Her wish of harmony

His eyes,… gifted with the lustre of the Moon. His eyes, sprinkled with specks of different shades of silver.

     I wish I could contemplate them a while longer without uttering a word. Nonetheless…

“I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself.”

     At the sound of my gentle, steady voice, he unseals his lips. Though, no whisper does wrinkle the air. Not that I let him the time to do so.

“Is this what you think your father hoped his research to achieve? To make you ruin your own life? Are you this obsessed by your work that you cannot see what is right before your eyes?”

     Resting against him, kind of seated over the softness of his stomach, I don’t seek getting up.

“Are you this sad… for having lost your father?”

     It is like the only way he found to keep him somehow present is to continue what his father has begun, though… Nonsense.

“You need to be alive to keep his souvenir alive too.” I add in a whisper.

“I…”

     As he mutters, seemingly surprised by my words, I keep on.

“Over centuries, the Leafeyorb have brightened people’s life. Think of brightening yours.”

     I cast a brief glance aside. Jubokko’s ligneous arms wiggle with declining strength. The colourless gas contained in the sphere has disseminated into the air, succeeding to momentarily appease the blood-thirsty tree.

“I wasn’t sure it would work in this case… Though the Scent did really affect him.”

“To brighten my life, huh?” Marygold replies with a barely convinced smile. “My father spent his time teaching me all he knew about Amahara Corporation in a hope that I could someday carry forward his research. If I abandon his project, what will I have left? A man like me isn’t able to do anything but what he is told to.”

“…At the reception, you asked me if there is a thing I wish to protect in this world. Maybe I am an ‘egoist’ like the founder of Amahara Corporation, nevertheless what I wish to protect is you. More than the world itself. I want to be by your side, to hear your laughter. This simple… this discreet sound that fills the silence.” I say in a whisper, pausing a while to reach a hand to his cheek. “To my eyes, you are what makes the world more beautiful than it is. I refuse a world without you.”

     His irises begin to quiver, seemingly flustered.

     Leaning forward, I place my other hand against his other cheek and reduce to nothing the distance between us. Closing my eyes, I feel my lips brushing his and make sure to infuse all my affection into this gesture. This way, he will not be able to forget it. I want to etch this moment in his memory so that he will never forget how much I care for him.

“If you need someone to tell you what to do, then listen to me.” I pull my face back enough to contemplate his, still cupping his reddened cheeks. “Abandon this lunacy and let me erase your loneliness.”

     Holding my gaze, a chuckle ends up escaping his lips. The smile he gives me is filled with tenderness.

“Fine.” He breathes, straightening up so he can sit along with me. “If that is your answer…”

     He doesn’t bother finishing his sentence, preferring to pass a hand at the back of my head, his fingers caressing my hair.

“Kodama. I grant you access to the room.”

     Almost instantly, a small silhouette appears a few steps away. A small creature with a single leaf upon his head of the shape of a candle flame looks at us.

“Disable the Jubokko.” Marygold orders.

     For a while, the main AI of Amahara Corp. watches the director. Then, it bypasses us so he can directly face the tree with undulating branches.

“You’ve finally taken the right decision.” Kodama comments before his silhouette starts lifting from the ground, as if floating in the air.

     Even if the Scent has offered us a moment of respite, foresee its efficiency against such a peculiar being – a blend of legend’s spirit, nature and technology – would be overconfident.

     While I stand up along with Marygold, Kodama raises his arms towards the Jubokko and a glow flickers in front of him. A remote control program?

     At the same moment I notice the director’s conflicted gaze as he stares at the grim tree.

     Without a word, I simply take his hand in mine. He casts me a glance, and then the vague hissing noise emitted by the Jubokko vanishes. Along with that, the bluish glimmer bathing the surroundings of the tree falters and its branches retract until losing strength, sprawling on the ground.

     When the lights fade away, Kodama turns to face us, going back down until touching the floor again.

“The task has been completed, Mr Leafeyorb. The Jubokko will no longer be an issue.”

“Thank you.”

     A rustle of feathers.

“Over? That’s over, right?” Niji lands on top of Marygold’s head. “Really… All trees should be vegetarian. Don’t do anything like that again or I’m gonna develop tree phobia.”

     After a while, the director turns to face me, a faint yet guilty smile over his features.

“I won’t say I am sorry, because it wouldn’t be fully honest. I did what I thought being the best for Amahara Corporation. That said… I never wanted to hurt you.”

     He pauses, taking my hand to his lips so I can feel their caress on the back of it. I can’t help but cast him a soft smile at the gesture.

“So, maybe there is something I can do to make amends?”

     I take a while to ponder about that proposition, when Niji leans forward so he can glance at him.

“Dress as a catgirl.” He suggests.

     Closing his eyes, Marygold casts him a stiff smile.

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

     A silent laugh escapes me as I watch them argue.

     Before I came to Ōnomori, the days had followed one another and were alike. Like snow, they were pure and graceful. Though, like it, they also lacked warmth.

     These days gone by aren’t unfortunate memories. I simply lived the only way I knew.

     Nonetheless, for nothing in the world would I wish to live other days like these. I want to keep the soothing warmth I feel in my chest whenever Marygold Leafeyorb is by my side. I want to create more memories with him, to make him laugh.

     I want to help him learn living in another way and to make him feel loved.

     A chuckle I can’t refrain fills the air as I lower my head, so that Marygold and Niji turn astonished gazes towards me.

“Aurora?” The director wonders, raising his eyebrows.

     My shoulders shake slightly as I direct my golden eyes towards him, mid-closed. A blush colours my cheeks.

“I would love… to see you like this.”

     Coughing, Marygold averts his gaze.

     After a few seconds, keeping a hand near his face, he answers a few words in a flustered tone.

“W-well… if it is what you wish.”