The Habit of Staying Alive

Even with a heart shattered beyond repair, you must smile, you must live on without reason.

You must say goodbye to the very one whose departure tears your soul apart. You must welcome the one whose shadow you cannot bear.

This habit of staying alive is terrible.

I can neither let go nor truly live; I leave behind these few words as proof.

Once I carried the weight of sorrow, had the strength to bear it around—I leave this as evidence.

Someday I won't be able to carry any burden at all. Losing people one by one, I'll become utterly alone, yet I won't be able to tell anyone... if one afternoon lingered a little longer, would it really waste so much time?

There will come a time when I'll stop waiting. Even if someone waits for me, I'll pretend not to understand.

Now I understand life's rules.

Here you must keep a smile on your lips even with blood in your chest. Even when you're desperate for one last glimpse of someone, you must pretend 'it doesn't matter at all.'

No one can teach me how to live anymore. No one, no one, no one!