Chapter 7:

Our Worlds - First Part

Little green apocalypse


“You have a incredible power!”

“You have the gift that can save the world.”

“You think?”

“Of course! You’re surely the only one able to do this.”

“… You power.”

“… Yes?”

“He has constraints, right?”

Constraints…

Right.

It is not suitable in certain environments.

If my physical condition is not respected, it gets out of hand.

And conversely, it wears me out quite easily.

“Yes, it does.”

“… But you must have heard it, again.”

“… Yes.”

“I trained for a long time when I was child. My only objective was to be able to make the plants invincible and even more beautiful.”

“… I couldn’t stand watching them die.”

“It was around this time I realized that nothing was everlasting.”

“But that I wanted to fight for what was there today.”

“Maybe I can’t make them immortal.”

“Maybe I won’t save the world.”

“But I will have done my best, and accepted who I am.”

“’Never have any regrets’, it’s kind of like an order given to me by my mother…”

“… I see.”

“I don’t know what’s my actual dream…”

“I grew up in a fairly poor family. My brother wanted to become an Astronaut. He tried to do odd jobs to pay for his studies. He worked hard, so hard…”

“… But he gave up after our mother got sick.”

“I don’t know if he regretted giving up his dream.”

“’I’ll bring you a moonstone’ he used to tell me.”

“It just seems so ridiculous to me today.”

“I don’t think he regretted it.”

“He wanted to save your mother. That’s what he cared about, more than anything in the world.”

“Like me, who wanted to make plants immortal…”

“… In the end, we just have to accept how our universe is made.”

“Some stars have disappeared without our knowing it, but their light continues to shine in this world.”

“Some people may disappear, but their light will last.”

“Your mother lives in you, and that’s what matters.”

“… You’re right.”

“… Sorry, I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Ah! No problem, you could go.”

It wasn’t the happiest discussion indeed.

But sometimes it is necessary to discuss, to realize.

We are no longer children, sleeping in an illusionary world.

We have accepted our reality.

But even so.

I will not give up my ideals.

And I will do whatever it takes to do what I think is right.

Ah, my rock is so dented!

I know you were fragile, and I was so violent…

“By the way Lyre, you tell me about your mother but I have never heard you talk about your father before.”

“… My father?”

“…”

“I have no father.”

“What?!”

“I have no father.”

A father.

The one who should accompany a mother…

And their child.

At least that’s what I read in my picture books.

In reality, I don’t know what it is.

I tried to ask mom.

His cheerful face turned into a serious and embarrassed expression.

I felt that wasn’t a question to ask.

“What does a father do?”

“… I think it depends on each person.”

“Ours spent half the time at work and the other half at home.”

“He took care of us, even when he didn’t really have time.”

“I loved him, as much as my mom.”

“They did things, hand in hand.”

“Like a dance.”

A dance…

I never had the chance to do it.

I would have wanted to…

“…”

“… What?! Keep going.”

“They were the best couple of lovers I have seen.”

“People on the streets used to argue, for various reasons.”

“Whereas them… They played games with each other when there was a problem.”

“Rebus, Hangman, Custom Goose Game, Revisited Monopoly… I even remember mom making a video game for a laundry problem.”

… Games to solve their problem?

Is that normal?

“… No. Not really, I think.”

“I think they always kept their competitive spirit.”

“As well as their child’s soul.”

“They’d explained us, at the hospital…”

“Apparently they met in an arcade.”

Arcade room…

I heard about it in a book…

But it was pretty poorly detailed, so I have no idea what it looks like.

“Haha! This is a place where there are video game kiosks, cuddly toys and capsule machines.”

“We might come across some… Not sure they’ll work though.”

“But to go back to the story, they would come every day, playing the same game.”

“Never at the same time. So they left their best scores and leaved each day…”

“… And each time, the next day, they were beaten.”

“They ended up wanting to beat the other’s score so badly that they monopolized the machine…”

“And meet each other.”

… Love is hard enough to imagine.

“No… They were just specials.”

“At the end, they faced each other simultaneously and ended up… Tied.”

“My father impressed, declared his love to her.”

And so, that’s where it all started…

“… No. My mother rejected him.”

“Fifteen times.”

Fifteen?!

… You have to be insistent in love.

“No, no! Don’t be like him… Once more, they were special.”

“My mom didn’t want to be with him, she was someone who saw his freedom as a way to express herself.”

“He later learned that she was actually part of a yakuza family.”

… Mafia.

Tattoos… Katanas… And family values.

This is what I read about them.

“And, at the same time, she was hanging out with a bunch of delinquents, who used to attack other groups who got too close to their ‘territory’.”

“Why does your mother look like such a violent person to me compared to everything you’ve told me so far?”

“Hahaha!”

“She was. And my father, a little less.”

“A little less?”

“My father was escaping from his family life. He was from a much richer background. He had run away from this home at this time. His family’s indifference to his mother’s death has finished off the rest of his faith in his father, my grandfather.”

“At least, that’s how he described it.”

“He begun pickpocketing, spending his days playing video games.”

“He was thin, not very muscular and he on the streets.”

“My mother found him repulsive.”

“…”

“One day, while following her, he pounced on a man who tried to stab my mother in the back.”

“He was one of his own gang, who wanted to reap the rewards of his influence in the group.”

“A bit like the head in a wolf pack.”

… Why do I feel like this story doesn’t end there?

“… She was angry with him.”

“She was going to the hospitable… to hit him and make fun of him.”

“My father was happy.”

“Happy?!”

… I read another book on this.

That’s…

“How many books have you read?! And no, it’s not that fetish!”

… You are more mature than I thought, Hiko.

“Haha. Anyway, he was happy that she was with him.”

“Her very presence was enough to make him smile.”

“She visited him for a month.”

“And every day, it was the same.”

“She was hitting him. he declared his love to her. Sometimes I was even the other way around.”

“One day, his family finally visited him.”

“Then that was the last time she came.”

“She finally explained to him why she couldn’t date him.”

“She told him that what happened that day would be a hundred times worse.”

“That their families would never forgive him, and that the gangs would certainly target him.”

“But she hadn’t told him everything…”

“She knew that, if she told him, that he would never have given up.”

“She trying to impress and scare him.”

“But… by the time he could get up, he went back to where he had been stabbed.”

“Their gang was not far away, and my mom was obviously there.”

“That day, he showed up in front of all the delinquents, who adored my mother…”

“… And, declared, in broad daylight, in front of everyone: “

Chisa, I love you. Marry me!”

“Why?! It’s suicide!”

“Yes. He was determined to die.”

“He told us his love was stronger that the idea of dying.”

“His live was meaningless without her.”

“Fortunately, and unfortunately, my mother stopped them.”

“Unfortunately?”

“Yes… She faced him in a one-on-one fight.

“I’m going to face you. If you beat me, you can do whatever you want with me, and with them.”

“… And he accepted.”

“…”

“…But he doesn’t stand a chance.”

“There’s no way he could win.”

“Yes… My mother was very clearly stronger. Technically and in terms of sheer strength.”

“My mother was a bit like Godzilla…”

“But my father decided to face her on an equal footing.”

… I don’t feel like it really turned out that way.

“…”

“… Yes, at least, that’s how he described it.”

“The fight has started, under the twilight.”

“The sun was in my mother’s eyes. And my father was there, standing and not moving.”

“You’re crazy. How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here since last night. I am itching to tell myself that tomorrow I could live with you by my sides.”

“…”

“Kill that scumbag! – Show him, that clown! – I WILL DESTROY HIM MYSELF!”

“Calm down!”

“…”

“How could you beat me? I’m much stronger than you.”

“Everyone has their own qualities. He told me that I should not forget that sentence which he had said.”

“I know what’s going on. I also know what is happening with your body. I did my research, even though you didn’t tell me that day.”

“… He obtained confidential information?”

“No. It was a bluff.”

“The result of watching her every move for months.”

“My mother used to scratch, always in the same place.”

“My mother had a heart disease.”

“…”

“She knew it too. She found herself propelled by things to where she was now.”

“And on top of all the reasons I gave, this was one more reason she didn’t want to get into a relationship.”

“… It made her mad with rage.”

“Worse yet, she was struggling to control herself. To show that she wasn’t upset.”

“She had to keep face.”

“But my father had already won the psychological war.”

“In a way… Your mother let him into her secret garden.”

“She didn’t have to visit him every day, or even confront him… All of those times.”

“It was what she wanted. What was buried in her.”

“…”

“Finally, the fight began.”

“My mother thought she had every chance of winning.”

“My father still wasn’t moving.”

“As she rushed at him, he told her something new.”

“This place is trapped. Be careful where you step.”

What?!

“But it’s forbidden!”

“… It can be seen as a low blow.”

“But in this kind of fight, the rules are not clearly written.”

“… This is a deathmatch.”

“… But why did he tell her then?”

“Well… He told us he didn’t want her to get hurt.”

“But that his only way to win was this one.”

“My mother became suspicious, but her blood was boiling. She was losing her temper.”

“Then she finally decided to go for it headlong.”

“… And she fell into a thirteen-meter-deep hole.”

“…”

“Before coming out.”

“Your mother isn’t human.”

“She then jumped on my dad. Because of the contrary sun, she hadn’t seen the threads installed.”

“These threads were particularly restrictive. My father had macerated them in a extremely sticky element.”

“It’s like in a Video Game Chisa, and today I’m going to get the highest score.”

“…”

“My mom told me that, at this point, she has never felt that much feelings.”

“Her anger had never reached such a point.”

“She wanted to kill him.”

“If he was dead, his secret could be kept and everything would be fine.”

“His clothes were twisted into the threads.”

“… So, she took them off.”

“And rushed in again, wary of any hanging threads.”

“And so as not to fall into a hole, she was preparing to jump on her supporting foot at any time.”

“She couldn’t lose anymore.”

“… Finally, she hadn’t noticed the threads dragged along the ground by my father. She had landed on it the first time.”

“She fell head first.”

“… Then she took off her shoes.”

“The rest of the fight was a chain of many other traps…”

“Each one was carefully positioned, either on the ground or in a remote location.”

“My father had to spend the night, setting everything up.”

“And already had everything ready, expecting Chisa’s reactions.”

“… My mom ended up in her underwear. It was extremely humiliating for her, but she refused to give up.”

“I’ll give you the life I want, once I win. I can’t wait, hahaha!”

“Why has your father become so evil in the meantime…”

“An hour had passed and he had no other traps.”

“Mom had triggered them all.”

“There was only one left…”

“One last, hidden under his clothes.”

“Your father is a deceitful man.”

“That’s true.”

“But he never deviated from his ideas.”

“This last trap… Prepared since the beginning of the fight.”

“Ever since he was standing there, planted, doing nothing.”

“And again, my mother hadn’t noticed a thing.”

“I didn’t exactly tell you, but my mother’s group was on a wasteland, near a cliff and a river.”

“And my father told us that the rock erosion takes a while, because of the large mass…”

“…”

“My mom got it down on my dad one last time.”

“This time, there was nothing to block his road.”

“Logic would have wanted his fist to go towards his head.”

“My father logically knew that this would be the place where she would strike.”

“But, this time, he just hoped.”

“If she loved him, she would punch her in the stomach.”

… What kind of love Is that?

“… And so?”

“…Mom hit him in the stomach.”

“And the mechanism kicked in.”

“A big explosion and a huge landslide. The cliff is cut out.”

“This is madness!”

“He could have died! And kill her too!”

“He was sure he could protect her.”

“Whatever happens.”

“… The odds have turned in his favor.”

“My mother and him fell into a river, and got carried away…”

“They ended up in several kilometers away. The river was extremely active, due to heavy rains in neighboring towns.”

“… And they finally ended up on a beach.”

“While my father drowned.”

“He was exhausted. He hadn’t slept all night. He had tensed his muscles so as not to fall from fatigue during the fight.”

“… Your father impresses me with his crazy tactics and his ability to attract danger.”

“Nothing is normal in this story. It’s not right that you put your life on the line just for love!”

This is not how love was described in my stories!

“Yes… This is clearly not normal. I thought this whole thing was made up, but mom confirmed it to us afterwards.”

“My father was almost dead. My mother was okay, she still had the liveliness to swim.”

“She could let my father die.”

“In a way, logic would have wanted it.”

“But… She had realized that he had made her feel a lot more than she had ever felt before.”

“And that no one had ever stood up to her so much.”

“… Even her father had never been so stubborn in her face.”

“And, she finally saved him from drowning.”

“…”

“Why are you so insistent? Don’t you understand when I say no?”

“You lost.”

“I’ve lost? Ah! I guess I forgot that I couldn’t swim. Hahaha!”

“You’re silly.”

“… How’s your heart?”

“Are you truly ill?”

“So… You weren’t really aware of it.”

“No. I’ve noticed a weird twitch in you.”

“You kept touching your chest. Like you were cursing what was there.”

“…”

“My heart is malfunctioning. And there’s nothing we can do about it. We don’t know why, whether it’s hereditary or not. It’s like that.”

“Take mine.”

“Stop with your bullshit! Why do you say that?”

“Because I love you.”

“We played together in the arcade for a bit and you fell in love with me. You couldn’t stand losing to me!”

“… We end up in a tie.”

“No, I’ve won.”

“You used a cheat-code to take ten additional points.”

“…”

“A ‘Cheat-Code’ is a manipulation, often on video games to unlock features presented by the game. It’s one way to bend the rules of the game.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Did you notice that?!”

“Of course! Cheater!”

“Why didn’t you did it too?”

“…”

“I don’t know.”

“If I had, we most certainly wouldn’t be here now.”

“Everything that happened…”

“But… This was the first time.”

“I felt a new urge growing in me.”

“And that sparkle in your eyes. I didn’t want to turn it off.”

“Your light inspired me. Your hope and your determination.”

“You didn’t know how to back down. Just move on, whatever happens, anyway.”

“You go over obstacles as if they don’t exist.”

“You know very well what is costs to be around me.”

“And yet, you don’t stop.”

“… Even knowing that I have an illness.”

“Even knowing that one day, I will leave you. I will abandon you.”

“You still want to live with me…”

“…”

“I want to experience your feelings.”

“I want to be near you to live every moment with you.”

“I want to see the rainbow of your emotions every day.”

“You light up my days, I admire you. You have such strength… You are someone with incredible leadership.”

“You impressed me and I want to live near that light.”

“… Fool.”

“Ah…I lost.”

“I give you the reins of the gang, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“I refuse.”

“But… Why?!”

“Marry-me. I want you to accept it.”

“What I said during the fight… It was just to piss you off.”

“… You’re not ordinary.”

“Alright. I accept. But I’ll tell you ahead of time, I’m not easy going!”

“You’re going to see a lot of colors!”

“… My mom never told this to father but, she was on verge of tears.”

“His pride never allowed her.”

“I hope so…”

“Thanks, Chisa.”

“… You never told me your name, asshole.”

“I’m not going to call you ‘Hero’, like your nickname on the arcade machine.”

“Yû”

“…”

“Soaked, she bowed to him and said:”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Chisa. And from this day forward, I will live with you. Take care of me.”

“… Your mother was in her underwear, right?”

“Yes, my father gave her his soaked clothes afterwards.”

“He told her he would compensate her for her clothes.”

“Then they got into a fight, laughed and headed back to town.”

“My father was like that.”

“He rushed forward, without thinking of the social consequences.”

“When he had an idea, it was hard to stop him.”

“But he was extremely nice.”

“I will never forget the moments we had as a family.”

So, that’s a father…

I can see more of what it can be now.

I think I would like to know… If I really had one… or not.

“I’m glad you told me all about this, thank you very much.”

“Now I can see how important a father can be.”

… And also, the spread of insanity that love can cause.

“… It will soon be time to eat.”

The sun is reaching its zenith.

“Ah yes, I’ll go get food.”

“Alright. I’ll cook them!”

“… Are you sure?”

“Perfectly sure. It’ll be to thank you for your story.”

“Well, I can’t wait.”

A father…