At the End of the Matinee

by Keiichirō Hirano

“People think that only the future can be changed, but in fact, the future is continually changing the past. The past can and does change. It’s exquisitely sensitive and delicately balanced.”

From now on, people would forevermore be creatures of exhaustion, distinguished from other animals by their continual state of fatigue. Caught up in the tempo of machines and computers, their senses buffeted by constant noise, people griped about daily life with piteous intensity before entering the complete silence obtainable only by death.

“If I ever heard that in some corner of the earth you had died, I would die too.” She

“Your existence has punched a hole in my life. Or rather, it’s embedded deep within me.”

“I know it’s difficult. But we met. I can’t pretend otherwise. A life without Yoko Komine would be surreal for me now. You are part of me, of my reality. And I want you by my side always. I want to be with you every day like this, to sit across from you and talk while we eat

“I love you, Yoko, and that’s the reality of my life. The me that doesn’t love you no longer exists. He isn’t real.”

Happiness was having someone with whom to share all the everyday experiences of his world.