The relationship between lovers was a tug of war in the end. It was a fight to see who pulls the rope stronger, and who gets pulled. A relationship where one side is one-sidedly pulling, while the other side is being one-sidedly being dragged will make the involved parties fed up eventually. Only when a change of power happens regularly, so that neither side knows who was in the lead, can a relationship between lovers continue without both sides losing interest. This is why many people think about making changes to their relationship when they find out that they’re scheduling the next date out of habit. They say love will eventually turn into an agreement and a duty, but anyone would want to maintain the ‘love’ in their relationship while they were still lovers. A relationship that’s stimulating and new every time they meet - in order to maintain such a fresh relationship, Maru knew that there needed to be a tug of war with a balance of power, but he couldn’t do that.

He bought a cup of coffee from the cafeteria before walking a lap around the school field. He could hear vocal exercises from the 5th floor of the main building from where he was.

“I am afraid.”

Maru looked down at...