Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi ~ The Case of Yokozawa Takafumi (FIN)

Chapter 1

First loves never last–I knew that from the very beginning.

He had at least understood that there was no ‘romantic love’ in the feelings held for him. Showing him his weaknesses, taking advantage of him…that was all simply depending on him as a close friend.

And yet, the reason he couldn’t cut away his lingering affections…was because he still held out some small hope. He didn’t have to be his lover–it was enough if he could just be the most important person in his life. It would have been more than enough…if he could just stay close by his side.

He could hear the sound of rain falling outside.

The rain slapped loudly against the asphalt, the sound seeming to resonate sympathetically with his own irritation. The rain had been falling for quite some time tonight, and yet even the mud-darkened water swirling outside couldn’t wash away the blackness soaking through his heart.

He glanced up at the television in the izakaya he’d ducked into for shelter from the weather and noticed a warning for strong thunderstorms. He’d initially planned on heading home once the rain let up, but the rain which had started falling in the early evening was certainly showing no signs of stopping, and he realized he’d long since lost the moment to leave the bar safely.

…Or well, perhaps that was just an excuse he told himself. In truth, he likely only wanted to put off returning to that room filled with memories of him for as long as possible.

And it wasn’t so bad while he was emptying glasses of sake in the midst of his despair, but right now he could feel a roiling sickness in the pit of his stomach–hardly surprising; there was no way he wouldn’t be feeling the effects of drinking that much. On the bright side, he didn’t have a headache. He furrowed his brows at the discomfort and tried to roll over, subsequently noting a strange sensation against his cheek.

“Where…am I?”

Slowly pushing himself up off the gently springy mattress, Yokozawa Takafumi knit his brows in confusion as he took in his surroundings, a room he’d never seen before. It was neither his own house nor that of any of his friends. The simple aesthetic spoke of a business hotel–and yet he had no recollection of checking into a hotel. The last thing he remembered was settling in at the izakaya because the rain hadn’t stopped yet…

“I can’t remember…”

Sifting through his fuzzy memories, the one thing he was able to recall were the words of the bartender, worried that he was drinking too much. At any rate, he had to get rid of this hangover and fast, or he wasn’t going to be able to use his head at all.

He’d never gotten this drunk before in his life; after all, it had always been his job to look after a certain someone who liked to get shit-faced himself. He’d never so much as imagined that he would wake up one morning and not be able to remember anything.

Shaking his head wildly, he regained a bit of sense and blinked several times in rapid succession while massaging his sleep-heavy eyelids with his fingers. It was in that moment that he sensed something strange about the bits of himself that he could see.

“..........”

While he didn’t recall stripping, for some reason he was completely naked. He hardly ever slept in the nude to begin with, and curiosity led him to lift up the comforter.

“?!”

Realizing he wasn’t even wearing any underwear, he grew flustered and quickly covered up his lower half.