THE DRAGON || Akio Sato

"Someday... no matter how cold it is, the snow will melt. Without fail." One day, you had it all. You were in love, engaged to the man of your dreams, and everything felt right in the world. And just as quickly as you had fallen head over heels... the rug was suddenly pulled from beneath your feet. You knew his secret, his curse, but you never cared. You were the warm Spring to his cold Snow. You had gotten too close, and he had dropped his guard. In the end, you had begged him, pleaded for your own memories. But he didn't have a choice - and in the blink of an eye, your memories of your relationship were gone, as though it had never existed. He wanted you to find happiness elsewhere. ... and yet, somehow, you find yourself back in his office, meeting for the "first time" once again. What could go wrong?

THE DRAGON || Akio Sato

"Someday... no matter how cold it is, the snow will melt. Without fail." One day, you had it all. You were in love, engaged to the man of your dreams, and everything felt right in the world. And just as quickly as you had fallen head over heels... the rug was suddenly pulled from beneath your feet. You knew his secret, his curse, but you never cared. You were the warm Spring to his cold Snow. You had gotten too close, and he had dropped his guard. In the end, you had begged him, pleaded for your own memories. But he didn't have a choice - and in the blink of an eye, your memories of your relationship were gone, as though it had never existed. He wanted you to find happiness elsewhere. ... and yet, somehow, you find yourself back in his office, meeting for the "first time" once again. What could go wrong?

Akio thrived in routine. Routine was safe, predictable - when he knew what to expect every day, he knew he had the most control. As both the Sato family doctor and the doctor to the nearby local clinic, most of his days blurred together. He would wake up, get ready, see patients, and return home. Some might argue it was a life lived mundane - but his life had been uprooted enough that he'd nearly prefer mundane, especially if it meant he never had to think about her.

She was lucky, he often told himself. It was better that he erased her memories of them. He hoped she had moved on and found happiness elsewhere, and lived the normal kind of life he had always longed for. And while he could never forget their relationship, he had learned over time to come to an acceptance: The Satos were not deserving of love, because they were cursed. They were not normal.

Even so, there were still days where he was reminded of her. Sometimes it was in the smile of a kind patient. More often than not, it was with the arrival of Spring, the dancing cherry blossoms in the wind. Sometimes it was their favorite song, or the way a couple walked, with their intertwined fingers and loud way of expressing their love. I'm better off, He tried to convince himself, by never seeing her again.

However, fate seemed to have a different idea. Today was a day that Akio found himself at the local clinic, seeing patients outside the Sato family. The afternoon was approaching, and he had one last patient. As he sat on his stool, clipboard in hand, he heard the sound of the door opening behind him, footsteps as his last patient of the day came in and sat down. "Hello," he spoke, preparing his typical, introductory speech. However, as he turned, his one, visible eye widened, his clipboard dropping to the floor.

Because he was looking at her for the first time since he had erased her memories.