Suzumiya has a right to be pissed that Narumi just up and deserts her because she's been seriously injured, but it's not like they're married. They were high school kids. It was probably the first relationship for both of them. They had sex, and they talked a lot, but it never really seemed like they had that much chemistry. And after, what, a few months dating, Narumi isn't willing to wait YEARS for his girlfriend to wake up, and that makes him an asshole?
Yeah, it sucks that Haruka is (probably) in a coma, and it sucks that he also thinks it's entirely his fault that it happened in the first place, even though it obviously isn't, but that doesn't mean that he has to base his entire life about something that isn't changing. You can't ever move forward like that.
But that doesn't mean Takayuki is in the right. Because I don't think he is. He isn't moving forward without Haruka; he's just running away. Hayase中尉 remarks that Takayuki's place hasn't changed at all in the past 3 years. He's not moving forward. He's using Hayase中尉's feelings as an excuse to say that he is, because he can't cope with thinking about Haruka all of the time. Sure, he may very well have liked Hayase中尉 before Haruka, but just because Haruka is out of the picture doesn't mean that Takayuki can forget about her or move on just by avoiding the topic altogether.
It's alright to move on. It's alright to have lingering feelings. It's alright to still want someone who is precious to you to recover, even if you don't feel the same way about them anymore.
But how many times has Takayuki visited Haruka? I don't think it's a very high number, judging by Suzumiya's response to Takayuki.
It doesn't matter what excuse he has. Maybe he didn't visit her for his own peace of mind. Maybe he didn't visit her because he thinks that he was, and still is, a shitty person and a terrible boyfriend and she deserves better. Maybe he didn't visit her because he wants her to forget about him, too. Maybe he just couldn't bare to think about her in any capacity anymore.
But it's a wound that's still fresh in his heart. He says he wants to move forward with Hayase中尉, but his heart just isn't in it. He can't even face her when he's talking to her. He initially refuses to move in because the idea is "absurd", because that's not what this relationship is. It's about him running away from Haruka and pretending to move on without properly nurturing after his new relationship. Of course, when Haruka is about to break up with him, he has to say that he'll move in with her because it's not like he doesn't like her, it's just that he doesn't like her enough.
Takayuki doesn't want to be in a proper relationship with Hayase中尉, but he also doesn't want to think about Haruka anymore. That's called running away and shirking responsibility.
Talk about playing with people's feelings. He's just using Hayase中尉 to feel better about himself. Suzumiya has every right to be pissed off with this guy who says he loves Haruka but refuses to visit her and says he likes Hayase中尉, but refuses to even look at her.
Of course, Suzumiya may not be thinking like that. She doesn't rebuke Hayase中尉 at all, and actually refuses to even acknowledge her presence. Hayase中尉 claims to be Haruka's best friend, and then gallivants off with her boyfriend while she's in a coma. But she's a helluva lot better than Takayuki, because she is moving forward. She isn't running away. She declared her feelings for Takayuki, and he took her up on the offer. She wants something serious, not just some codependent relationship to make each other feel better for not being saints.
Yeah, maybe she's not a very good friend for doing that while her friend isn't around to protest, but if you have to choose between living your life and being a good friend, the choice is easy. It's callous, and it's not very nice, and it could even be interpreted as a betrayal, but it's the truth.
The world can't stop for one person's suffering.
And Takayuki needs to learn that. |