MaruMA:Doujinshi8:Story2

It comes equally to anyone I

Chapter 1

Inside the building devoid of human presence, there was the smell of dust and medicine and the odor of air-conditioned air.

Taking care not to make any sound, I walk down the not-so-brightly lit hallway. The floor of the old museum is polished marble so if I’m not careful, my footsteps will echo about the place.

There’s no particular reason why I’m trying to muffle my footsteps. It’s just that my surroundings are so incredibly quiet I got swept up into the mood.

The lights in this hallway connecting all the exhibits are off and all I have to rely on is the natural light coming in through the windows. That being said, the weak sunlight of the winter afternoon was only just bright enough to keep me from carelessly tripping over my feet.

Approaching the large hall I was told about in the management office, there’s finally some manmade light. It’s not even half of what it normally is, but that’s what a museum is like on its day off.

In order to not startle the man poring over documents in the middle of the hall in front of some golden clothes on exhibit, I call out in a low voice.

“You’re working even on New Year’s Eve?”

He immediately lifts his head, looks in my direction and starts to call me by my title, but then he hurriedly closes his mouth.

“You were about to do it again, huh?”

“It seems so.”

“I told you that you’d have to pay the penalty if you called me that here.”

His violet eyes narrowed behind the thin lenses of his glasses. A heartfelt smile appears on his shapely lips. His long hair tied behind him has an elegance to it that shows that he is someone of high status despite his rough outfit including a loosely knitted sweater.

He’s really beautiful! The female employees all said so with great interest when I asked where he was. But sadly, the complaints that followed afterwards were the same as they’ve always been.

“But he’s a little too beautiful so it feels like it would be hard to be his lover.”

How sad. He’s definitely sighing even here about the girls distancing themselves and watching him from afar.

“You’re a devoted worker. You’re the only one left in the building.”

“Because it’s closed today and tomorrow.”

“Well yeah, today is New Year’s Eve. There are people who’ve been on vacation since Christmas. The lady in the management office even said that she was going home. The security guard is probably the only one left in there.”

“That may be so, but…”

He smiled widely and pointed at a box near him with his pen. It was wooden and as high as his waist and had ‘FRAGILE’ written on it in thick letters.

“I just wanted to verify the package from Peru before the end of the year.”

“There’s only a half a day left of the year.”

“That there is. Honestly, time really does pass by more quickly as you get older.”

“No, I think it’s just because you were concentrating.”

“Ah, well I did end up quite engrossed. I apologize for not noticing your presence even though you came to see me in this cold weather.”

“That’s alright. You don’t need to be so formal.”

He grasps the frame of his glasses and slowly takes them off. His beautiful fingers look like they can’t lift anything heavier than a pen, but in reality he carries around things like the box in front of him with the warning on it and the huge glass exhibit cases.

The thin lenses caught the light and flashed momentarily, but his violet eyes filled with his bright smile were still behind them.

“… It looks like you’re having fun.”

“Me? Ah, yes of course. There is so much history to learn and so many mysteries to unravel in this world. My curiosity never wanes. No matter how much I learn it is not enough. No matter how much time I have, it will never be enough.”

“Really? You don’t feel lacking not having a bad student and someone to scold?”

When I asked him that, his long grey eyelashes trembled and he winked as if to say ‘Actually…’

“I’m currently singling out someone worth training out of the new research students. They’re women, but I’m also indirectly spreading the topic of professional work around at the local university. It would be nice if even one person could become that…”

“I see. Your tutoring spirit is aching.”

Responding by raising of the corners of his mouth, he places his folded glasses in his pocket.

“However, I just can’t seem to run across one.”

“An excellent student?”

“No.”

He sighs deeply and his beautiful face clouds over slightly.

“A student as charming as you.”

“Aw really, that was because I was an idiot that didn’t know anything. I was starting from zero. There was probably a lot of satisfaction teaching me.”

“No, that’s not entirely it.”

But he doesn’t continue and gazes at the golden ornaments in the display case in silence.

It was a gaze that was like he was looking at a far away mirage. Even though there was only a single pane of glass in the way.

When he finally opened his mouth again after a little while, it seemed that his head was no longer filled with memories, but about the historical legacy of Peru or Chile.

“They are not something easy to acquire.”

“Of course not. They’re not sought after all that much. At any rate, all these new possible exhibition candidates are here. Is the thing in there gold too? A golden bib or something like that?”

“It is not a bib.”

He taps the box with his pen.

Chapter 2

I lean on a sturdy wooden fence and watch him from afar.

He’s holding a rope attached to a horse and having it run around him. It might be regulation, but it’s still pretty fast. He’s turning in time to the horse, but he’s probably not meeting its eyes.

He says a short something and the horse neighs once and speeds up. There is white steam coming off of the horse’s body as he teaches it how to improve its momentum.

When livestock other than a pet is living in an environment without greenery, I immediately think of a cow when hearing the word ranch. But this place in the suburbs is a facility where horses are bred and top notch race horses are raised.

Running the swift horse when there’s still time before the races, he is wearing jeans and cowboy boots and a dark blue, flannel shirt. Even though it’s cold out, his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows.

It suited his dark gray hair, but it was a look that you would never imagine of him from the past. It’s as if he is a man that has been in this land all his life and has been living just like this.

After tying the horse to the fence on the other side once it was done with its quota and rubbing its neck as it moved up and down with ragged breaths, he finally looks this way. His blue eyes find mine and he looks a bit surprised.

I wave the stainless steel bottle I’m holding in my right hand.

It’s something that someone who looked like a subordinate handed to me while I was walking here from the gate.

He wipes the sweat from his brow with a fist as he slowly walks in my direction.

It was as if the below zero weather, the mid-winter season or even the wind had no effect on him.

“This place is impressive no matter how many times I come here.”

As soon as I praise it, a cold wind blows.

“… It’s a bit chilly though.”

“Really?”

My nose is suddenly grabbed over the chest-high fence.

“Uwah, hey, what are you doing!”

“Ah, sorry. Your nose was red.”

“Okay, so why did you do that?”

“It made me remember a song I just heard the other day.”

“It’s not gonna glow! I’m not a red-nosed reindeer.”

It’s a given that he’s just heard that song. It’s a world famous Christmas song.

He might have been a little embarrassed because his brows furrowed slightly in a frown and he took the bottle.

He opens the top, pours some in a cup and takes a sip before handing it back to me. It’s not really necessary anymore, but maybe it’s his honesty or a well-ingrained habit.

“Thank you.”

His face is blurred in the steam from the coffee. Even so, I can still see his expression and the movement of his eyes. Of course, even the wrinkles between his eyebrows that aren’t so obvious anymore.

“So you liked horses too. Not just the little guys.”

“Little guys?” he murmurs and gives a low laugh.

Looks like he can’t escape the curse of little and cute things and in his cozy home he has four cats and two dogs.

It seems like he’s gotten used to the sound that cats make on Earth.

But what I really can’t accept is the fact that the two dogs that have taken over his bed are a corgi and a chihuahua. I’d imagined border collies, but my imagination was betrayed.

Well, they definitely are really cute though.

“Is the chihuahua doing good?”

“Yeah.”

His right eyebrow slightly raises. Like he’s asking if I really came to ask him that.

“Is it alright for you to come here? You’re busy, are you not?”

“I came to see you. If you’re alright. If there’s anything you need.”

It’s the same as always. I end up talking like the one more experienced with Earth rather than a good friend.

“It might get on your nerves, but here I’m the guardian.”

If I don’t keep on talking quickly, it looks like he’ll ask ‘Guardian?’ in the pause.

“It’s my responsibility to help you live comfortably in this world… It might not be necessary, though.”

After a pause of five seconds, he slowly shakes his head. Then he says in a cheery voice:

“I am grateful. But at the moment I am not inconvenienced. There is nothing in particular I need and I am content with my current occupation.”

“Really? But you have to work all the way to New Year’s Eve. Isn’t that harsh?”

“It is true that there are nearly no days off. When dealing with animals, there is no special significance of it being Christmas Eve or New Year’s.”

But there’s nothing unsatisfied about the way he’s saying that.

“Right now there is a mare that has given birth for the first time. I can’t take my eyes off of her.”

“Sounds rough.”

“For me?”

He has a hand on his waist and is looking towards the sun hidden behind the clouds.

“I have never felt so.”

Despite how it looked, he was actually looking at the young horses in the same direction.

“After all, this is a place where I do not have to worry about making decisions that many lives depend upon. I am not tormented by nightmares after being entrusted with whether someone lives or dies. It is a very simple life.”

When he finished speaking, he folded his arms and let out a contented sigh as he leaned on the sturdy fence. He lightly scuffs the soft ground with his cowboy boots.

However, the next short question that came out of his mouth, despite being commonplace, discomforted me.

“How about you?”

“Eh?”

Of course everyone would respond with ‘and you?’ when asked how they are. It’s practically the ambassador of English textbook example sentences.

How are you? I’m fine. And you?

But I was flustered by that ‘and you?’ and I almost took a step back.

“Is there anything inconveniencing you? If there is anything I can do to help…”

“N, not at all.”

“Really?”

“This is Earth, you know. This is the world I was born and raised in. There’s no way I’d be troubled by anything.”

I had to quickly change the subject.

I immediately let my eyes run across the wide grassy area.

It might have been because of the greenery, but I calm down. Then I finally remember the question I had while coming here.

“Which one is going to make a debut next year? Is my favorite doing well?”

“Yeah, that one and… that one… and that one.”

He turns his head towards the opposite fence and points at a chestnut, fawn and grey horse in turn as they leisurely wave their tales about.

“The black one is very healthy, but it didn’t have much of an appetite this morning so I had him checked out and kept him in his stable. There is probably nothing wrong.”

“I see.”

The horses he pointed at are all healthy and, even though they’re small, they already have bodies born to live a life of running.

Imaging those guys – or maybe even those girls – running, I break out into a smile.

“I hope they all win.”

“Yeah.”

He’d probably be as overjoyed as if he were their real parent. Whether they won or lost, he would cheer and give their necks a rough rub.

I’d probably never imagine him clapping and cheering in front of other people before, but now I can easily picture him doing so.

The him whose wrinkles between his eyebrows have gotten less obvious.

I was going to say ‘maybe I should come see the spring races,’ but before I could he pointed to the impressive barn with his thumb.

“There were twins born the day before yesterday. Do you want to see them?”

“Of course!”

Chapter 3

“Thank god! The owner himself has abolished serving customers in a Chinese dress.”

That was my first thought when I saw the figure that came out of the back of the store.

When I came here last time, a woman in flashy makeup and a Chinese dress (who was a respectable man on the inside) sat down next to me despite the fact that it was the lunch time rush and even ate some of my fried rice and chili shrimp (and in plain sight of the other customers). It was a bad experience.

“Abolished? That’s mean! We got a great reaction out of the blue-eyed Chinese doll look.”

A waiter idly murmurs ‘they were mostly complaints, though’ as they pour some mineral water with an elegance that made it seem like it was some expensive and fancy drink.

“Quiet you!”

I see, so this guy is the legendary waiter they took in from the famous French restaurant. Actually no, they might have a higher rank like a butler. Ah wait, butlers work in houses, don’t they?

“Seriously, just because they were a famous waiter for a little while,” he says abusively as he watches the retreating back of the waiter as they return to their designated area like some stray dog being shooed away.

I don’t know exactly why there is such a refined waiter at a Chinese restaurant, but you were the one who pulled them out of the place they were before. That comment was a bit much.

His hair was tied behind his head. That orange hair caught on his collar was like a puppy tail.

“But they should be the last person talking. I mean, no matter how you looked at them, they didn’t have the appearance of someone who’d casually enjoy lunch before.”

“That’s why we made it the night time service. In exchange, we wear these clothes to bus the food.”

“Oh, so you’re still doing that…”

That being said, the clothes he has on now, the starched white shirt with dark-colored pants, is an outfit very fitting for the owner of a restaurant.

Except for the fact that the shirt fit a little too well and the chest is a little too open.

“… Don’t you have too many buttons undone? A little more and your bellybutton will hang out.”

“It’s fine, it’s all appeal, appeal.”

What kind of appeal is he trying to make?

The last time I visited it was obviously a high-class Chinese restaurant, but this time the ambiance has clearly changed. The perfect service and the corresponding prices were the same, but the Chinese part feels like it’s become more of an ambiguous nationality.

“Did you do some remodeling?”

“A little.”

Where exactly is this restaurant planning on taking itself?

He asks ‘and?’ as he sets down a silver tray and pulls out a chair.

It’s a seat near a window facing a garden. It’s the sort of table that’ll get reserved instantly when night fell.

“Anyway Young Master, what are you doing tonight? A countdown with the TV and some potato chips… doesn’t seem like that’s your plan.”

“I’m going to change and go to a New Year’s Eve party. A concert, champagne, cheers. However, I’m underage so no alcohol.”

“Ah, like I thought. If you didn’t have plans I would have invited you over.”

He sounded so disappointed I end up giving a strained laugh.

“I’m sure you know I’m not really cut out for stuff like that, but my brother says I absolutely have to come and my daughter has been looking forward to it so I can’t blow it off.”

“Yeah, New Year’s Eve is the one, very important day of the year where children are allowed to stay up late, after all.”

“She’ll probably fall asleep during the concert. Opera is the favorite replacement for lullabies.”

“So then after you put the child to sleep in the hotel, the adults will finally start the real party.”

I take a sip of the carbonated water. Drinking it in a stemmed glass like this, I feel like I’m going to forget if I’m drinking water or wine.

“Rather than adults, it’ll be the ones who can keep their eyes open. To be honest, I’m not all that confident either. I don’t think I’ll make it to the countdown.”

“Ah, well you are an early riser. But try and make it until midnight. There will be food and drinks. And there will be pretty girls carrying around alcohol. It’s good rest for your eyes isn’t it? As a teenager completely healthy in both heart and body… heart and body, both healthy… you know?”

Suddenly finding a face peering at me, I pull my head back, startled. I almost fell backwards in my chair.

“Of course!”

“Can I trust you, Young Master?”

“I have no idea what you’re even doubting about me!”

“What a relief! I mean, this country is easy to live freely in, but sex education is really progressive. As a former companion who used to play with you at night, it’s a bit troubling.”

“You were more of a teacher than a companion. A teacher that played with me at night.”

“That’s an honor.”

With an expression that can only be called a grin, he pulls his face away from mine.

“Well then, as the chief of night fun I have something to say: Go to the party. Eat the meal.”

“There’s not going to be a meal.”

I remember my failure last time.

I had a glass in one hand and a fork in the other, but I couldn’t find a third hand to hold my plate so all I could do was gaze longingly at the food and drinks. The menu was based around foods that the women could eat without dirtying their clothes so I wasn’t all that desperate.

“Well the food set out at a place like that isn’t going to be all that appealing to a big eater like me. I end up thinking about that absently and the whole thing ends before I even eat anything.”

“Alright, leave that to me.”

He gives the waiter from before a signal and all of a sudden they bring food and the entire table is filled. However, they’re all high-calorie foods that haven’t been sectioned into easily edible pieces and are stu- no, things that ladies who are dressed up won’t be able to touch.

“What’s up with this?”

“I’m all booked up here for a New Year’s Eve party myself so I was thinking about serving these. Try them out, if you’d like.”

“Really? Wow, there’s so much new stuff. So you don’t just play around crossdressing all the time, you properly think about selling your products huh?”

“How rude, Young Master. Crossdressing is work. W-O-R-K.”

After that, I spent a while eating the exquisite party food with a silly expression on my face. We talked about the two people I had just met with and the two people I was about to visit and then, after we talked about memories that felt like the distant past, he interjected a question into the conversation.

“Speaking of which, do you see him?”

He had been talking as if there should be heart marks on the ends of all his sentences, but suddenly his voice drops to a whisper.

“Him..?”

There was no need to ask. I know who he’s talking about. Since I obviously did not need to hear his name, he waits with his elbows on the table for me to continue.

“… I see him. I’m heading there today.”

“I see,” he murmurs in relief and in the next moment he throws his hands exaggeratedly in the air and says, “That’s a relief!”

“Eh, you don’t hear from him?”

“Nope. He won’t call me or his brother. Of course, he doesn’t send any pigeons either. Well, that’s to be expected.”

With a bold usage of chopsticks reminiscent of foreigners, he stabs something that looks like a potato. He winks at me playfully.

“If he’s doing alright, that’s enough.”

Chapter 4

As if the celebrations on Christmas Eve never happened, the church was quiet once again. The choir that sang hymns all night and the priest who passionately told the story of the birth of the son of God are all gone.

Only a pipe organ without a player awaits the devotees in loneliness.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Cold fingers touch the back of my neck. I turn around and see that he had sat down on the bench behind me without me realizing. His face was the same smile as always.

“It’s strange to see you in formal wear. Are you going to a countdown party after this?”

“That’s right. I went last year too. You wouldn’t know that though.”

He only silently smiles at my cynicism as well.

“It’s not really formal, but it’s a party that I’m wearing a suit I’m not used to and this suffocating tie for and I'm bringing a princess and a prince along.”

“It suits you well.”

“You don’t need to say that.”

As for him, he’s wearing a rather worn leather jacket and has his left hand stuck in his pocket. It was probably a much lighter brown, but now the color has turned as dark as its owner’s hair. There is a black and grey scarf forcibly stuffed under the collar.

Because I had thought he’d come right next to me, I spoke facing forward.

“It’s surprising that you come to places like churches. Unlike your younger brother.”

“He’s stubborn in a good way.”

Even though they’re siblings, their stances are completely different. The younger brother doesn’t want to get close to religious things, yet this brother doesn’t really seem to mind.

“I don’t have any intention on becoming a Christian either, but I can empathize with the faith in the Virgin Mary.”

“That’s a former popular guy for you! You’re the enemy of women!”

“I’ve never made a woman my enemy.”

“Well, I’m not Christian either but I still end up going to church and stuff around Christmas… Christmas is over though.”

For some reason, he did not try to sit next to me. It would be annoying for me to give in and sit next to him, so I just kept talking while facing forward.

“When December comes, it feels like time starts to move really fast. It moves fast from the first of the month to Christmas Eve, but it moves at the speed of light after that.”

I continue the conversation as if I’m staring intensely at the poor statue of Christ.

“Up until the time when you’re told there’s only five days left.”

“By the way, if you intend to act as if you are praying, your hands are in a strange position,” he whispers in my ear so as not to disturb the pious people praying around us. It’s a voice holding back a laugh.

“That’s like Japan’s Shinto or Buddhist prayers. You have to do like this.”

His fingers were so cold I almost shouted out. They were as cold as when they touched the back of my neck before.

His hands with thin scars grasp my fingers and arrange them into a Christian gesture.

However, him reaching over from the seat behind me made my efforts seem even less sincere and I’m glared at by the priest taking notes at a desk near the wall. The gaze under the white streaked eyebrows is saying ‘if you’re not going to pray go home.’

Even though this is a place where time is supposed to stop, I feel like I’m being rushed.

“Are you alright on time? Famous people have to move around a lot at this time of the year, no?”

“After the New Year, I have to go to Abu Dhabi. But it’s not all that bad. They all move about as they please, but they’re not as unguarded as you were in the past.”

“Well excuse me for being a hard to protect high school student.”

His hair brushed against my left cheek as if he shook his head.

“But I never once disliked it.”

I called his name – in my heart. I repeated his name over and over and squeezed my eyes shut. The warmth on my shoulders and back suddenly disappeared and I heard the sound of a cloth ruffling behind me. My cold neck was wrapped with a warm cloth.

“Even though you’re all dressed up, if you catch a cold it will be for nothing.”

“That’s alright. You don’t need to lend me your scarf.”

“No, it’s cold outside. With those clouds, it’s definitely going to snow.”

“But you-”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t say you’re giving it to me.”

Bending my body to turn around, I saw that he had a slightly troubled look on his face.

“Don’t say you’re giving it to me. I just got a Christmas present from you. I’ll get it back to you. When’s good?”

He’ll give me things, but not an answer.

“When is good? Decide now.”

“I’m sorry but my schedule isn’t decided until the last minute…”

“Then give me your contact information. Keep in contact with your friends and your brothers. At least tell them you’re okay! You have to do that no matter how busy you are. It’s common courtesy!”

“I was able to meet with you-!”

After he accidentally raised his voice for a moment, it immediately goes back to its normal tone.

“… so please only talk to me about yourself.”

He puts his elbows on the place where the Bible is supposed to be stored and buries his face in his hands.

It’s like he really is praying.

“If you’re not going to, then please leave.”

“Co…”

I forcibly swallow that sound and change it into another word.

A safer and more normal conversation.

“Come with me if you don’t have any plans tonight.”

“No.”

“… Then at least come with me to where we’re supposed to meet. Those two want to see you too so they’d be happy.”

Without raising his head or showing me his unique eyes, he simply shakes his head slightly.

“No, go ahead. I still have things to do here.”

“In a church when you’re not even catholic?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t do any more to convince him.

I slowly stand up and walk away without looking in his direction. I walk touching the back of each bench lined up along the aisle.

They were all cold in the same way. I don’t feel the slightest bit of warmth from the wood.

When I glance back when I’m near the entrance, he has his hand on the door to the confession booth.

It’s not just him. Even I have countless things I need to repent for.

Chapter 5

In order to find someone in a crowded area, you need some tricks and experience.

However when it comes to them, it’s a different story. I don’t have to rely on my knowledge of searching for people and just have to look for the prettiest hair and the prettiest girl.

Ah, there they are. They’re just coming out of the revolving doors of their favorite store.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

I give a big wave and run towards them.

I’m scrutinized by emerald green eyes.

“You’re late.”

“No I’m not. I’m right on time. That apology was just a greeting. That’s normal right? What time does the young lady’s watch say?”

"Eight-thirty," the girl linking arms with him answered bashfully.

Even though we’ve all aged equally, these two absolutely don’t look like parent and child. The father looks like he’s 18 and the daughter looks like the same age on the outside but is actually 12. However generously you observe them, they look like siblings with a good relationship despite being different species.

“You see? I’m not late at all… uh...”

“What’s funny?”

“You’re all lumpy.”

He always prefers the perfect clothing, but tonight he’s wrapped himself up in a down jacket. Underneath that lumpiness is probably an impeccable formal outfit, but that champagne-gold down jacket isn’t his usual fashion.

“And? I simply chose the most practical clothes for the cold weather!”

On the other hand, the girl’s outfit was cute like a fairy in the winter forest.

Her pure white cape and boots with her fur-trimmed hood looked like the wings enfolding an angel. Underneath her auburn bangs, her now completely childish eyes are trembling.

“… Is it strange?”

“Not at all, you’re a cute little princess. Oh, I can’t say ‘cute’ now that you’re 12.”

In exchange, she stopped referring to herself with her name. The pronoun I want her to use is ‘I.’

“You’re very pretty, Princess.”

“I’ve said that to her a bunch of times already!”

“Don’t get mad. Then how should I compliment her? I’m sorry but I’m not like you and your brother with the words of praise just easily falling out of my mouth. Anyway, what clothes did you pick? That green dress you liked the other day?”

“It’s not a dress, it’s a gown.”

“… Ah that’s right. In any case, your fashion sense is a thousand times better than mine.”

“You say that and then leave it all to me.”

I have no choice. There’s that wonderful saying in the world: the right person in the right place. He handles the lady-like etiquette and I handle the sportsmanship.

The division of labor as it stands is a huge success and we’re raising our adopted daughter perfectly.

“Ah really, when it comes to my daughter’s cuteness I want to raise her up high and show her off to everyone. Oh, but ladies aren’t allowed to ride on people’s shoulders.”

The girl narrows her eyes mischievously and laughs with her cheeks reddened from the cold.

“Shoulder rides are off limits, but I love being escorted by the arm.”

“Leave that to your second daddy. I just want to hold hands normally. Is that no good?”

“I love that too, Father.”

Yes, the two of us are ‘Father’ and ‘Daddy.’ I don’t know how much longer we can stay like that though.

No matter what, while I’m underage I can’t adopt a child. If I made the argument that he looks like a teenager, but he’s actually really old, we’d just get laughed at by the judge.

“Did you eat? Where did you go with ‘Daddy?’”

I was relieved to hear the name of a store I know from the girl holding my hand. I was finally freed from the guilt of being the only one to fill his stomach.

“Where did you go, Father?”

“Well…”

I looked over the girl’s head to the person walking on the other side.

“I met with them.”

The blonde hair lit up in the city lights sways and his green eyes focus on me.

“They’re all doing well.”

“I see.”

But not ignoring adult’s conversations is a specialty of children this age.

“Who did you meet? Hey, who? You should have brought them. I wanted them to come too!”

“One day.”

Thinking that I have to change the subject of her attention somehow, I look around. There are still three hours left, but the street is already filled with people waiting for the countdown. The New Year’s Eve parade would be a good topic, or even the clown performing an act.

“Hm?”

When I was about to give up and look at the sky, I made a little discovery.

“Snow.”

Just like I was told at the church.

In the sky surrounded by neon lights on all four sides, white crystals are beginning to fall.

“I’ll go get a taxi. If we walk all the way to the concert hall in the snow, we’ll be stuck in bed with colds in the new year. Stay here!”

I leave the two of them behind and start running, careful not to slip in the snow that’s already starting to pile up.

Unless I get out to the square, I won’t be able to get hold of a taxi. There aren’t any taxi drivers kind enough to venture in to the New Year’s Eve pedestrian heaven looking for customers.

The snow quickly becomes intense and my vision becomes pure white.

Even if I turn around, I can’t see them anymore. I can’t even see the pedestrians that are supposed to be walking around me nor the decked out stores and newsstands.

What’s a snowy New Year’s Eve called in this country?

But no matter what clever name it has, I probably won’t be excited.

I’d just be unsettled.

I’d feel like today was the end and there was no tomorrow.

I’d be hit with the fear that if I take one step then that will be another world where I’ll never be able to be happy again.

Chapter 6

The snow that began to fall in the evening became large clumps as time went on and around when the date was about to change, it had become a blizzard.

The streets were covered in snow and it obstructed the view out of the glass front.

I take my coat off at the entrance, sign in and pass through the area gate that I’m used to.

I pass through many doors and stop in front of a number I’ve memorized completely. The door wasn’t locked. Proof that someone was inside.

When I pull on the door, just like I suspected there was a nurse I knew standing inside. He was bald and had a stern face, but he was a cheerful and agreeable black man. When our eyes met, his brow furrowed a bit and he shook his head to tell me there was no change.

In this pure white room, the nurse’s skin is the only thing dark. No, not just the nurse’s skin. The hair on the person half propped up on the white bed was black.

“Hey.”

I draw near the bed and call out a greeting, but I get no response from him.

On the work bench set up, there is a sketchbook that’s white, as if it was reflecting the room.

But it wasn’t reflecting the room or the building, but the scenery inside his heart.

He is sitting up and is hiding his face with his hands. He hangs his head without moving.

“It’s alright.”

Even if I touch him with my cold hands, his shoulders don’t even so much as shiver.

Just like you don’t ask what you want to draw before you’re done drawing, you don’t ask for what you want until you’re done dreaming.

“It’s alright,” I repeat without any real proof.

“If you get to the end, you’ll definitely remember what you wanted.”

I see the blizzard through the open curtains.

It was like white feathers dancing in the darkness.

Back to Prologue

Return to MA Series

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