Night had fallen.
Winter nights were very quiet.
In such cold weather, most people had already burrowed under their quilts and fallen fast asleep.
But Kanao could not sleep. She lay with her beautiful pink-purple eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Kie, lying beside her, took in everything. She could tell the girl had something weighing on her mind.
Kie had long since come to regard Kanao as her own daughter. Knowing the hardships the girl had endured in her childhood, she poured even more love and care into her.
For her part, Kanao had probably never experienced a mother's love before. Aside from her uncle, Kie was the person she felt closest to.
"What are you thinking about?"
Kie Kamado reached out and gently stroked Kanao's smooth hair. "Why are you still awake?"
"I was wondering… how two people can stay together forever. Ideally, they'd be together every single moment."
Kanao spoke softly, her beautiful eyes lowering slightly.
As she gradually grew older, Kanao discovered that there always seemed to be certain barriers between her and her uncle.
That feeling was not very pleasant.
She still wanted to return to the very beginning, when she could always stay beside her uncle at every moment.
"Two people, together forever…"
Kie murmured the words, then shook her head. "No such perfect thing exists in this world."
"It doesn't?"
Kanao turned and looked at Kie Kamado.
"Maybe it does," Kie Kamado revealed a warm smile. "But I have never seen it. I think that no matter how close two people are, there will always come a day when they part. It is impossible to stay together forever. Especially when it comes to human lifespans. Some are long, some are short. Some people leave first, and some leave later. In the end, people always part…"
Hearing this, Kanao felt somewhat disappointed.
What she wanted was to stay with her uncle forever.
But her uncle was a demon, with an endless lifespan, while she was human. One day, her life would reach its end. She would grow old, and she would die.
Kanao was not particularly afraid of death.
She was only afraid that she would be unable to keep accompanying her uncle all the way forward.
"I want to know, for two people, what kind of relationship is the closest?"
Kanao looked at Kie Kamado with her beautiful eyes.
"What kind of relationship is the closest?" Kie Kamado repeated softly. After thinking for a while, she said in a low voice, "If they are both boys, then perhaps brothers who have gone through life and death together. If it is a man and a woman, then it should be husband and wife. If it is two girls…"
Kanao listened seriously, then asked, "Then what are husband and wife?"
"Husband and wife…"
Kie Kamado did not know how to answer for a moment. She had once had a marriage, but like most people's marriages, hers had been arranged through introductions. The parents met, and then the two of them came together.
To be honest, her marriage had been very plain.
There had not been so many waves.
"Husband and wife probably means two people living the same life together."
Kie Kamado answered softly. "Like a pair of shoes. They must come as a pair. Missing one makes it hard to walk, and having an extra only trips you up."
"Then what do you think husband and wife should be like?"
Kie Kamado looked at Kanao and thought for a while. "I feel they should be like a person's two hands."
"Two hands?"
Kanao stretched both hands out from beneath the blanket, somewhat confused.
"Yes. Husband and wife should be like that. When your left hand touches your right hand, you do not feel anything special. But when the left hand bleeds, the right hand will definitely help stop the bleeding. When the left hand grows tired from carrying something, the right hand will definitely help bear the burden."
Hearing Kie Kamado say this, Kanao seemed to understand faintly, yet also not quite understand.
"Do not think so much. Sleep." Kie Kamado looked at Kanao, whose brows were tightly furrowed.
"I cannot sleep. I want to go outside for a walk." Kanao shook her head.
"It is very cold outside right now."
"It is all right. My body is strong."
"Ah, this…"
Kie Kamado was not very willing to let Kanao go out so late, but since Kanao wanted to take a walk and clear her mind, she could not really stop her.
Kie could roughly understand why Kanao had suddenly become emotional. After all, Makomo's arrival today might have stirred something in her heart.
"At least wear more clothes. Do not let yourself freeze."
Seeing that Kanao had already begun putting on her clothes, Kie asked with concern.
"Mm."
Kanao nodded, put on her clothes, and walked outside.
The moment she pushed open the door, the cold air outside made Kanao shrink back unconsciously. She raised her eyes and looked out. At some point, snow had begun falling again.
Kanao stepped out.
Her feet landed on the snow with a soft crunch as she walked slowly. The lamplight inside the house flickered, illuminating the path beneath her feet. Farther away, everything gradually sank into darkness.
Suddenly,
she missed her uncle a little.
Ever since long ago, after her uncle stopped allowing her to stay with him at night, they had not spent nights together for a very long time.
Although staying beside Kie Kamado was also very warm, it still could not compare with being beside her uncle.
What is Uncle doing right now?
Has he suddenly thought of Kanao, the way Kanao suddenly thought of him?
Her chest fluttered, and Kanao's footsteps unconsciously moved toward the house standing in the distance. The light from that room was always especially noticeable on winter nights.
Kanao did not walk very quickly.
When she was about to reach the house, she stopped.
She tilted her head slightly and listened. Faintly, she heard sounds coming from inside.
The sounds carried murmurs whose meaning she did not quite understand, as though filled with heavy emotion.
Aside from her uncle's voice, the other person's voice was…
After a while, she finally recognized it as Makomo's.
She had not expected Makomo to be in her uncle's room at night as well. This suddenly stirred a trace of embarrassment and anger in Kanao's heart.
"So… ma…"
Faintly, a hurried voice came through, carrying pain and yet seeming to carry satisfaction as well.
Kanao heard this one clearly because it was especially sharp, as though it had come from deep in the throat. It was hoarse and carried an indescribable meaning.
It seemed…
as though some kind of fight was happening.
Kanao clenched her fists all at once.
Although her impression of Makomo was fairly good, if Makomo wanted to hurt her uncle, then no matter what, Kanao could not agree.
Her steps suddenly quickened.
The closer she came to the room, the clearer the sounds in her ears became.
I absolutely will not allow Makomo to hurt Uncle.
Kanao bit her teeth lightly, her small hand clenching into a fist, and she broke the door open at once.
The door opened, and cold wind blew inside, extinguishing the swaying lamplight in the room.
The light went out, and the room fell into darkness. But with Kanao's dynamic vision, she could still see the situation inside.
It was not at all the scene she had imagined, where Makomo was bullying her uncle.
Rather, it seemed that Soma was the one bullying Makomo.
The door had been pushed open.
Makomo let out a sharp cry, filled with shame, embarrassment, and a low, incomprehensible sound.
On the bed inside the room, it was as though a heavy object suddenly rose and fell, then began swaying in waves.