【Your dad died. Your dad. Huhuhu- Your, your dad died, so why aren’t you sad? Aren’t you sad? Huh? Aaah... what are we going to do about our poor son?】
Sometimes, he remembered it.
The day his father, as usual, hadn’t come home until late at night.
The moment his mother, drunk and leaning against the kitchen shelf, had pulled her knees together and cried.
Sometimes, that memory came back to him.
Whenever Taiki recalled that bizarre memory of his mother sobbing and repeating nonsense like a madwoman, his heart would pound, and he would feel as if he were being sucked right back into that moment.
His father still hadn’t returned, and his mother had been muttering to herself about some dead man she didn’t even know, calling him "your dad."
A miserable person who had not been loved, whose heart had been hollowed out. In the end, a person who had left him alone in this world and died with his father.
There were so many things he wanted to ask, but at the same time, he was painfully, terrifyingly afraid.
Why had he been the only one left alive in this world?
Where was he supposed to go? Where was he supposed to live?
What was he supposed to do?
Taiki, now a first-year high school student and with second year right in front of him, sank into thought as he looked up at the gray sky with snow falling from it.
Two years from now, when he graduated and became an adult, he would have to leave the facility. Should he go on to university, or hurry through high school and head straight into the job market...?
His parents’ inheritance was fairly substantial, as you’d expect from entertainers, but it was absolutely not enough to let him live idly for the rest of his life.
The time to decide on a "dream" was drawing closer and closer.
"I still haven’t even prepared for anything."
Feeling the cold touch of snowflakes, Taiki let out a sigh.
"Should I... try being an actor?"
Ever since the middle-school Christmas play, he had received praise from his friends and teachers, but it hadn’t been the result of serious study or training in acting.
He had often volunteered for cool roles just to look good to the girls. It was silly, but it had been fun in its own way.
Was that the blood of his philandering father? Or was it because he had inherited the blood of a mother who had lived consumed by depression?
Taiki, who had awakened to the world earlier than most people, had reached the age where he needed to think about his future—his "dream."
Forcing it out, somehow.
"Taiki."
He had been hanging his head and spacing out when a familiar voice reached him, and Taiki lazily lifted his face.
"...Yuzo."
Kokonoe Yuzo, a fellow facility resident and friend. Yuzo pushed up his thick horn-rimmed glasses, which hid his sharp eyes, and nodded toward the cafeteria.
"Santa Claus came by. Don’t stand around looking pathetic in the snow. Go eat something."
"Santa? A special meal? Christmas is over, isn’t it? What’s this about?"
Yuzo stared at his friend, who was saying something irritatingly clueless, then put a hand on his hip.
"Cake and pizza. The Rararai Theater Troupe, Kamiki Kaoru, and his pregnant wife. They brought gifts, so what else would you call them but Santa?"
"Haa... I’m not hungry. Too much trouble."
"Idiot. I was eating too, but I came because of you. The director pushed me to come because Mr. Kaoru was asking for you. And in this snow, too."
"......"
"Quit moping and get up. You’ll catch a cold."
Taiki stood from the bench and followed after his casually turning friend, stepping through the snow piled on the ground and into the cafeteria.
As soon as he entered the warm cafeteria, his glasses fogged up, and Taiki wiped them with his sleeve before letting out a quiet breath, the noisy chatter inside so different from outside.
He quietly went and sat at the table Yuzo had been using, and the director tapped his shoulder.
"Yes?"
Instead of answering, the director pointed toward Kaoru and Ai standing at the serving counter up ahead, then quietly whispered into Taiki’s ear.
"Go get the cake. They came with the troupe on the representative’s behalf to see you. With his wife, too."
"......"
Why did they have to make things so annoying today of all days?
Taiki let out a sigh, stood from his chair, and walked toward the serving counter.
. . .
"......Isn’t it hard? Ai? If it’s too much, say so. I’ll take you straight back to the room-"
"Kaoru, I’m fine, so stop worrying★. Sitting down and doing it makes it not that hard!"
Ai, her star-bright eyes sparkling, smiled as she rubbed her belly, which had grown quite large.
She had been bored at home, and she had also come along because she wanted to be with Kaoru, who had come to volunteer at the children’s center in place of Representative Toshiro, who had slipped and injured his wrist.
Already pregnant for the third time after the twins and Ame, Ai was now used to it, and even with her body heavy from her swollen belly, she had more freedom of movement than before.
"Hehe- I should eat just a little more cake~"
Ever since she’d gotten pregnant with Taichan, Ai’s appetite had increased noticeably. She smiled brightly and cut the cake into small pieces with her fork, eating like a baby rabbit.
She had always been naturally slim and hard to put on weight, but thanks to Taichan her cheeks had become a little rounder, and Kaoru watched his wife with eyes dripping honey.
What kind of kid would Taichan be when he was born? With such a huge appetite, he wanted to hold Taichan in his arms as soon as possible—the child who had succeeded in fattening up Ai, something even he had failed to do.
"Mm."
After carefully fixing Ai’s hair, Kaoru counted the remaining pizza, the other food, and the number of cake slices, then waited for Taiki to come in.
And soon, after Taiki entered the cafeteria with his friend and sat down at the table, the center director went over personally, pointed this way, and whispered something to him—
"Ai. There’s a boy coming this way, right?"
"Mm?"
Ai, chewing on cake, turned her starry eyes toward the boy with the gloomy air and glasses.
An indescribable, strangely familiar feeling—something she couldn’t put into words—was coming off the black-haired boy.
If Aqua and Ruby held a shining sun, then that boy was all black, as if he held the dark night sky itself.
His gaze, his smile, his expression. The life he lived, everything.
After looking at the boy for a moment, Ai set down her plate and fork, stood from her chair, and said with a smile,
"Hehe- I should give you two slices~"
Normally, anyone who wanted more than the one slice served could freely get an extra helping, but for some reason Ai, with her signature smile, arbitrarily declared that she would give him two slices.
Kaoru smiled to show his approval, then took a warm pizza from the box, placed it on a plate, and handed it to Taiki.
"Hello."
"Yeah. Taiki-kun. Long time no see, huh? You’ve been well?"
"Yes. More or less—been doing okay."
"Haha. That’s good. It must have been cold, so eat well and get your strength back. It’s late, but happy New Year. Ah, and if you ever need anything, feel free to contact the troupe anytime. Don’t hesitate, okay?"
Without even realizing it, Kaoru found himself caring more for Taiki than for the other children.
The black-haired boy looked at Kaoru with an unreadable expression for a moment, then—
"...Yes. Thanks."
Taiki bowed his head stiffly, took the plate, and walked toward Ai.
Then, when he stopped in front of Ai to receive the cake, he averted his eyes for a moment and bit his lip.
"......"
"Fufu-★"
He was a natural enemy.
He could let those star-bright eyes shining so brightly slide, but Taiki instinctively sensed that she was the kind of person with an overwhelming, self-centered pace who would dye others in her own aura however she pleased.
He had seen her sometimes on TV and YouTube, but meeting her in person, she was the kind of person whose temperament difference from him was as wide as night and day.
Taiki, not even realizing that for the first time in his life he was lowering his eyes in front of a woman, gently held out his plate.
"Here! Normally it’s one, but I’ll give you two because Ai wants to~★"
"......Ah-"
"Eh? Usually at this point-"
"Th-thank you."
"Fufufu-★ You’re very welcome~!"
Ai, wearing a satisfied star-bright smile, also handed him a can of cola from the box.
As Taiki awkwardly took it and tried to bow his head again to thank her, Ai patted the black hair of the boy, still dotted with melted snow droplets, and said,
"You may already know this, but I came from a facility too! I stayed in a facility right up until my debut! So on days like this, it was nice that things I didn’t like, like white rice, weren’t served at meals~"
"Ah-"
Taiki flinched, unused to the touch of a woman a little younger than the mother in his memories, but Ai pressed on without hesitation.
"Right now, it probably feels like you’re walking down a dark road where you can’t see anything... but yeah! If you keep waiting, Taiki-chan, someday bright sunlight will definitely come to you! It absolutely will!"
"......"
Once again, Taiki’s unreadable gaze turned toward her.
Useless advice, the relaxed smile of someone who had what he didn’t—his twisted thoughts kept rummaging through his head, but—
"Here! Promise!"
"..."
With a smile, Ai held out her pinky finger, and the bad voice ringing in his head slowly quieted down.
Taiki’s face reddened slightly as he looked at her pinky finger, then hurriedly lowered his head and returned to his seat.
"Huh!? What about the promise?"
"It’s only natural to feel shy if a pretty older sister asks you to make a promise. I’ve only managed it a few times myself."
At Kaoru’s somehow sulky voice, Ai turned her head, stifling a chuckle as she looked at her husband with a knowing gaze.
"Hee.... Could that be-"
"No."
"Eh~ But it is, isn’t it?"
"No. Absolutely not."
Ignoring the couple’s bickering love quarrel with one ear, Taiki sat down and stared for a moment at the pizza and cake on his plate.
Cake and pizza reflected in his black, colorless eyes.
"......"
His hands and feet, which had been cold, were thawing, warmth slowly spreading through them.
With warmth returning to him and his fingers loosening, Taiki quietly picked up his fork and began to eat.
The cake was sweet, and the pizza was delicious.
For the first time in a very long while, Taiki truly felt that fact.
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