When the seagulls follow the trawler

[Slam]

Yuichiro breathed heavily. The air was silent. His wrists ached, and his ears were ringing. Sweat had pooled in every corner of his body. The necktie had slipped down his forehead and was hanging over his right eye.

Oki-san was still.

It brought back images of Niida-san. Of Tendou-san. They were both dead from gunshots. Now Oki-san was dead from gunshots. Katsu-kun was dead down on the rocks below. Katsu-kun had smiled. He had been happy. Then he was free.

Oki-san was smiling. At least, it looked like he was smiling. There wasn’t much left to make a smile. But if he was, then he was happy. And he was free.

Right?

Right. Yuichiro had helped. He had saved Oki-san. He had finally saved someone.

He had to keep going. He had to keep saving people. He had to keep going.

There weren’t many of his friends left out there, after all.

((Yuichiro Takiguchi continued in A Cruel Director's Thesis))