In the end, I left some dessert behind.
Rubia had to stop with her fork halfway through; there was no helping it.
I tried to gobble everything down, but that was just a pipe dream.
Still, we chatted a lot.
It was clear I wouldn’t catch the important bits anyway.
So… we just talked about mundane stuff.
But it was still fun.
“Ugh, but this feels like such a waste…”
“You can just box it all up.”
“But eating it here is totally different from having it later, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Giggle-giggle — Rubia stood up with the tray full of desserts.
“I’ll carry one.”
“Really?”
This time, she didn’t hesitate and extended the tray to me.
I nodded happily and took the tray.
“So, where are we headed now?”
“To the park. Let’s just gossip there!”
“Gossip? You just…”
“Just now, it was mostly Noah talking.”
“Oh… right.”
Just like Rubia said, I was rambling all by myself before.
I suppose it felt heavy to bring up certain topics… but it was something I had to do.
I didn’t want to drop the heavy stuff right before we left either.
“I have a ton to say as well, so get ready.”
“Uh, okay… sure.”
Rubia smiled as she set the tray down at the checkout counter.
I clumsily placed my tray down too.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Rubia immediately turned her back and headed outside.
I checked the clock behind the counter and followed Rubia.
It was almost 10 PM already.
Time sure flies.
“Rubia, is the park far?”
“Hmm… we’ll have to walk a bit, but it’s not too far. About 15 minutes?”
“Got it.”
Ding-dong—
As the door opened, a completely different scene unfolded.
The lights illuminating the city were brightly lit, and there wasn’t a single soul left on the street doing repairs.
“It’s quiet. Everyone must be tired.”
“That’s right. I guess a lot happened.”
“A lot… right. Everyone must have had a tough time.”
Still.
Something like that happened, and yet…
Given the fact we survived, shouldn’t people be out drinking and running around?
It’s just… too quiet, and it annoys me a bit.
“Still, isn’t it nice that it’s quiet?”
Rubia annoys me too.
“It feels like it’s just the two of us in the world.”
Rubia, walking ahead, turned around and smiled.
“…Really?”
The voice of ‘Rubia’ I knew echoed in my head.
That face.
That situation.
It all blurred together.
At the end of a world stained with ash.
The words we exchanged in my arms were identical.
That expression was the same.
The fact that we would soon part was just like back then.
I hated Rubia.
So, I rolled up a snowball lying on the ground.
“Yap!”
I threw it at Rubia with a thwack!
No rocks included.
“…Oh my?”
Rubia turned around.
Snowflakes drifted down her white hair.
Her expression…
“Hey, Rubia… you’re not supposed to put rocks in the snow, right…?”
Her expression looked like she was about to smash my head with a stone.
“Noah started it first…”
“Ah, no, I didn’t put any rocks in!”
“I… I had a snowball fight back in the day, you know?”
“Oh, just don’t use divine power.”
“My little sibling cried for two days after having a snowball fight with me.”
“Geez… just throw in some rocks. Can’t that divine power be used for snowball fights…”
I finally sat down and squished snow together.
I added a little magical power too.
But… if she melted the snow with her divine power, it’d turn into straight ice.
If my head gets crushed, she’d heal me, right?
Ugh.
I should’ve brought my great sword.
If I just properly displayed my senses, I could dodge everything.
Still… still, I just wanted to play like a normal person.
In this peaceful world, I wanted a normal day… so I couldn’t help it.
“Noah, if you get hurt, I’ll heal you, so don’t worry too much.”
“Rubia might not see it, but I beat Tylant in a snowball fight.”
“Okay. Let’s give it a try then.”
As Rubia stood up with a smile, a total of 18 snowballs came flying at me.
Ah, 18.
*
“Ugh, it still hurts…”
“How was that? I did great, right?”
“I don’t want to admit it, but… you were a bit stronger than Tylant.”
“Hehe, Noah was pretty strong too.”
Sitting on a bench, I sipped the warm coffee Rubia bought while gazing at the sky.
The city lights were so bright that I couldn’t see clearly, but I could make out a little.
“It’s peaceful.”
“Yeah. Seriously.”
“You worked really hard today.”
“You too, Rubia… you worked hard too.”
There was about 30 minutes left, I guess.
“I have a lot to ask.”
“Oh, I see.”
“A whole lot. But… you’ll probably just say you can’t answer, right?”
“Most likely?”
A little sigh escaped.
“Well… I’ll ask things Noah can answer.”
As Rubia swallowed her own sigh and turned her head, I mirrored her.
I didn’t want to avoid this anymore.
“Noah.”
I nodded and took a sip of my coffee.
“Am I pretty?”
Pfft—!
I immediately spat it out.
Fortunately, Rubia used her divine power so the coffee didn’t splash everywhere.
What the heck… what the heck is she asking…?
“W-wha-?”
“Right now, you can see me.”
“Uh-huh…?”
“So I’m asking. What do you think of me?”
“You… you’re pretty.”
I glanced down.
Rubia’s lips curved into a smile.
“Where?”
“Ugh…”
I had a feeling this would go this way.
The Rubia I knew asked the same thing.
And back then, I… what did I say?
“Your sharp eyes soften only when looking at me is pretty.”
“Huh…?”
“When you smell me, your wiggly nose is cute.”
“Um…”
“Your lips that curve thinly when you call my name are pretty.”
Rubia turned her head away.
“And… I like things that are completely the opposite of me. Your white hair, blue eyes, confident personality, I like all of it.”
Rubia’s breath trembled.
Mine trembled too.
Feelings I had bottled up began overflowing.
The mask I had carefully built started to crack.
The person Rubia was looking at couldn’t possibly be me.
The person I was looking at wasn’t exactly Rubia either.
“Noah is… Noah.”
“Uh?”
“Back then… Noah said something like that. You probably didn’t see, but while feeling your way through, you said it.”
“…Really? Such cheesy lines?”
“Yeah. I guess you realize it’s cheesy?”
“I do…”
I do, but even if it’s cheesy…
I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t say it now.
So I just let it spill.
“Anyway, my eyes say you’re pretty, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Hehe, that’s a relief.”
Rubia loosened her robe and let her hair down.
And out of nowhere, she said something completely unexpected.
“They say if you follow the river, you’ll end up at the same point.”
“Hmm… maybe it’s because all of them flowed from the sea?”
“Right. They all start from one place and flow to one place.”
“Oh, I see.”
“So… even if we part, we can meet again someday.”
Rubia stood up and stretched.
“Noah.”
“Yeah?”
“When you want to celebrate something, you said you shoot fireworks, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right?”
“Do you still… do that?”
“Why are you suddenly asking—”
All the lights illuminating the city went out.
“Huh?”
All sounds vanished as well.
And then.
From Rubia standing in front of me, brilliant divine power burst toward the sky.
Following the shot divine power…
Wabam—!
Countless fireworks adorned the sky.
Colorful blossoms of light began to brightly and beautifully illuminate the world.
“Rubia…?”
“Do you know how much effort I put into this?”
Amidst the countless fireworks bursting, I could see Rubia’s expression.
She’s smiling.
Brighter than the fireworks.
Brighter than the divine power.
“What in the world… is this?”
“A present. A gift for the hero who saved us.”
Hero.
Again, hero.
I am not a hero.
I can’t be referred to as one.
And I don’t want to be.
I am a sinner.
Someone who killed people.
Taking their souls and killing others.
Saying this was the way to save everything.
Deceiving myself and deceiving the world as I moved on.
A hypocrite.
“I don’t know what kind of life Noah lived.”
Behind the fireworks, a flame reminiscent of the sun surged upward.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through either.”
And beside it, petals completely unrelated to the seasons began to scatter.
“But Noah was here.”
Rubia’s hand approached my head.
“Standing here, you saved this city.”
She tilted her hat back.
“No matter what others say, no matter who says what.”
Her black hair.
The hair that had been rejected as that of a demon.
Her red eyes.
Revealed to the world.
“Noah is our hero.”
The flowers illuminating the sky shone upon the sinner.
“You’re both my hero.”
An incredibly beautiful light poured down on me, blinding me.
The light was so dazzling.
I felt like I shouldn’t look.
So I closed my eyes.
“I…”
The divine power within me was almost gone.
My consciousness flickered.
There were so many things I wanted to say.
There were so many things I still had to say.
“…Rubia.”
But.
But… I needed to set all that aside.
I wanted to say the words I truly meant.
Even if she wasn’t the Rubia I knew.
The words I needed to say to her.
The words I hadn’t been able to convey.
“I’m sorry.”
I apologize for telling you to hate me.
I apologize for telling you to forget everything.
I apologize for saying I regret it.
“And.”
The nights we spent together in embrace.
The words that whispered of a future.
The days we spent smiling together.
“I love you.”
I was happy.
It was precious.
I loved you.
“…Yes.”
A warm sensation enveloped me.
A nostalgic scent.
A loving touch.
Embracing all of me.
I opened my eyes and looked into her blue eyes.
Within them.
“I’ll go.”
There was me, smiling happily.
“Take care.”
There was you, smiling happily.
*
In a distant future.
When we meet again.
I hope that by that time.
In a peaceful world.
With many people.
We can envision a normal tomorrow.
And live on.
Please.
Let us be happy.
Why?
Why do you have to leave?
Why did you do it?
Why did all of this happen?
No.
I don’t want do live that story again.
Please.
Just let me live freely…