After the day I met Teuchi, my life changed completely.
Every day, I went to the ramen shop to eat ramen and all sorts of other food.
Ramen was my favorite, but food was not the only thing I learned.
Teuchi and Ayame taught me many things.
Whenever the shop was closed or it was their day off, they would patiently teach me everything with a smile, from writing and cooking to fixing my hair and common sense.
I was so happy to receive such kindness that I worked hard and learned quickly.
In barely a month, I had learned all my letters. After some more time passed, I had learned various dishes and could cook for myself.
"Naruto, you really are amazing! I can already look forward to your future!"
"Thank you, Ayame. It is all thanks to you and Teuchi."
I came to call Ayame my big sister and grew very attached to her.
I thought that if I had a family, perhaps this was what it would feel like.
I smiled as I helped Teuchi and Ayame tidy up the shop.
I was so happy, it felt as though everything were a dream.
I wish days like this could last forever.
But...
That happiness did not last long.
As usual, I left home with my face hidden beneath my hood and headed for Teuchi's ramen shop.
Teuchi said he would teach me a new dish today, right?
Half excited and half happy, I walked down the street, thinking that someday I wanted to help Ayame work at the ramen shop. Before long, I arrived.
"Huh...?"
But what I saw was not the ramen shop that was always so clean. It was covered in graffiti, its windows shattered, and one wall was cracked as though it might collapse at any moment.
The inside of the shop was in even worse condition. Finding something intact would have been harder.
"No..."
Teuchi, who always greeted me with a warm smile, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I saw Ayame cleaning up the shop with a terribly sad expression.
I was about to run over to her when I heard people talking nearby.
"Oh my goodness. What happened to that restaurant?"
"Don't you know? There are rumors that the monster often went to that place."
"That monster? Their ramen was so good... What was the owner thinking, letting a monster come to the shop?"
"Exactly. It really is a monster that brings calamity wherever it goes."
The moment I heard that conversation, I had no choice but to stop walking toward Ayame.
Then I looked again at the shop in its miserable state.
More than anything, all the graffiti said things like, "A house cursed by the monster," "The monster's home," and "Monster, die." Every word was insulting me.
In other words, Teuchi and Ayame's precious shop...
Because of me... because... of me...
I staggered backward, turned around, and ran.
Tears blurred my vision, but I fled desperately.
From the shop.
From Ayame.
From Teuchi...
Because of me...
My chest hurt more than it ever had before.
No one had hit me, but it hurt so much that I would rather have been beaten by someone.
Because I went to the shop...
Teuchi's precious ramen shop had been destroyed.
Because I kept being greedy...
I had made Ayame sad.
I'm scared. I'm so scared...
Teuchi and Ayame must hate me now.
But I could not bring myself to see them.
If I saw those two people, who had held me so warmly, resent me with my own eyes... I did not think I could bear it.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
So I ran away.
I... I...
It really is a monster that brings calamity wherever it goes.
I'm a monster...
"Ayame, I'm back."
"You're back, Dad? So, what happened?"
"I filed a report, so they should catch the culprits soon enough. But I don't think this shop can be saved anymore."
"Sigh... What are we going to do now?"
"Don't look so sad! My conviction when it comes to ramen isn't so weak that I would be defeated by something like this! I'll set up a food stall if I have to and keep the business going! We received a generous compensation payout, too."
"Is that so? I guess we'll be busy for a while."
"We need to tell Naruto, too. Tell her that we'll be moving soon."
"Come to think of it, it's well past the time Naruto usually comes, but she hasn't shown up."
"Then shall we erase the graffiti first? Naruto might be hurt if she sees it."
"All right!"
Teuchi and Ayame began cleaning with smiles on their faces, but time passed, the sun set, and darkness fell. Naruto still did not come.
Noticing that something was wrong, Ayame spoke.
"Naruto... she isn't coming."
"Hm. Could something have happened? Don't tell me the people who did this to the shop did something to her?"
"W-What did you say?!"
Startled by Teuchi's words, Ayame rushed out of the shop to go find Naruto. Then she realized she did not know where Naruto lived.
Just as Ayame was about to turn back, she noticed a piece of paper on the ground in front of the door.
"What's this?"
Thinking it was just trash, Ayame absentmindedly picked it up, only to realize there was writing on it. She read what it said.
Not long afterward, she froze in shock with a hand over her mouth. When she finally came to her senses, she ran to Teuchi.
Surprised by his daughter, who was flustered in a way unlike her, Teuchi hurried over. Ayame handed him the paper and spoke.
"D-Dad! This was in front of the shop!!"
Though rattled, Teuchi calmly looked at the paper Ayame handed him. Written there in Naruto's handwriting were the short words: "I'm sorry. I won't come again. -Naruto-"
The water stains on the letter made it clear that Naruto had written it through tears of guilt.
Then Teuchi's strength gave out. He collapsed to the ground and murmured,
"It was never your fault, Naruto..."
Time passed after that, but Naruto no longer left her home.
Teuchi and Ayame eventually learned where Naruto lived and went to visit her, but Naruto shut her eyes and ears in fear and gave no response at all.
In the end, believing she needed time, father and daughter stopped coming to see Naruto. But Naruto only thought they, too, had given up on her.
In the end, I'm a monster. I bring misfortune. This is right. Yeah...
It was a choice she had made so that she would not harm the people most precious to her, but Naruto was in unbearable pain.
It hurt so badly that she wanted to give up on everything.
The little blue eyes had already lost all life. Their color had faded so completely that she no longer seemed like a child.
She had lost hope.
At the edge of her vision, she noticed the shard of glass she had used to cut her hair.
As though possessed by something, Naruto reached for it.
I just want to be at peace now...
Water rose to her ankles.
At some point, Naruto was standing in a dark, ominous place. She stared blankly into empty space, then sensed someone's presence and looked ahead.
She did not know why she was here or where this place was, but Naruto did not care anymore.
Before her stood a gigantic cage, with a talisman bearing the character for "Seal" pasted at its center.
"Do you want revenge?"
"...Revenge?"
"Yes. Make all those who tormented you suffer. The humans who took away what was precious to you."
From within the iron bars, fierce red eyes appeared. Looking down at Naruto, they made her an offer.
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