Echoes of the Past

The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, as Roy’s life continued within the confines of his prison cell. Time no longer had the same meaning it once did. Outside, the world moved on seasons changed, people went about their lives but for Roy, everything remained stagnant. The same gray walls, the same cold silence, the same gnawing regret that echoed through every waking moment.

Hana’s visit had left him with a wound that refused to heal. Her words haunted him, replaying in his mind whenever he tried to escape into sleep or distraction. There had been a time when he thought of her as his salvation, his reason for fighting through this second life. But now, all she represented was the ultimate failure of his obsession.

He hadn’t heard from her since that day. Part of him had hoped that maybe, just maybe, she would visit again. That she would somehow forgive him, or at least see that he was trying to change. But the reality was, Hana had moved on. She had escaped the web of his delusions, while Roy was left to grapple with the consequences alone.

In the months since his arrest, Roy had been assigned a therapist. The prison system had deemed him a risk for further obsession, and they wanted to ensure that he received treatment for what they called obsessive-compulsive tendencies. At first, Roy resisted, brushing off the sessions with dismissive shrugs and empty silence. He didn’t need help. What he needed was Hana.

But over time, something shifted. Maybe it was the isolation, the constant stillness that allowed his mind to reflect in ways it never had before. Or maybe it was the realization that there was no escape from his reality. Slowly, Roy began to engage in the therapy sessions, not because he believed in them, but because he had nothing else.

Dr. Mori, his therapist, was a calm, patient man, unbothered by Roy’s initial hostility. He had seen cases like Roy’s before people driven by intense obsession, trapped in cycles they couldn’t break. At first, Roy had refused to talk, but Dr. Mori had a way of coaxing him out, little by little.

One day, as they sat in the quiet therapy room, Dr. Mori asked a question that caught Roy off guard.

Roy, what do you think led to your obsession with Hana? What was it about her that made you feel like you needed to control her?

Roy frowned, leaning back in his chair. He had never really thought about the why. His feelings for Hana had always just… existed. It wasn’t something he could explain. But now, confronted with the question, he realized that maybe he didn’t fully understand his own obsession.

I don’t know, Roy muttered. It wasn’t about control. I just wanted to be with her. I thought she was the one, you know?

Dr. Mori nodded. But wanting to be with someone and believing they are ‘the one’ doesn’t justify your actions. There’s something deeper here. Tell me about your first life. Did you have someone like Hana back then?

Roy hesitated. His first life felt like a distant memory now, a different world altogether. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Dr. Mori was right. In his first life, there had been someone Aiko. She had been a fleeting figure in his past, someone he had cared about but never truly connected with. She had been kind, beautiful, and distant, much like Hana. But unlike Hana, Aiko had never even known he existed in the same way.

She reminded me of someone, Roy admitted, his voice quieter now. “In my first life. Her name was Aiko. I always thought… if I’d just had a chance with her, maybe my life would have been different. But she never saw me that way.

Dr. Mori listened carefully, nodding as Roy spoke. “It sounds like your feelings for Hana were an attempt to rewrite the story of your first life. You saw her as a way to correct the past, to get what you thought you missed out on with Aiko.

Roy frowned, the thought settling in his mind. Was that true? Had he really been trying to fix something that was never meant to be fixed? The idea made him uncomfortable, but he couldn’t deny that there was some truth to it. In both lives, he had placed women on pedestals, turning them into the key to his happiness. And both times, that fantasy had crumbled under the weight of reality.

I just… I didn’t want to fail again, Roy said, his voice laced with frustration. “I thought if I could just show her how much I cared, it would be enough.

Dr. Mori’s gaze was steady. But caring about someone doesn’t mean controlling their life. Love isn’t about forcing someone to fit into the mold of your desires. It’s about mutual respect and understanding. Your obsession wasn’t about Hana it was about you, about your need to prove something to yourself.

Roy clenched his fists, feeling a knot of anger and guilt tighten in his chest. I didn’t mean to hurt her.

I believe you, Dr. Mori said calmly. But the fact remains that you did. And until you understand why you acted the way you did, you’ll never be able to break free from this cycle.

Roy sat in silence for a long time, the weight of Dr. Mori’s words pressing down on him. The truth was painful, but it was undeniable. His obsession had never been about Hana. It had been about his own insecurities, his fear of failure, his need to control something in a life that had always felt out of his hands.

As the weeks passed, Roy continued his therapy, slowly peeling back the layers of his past and his psyche. It wasn’t an easy process there were days when he wanted to give up, to retreat back into the comfort of his delusions. But there was also a part of him that wanted to change, to be free of the destructive patterns that had ruined both his lives.

One night, as Roy lay in his cell, staring up at the ceiling, he felt something shift inside him. It wasn’t a dramatic change, but a quiet acceptance a realization that he couldn’t keep living in the shadows of his past. His obsession with Hana had been his downfall, but it didn’t have to define him forever. He had been given a second chance at life, and though he had wasted much of it, there was still time to learn, to grow, and to heal.

For the first time in a long while, Roy allowed himself to imagine a future not a future with Hana, or with anyone else, but a future where he could finally find peace within himself.