[You handed the sheet music that Kita Ikuyo had asked you to pass along to your husband, who had just returned home after work.]
[The very next second, you noticed that Toru's eyes held three parts surprise, three parts puzzlement, three parts relief, and one part an emotion you couldn't quite read.]
"Kitahara-kun's eyes are actually pie charts?"
Tachibana Kanade tilted her head.
But the thing that Kita Ikuyo had entrusted to her seemed, for Toru, to be far more than just an outstanding composition.
It carried a deeper meaning.
["Dear, did you write this?" Toru asked in an uncertain tone.]
[He had once taught you arranging, so it wasn't surprising that this was his first guess. You smiled and told your husband about the afternoon conversation you'd had with Kita Ikuyo.]
[Now he looked even more puzzled.]
["It's a wonderful piece, isn't it?"]
[Toru was silent for a long time. Finally he nodded, affirming what you said.]
["…Yeah."]
[Of course "The Stars" was a masterpiece... No, it could even be called a work that some violin virtuoso had poured countless hours of heart and soul into.]
[T/N: Composition: The Stars (World-class piece, the deceased boyfriend's final work) Source: C45]
[Toru understood the weight it carried better than anyone.]
"Better than anyone?"
Wait.
Could this violin piece actually have been composed by Kitahara-kun?
No way...
If he wrote it, why would it end up in Kita-chan's hands?
And then get passed to another version of myself in the simulation?
Right now Tachibana Kanade's heart was filled with confusion.
[The next day, after getting your permission, Toru met privately with Kita Ikuyo at a café.]
[You had no idea what exactly they talked about.]
[You only noticed that when he came back, there was a faint trace of guilt in the depths of his eyes. The feeling was buried very deep, something only someone who had lived side by side with him for more than ten years, day after day, could detect.]
[Why would Toru feel guilty? He had always been confident, selfless, gentle; he shouldn't be the type to carry this kind of emotion.]
[You couldn't figure it out.]
[Perhaps "The Stars" was a token of love he had once given to Kita Ikuyo, and he had failed to keep the promise he made back then…]
[That night, while you were entwined with him, such a melodramatic plot crossed your mind.]
[After that incident.]
[A few more days passed.]
[You noticed a new bass score in your husband's hands.]
["What's this?"]
["'Ryo'," he said.]
[In that instant, an image of a woman with short blue hair flashed through your mind, Yamada Ryo.]
[A thousand thoughts surged; a slight sour ache bloomed in your chest as certain unpleasant futures came to mind…]
[Your husband might abandon you, marry Yamada Ryo, give up on your child. All these years she had been watching like a tiger, never once loosening her grip. Being stared at by such a fierce tigress, you had always been extremely cautious, terrified that Toru and Ryo-san might spark some flame of romance.]
[You had already survived the seven-year mark, the story that should follow was supposed to be one of extreme marital bliss. So why, at this exact turning point, had your husband pulled out a piece whose title alone sounded anything but normal?]
["A high-school love token?"]
["Something like that. I gave it to her back then. I don't know if she still remembers." Toru smiled, noticed your anxiety, and pulled you into his arms.]
[You sat near the piano, whispering quietly to each other. Even when your daughter walked past the hallway outside the music room, footsteps echoing, neither of you snapped out of it.]
[Through the narrow gap in the doorway, Kitahara Ayase saw her mother and father holding each other. A flicker of envy passed through her heart, she wanted to take her mother's place and be the one in her father's arms.]
This daughter seems a little off.
The light in her eyes are gone.
Tachibana Kanade sincerely hoped she was just seeing things.
[When the emotion reached its peak, you kissed without reserve…]
[Neither of you noticed your daughter's gaze.]
[Kitahara Ayase slowly withdrew from the music room, not interrupting your intimacy.]
[The sight of Father lifting Mother onto the piano stand, pulling aside her skirt, raising those pale legs, little Ayase couldn't bear to keep watching.]
[One hour later.]
[You began cleaning up the battlefield. Only then did you realize the front door hadn't been locked. All because your husband had been too impatient and hadn't given you any time to prepare.]
[Face burning red, heart pounding with embarrassment, you kept wiping the extremely expensive piano with tissues.]
[It was covered in what you had spilled earlier, little drops here and there, mingled with your husband's scent.]
[Just from this small glimpse, one could tell how fierce the battle had been.]
[Once everything was tidied and your skirt was back in place, you let out a relieved breath.]
[Normally the only person at home during the day was your elementary-school daughter.]
[You had even tried to suppress your gasps earlier.]
[She probably hadn't noticed… right?]
[Even if she had seen something, an elementary-school girl probably wouldn't understand what her parents were doing.]
[In short, it should be safe.]
["The piano's all dirty now…" you murmured like a mosquito, grumbling about your husband's earlier rough behavior.]
[It could have been avoided, the bedroom was right next door.]
["If it's dirty, we'll just buy a new piano. Anyway, we earn more money than we could ever spend." Toru smiled and didn't take the bait, leaving your punch to land on cotton.]
[You were actually just complaining about how eager and lustful he had been; it had nothing to do with the piano itself.]
["Pervert, degenerate, lewd!" In one breath you unleashed every insult you could think of.]
[Toru put on an expression of 'I'm sorry, I was wrong,' which made it hard for you to stay angry.]
[You could only reach up to straighten his shirt collar and say helplessly, "Don't do that again. Ayase is still at home."]
[Having a little couple's mischief now and then was fine, you didn't hate it…]
[But your child wasn't that little anymore.]
[What if little Ayase had seen something like that?]
[It would corrupt her.]
"You don't have to worry. Little Ayase is already corrupted."
Tachibana Kanade muttered dryly.
Mother being bent into eighteen different positions by Father while Daughter secretly watches from the door crack... This was one hell of a composition.
[After such an intense emotional exchange,]
[You became certain that your husband had no intention of cheating. The promise he made back then to love only one person for the rest of his life had not been a lie.]
[The next day.]
[Toru met privately with Yamada Ryo. You had no idea what they discussed.]
[But when he returned, he seemed somewhat relieved.]
["What did you talk about with Ryo-chan?"]
["Things from a past life and this one. It seems she doesn't remember."]
[After that, Toru never brought up the topic again. Occasionally you heard him play that piece "Ryo." It was beautiful.]
[You set the matter aside.]
[And so the two of you continued living your quiet, happy life.]
[The girls from the band would often drop by, treating little Ayase like their own daughter.]
[You never minded them coming over.]