I'm really sad there isn't more EotE fandom on here. :(

Anyway, here is a small contribution to this fandom.

Disclaimer: Eden of the East and Co. belong to Kenji Kamiyama. So don't sue me.

Ay, every inch a king.

- William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act IV, scene VI

Sometimes, I find myself returning to the dock where Takizawa-kun and I waited for the boat to take us to the shopping mall.

He isn't there, of course.

I sit on the bench we shared and where I told him about myself, and try not to feel foolish.

It has been a year to the day since we met, and just over six months since he disappeared outside of the late Prime Minister's estate.

I know I shouldn't worry about him, but I do.

Hirasawa and the others do their best to keep me busy and distract me, like they did the first time he left. And their efforts work, to an extent.

But for all their concerned glances in my direction, they cannot change the fact that he is gone. You can't make someone return that doesn't wish to.

It is easy to be bitter, even though I try not to be. He left—to do good, I remind myself—but he still left me behind.

Not for the first time, I ask myself why I didn't go with him. Or why he didn't ask me to come along.

I cannot attribute optimism to my personality in confidence, but there is one thing I have and hold to steadfastly: It is his promise, and it is the faith I have in him.

I will see him again, someday, though I do not know when.

I smile to myself and watch the boat make its way back to dock.

It is just like a king, to keep his subjects waiting.

Note: The title is a reference to a quote made by Charles Churchill. It proceeds thus: Patience is sorrow's salve.

Reviews would be appreciated.