When Ojiro showed up drunk in front of Louise's apartment and Louise swung open the door, no words, no talks, he rushed to her with so much longing and hunger.

They spent the cold night making love on her futon until they passed out sore, tired, and satisfied. And when the dawn came, he woke up with her beside him. His one arm wrapped around her tiny form, and their naked, warm bodies pressed tightly together under the sheets.

He pulled the thick blanket above their heads, covering them up completely, and then shook her awake with his kisses and made love to her again, slowly and passionately.

The sun had completely risen when Ojiro woke up. It's still cold, but a few tiny bits or rays of sun are peeking from the window, blinding him awake.

When he gets up, he is just too groggy to care about the fact that he is completely naked, but he can feel that Louise is already up and spatting some Spanish he can't understand.

"This is wrong. This is not happening," she muttered under her breath, panicking. She pulls the blanket, covers up her bare breasts, and randomly picks up the clothing near her, looking for her underwear. She realized it was Ojiro's boxer, so she threw it in his face.

"You need to leave now. Quick!" she blurted.

Ojiro picked the boxers up, still sleepy. He staggered when he stood up to put on his boxers. Louise needed to look away from his familiar toned buttocks and back muscles.

When he's done, Ojiro crawls back to Louise on the futon and then leaned on her, trying to steal a kiss. She tilted her head away, avoided it. That's when Ojiro was shaken awake from what they did the night before.

Louise swallowed from her throat, averted her gaze from him before she spoke. "How about this? Let's pretend it didn't happen. You can walk quietly out of that door before anyone can recognize you."


Ojiro shook his head and held her shoulders tightly with both hands. "I will never let go of you," he breathed.


"Ojiro—"

"Let's fix this. We can start all over again," he convinces.

She shook her head, wriggling out of his hold.

"Tell me what you want me to do." His grip became tighter.

"No." Her voice cracks.

"I'll do anything. Anything."

"Stop it, please." She gasped, trying to free herself, but his hold doesn't budge.

"Just tell me, Louise." His voice shakes, sounding more and more desperate. "We can go somewhere. Somewhere no one can find us."

"No, Ojiro. Stop."

"Do you want me to quit? I'll quit skating. I'll do anything–"

"I said stop!" She pushes him and slaps him awake, knocking some sense out of him. "Do you hear what you're saying?!"


Ojiro's thick hair covered his face as he bowed his head, sobbing. His movement staggered, bowing even lower down to her lap; his shoulders shook as he let out a cry of hopelessness. "Louise." He sobs. "Please go back to me. I'm begging you."

A hand flew to her mouth, looking away, preventing a loud sob that was about to come. She couldn't make sense of his words while he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"No," she sobs, her shoulders shaking with the intensity of it.

Ojiro shot up his face to her and tried to scoop her into his arms, but she distances herself from him. She pulled the blanket, covering up more of her bare breasts as if it could completely hide her from him. He froze. He hasn't heard her or seen her cry like that before.

Maria Louisa Diaz...

It all came back to him in the moment.

When he heard her name mentioned in front of everyone in a public event, in a press conference, broadcasted to the whole world, Ojiro was frozen in his spot.

How did they find out her name?

He taps his fingers on the table nervously, thinking fast about all the possible investigations that they did. Something lodged in his throat felt like it got bigger every second as he felt everyone's eyes falling on him.

When Ojiro opens his mouth to say something, he knows it's going to be something reckless, but just by thinking about the name of the woman he holds dearly in his heart, he holds back his mouth.

Suddenly, he's calm, and all his senses are slowly coming back to him. Why, when things are slowly falling apart, does he always need to be saved by her?

He couldn't help but smile to himself, thinking he already couldn't count all the times it happened.

Ojiro's most precious memory of Louise went back to that moment. He bathed his eyes in her form and even in her estate: her hair completely disheveled, wearing nothing but a messy sheet that she clasps to her breast, trying to cover up her nakedness. The natural redness of her cheeks and lips, wet from crying, he couldn't help but admire her beauty.


It was a sight that reminded him of the Japanese saying "hadaka no tsukiai," which simply translates as "naked relationship." It was commonly used to describe a group of friends or people, completely naked, bathing together in a public bath.

But to Ojiro, who had been brought up in traditional ways, it was known in their old traditions that samurais are stripped naked when they're confessing something as a sign of their honesty.

"Ojiro, don't you get it?" she whispers softly. Her puffy, wet eyes looked straight through him. "This is not going to work." Her voice shakes.

"We will try again." He found himself sobbing. "We will make this work!"


"It's not." She shook her head. "Listen to me, Ojiro." Her voice is firm, which got his attention. "You belong there. They need you...and we don't have a chance. Let's face it, this is reality. It's impossible." More tears roll down his cheeks.

Louise said these words to him, naked, bare. Not hiding any vulnerabilities from him.

Ah, soka. This is the reason why I need to let go of her, right?

He completely remembers it now. The answer is in front of him. He looks back at the faces of the people waiting for his answer. Flashes of camera blind him; all camera focuses on him, recording every move that he makes and every word that he says.


"I just want to be happy," Louis's voice cracks, and Ojiro could only hear the shattering of his heart in a million pieces like a glass while he watched her cry and say those words. "I've been chasing that all my life and I am tired. Tired of that...tired of everything." She covers her face, collapsing into the futon. "I just want to be happy. I just want a normal life. Is that too much to ask for?" She cried and cried on the sheets until she passed out.

When he made sure that she slept and calmed down, Ojiro pulled the coat beside her that he recognized as his. Realizing that she's been sleeping with it all this time made him even weaker, his tears falling down on the sheets. His shaking hand caresses Louise's curly hair, carefully tucking it behind her ear.

She sleeps soundly, but the exhaustion can be recognized to her face. He stared at her, memorizing it, as he knew it was going to be his last chance looking at that beauty.

From that moment, though it was strongly against his heart's desire, Ojiro decided to let her go.