I open my eyes. Before I register my surroundings, I reflexively sit up.
It was an instinctive reaction, leftover tension and panic from before I lost consciousness.
Then I felt momentarily confused when I realized I wasn't under the bridge. The light was so harsh it was hard to open my eyes. I decided to assess my surroundings using only my other four senses.
The smell of disinfectant, the feel of bandages and gauze, the lingering bitter taste of medicine in my mouth, and muffled conversations spouting medical jargon—huh? What is this—am I in a hospital?
I let my eyes adjust to the light and opened them slowly.
I could barely make out the room—it was a hospital ward.
I saw bandages wrapped around my arm and an IV line inserted. By touch alone I knew my head and abdomen were bandaged too.
"You're awake?"
"Father..."
Turning my head, I saw my father sitting in a chair reading a book.
For some reason he wasn't wearing his investigator uniform but plain clothes.
"You ran until you ended up like this—whose recklessness do you take after? You spent three days straight battling a high fever. Thanks to that, I had to take vacation leave I never thought I'd ever use."
If I said, "How long has it been since you last took time off, you workaholic father…," we'd probably go back to our usual banter.
But not yet.
I can't return to normal yet.
Because there was one crucial thing missing from that normalcy.
"Where is Eto?"
"…"
The moment I opened my eyes I was scanning the room for Eto. But no matter how I looked, she was nowhere to be seen—and my anxiety and anger soared.
He didn't tear his gaze from the book as I pressed him with a more agitated voice.
"Where the hell is Eto!?"
thud
My father shut the book.
He looked years older than I remembered, and with a weary sigh he spoke.
"…I'm a Ghoul Investigator. I don't know a damn thing about raising a ghoul's baby."
"FATHERRRRRR—!!!"
crash!
I'd lost it. Clenching my fists, I charged at him, but my body was far heavier than I'd expected. To make matters worse, the IV stand connected to my arm tipped over and I tumbled spectacularly under the bed.
"Wh-What's going on!?"
The doctor and a nurse who'd heard the commotion rushed in from the hallway. Seeing me lunge at my father, they grabbed me and held me back.
"P-Patient! Calm down! You can't move yet!"
"Shut up! Let go! Even if I have to sever father-son ties today, I'll beat that man to a pulp!! What has he done to Eto! To Eto, I swear—!!!"
Baa~! Bah~!
"What have you done…!!! ......Huh?"
I cut myself off mid-shout and my head snapped around at the incongruously cute babbling.
In the startled nurse's arms, Eto was beaming up at me, reaching out her tiny hands as if begging to be picked up.
"…Eto?"
"Since all I've held lately are weapons, I totally forgot how to change baby diapers."
He mumbled this without meeting my eyes, almost as an excuse.
The nurse who'd changed Eto's diaper, smiling warmly when she heard I was upset because I was worried about the baby, handed Eto back to me.
Baa~! Dah~!
Feeling Eto's weight and her warmth pressed against me, I finally realized this wasn't a dream.
All the tension drained from my body and I collapsed back onto the bed.
Watching my father dismiss the doctor and nurse, I finally spoke.
"…You saved her."
"Don't say another word. Even my head's spinning from what I did, so don't."
"Still, you saved her."
…
I hugged Eto tight, relief flooding me.
There was a warmth I thought I'd never feel again.
"Thank you."
"…Hmph."
My father snorted and went over to a shelf, where he unceremoniously shoved in a handful of items that looked like his belongings.
"Where are you going?"
"Since I saw you wake up, it's time to return to work. I left my desk empty and now I've got a pile of cases waiting."
thud
With that he tossed a stack of documents, a bank book, and a seal onto the bed.
I picked up the bank book and asked,
"What's this?"
"Become independent."
"…?"
When I blinked, uncertain of his meaning, my father spoke again.
"That ghoul you're raising is the last whim I'll indulge of yours. I'm done treating you like a child. I won't give you any more allowance—use that money to support yourself and raise the kid."
"Father…"
"This was the path you chose, wasn't it? Then follow it. I'll follow mine. No matter what you think of ghouls, they're still humanity's natural enemy, and I'll keep on killing them."
He hoisted his bag over his shoulder. As he looked me square in the eyes, I could see there was not a shred of deceit in his words.
Realizing this would be the last time I saw him like this, I raised my voice.
"Father!"
"Koma."
He cut me off.
"I still can't accept your words yet… so prove them to me."
…!
"That child you've taken on. You take full responsibility and raise her. No giving up halfway. And if you raise her wrong and she hurts people… I will be the first to come and kill that child."
He turned and left the hospital room.
Just as he was about to step through the door, he turned his head slightly and muttered:
"So show me… that coexistence between humans and ghouls is… not a futile fantasy."
creakclick
…
In the silence left by my father's departure, I stood there, motionless.
I knew this was my father's way of saying goodbye.
That man probably won't show his face in front of me again until he dies. Just as I once thought, I was gradually losing something.
Sadness washed over me, but I refused to be broken by it.
Because in the void left by my father's departure, there came a new warmth.
Moo?
Eto, nestled against my chest, tilted her head quizzically and looked up at me.
Surely I would lose a lot. But certainly I wasn't losing everything. There were things I gained.
I might not be able to see my father's face anymore, but just as I realized with Hitokawa Tomoru, he still was family.
And even though my father left, I had his permission to raise Eto.
I opened the documents left on the bed.
They were information gathered from arresting and interrogating those bizarre humans who had kept ghouls… or rather, bred them.
Detailed comparative analyses of the developmental processes and traits of ghoul children versus human children were written there. It was precisely the information I needed now.
It was a parting gift my father personally procured from the Ghoul Countermeasures Bureau for me to raise Eto.
I took the papers and dashed to the window, spotting my father as he was walking out the hospital's front entrance, and shouted.
"Father—!!!"
Whether he couldn't hear me or chose to ignore it, my father just kept walking.
Steeling myself for the scolding I'd receive from hospital staff later, I took a deep breath and yelled:
"I swear—!! I swear I'll raise her right—!! On the day I marry her off as a fine young woman and hold her wedding—!! I will definitely invite you—!!!"
My father didn't look back.
Instead, he raised his middle finger in my direction. It meant, 'I'd rather die than be invited!'
I laughed so hard I rolled around the room holding Eto.
Moments later, the nurse who'd come running after the commotion scolded me, but my laughter—and Eto's clueless giggles in response—didn't stop.