Takagi: Start Again

Part One:

'For nearly 20 years I have wondered where he went. We were very close back then. I mean sure, I would tease him all the time, but I could tell he enjoyed it as well as I did.'

'He didn't say much after he left. Well, he didn't really say anything really. The last time I spoke to him was when he said he had to go do something important. Then, he left me there to wonder what that was. After a few days, I could tell something was going on. I remember going to his house that day to see him. But he wasn't there. When I asked his parents what happened to him. They said that he had moved to live with his grandma. That didn't make any sense to me. Why would he leave all he had behind? I figured it wasn't my business, and figured I'd ask when I'd see him again. They seemed more reluctant to tell me. They just told me that I wouldn't and I should move on. I thought it was weird back then. I still do now. Now that I'm an adult, it should all feel like a memory. But I still wish I knew what happened to him. Maybe he didn't want to see me because I teased him to much.'

'Today I try not to think about it. And I have kept it from my daughter Chi. If she found out, she would probably ask the same questions I did back then. I don't feel I would have had the answers that would satisfy her. I figured, I'd wait until she was older.'

'But that still leaves me wondering. What happened to Nishikata? The boy I loved.