I had neither a grandfather nor a grandmother, and the only relatives I really had were the Kirasawa family. So after the plane crash, custody of me was transferred to Shuji-san. It wasn’t an adoption, but something about becoming a legal guardian for a minor, blah blah blah.
I don’t really understand the finer points of the law, but I currently go by the name Yoshito Kirasawa. Incidentally, it seems my Old Man had left behind some sort of will, in which he had apparently told Shuji-san to keep his existence a secret. Specifically, he wanted Shuji-san to conceal his existence until I turned fifteen.
So, officially, I know nothing about my real father.
Six months passed, and Mia and I turned four. It was autumn, the season when the chilly air makes you long for the company of others. At Omichi Kindergarten’s Rose class, an unprecedented “playing house” craze had broken out.
“I’m home! Oh, Kousuke, you’re back already?”
“Yeah. I got off work early today. Here, I made dinner. Be grateful.”
“Looks delicious. Man, if only you were a girl.”
“D-Don’t say stupid things like that. B-But… if that’s really how you feel, Yoshito, then I…”
Kousuke lowered his head. His cheeks were bright red.
Some of you may have forgotten, so let me introduce him again. This is Kousuke Orise, one of the boys in my Rose class. He has a fairly androgynous face, and he could probably pull off a skirt surprisingly well.
The scenario we were acting out was: “Two male roommates, one of whom has romantic feelings for the other.” The girls clustered around us were the ones who had requested it. Every single one of them was drooling with expressions that were utterly unbecoming of respectable young ladies.
“What’s up, Kousuke? Are you serious about becoming my wife?”
“B-but, we’re both guys—”
“That doesn’t matter, does it? Tell me. What do you want to be to me?”
“W-what the hell?!”
Ah, Kousuke’s pissed.
“It’s just pretend play, why are we doing it with only guys?! It’s weird! Ugh…!”
He pleaded tearfully to the girls around him.
However.
“Kousuke-kun, you have to finish it properly!”
“That’s right, everyone’s looking forward to it!”
“There’s not enough preciousness, not enough preciousness!”
The response he received was a heartless chorus of boos. The number of fujoshi (female fans of boys’ love) in the Rose Class is steadily increasing.
Faced with this grave situation,
“Uwaaaa! I hate women!”
Kousuke ran away!
“I won’t let you get away.”
“Wait right there!”
“It’s not over until you kiss!”
Women are strong in every era.
I’m having a decent enough time, but I wonder if Kousuke is okay. I’m worried he might develop a trauma regarding the opposite sex.
Just for the record, it’s not all twisted situations like this, you know? There are plenty of groups where “Mommy” and “Daddy” live in peace. Well, the fact that mine is the biggest group… I suppose that just goes to show there isn’t a single girl who dislikes gay men.
On the other hand… there are also girls who couldn’t care less about the trend.
“Hmph.”
That’s my Mia.
She used to try to fit in at kindergarten, but she regressed once the “playing house” craze hit. Radiating an aura that screams “don’t talk to me,” she spends all her time reading picture books in the corner of the classroom.
Well, I suppose it’s better than her holing up in the library. Still, the way she occasionally sneaks a peek this way makes me think she isn’t entirely uninterested in playing house.
“Kousuke-kun escaped out the window!”
“Corner him in the animal shed! Do it just like always!”
“Hehehe… catching a boy, and keeping him as a pet…”
Oh? It looks like Kousuke is really giving it his all.
Now then, whose side should I take today? Betraying someone at the last minute might be fun, too.
Just as I was thinking that…
“Hey, Yoshito-kun.”
A girl called out to me.
She had big, round eyes and a very cute face. Her soft hair was styled into “princess-like” pigtails. Her name is Ayano Matsuki, I think. She is from the class next door—the Sakura Class.
“Want to play house with me?”
Hmm, what should I do?
The girls from the Rose Class had all chased after Kousuke and gone outside. That left me all alone. I didn’t have anything else to do, so playing with Matsuki-san seemed like a fine idea.
But first…
“Is it okay if I invite Mia, too?”
“Yeah, sure. I wanted to be friends with Mia-chan, too.”
Matsuki-san responds with a beaming, angelic smile.
Her expression is dazzling, just like an idol’s.
I go to call out to Mia, but…
Huh? Where’d she go?
She doesn’t have a book with her. Maybe she went to the library to borrow a new one? I guess I’ll just talk to her when she gets back.
“Let’s get started for now. What role do you want, Matsuki-san?”
“I’ll be Ayano. And I’ll call you Yoshito.”
“Alright, Ayano.”
“What is it, Yoshito?”
Matsuki-san—or rather, Ayano—replies in a voice full of sweet affection.
“Hehe, dinner will be ready soon, so just wait a bit.”
Whoa. It seems the make-believe game has already begun. No discussion about roles or the scenario beforehand? This is advanced-level stuff.
Fine by me.
Challenge accepted.
I’ll show her the improvisational skills of the man who once saved the world!
＊ ＊ ＊
After spending tens of minutes piling up random, improvised plot points, Ayano and I found our little role-playing game reaching an unexpected climax.
“I’ve figured it out—I know your true identity…!”
“Oh well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”
Ayano offered a smile of resignation.
“I’m the reincarnation of the girl you killed, Yoshito.”
“Did you get close to me for revenge?”
“Nope, that’s not it. …I actually fell in love with you the moment I was killed.”
Let me just sort out the premise here.
In this story, I’m supposed to be a serial killer. By day, I act like a decent salaryman, but at night, I stalk women with a knife in hand. A modern-day Jack the Ripper, essentially. Ayano is a woman who forced her way into my life—and turns out to be the reincarnation of one of my victims. Yet, she holds no grudge against me. In fact, she’s head over heels in love.
Talk about a psycho-horror scenario.
“You kill people because you’re afraid of them, don’t you, Yoshito? But that’s okay—from now on, I’ll protect you forever.”
In the end, the serial killer gets drugged into unconsciousness and locked away in a basement. An unexpected yandere ending.
It was a truly shocking turn of events.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
Before I knew it, a crowd of kindergarteners was watching our little game of make-believe. Thunderous applause filled the air. Quite a few of them were even shedding tears of emotion.
Is this kindergarten actually okay?
“What a touching story.”
“It’s enough to make the whole country cry.”
“It would’ve been even better if Kousuke-kun had been the one playing the partner role, though.”
I worry about the future of Japan. Before long, it was time to go home, and I boarded the shuttle bus.
Naturally, Mia was with me, but…
“I wonder what’s for dinner tonight.”
“Beats me.”
She’s in an incredibly foul mood.
“You know, the house next door put up a new fence.”
“Yeah.”
“No, see, that’s the moment where you’re supposed to say, ‘Oh, really?’”
“Shut it.”
She had gone beyond tsundere—she was in a full-blown “tsundora” state. No matter what topic I brought up, she’d cut me off with a single, curt phrase.
I thought things might improve once we got home, but…
“Good night. Wake me up when dinner’s ready.”
She hurriedly burrowed into the futon.
What on earth is going on? I don’t get it. Someone explain!
Kidding. I actually have a pretty good idea of the cause.
“Is this about Matsuki-san?”
I sat down next to Mia and asked her that.
“Did it bother you that I was hanging out with her?”
No reply.
Instead, Mia inched a little closer to me. She reached her right hand out from the gap in the futon and grabbed the hem of my jacket. I suppose that means “yes.”
“In that case, I won’t have anything to do with Matsuki-san anymore. I promise.”
“.…It’s fine, really.”
Oh, looks like we might actually have a conversation now.
“I mean, you looked like you were having a lot of fun with Matsuki-san, Oniisan. You should just keep getting along with her.”
“Calm down, Mia. Aren’t you misunderstanding something?”
“I’m not. I’m just sulking and getting jealous all on my own.”
Mia let go of my hem and then gave my back a firm shove.
“I’m being a really annoying girl right now. Oniisan, I don’t want you to see me like this. So, go away.”
Push, push.
For me, the pressure on my lower back actually felt like a nice massage, but for Mia, it was clearly a desperate plea.
“I can put up with you playing house with Orise-kun. But I hate the idea of you doing that kind of thing with another girl.”
“Then I’ll be careful about that, t—”
“You don’t have to!”
Mia cut me off.
“After all, I don’t have the right to tie you down, Oniisan.”
“It’s not about tying you down or anything like that. I just don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, Mia.”
“Why?”
Just like that, the pressure pushing against my back eased.
“This is just a hysterical fit. You could have just ignored it.”
“It’s obviously because you’re important to me.”
When I said that, Mia’s hands fell away from my back completely.
A room with just the two of us.
The setting sun was streaming in through the window.
After a moment…
“…I’m hopeless, aren’t I?”
“What’s wrong?”
Mia didn’t answer.
She stood up in silence, and then—
“Hyaaah!!”
“Whoa!?”
She clung to me, still wrapped in her blanket.
“Uga—! Waaah! Kya!”
“Hey, Mia, pull yourself together! Snap out of it!”
“Shut up! Just spoil me! Uwa!”
A tight squeeze, a good rub, and another tight squeeze.
Even through the blanket, Mia’s pressing her whole body against my back.
“I’m the kind of girl who’ll forgive you in a heartbeat if you’re just a little nice to me, damn it! Say that line again!”
“Hey, Mia, pull yourself together! Snap out of it!”
“You idiot!”
Whack!
I got smacked with a pillow. It actually stung a bit.
“A little further back!”
“Uhm.. ‘Because you’re important to me, obviously’?”
“Put more love into it!”
“Because you’re the most important girl in the world to me, obviously.”
“Tsu…!”
Thud. Mia collapsed down the bed. It seems that was a bit too intense for her.
Heh. I win.
While I’m at it, let me share a few inner thoughts. I don’t harbor any clear romantic feelings for Mia just yet.
That said…
The way she showed such straightforwardness—almost to the point of clumsiness—regarding the whole thing with Matsuki, I find that quality appealing. And the way she sometimes mutters, “You can sleep in the bottom bunk tonight, you know”, while looking all bashful… that’s incredibly cute.
—If we keep being together like this, I’ll probably end up falling for Mia.
I have a feeling that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Well, it’s far too embarrassing to actually say something like that to Mia, though. Anyway. For the time being, as a way to look after Mia…
“Mia, hold out your hand.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah, that’s it… Here, a present.”
What I handed her was a toy ring. It was something I’d won in a summer festival lottery a while back. A set of two—matching rings.
“You can wear that at kindergarten, too.”
And then, the next day.
“Hey, hey, Yoshito-kun. Won’t you play with me?”
It seemed she had enjoyed yesterday so much that Matsuki-san called out to me again. We were in the Rose Class classroom. Mia was right there beside me, so I figured I might as well make a statement.
“Sorry, Matsuki-san. I’m playing house with Mia right now.”
I held up my left hand. Mia hesitantly did the same. Shining on our ring fingers were the matching rings.
“Does that mean you’re married to Mia-chan?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded.
Before I knew it, the Rose Class classroom had gone completely silent. The girls around us were whispering things like, “It’s a love triangle showdown”, and “This is like a suspense drama.”
The atmosphere was heavy. I didn’t want to leave things on such an awkward note, so I grabbed a boy nearby—Kousuke Orise—who was blinking in wide-eyed confusion.
Sorry, buddy, but you’re going to have to be the sacrificial lamb here.
“So anyway, I’ve got myself a wife.”
I flashed a roguish, bad-boy grin. “Kousuke, you and I were just having a fling. See ya.”
I knew it was a pretty lousy thing to say. Still, it worked exactly as intended: the attention of the girls in the Rose Class shifted toward Kousuke.
“A bittersweet ending, huh?”
“Kousuke-kun is going to let his life fall apart because he can’t forget Yoshito-kun.”
“So precious… truly precious.”
Sorry, Kousuke.
I’ll share some caramel with you someday, so please forgive me.
“Hmm.”
Now then. As for Mitsuki-san, she was smiling brightly for some reason.
“So, Mia-chan… that’s how it is, after all.”
Her smile was angelic, yet for some reason, a strange chill ran down my spine.
“It’s fine. I’ll leave Yoshito-kun in your care for now… but I will be taking him back someday.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mia retorted coolly.
“My brother never had any interest in you to begin with.”
Uh… Can I make a run for it?
While the other girls got excited talking about Kousuke, Mia and Mitsuki-san were glaring straight at each other. The tension between them mounted, and then…
“…Just kidding.”
Matsuki-san let out a soft, amused smile.
“Hahaha, just a joke, just a joke. I’ll get out of your hair now—see ya.”
Turning her back on us, she left the classroom with a light step.
Phew. I guess that settles things for now.
A few days later, the playing-house craze finally came to an end. Apparently, me turning Kousuke down had served as a sort of turning point, and now origami was all the rage.
“Good for you, Kousuke. You don’t have to play house anymore.”
“Yeah… right.”
“What’s wrong? You look kind of out of it.”
Maybe he had a fever. Winter is approaching after all, and colds were going around too.
I reached out and placed a hand against Kousuke’s forehead. He’s burning up. His face was bright red, too.
“Kousuke, shouldn’t you go to the nurse’s office?”
“T-The n-nurse’s office!?”
For some reason, Kousuke completely freaked out. Maybe he had some unpleasant memories associated with the place.
“I-I’m fine! Just leave me alone!”
Smack!
Kousuke knocked my hand away, then climbed straight out the window and ran off.
What was up with him?
Well, whatever. Since I had the chance, I might as well try making various things out of origami. They could even come in handy for some magic experiments later.
＊ ＊ ＊
And so, several more months passed.
One winter night, while I am playing around by flying a paper-airplane-shaped familiar, I happened to witness a little incident.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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