21. Farewell

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"I'm going to Yokohama the day after tomorrow."

The checkmark next to the text she had just typed increased from one to two, and then a notification appeared indicating that the message had been read by the recipient.

"On this date, right?"

Midori's reply came faster than she expected. She responded with a "Yes!" sticker.

"I thought you weren't doing it anymore," Midori remarked. "After all these years."

In previous years, she always had to go to Yokohama in April, during spring. But this year was different. She was late because of the workload at the hospital.

"I want to say goodbye," she replied. Midori had read it, but hadn't replied yet. She thought her friend was shocked by her answer.

"You should have done it long time ago."

Midori always knew the right thing to say. "Do you think it's the right time?"

"There's never a good time to say goodbye."

"Sure," she typed.

"You should tell him too," Midori suggested. "I've been 'trying' all this time, but I think it's better if you say it yourself."

She wasn't sure about this. Not unsure, but more like not knowing how to do it. "I don't know what to say," she confessed.

"Just say what's true."

She made it sound easy, but Midori never bothered to hide anything. And she owed her a debt of gratitude.

"What if he doesn't like the truth?" She asked back.

"Don't overthink it," said Midori. "He'd understand."

"I'll do it later," she relented. "After coming back from Yokohama."

"I can call," Midori offered. "If you're afraid, we can do it together. Takeshi can join if you need him."

"No need." She had been preparing for this for over a decade. The long preparation period should yield worthy results—at least that was what she hoped. "I'll do it myself. Thank you for everything."

Midori replied with a 'No problem!' sticker along with a wish to have fun. She laughed at the sticker. Midori's sense of humor was a bit dark. Her best friend knew perfectly well that she wouldn't be able to have fun in Yokohama.


...


Felix pointed at the blue-colored ship. "What about that one?"

I squinted to block the sunlight. The wind tousled my hair, almost blowing my hat away if I hadn't held it down. "Seems too big. Something smaller is better."

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