Chapter 1 Departure

Departure

I put my suitcase on the luggage rack and took my seat.

I’ve been busy since this morning.

I’d finished preparing for my trip the day before, but my worried mother had been nagging me about things like “Did I bring a handkerchief?” “Do I need stomach medicine?” so I went to a cell phone store to cancel my contract and buy a new one. After completing the important mission of canceling the contract, I returned home, but thinking about what to do once I got there, I wanted to get on the train before noon, so I refused my mother’s request “to eat lunch before leaving” and had her hastily take me to the station, where I dropped an envelope in the station mailbox, bought a ticket, and said goodbye to my mother and sister, and somehow managed to get on the train at the scheduled time.

As the train pulled away from the platform, I took a sip of my drink from the plastic bottle and breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, I was nervous about running into anyone I knew until the train started moving, so I kept my head down.

I took another sip of my drink, screwed the cap back on, and set it by the window, then took out my two smartphones and started transferring my data and apps to the new one.

It feels so refreshing when your smartphone is new.

The old one was one I bought to match Chika when we were in our third year of middle school, so I’ve been using it for three full years now.

Today I’m saying goodbye to my old smartphone and to this place where I’ve spent 18 years.

And I’m saying goodbye to Chika, my girlfriend of five years.

I think it’s insincere to say goodbye with a single letter without meeting in person after five years together, but it’s Chika who’s making me do it, so I hope she’ll forgive me.

No, I don’t think Chika cares about me enough to feel that way anymore.

I haven’t done anything typical of a lover in the last year, so it would be better if she at least noticed that I returned the favor.

It’s a little pathetic that I’m leaving like I’m running away in the night, but my new life starting tomorrow is nothing but hope for me.

Today is the day to say goodbye to the miserable Sakamoto Taichi (坂本タイチ), whose beloved girlfriend cheated on him, along with his smartphone.

And starting tomorrow, a new Sakamoto Taichi will be born, full of hope for his future dreams as a new student in a new place.

In the days when I found out about Chika’s affair and was suffering, I set a goal “to leave this place and go to a university outside the prefecture” and persevered until the end. Because I had that goal, I was able to grit my teeth and work hard.

I hid the university of my choice not only from Chika but also from my classmates and even my friend in the kendo club, and studied hard at home by myself.

On the days of the common test and the early exams, I was careful not to run into anyone I knew, so I took the exams fully equipped, including fake glasses and a mask. Unlike when I took a fake exam at a private university, on the day the results for my real choice were announced, I was so nervous I thought I might throw up, but when I found my exam number on the list of successful applicants, I cried a little, thinking, “I am finally free from this hell”.

And finally, today, having left behind not only my ex-girlfriend but also my friend and clubmate, I was able to safely start my new life.