Chapter 33 |
[You’ve taken a long vacation, confined to Asano’s home. As usual, you often pull back the curtains in the living room, lying on the soft sofa, feeling the warmth and dizziness brought by the sunlight.]
[You read music theory books and practice instruments. Your fingers flip through the thin pages filled with crowded text, and amidst the clutter, you seem to catch a glimpse of her name. You search for it, hoping to find a single letter from her name, but sometimes find nothing. Your lips press against the instrument, gleaming with a steady metallic sheen, and in the interval between the last note fading and the next note emerging, you seem to hear her voice. You pause playing, listening intently, only hearing the wind and the footsteps of pedestrians outside the window.]
[A week later, the doorbell rings.]
[Though you know it’s impossible for her to be outside the door, a hint of hope still flickers in your heart. You hastily set aside your book and stride to the entrance, opening the door.]
[Outside stands Chitose Kazumi.]
[Her gaze is filled with guilt and anxiety as she avoids eye contact and remains silent. In that moment, you indeed see the shadow of Asano Nao in her.]
[The declining sun fails to dispel the autumn chill, and the wind tugs at the clothes of passersby. You invite Chitose Kazumi inside.]
[You don’t ask about Asano Nao’s whereabouts or any conspiracy between them. You only ask one thing: why Chitose Kazumi, who had lost contact a year ago, appeared at Asano’s home.]
[Chitose Kazumi tells you that Asano Nao found her new LINE account online and contacted her through her friends.]
[You end the conversation and apologize for mocking her long ago.]
[Recalling the simulated future where Asano Nao died in despair, recalling the documents where Asano Nao predicted her own future with sorrow, you think, perhaps leaving her alone would be the best choice.]
[In this life, you unreservedly devote all your energy and talent to pursue music, making Asano Nao feel even more keenly the decay and death within herself. She loves you, you are her beloved moon, but the moonlight is too bright, revealing her decay and bringing unbearable torment.]
“Sigh…”
As he looked at the simulated text, Minami Yuuki sighed.
Alongside his sadness, a sense of frustration surged within him. He lifted his head, gazing in the direction of Asano Nao’s room.
That mentally twisted shut-in girl was just too troublesome!
He knew that one couldn’t control their own mind, but that didn’t stop him from venting his emotions.
Why can’t you just focus on having a proper relationship instead of dwelling on pointless things!
Guilt, sadness, the moon, deathly aura, tombstones, a miserable future -what’s the point of thinking about all that!
What’s so important about it!
It’s because you keep thinking about those things that they find a way into your mind.
It’s like lying on a warm and comfortable stone under the bright sunlight. It should be a blissful experience, but you insist on thinking about the darkness underneath the stone, lifting it up to observe the ugly earthworms, horrifying rats, and foul-smelling millipedes living in the crevices.
Those creatures, originally quietly dwelling in the darkness, would never willingly leave their damp crevices. But because of your actions, they are awakened and creep into the sunlight of your life with their repulsive steps and posture, turning your fears into reality.
Then, using this reality as a basis for imagination, you lift more stones, provoke more creatures, and immerse yourself in endless fear!
It’s all because of you. It’s because you gaze at them that they come.
Minami Yuuki thought to himself darkly, perhaps he shouldn’t engage in any serious relationship with her. Instead, on a dark and stormy night, he might sneak into her home, coerce her into compliance, lock her in her sunless bedroom all day, make her cook meals at mealtime, force her to support him with her savings, and then compel her to wear a wedding dress and marry him in front of many relatives and friends, and have several children!
This way, since sunlight and the moon don’t really exist, perhaps it would make her indulge in fewer dark thoughts and be content with the “miserable” present!
Thinking like this for a while, Minami Yuuki’s mood improved.
Of course, this was just a thought. He didn’t have any criminal plans, nor did he think such actions would be meaningful in a simulated life. According to several reviews of simulated life, the simulator advocated for healthy and pure romance, and a plot of coercion between a man and a victimized woman would definitely not score high.
He continued to look at the simulator.
[You return to school and devote all your energy to music. The Asano family is just a place where you sleep. When you wake up, you’re either in class or in the practice room.]
[You often see Chitose Kazumi. She comes silently, looks at you for a while, then leaves silently.]
[After graduating from college, you stay at school for further studies. Chitose Kazumi starts working.]
[After obtaining a doctoral degree, you go to study in the United States. Chitose Kazumi moves to the United States due to work relocation.]
[At the age of thirty-two, you marry Chitose Kazumi.]
Sure enough, you’re the one who’s ahead!
Minami Yuuki rubbed his temples, feeling complicated.
[After marriage, you returned to Japan and joined the Misaki Symphony Orchestra, where your talent garnered much attention.]
[The orchestra frequently performed in various places and countries, but you soon grew tired of the constant travel. You resigned from the orchestra and took up a teaching position at Misaki Arta University.]
[Using your savings from working odd jobs, you bought a villa near the campus and lived there with Chitose Kazumi.]
[Teaching days were leisurely, giving you ample free time. You started practicing other musical instruments and resumed composing, picking up where you left off. Your handsome appearance and exceptional abilities won the admiration of many students, with female students often slipping love letters into your lecture notes or desk. You collected them and handed them to Chitose Kazumi to deal with.]
[Chitose Kazumi delighted in your honesty and grew angry at the frivolity of these newly adult girls. She dressy up herself and accompanied you on campus, intentionally linking arms with you and being affectionate. The love letters gradually decreased.]
[At the age of thirty-six, you and Chitose Kazumi had a child, a girl named Touka. You hoped she would be a strong child.]
[Another year, during enrollment season, you noticed a female student in your class who caught your attention.]
[With her raven-like long hair and eyes that shimmered with anticipation, she reminded you of a long-forgotten figure from your past.]
[Her name was Yumemi Miu, a solitary child.]
[You attempted to approach her, but each time, she would startle and shy away.]
[You persisted, never giving up, until finally, you became friends with her.]
[In the second semester, she dropped out.]
[You dialed the contact number on the registration form, but no one answered. You went to the address listed on the form, but no one lived there.]
[Like a white feather caught in a spring breeze, Yumemi Miu disappeared beneath the warm sunshine of spring.]
[Your child with Chitose Kazumi grew up healthy, resembling her mother in her lack of words but strong inner strength. What left you somewhat regretful was her lack of interest in music; she chose to become a chef instead. She inherited your vast talent and made a name for herself in the culinary world.]
[At the age of fifty-five, you retired from the university and entered retirement life.]
[Perhaps due to having too much free time, you often thought of her from your memories. You retrieved the key kept in the safe and went to that familiar place, opening the familiar door.]
[Aside from the marks left by time, the interior remained unchanged.]
[On your sixtieth birthday, you received a letter.]
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