with each passing day, from falling into the abyss of oblivion...and sets off on a "journey of memories" with Seiko's song playing in the background.
And then...when Ryosaku realized it, two years had passed.
It was around that time that the word "give up" began to cross his mind.
A letter arrived at his home.
It was... a letter addressed to Ryosaku from Mieko's mother, Tokiko.
