Savior

Day 33

"I aced the finals!"

Maeko showed Teppei the results of her exams for the second semester. She had worked her hardest ever since Shun and Shinji offered to tutor her in her worst subjects. After spending two weeks reviewing her notes, and even managing to pull an all-nighter a day before the exams, Maeko got into the top 100.

"This is great news, Maeko-chan! I told you. You'll do well."

Maeko grinned. "I'm just glad I passed honestly. I couldn't have done it without Shun and Shinji. Though it's a wonder that I managed to survive Shun's puns."

Teppei laughed. "I wonder what would happen if I go back to school."

"Junpei will be happy to see you back. And he'll bombard you with more training."

"Eh? Hyuga hates me."

"Pfft. That guy's just a tsundere."

"Ne, Maeko-chan."

Maeko looked up. "Hmm? What is it, Teppei?"

"How's Riko?"

"Riko's fine. Why are you asking? Do you miss her?" asked Maeko.

Teppei coughed. "Just curious."

Maeko sighed. "Why did you two break up anyway?"

"Huh?"

"You were really close. Why did you two break up?"

Teppei looked away for a moment. It had been about a month since he and Riko broke up. Nobody in the team knew why. All they knew was that the two broke up on good terms so they were still friends.

"Because from the start, I already knew I wasn't the one for her."

"I don't understand. How can you assume that?"

Teppei sighed. "There are incompatibilities that cannot work together no matter how hard you make it fit. It was a hard decision for both of us but it was the best. The hardest incompatibility in relationships is when you don't have the same direction in the future."

"Aren't you having fun with each other? You can make it work, you know. Plus, things change."

"Maeko-chan, if you let the Universe decide your fate for you and rely on the chance that things will change, you'll be left powerless. There are things beyond our control in this world but if we fully let ourselves lose all the control we have, there's nothing left."

"Still, it's not like the future is certain."

"We have different core values. We couldn't make each other happy. For both of us to be happy, we need to let go of each other. I don't want to make a person suffer for me nor make myself suffer for someone else."

Maeko tried to open her mouth to speak but found no voice to do so. Teppei had a point. If being together would cause more suffering to both, was it worth it to even be together? Was that what happened to us, Shuzo? Did you realize that being together would only make us suffer? Are you happy now? I hope you are. I want to be happy too.