Oze
Aochi was the only one still unable to follow the conversation.
“What do you mean?”
Should I really be the one to say this now? I looked to Oomi for help.
“Oze-san, please, pull yourself together. You are the one who is living in this moment.”
That’s true.
There’s no one else but me—no one else to persuade me but myself.
“Oze…?”
Poor Aochi looked so anxious.
“Listen calmly. You are me.”
At first, Aochi laughed. But when he realized that no one else was laughing—instead staring at him with pained expressions—his face turned suddenly fearful.
No, I can’t explain this any further. When I understood it myself, I was thrown into confusion.
“…Shall I explain in your place? I’ve never had to say something like this to the person himself, so I don’t know if I’ll manage.”
The Harvester of Hearts placed a hand gently on my shoulder as he spoke. A warm, broad hand, like my late father’s.
Without even wiping my tears, I looked up at his face and answered.
“Please… could you?”
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“Hey, at least try to hide that tear-stained face. You look like a child.”
The Harvester smiled.
“Aochi, you were the only one who hadn’t realized it. You are another Oze, born inside Oze’s heart. Wait—let me finish. You truly live within Oze. You’re not dead. And Oze isn’t some multiple personality case, either. Isn’t it normal for one human being to have many sides? Have you ever once seen someone—anyone—who never changes no matter the time, place, or circumstance? And if you think you have, that’s just a misunderstanding. What do you actually know of that person? Were you with him twenty-four hours a day, every day? Could you see his heart? Exactly. It’s normal for people to carry several selves inside them. Oze becomes you whenever he wants to be you. He is with you whenever he wants to be with you. That’s how he builds himself.”
Aochi remained silent, his gaze cast down. What should I do—should I go to him? Should I put my arm around his shoulders?
—Forgive me. Forgive me that someone as good as you has to live inside someone like me.
I wanted to reach out, but fear held me back—even though it was me I was trying to reach.
Suddenly, Oomi darted past me and leapt onto Aochi.
“Aochi-san, you want to cry, don’t you? Go ahead and cry. You are the afterimage of Oze-san when he was at his strongest. Cool-headed Aochi-san, the one who worried about me, the one who got angry for my sake—I like you more than I like Oze-san.”
What are you saying… Normally I’d have snapped at him.
But not now. Oomi was right.
Aochi lifted his face just a little. I wanted to see his expression, but at that very moment, the red nebula blocked my view.
All I had to do was move, but it was as if something had seized my body, holding me down—like the talons of a great bird pinning me in place.
“Aochi will be fine.”
Those words, along with a push on my back, came again from the Harvester.
Step by half-step, I approached Aochi. The face I finally saw was my own, back when I was still brimming with life in elementary school.
The me who had lived so fiercely that even the Watcher Bird would covet it.
The me Kaori-san and Mamoru admired—so foolishly righteous.
I had carried that within my heart all along. Even now, it still saved me.
At last, close enough to reach, I wrapped my arms around Aochi’s shoulders, Oomi still clinging to him.
No one was angry. Thank God. I had met myself.
“…I envy you.”
Hearing that, I lifted my face from where it was buried between the two heads.
Silent-chan was staring straight at us.
“How did it happen for you, Silent-chan—”
But before she could begin, Rhone raised a hand to stop her.
“I’ll tell that story. For Silent-chan it’s too painful, and for me… it’s a sin.”