Chapter 243 - The Day That Someday Came
"There’s nothing better than a drink in the middle of the day!!"
"That’s the truth."
"You ain’t wrong."
"To put it mildly, it’s the best."
It was a Sunday. Satou and his delightful group of mature women had gone out drinking since morning. Satou and Chika earned some disapproving looks from children, but they paid them no mind. Hardworking adults need this kind of rest sometimes.
"Where to next?"
"Let’s see. The first two spots were Hiro’s and Suzuki-kun’s recommendations, so maybe it’s our turn?"
"Yeah. Now, are there any good places?"
"We don’t have to decide right away. We’re getting a bit full, so let’s walk for a little."
And so it was decided. As the four of them were strolling along and chatting, Satou suddenly stopped.
"What’s wrong, Hiro?"
"Oh… I just realized, this is around where I used to live."
"First time I’m hearing that. Haven’t you always lived where you are now?"
"Even I couldn’t afford that place as a first-year employee."
The apartment Satou currently lived in was a fairly nice property. Considering his assets from the Supernatural World, he could have afforded it even in his teens, but there was his public persona to consider.
"The first place I lived after moving out of my parents' house was around here. I was here until I was about twenty-two or three, I think?"
"Oh, so it’s a place full of memories for you."
"Yeah. Though I haven’t had any reason to come back here since I moved, so I never did."
As he spoke, Satou began walking toward somewhere. The other three followed, and after a short walk, they arrived at a perfectly ordinary intersection.
"There used to be a friend I’d often chat with here on my way home from work."
"Here… you mean, at the intersection?"
"She was a ghost bound to this spot."
Satou’s eyes narrowed nostalgically as he answered Chika’s question.
"I was a rookie employee, and I was pretty stressed out."
"That’s surprising. I always thought you’d have handled things well right from the start."
"No way… I was an adult. The communication skills you need are different from when you’re a student, right?"
Unfamiliar work, unfamiliar social interactions. He used to complain about all of it to the ghost who was here.
"I was also still dragging around the awkward way I parted with you guys."
""Urgh.""
"Ahaha. So what was this ghost like?"
"Her name was Airi-chan. She died in an accident at seventeen. She was a bit sharp-tongued, but super kind."
It was his daily routine to bring her coffee or sweets on his way home from work and chat for about an hour.
"She’s passed on now, right?"
"Yeah. When I was twenty, I think. We had one last date… and then we said goodbye."
It was lonely, but they had parted on a bright note, Satou smiled.
"Whoops, got a little sentimental there."
"...Yeah. I’m starting to sober up, so shall we head to the next place?"
"Good idea. Who’s next, Saionji-san or Takahashi-kun?"
"Then I’ll…"
As she was about to continue, all four of them simultaneously whipped their heads toward the road. A little girl, about third grade, was crossing at the crosswalk on a green light. From her right, a passenger car that was clearly not normal was barreling toward her at an incredible speed. A normal person wouldn’t make it in time, but the people here were not normal.
"I’ll go. You guys handle the car."
Satou said curtly, then entered the crosswalk, scooped up the girl, and dashed to the other side. A moment later, a deafening roar echoed as the car crashed.
"The car is totaled, but I protected the person inside. The rest is up to the police," said Chika.
"Hey, is the kid hurt at all?"
Takahashi, who had also joined Satou, asked worriedly. As a preschool teacher, he couldn’t help but worry about children.
"Of course not. But just in case. Little lady, are you hurt anywhere?"
"…"
"Little lady?"
For some reason, the girl’s eyes were wide open, and she was frozen solid. Did I mess up? Satou thought, and tried to put the girl down to check her condition, but she wouldn't let go of his arm. As he wondered what to do,
"A, a, a… Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
She started crying at the top of her lungs. Satou immediately put up a perception-blocking barrier and yelled at Takahashi.
"H, hey, what am I supposed to do?! Do something, you!!"
"Why are you talking like a valley girl all of a sudden. …Anyway, calm down."
She probably just processed the situation and got scared. It was cruel to expect a child this age to just take it in stride. Let her cry for a while, Takahashi advised, and Satou, realizing he was right, regained his composure.
But,
"‘We met.’"
Suddenly, the girl started saying strange things between sobs.
"‘We met again’! Hideo, it's you!!"
""""...Huh?""""
Who? No, I don’t know her. She’s calling your name. It must be a different Hideo. What’s a different Hideo? The four of them communicated with just their eyes, oblivious to the girl who was now crying even more violently. Do something, Satou pleaded with Chika and Takahashi, but…
"W, well, it’s been a long time since I looked after little kids… and Rika hardly ever cried…"
"I might be an active teacher, but trying to pull a kid away in that state would just backfire."
They bluntly refused him. Left with no choice, Satou handed Takahashi his wallet and ordered him to buy some drinks and snacks that a small child would like. He had only ordered Takahashi, but Chika and Suzuki, wanting to escape the chaotic situation, seized the opportunity and went along too. Left alone, Satou decided to move and, recalling old memories, relocated to a nearby park.
"...You smell like alcohol."
As he sat on a bench with the girl in his arms, she said this in a tearful voice.
"S, sorry about that?"
"...Fufu, so this is how you act around kids."
"Um… miss, have we met somewhere before?"
With eyes swollen from crying, but with a bright look on her face, the girl said,
"Oh, we have. From a past life, I should say?"
This is bad, she's a weirdo! Satou shuddered, but he quickly remembered his own existence and came back to his senses. A past life? A past life, you say? Reincarnation? Whose, he thought, until it hit him.
"...Could it be, Airi-chan…?"
"Yes. Though I have a different name now."
"…"
Satou’s eyes widened as far as they could go. For a powerful being like himself or Chika, it was possible to retain memories even after being reincarnated. But the girl before him, now and in her past life, had no such aptitude. That is why Satou was so shocked.
"Ever since I was little, I always felt like I had forgotten something. I always felt like I had to find someone."
"Airi-chan…"
"It was you. To think we’d meet again like this."
Her cause of death in her past life was a traffic accident. And her cause of death in this life was nearly a traffic accident as well. To be saved from that fate by Satou was a true miracle, Airi laughed.
"...You’ve gotten old."
"...Well, I am a man in his mid-thirties now."
"It’s been that long. Of course you’d get old and put on weight… But, you’re still the same Hideo."
Satou felt a little like crying at Airi’s happy smile. As he soaked in the good fortune of meeting her again in this way,
"We have to fulfill our promise, you know."
"Promise?"
"Did you forget? Well then, I’ll remind you."
Airi grabbed Satou by the collar, pulled his face close, and,
"!?"
Planted a passionate kiss on him. It wasn't just any kiss. It was a deep one, with tongue and all. Several tens of seconds passed with him at her mercy, then, puha! Airi broke the kiss and smiled.
"That’s the first kiss I couldn't give you before."
It was at that moment.
"What the hell do you think you’re doing!!"
"You lolicon!!"
"What happened to the Hiro who used to vehemently condemn lolicons?!"
It was the trio of mature women, who had witnessed the entire scene. The trio ignored the wide-eyed Airi and fiercely cornered Satou, but…
"Hey Satou, are you liste…"
The trio’s eyes shot wide open.
"""H, he’s dead…"""
Satou was dead. He could not withstand the antisocial act of sharing a deep kiss with an elementary schooler.