"A new song written for me? Huh?"
The whole way there, her small hand held in Chiose's as they walked toward the other girl's home, Taki kept turning over that phrase: a new song written for you.
At noon it hadn't registered at all, but somewhere on the walk back to the classroom it caught up with her, and after that she couldn't shake it. She kept chewing on the flavor of those words.
Chiose had never liked to talk. Still, when it made things easier for Taki to understand, she would use more than just sign language and written notes to get her meaning across.
When she'd told Taki the news at lunch, her mouth had opened and closed like a little goldfish, repeating Taki's name.
[Ah… she's really too cute.]
The hand in hers was small and soft, and stronger than she'd expected.
So these were the hands that played all those beautiful pieces.
[And she wrote a song for me. Honestly. It's the first time anyone outside my family has given me a present, and the very first one has to mean this much…]
Tugged along by Chiose the entire way, Taki drifted somewhere far outside her own head. From the school gate to the train station, from the intersection to the streets near Chiose's house, the curve at the corner of her mouth never dropped by even a fraction.
What a strange feeling. Really, what a…
"We're here!"
Chiose's voice came out small, a faint call that a gust of wind might have carried off entirely.
"Huh, Little Chiose, you're wearing your hearing aid?"
The aid tucked into her ear was engraved with a conch shell and a pirate ship. There was a beauty to it all its own.
Taki had noticed that Chiose didn't wear it very often, but out of respect for her privacy she had never brought the subject up.
"Mm. Because, I…" Chiose's delivery stuttered a little, as though she were working to get used to speaking again.
"My hearing loss is fairly severe. A lot of the time wearing it doesn't help much… the effect is poor, and wearing it too long does more damage. So unless it's something really important, I… don't put it on much."
That was a lie, though most of it was true.
Chiose blinked those cute eyes of hers, then turned her head away without a word and fished around in her pocket for the key.
What was there to say. The traits The System handed out really were convenient. [Manifest Calamity], usable only once in a lifetime, had been absurdly powerful—it had very nearly ended the Simulation ahead of schedule.
"But," Chiose said, her voice still quiet, though Taki didn't dare let a syllable slip past her.
The moment the door swung open, the rest of her words followed right behind.
"Because today I'm going to… play the piano for Taki. So I thought I should wear it."
Chiose tilted her head and stepped aside, opening up space for Taki.
She made a small gesture of invitation, standing by the door to welcome Taki Shiina into her little home.
Her voice was still a bit warped, and Taki didn't find that the least bit odd.
She was discovering that she liked Chiose's voice more and more… or maybe it was simply that she liked Chiose more and more.
[Because of me?]
Once again, Taki felt as if the entire world had chosen to favor her.
[Because of me, Taki Shiina…]
Inside, the place was pitch dark.
Face burning, Chiose ran back and forth through the rooms, yanking all the curtains open.
She bowed to Taki several times, thoroughly embarrassed, mumbling, [Ah, it's just, I'm usually alone, so… I don't really open the curtains.]
Taki was led to the sofa and sat down. Her eyes went straight to the electric keyboard in the middle of the living room.
"Where are your parents, Little Chiose? Are they out working late or something?"
Noshiro Chiose didn't react at first. Her hearing loss really did seem to be severe past a certain point, and the thought sat badly with Taki.
What came next twisted the knife much deeper.
When Noshiro Chiose finally caught what Taki Shiina had said, she was quiet for a moment, and then answered in the lightest possible tone:
"They passed away…"
"!!!"
I really do deserve to die.
"Sorry, I didn't know any of that, I—"
"It's okay. Don't worry about it."
Taki knew Chiose spoke in that slow, even rhythm because she was afraid her voice sounded too strange. But at a moment like this, the gentleness felt like a fine needle going straight through Taki's heart.
[I've done something stupid again. Taki Shiina, Taki Shiina, how can you keep being this thick-headed?]
Fruit and tea arrived on the table. The cute cat mug was for her; Chiose used a ceramic cup shaped like a jet-black crow.
Chiose took a small sip of tea, then got ready to play.
For families like theirs, not exactly well-off, an electric keyboard made more sense anyway. Still, the brand looked like a Casio, which meant Noshiro Chiose's parents had done everything within their means to build a proper environment for her.
And that set Taki's nerves going all over again.
She was even beginning to wonder… whether the way Chiose's parents died had anything to do with her…
"I'm starting now."
The keyboard rang out on its own, and there was something impatient in the way Chiose played, as though she couldn't wait a second longer.
Taki couldn't tell whether Chiose was simply too excited to show off her song, or whether she was trying to say, [Taki, you don't have to sit there regretting things while I play.]
The melody stretched out, lilting and unbroken. With the curtains open, the room had filled with light. Taki walked around to Chiose's side and watched those slender fingers, striking the keys hard one moment and kissing them the next.
The song felt like facing loss and regret calmly, and a listener would slide without noticing into exactly the mood the player wanted to carry them toward.
The performance went on, and a picture had already taken shape in front of Taki's eyes.
The song woke a certain winter morning out of her memory. She saw herself curled up at her desk under a small blanket, a cushion squeezed between her knees, reading.
Sunlight slipped through the window and spread itself across the desk. Taki knew that the world outside, only a few steps away, was painted in cold colors, but she herself was warm all the way through.
The winding melody eased toward its close, and only then did Taki notice that Chiose had stopped watching the keys at some point.
She was looking at Taki, smiling, and Taki didn't dare meet those eyes.
[I must have looked completely ridiculous just now.]
But it had been so beautiful that Taki kept sinking back into every good thing she'd ever known.
Good memories, paired with time, would heal her.
When the last note dissolved into the air, Chiose—who had put the hearing aid in especially for Taki—took it off and put it away.
Noshiro Chiose stood up and turned a full circle in front of Taki, the hem of her skirt swinging with her, and only then did she speak. She looked exactly like a little girl showing off her report card to her parents.
"Was it good…?"
Taki nodded. It took her a long while of digging to come up with sign language she could use to answer:
[What's it called?]
"The name? I… don't know. Does Taki have anything to suggest…"
[I get to name it? Then… A Broken Heart Heals with Time.]
Taki hoped, too, that she and time could be the medicine, and heal Chiose together.
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