Oze
What did he mean, “shaving away his own life”?Did he mean that every time he ferried a passenger to the next world, he lost some of his youth?
So that’s why he looks so old.And yet, even now, he’s trying to save us.
—I want him to come with us to the next world.
The one who made that ridiculous rule about only taking one person along… there’s something wrong with him. His personality must be rotten. I’d been about to ask—
Who was it that made that rule?
—but the conversation was cut short by a damnable flash of lightning.
The Harvester of Hearts was the first to dash out of the room. Kaori-san, whose sickness from earlier had suddenly vanished, hurried after him. I started to move too—only to have my shoulders gripped hard by Rhone.
“What?”
“You poor thing…”
He pulled me into a tight embrace. It hurt. Outside, the heavy crack of a lightning strike rang out. Shut tight in his arms, I couldn’t see a thing.
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“What do you mean, ‘poor thing’…?”
“You’re going to be chosen. You’ll be the one left until the end… taken to the next world, even if all the people you love are left behind in this one.”
What the hell is he talking about? There was a tremor in Rhone’s voice, and I realized there were tears in it.
“I’m sorry…”
Over and over, the lightning fell. Were they all out there now, getting soaked in the rain?
“Hey, why are you crying? What am I supposed to do?”
“Just… let him save you.”
“‘Him’? You mean… our Harvester?”
At last, Rhone loosened his arms a little.
“Yes… This time, he doesn’t have the strength left to save all of you. He’ll have to choose. Even at best, it’ll be you and one other… Either way, you’ll be chosen. When that happens, I want you to accept it without resisting.”
“Why me? Wouldn’t he pick Oomi?”
That’s right. Oomi’s his favorite, after all. The air between us shifted, so close our noses could almost touch, and Rhone spoke in a sigh.
“You don’t understand a thing. He and I… we’re like brothers. Like your friends, Aochi-kun and Oomi-kun. That’s why I pulled my ship alongside today—because I’m worried about him. I don’t want him to vanish. I came to tell him, ‘Stop saving anyone else.’ But he’s too kind for my words to reach him. And I know… I know that when he’s forced to choose, it will have to be you he takes.”
I was reeling. The windowless room echoed endlessly with thunder, heightening my unease. Was there really lightning outside? Was it even raining? I started to doubt everything—even myself.
“I want to stay. Don’t say you’ll take me. If he has to take someone, take those two instead.”
I shifted my head and looked up at Rhone’s face. Up close, it was startlingly beautiful. He was always smirking, so I hadn’t noticed how perfectly formed his features were.
“I’m sorry. But even if I were him, I’d take you. Because you’re the origi—”
A roar of thunder drowned out the rest. The timing was so perfect, it felt like it had come just to keep me from hearing.
“We’ll finish this talk in the rain. It’s something I don’t want you to miss. It’s what you’ll see tomorrow morning.”