Chapter 5

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Epilogue: I"ll play till the end for your sake

That night, Kodzuchi Fuyufu was feeling depressed on top of her bed.

The reason for her depression rested upon the box in front of her. The Ramiel package for 『CtG』 use was quite bland. Just recently, a new version with improved usability and new design changes had been released so the price of the old ones dropped and sold for nearly half price. But even so.

The pocket money she planned on not using till next year had all been blown away from buying that. Unless she takes a part-time job, she won’t have any money to even go out.

“……My funds are ruined because of that idiot.”

Fuyufu was not a loner so she usually doesn’t talk to herself that much. Even that mumble of hers were actually directed to her white cat, Quan. The cat had lain, curled up into a ball on top of Fuyufu’s knee. She was wearing her pajamas.

While stroking Quan’s back, Fuyufu picked up the Ramiel package.

──She hated the device so much.

Like this one, there were plenty of game devices that Yuu’s mother had made games for as their launching t.i.tle. Then, each time a new release came out, Yuu would disappear from Fuyufu’s sight. It’s always been like that ever since they were young.

He would often complain about his always-working mother, but he would always be looking forward to the result of her work. That was the kind of boy Kasugai Yuu once were.

When she was still in the lower grade of elementary school, Fuyufu’s body was very weak and she would often stay inside her room. On many occasions, Yuu would visit her and tirelessly complain about his mother. From listening to his complaints, Fuyufu would get tired and quickly rest on her bed and go to sleep. Despite that, when his mother presented him a new game, Yuu would go crazy about it and end up not visiting her.

I’ll ask my mom so Fufuyu can have the game as well, so will you play with me── like that, he had proposed to her once, but she flatly refused. She didn’t really know the reasons as to why she was opposed to the idea that much, but somehow she just felt resentment to the idea.

In Fuyufu’s room, there is the memento of Yuu’s mother, the『Cradle to The Glaive』 terminal(entrance).

After many years of witnessing his mother complex issues, Fuyufu understood very well about Yuu’s feeling for 『CtG』. That’s why she planned to let him play it till he was satisfied. It would be good to let him gradually ease his sorrow, and it might actually be better to let him alone for the mean time. She had thought.

However, as a result of that, Fuyufu met a dubious girl named Kugimiya Miharu and a strange child calling herself Haruha.

And these mysterious who-know-from-where girls appeared to be living in the Kasugai household.

That’s it! Waiting won’t do any good. Even if I continue to wait, Yuu won’t come to this room anymore.

And that Haruha kid also said──『Mommy and daddy… you see… are 《married》 inside the game!”』. And currently, the only game Yuu would be playing is nothing but 『CtG』. Whatever was happening must be related to that game.

Thus Fuyufu opened the Ramiel box akin to the myth of Pandora’s box. Disaster and chaos might befall Fuyufu’s world as she opened the box to seek the truth of Yuu’s current situation. But.

“He was the one who invited me to play the game to begin with── I will surely make him take responsibility for this!”

And as if to voice its agreement, the cat cried “Nya~” after her.

That night.

Kugimiya Miharu was staring at her own face in front of the washbasin mirror.

The Kasugai household was drowned in silence. For Miharu, having silence in an unfamiliar house brought a strange sense of discomfort throughout her skin.

There was the figure of Miharu who had just taken a bath with freshly dried hair. Her face inside the mirror. While gently stroking her cheeks with her palm, she closed her eyes. It was as if to firmly root her decision she had made in the bathtub into her body.

About her mother, her father, Haruha, and Yuu.

With Yuu and Haruha putting their life at stake, Miharu also made a decision. No matter how precious they are, it’s not like they will always be together forever. It is after all natural, she knew that but she just couldn’t accept that maybe.

That is why── like that. She opened her eyes, and once again looked over herself in the mirror.

“In order to not regret this”

Miharu walked towards Yuu’s room.

That night, Kasugai Yuu was very tired.

──Long. Today sure was a long day.

Woke up, ate a simple breakfast, went shopping, met Fuyufu and made a ruckus, played the game and died once, listening to a ridiculous story about a human computer, watching Haruha’s fierce fight, then battled Memento who cornered her, somehow still managing to teleport away from the onlookers, and when he return to real world he ate a cup ramen for dinner, and had a shower.

Finally, Kasugai Yuu’s helplessly long day was over. The day had made his heart and brain run wild, enough for him to feel uncomfortable in the room he had lived in for nearly ten years.

“It was surely long……”

Above his familiar bed, Yuu let out a big sigh. With the strings of tension finally cut off, his exhausted body tried to relax itself.

He had calmed down right about now, but before, right after he logged out he had vomited everything inside him due to the overwhelming tension he had experienced, moreover he strained his nerves more in order to not let Haruha notice. Even eating dinner took all the energy he had left; it certainly didn’t feel like he won at all.

And Haruha, who Yuu was finally able to protect, was now sleeping right next to him. She curled up like a cat and with her twig-like fingers she grabbed hold of Yuu’s shirt. When he tried to fix the sifted towel blanket, she let out a sweet “Nyuu” sound.

──No matter how long today had become, if it meant he was able to see such a sleeping face then it’s a cheap price to pay.

(I always wonder what this girl really is but……)

A strange child born from inside his mother’s game. People involved with the country said that it was the product of a top-secret plan “ to create a new human race”. In matters of killing, they’re the strongest being in the virtual world.

They were shown the fact that in merely 2 days── Haruha was “something” that was completely different from him. A child, whose purpose of existence was unknown to him.

But, even by admitting that, his heart had already made its decision. In there, there was Haruha, Miharu and him and he felt that it wasn’t bad.

This feeling might be like the one he had towards his own mother. Even though he didn’t know anything about her, even if he was often irritated by her, in the end he didn’t feel bad about it.

It means, he loves Haruha. He loves his mother.

He was finally able to admit such a simple thing.

That was why, after all that had happened, he had to face everything straightforwardly.

(Me, who was running away from Haruha, couldn’t possibly say goodbye to mom)

While talking to himself inside his head, he was speaking to the small finger holding his shirt.

“I’m sorry Haruha…… I really am good-for-nothing. Even though I knew you from the moment you were born, I couldn’t even understand your feeling.”

“Me too.”

The voice came from the just-open door. It was Miharu, who had left Haruha with Yuu and went to the bathroom to prepare for going to sleep. In a pajama she just bought today, she appeared to be more restless than before.

Regardless, the pajama she was wearing was a summer-use with thin fabric. With her being bare from the knee down, her leg looked really smooth and bright, she was pretty enough to make Yuu embarra.s.sed just by looking at her.

“Haruha will surely still feel uneasy after returning back from the game, we mustn’t make the atmosphere worse than this”

Miharu came near the bed. She appeared to be hesitating as she curled her toe. Miharu steeled her will and climbed onto the bed.

The need to uphold the promise of “the three of them sleeping together today” she made with Haruha overwhelmed her own resistance towards the idea. Yuu straightforwardly respected her and her feelings for Haruha. But even so, it didn’t seem he would be able to get used to the feeling of having another person on the bed for a while.

After peeking at Haruha’s sleeping face, Miharu covered herself with the towel blanket and lied down.

“Well then, I’ll turn off the light.”

After receiving a faint voice of agreement, Yuu turned off the light with the remote control. Just like last night, a beautiful river[1] was drawn below the pale moonlight.

For a while, only the sound of Haruha’s sleeping breath and Miharu’s restless sound of rustling clothes was heard. From what it seemed, Miharu and Yuu were naturally unable to sleep for a while.

Around five minutes later, after they continued to feel each other breaths, Miharu muttered.

“This morning…… Haruha said to me. Daddy is so spoiled that he always hugged her when sleeping”

She wasn’t expecting any reply as she said in a small whisper. Yuu looked at Haruha’s carefree sleeping face and replied with a smile.

“Regardless of what happened this morning, right now, I’m just feeling a bit worried. Will Haruha suddenly disappear?…… What will happen from now on? There will most likely be troublesome things happening while maintaining 『CtG』”

This time they had some room to deal with the unexpected things, but when it came to the complicated matters, even Kasugai Yuu, Clamp of Scarabaeus, was completely powerless as he was out of the loop. That was what scared him more than anything else.

“…….But, perhaps, that is just natural. No matter how close the person is, they will one day disappear…… that is why, we must cherish it”

Miharu called it common sense── but those words pierced through Yuu’s heart. As he had given on trying to communicate and suppress the feelings he had…and one day his mother died just like that.

I don’t want any more of that. While carefully making sure not to wake her up, Yuu embraced Haruha’s head.

Even though they had only become a family for only two month, this hugging mole was putting her life on the line for Yuu and Miharu’s sake so I have to protect her no matter what. He simply thought so.

As he smelled a strange fragrance and opened his eyes, Miharu’s head was right in front of him. She also wanted to huddle with Haruha and inevitably end up closing to Yuu. Even though she should’ve used the same shampoo as him, he wondered why she smells so good.

Yuu was unable to properly react, and Miharu then spoke.

“……It’s okay.”

“Eh? W-what……?”

Considering the situation he was in, his voice sounded shrill. Miharu had buried her face under Haruha’s hair so he couldn’t see her expression.

“Come to think of it, at first I was just half-serious in raising a child, so I won’t blame you anymore concerning Haruha’s name. I’ll support you. Your relationship with Kudzuchi-san”

He was about to immediately deny it, but recalling back Miharu’s word from before, he couldn’t. No matter how close the person is, someday they will disappear……

The face of his pet.i.te-expressionless-but-also-good-in-taking-care-of-others childhood friend vividly floated in his mind.

Settying aside whether he wanted to date her or not, Fuyufu was unmistakably a precious person for him. Their mothers were old friends, so both of them had always been together before they were 10. She was like a mix of older sister, little sister, and best friend.

And now, because of his stubbornness their relationship became distant.

He certainly had the desire to get close to her like before or maybe perhaps beyond that. Furthermore, it’s something that he would never attain if he let the chance go by.

“That’s why, don’t worry.”

Surprised by the whispers from Fuyufu in his imagination, he returned his gaze towards Miharu in reality. Miharu raised her face from Haruha’s hair and looked at him. Then she spoke.

“I’ll keep this a secret from Kodzuchi that we slept together.”

“I’ll keep this a secret from Kodzuchi that we sleep together”

I wonder why.

The moment he heard those words. The moment he felt the trembles in Miharu’s eyes. This simple sharing of the bed for rest, somehow felt wrong. His chest tightened and his heartbeat raced faster and faster with each pa.s.sing second. It was painful.

Around ten years ago, he took a nap along with Fuyufu side by side. There was also the time where he had a sleepover at her place and slept in the same futon. Thanks to these flags, she became interested in Yuu even now. The girl whom he was closest with, or rather used to be close with, and wanted to get close to. Kodzuchi Fuyufu.

Now in place where Fuyufu used to be in, was a different girl. A person whom he had a temporary marriage with. “His daughter’s mother”. Shy, afraid of strangers, has strong wariness towards men, but strangely nice when talked to. Kugimiya Miharu.

And the one who was sleeping between Miharu and himself was his “daughter” who was born in the game world, Haruha. While having her name derived from Fuyufu, she was the strong clamp that connected Yuu and Miharu together. Spoiled, but the cutest in the world, new family member.

Fuyufu, secret crush, Miharu, wife, Haruha, daughter of Miharu and him.

…………

……What the heck is this?

What an overly complex situation. From now on, it seemed Hajime would hang around in the house, in the neighborhood── in the neighborhood where Fuyufu lived in, there was no mistake that strange rumors were bound to spread around.

That’s right. Once again, they will have to properly explain this to Fuyufu to clear up the misunderstanding. He must tell her── “Somehow I ended up living together with my daughter who was born inside the game” ── this crazy truth. He couldn’t imagine what kind of reaction she would give though (too scared to think).

His distance with Miharu was also a problem. A big problem. There were also times where he couldn’t guess what was on her mind, and she was also too defenseless. Even though she said she would support his relationship with her, it’s not like his compatibility with Fuyufu was that bad. And the case with Miharu’s school transfer also caught his attention.

And finally Haruha. From what Hajime said, there also a plan to have her attend elementary school. Even today, where they got to be together the whole day, were filled of troubles. He couldn’t even imagine just what kind of things would happen when he and others and Haruha started to go to school.

Of course, with the case of 『Cradle to The Glaive』 and the Hadzars.

……So confusing.

A, deadly, confusing daily life was about to begin.

In such situation, while comforted with the warmth of Haruha, Kasugai Yuu recalled back certain words that were said.

It was one of the very few times he remembered what his mother said.

『Listen Yuu. Even if things don’t won’t work out in school, don’t you blame G.o.d. In a way, G.o.d is the one who programmed the world. Of course, if there was something wrong, people will put all blame on him but── But still. There is no program without a bug after all』

── Like you’re the one to talk. He said with a youthful child-like laughter.

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