"Grandma's going to wake up?!"
Nagasaki... Yoshiiro Chiose had long since learned this from The System, yet at this very moment she still performed a perfect expression of astonishment.
"Soon, dear—so Little Chiose doesn't have to worry anymore... From now on, our whole family is going to be just fine."
Though that was what she said aloud, deep down Nagasaki Soyo still wasn't sure of anything.
She didn't know how to face her mother—it was truly awful. How could the present version of herself be so tangled up and awkward?
Her thoughts shifted, and Soyo knew she couldn't keep dwelling on these things.
She did her best to calm herself, putting forward her strongest and most positive side.
"Could Little Chiose tell Mama some fun stories about you and Grandma? Mama really wants to hear them."
Her relationship with her own mother had, over these past few years, faded as thin as water.
Had she not picked up Chiose, had Chiose not existed, she and her mother might never have had any contact left after she graduated from university.
From twenty-two to thirty—an eight-year gap lay in between.
That gap had seemed, until recently, to be of no consequence... but the moment the door to her heart was pushed open, her sensitive soul could not help but regret its own choices.
Eight years... no, if she counted from the age of eighteen, when Soyo passed her university exams and moved out of home, then her story with her mother had already been frozen in place for twelve years.
And how many twelve-year spans does a mother's life even hold? If her mother hadn't fallen ill... if Little Chiose didn't exist... if it weren't for...
"Mama~ why are you unhappy again? If Little Chiose lets you play with her toys, will Mama feel a little happier?"
"Mama doesn't want to play... they're all covered in mud and sand."
"Then if Little Chiose wipes them clean, would Mama want to play?"
Pfft.
Soyo was tickled by Chiose, and her mood lifted just a little.
Even if you wipe the toys clean it still won't do... Mama is a mature, steady [Mother] now, and would never do something so childish.
"Let's go eat... ah, what time is it now, anyway?"
Soyo scooped Chiose up in one motion, and in that instant she felt as though she possessed boundless strength.
Her daughter was so light—even cotton would be heavier than her. She was so light it was as if she might drift away from this world at any moment.
Was this tiny, soft little cutie really her daughter?
She felt as if she could lift her up completely—along with her whole life.
The kind that lasts a lifetime.
Soyo carried Chiose downstairs, but she had forgotten one thing.
Nagasaki Chiose had only just recovered from being sick. No one had ever told Soyo whether a child who'd only recently gotten better should be out by the sea breathing the salt air, nor did she know whether the seawater might make Chiose catch a cold.
Yoshiiro Chiose stuck out her tongue, and in a spot where Nagasaki Soyo couldn't see, she lowered her eyes.
[Soyo, you idiot, you really are so carefree—you truly still haven't found the resolve to be a mother. But Mama won't blame you.]
[Back in the day I certainly didn't look after you like this! When I took you traveling to Osaka and Hokkaido, I checked the weather forecast for ages, you know. So really, you're still not careful enough as a little girl.]
[Since you won't help me find my toy worth several thousand yen...]
[I've decided to come down with another little illness costing a few hundred thousand yen in medical fees.]
[Hmph hmph...]
...
At Yoho Rain Private Hospital, birth and death happen here every single day.
It's actually quite hard to thoroughly tally up just how many times a single hospital has witnessed the arrival of life and the passing of life, isn't it? After all, such things could happen at any moment.
Life is full of interpretations of existence from different angles... birth, aging, sickness, and death—rather wondrous, isn't it?
The corridor was very upscale.
The ceiling was so bright and clear that Chiose, simply by tilting her head up, could see the reflection cast off the floor.
She saw the anxious Soyo, and the Chiose hiding behind Soyo—very familiar, isn't it? It was the composition that had appeared most often in the last simulation.
Except in the last one it was Little Soyo hiding behind the big Chiose; now it had become the big Soyo shielding the little Chiose. This strange feeling was hard for Chiose to put into words.
"Mama? Is Grandma all right?"
Having finished a brief consultation with the attending physician and various specialists, Soyo let out a sigh, doing her best not to look flustered.
"Your grandma is doing very well."
[Mother's condition is good—it's just me who's not okay... Dr. Haizuka said there's no longer any danger, but...]
Still, she was so worried.
How long had it been since she'd last spoken with her mother? Had even the longing to hear the other's voice now become an extravagant wish?
Truly... life is unpredictable.
The door to the ward was pushed open from the inside, and a corner of the spacious ward came into Chiose's view.
Because of her height, Chiose had to lean around Soyo's sleeve to see clearly who it was that came out.
It was a nurse.
"She's awake now—Ms. Nagasaki, please go in and see her."
"She's awake..." Soyo swallowed, her movement subtle. "Does she need anything to drink? Does she need her sweat wiped or anything like that? Has all of that been taken care of?"
She felt that asking these things was really just a way to stall for time.
She wanted so badly to see her mother, yet she was too embarrassed to face her—bashful, tangled up inside. This was Nagasaki Soyo at this moment.
"Yes, you can go in and visit right now."
The nurse came, the nurse left, and outside the enormous VIP ward there were only two little dumplings, one big and one small, staring blankly at the slowly closing white door.
"Mama? Hm?"
[My daughter must be wondering why I'm not going in... ah, this is so hard to explain to her.]
"Little Chiose, you go in first. Hasn't Little Chiose wanted to see Grandma for so long now? Mama I... need to make a phone call. Mm! It's about work, it's very urgent."
"Eh?"
You silly thing, why have you gone all timid again?
Soyo pushed Chiose's slender little body toward the ward, and under her watchful gaze, Nagasaki Chiose reached up high, caught hold of the door handle, and pressed it down.
But at this moment, Chiose's movement came to a halt.
She turned her head, focusing her crimson eyes on Soyo's.
"Mama? Come in together with me... We can't possibly go our whole lives without seeing each other. Running away won't do any good at all, you know."
"!!!"
"I..."
They say that sometimes the words children speak carry the most striking force... Little Chiose, don't see through Mama's emotions so sharply!
Before Soyo could even react, Chiose had taken hold of her hand. Pulling free would honestly have been the easiest thing in the world, but Soyo simply couldn't bring herself to use any strength.
This child, this child...
Her hand was so warm, and her whole being seemed to be shining.
"Mama, from the day Little Chiose was born until now, I've never once gotten to have my family all gathered together..."
""
"I... understand."
Soyo drew a deep breath, no longer prepared to run away or shrink back.
Her eyes were filled with the color of resolve.
At last!
Nagasaki Soyo took that step forward...
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