"You just killed a person..." Airi slowly muttered as she wear her tattered clothes.
"I know... In fact, this isn't the first. Anyways, are you al ー!"
"Go away! Murderer!"
A slap landed on my face. It made me drop the knife I was holding.
"You are the root of all of this. If only you just didn't come into our lives then my mother would still be here. You know what, this is all your fault! EVERYTHING!!!"
"Airi, I'm sorry but ー!"
"But what?! Stop making excuses and accept that this is all your fault!"
"I know, Airi. I know but please listen to what I have to say first. Calm down..."
I really dislike the thought of reminiscing bad memories but oh well... "Old man, you can show yourself to her now."
From behind the machines, the old man hesitantly showed himself to Airi. "I didn't mean to hide ー!"
But before he could finish his words, Airi immediately went straight to him and hugged him.
The two of them enjoyed the moment at least for a while before I broke the silence.
"Old... No. Miyano-san, Airi. I know it's already too late for this but I'm truly so ー!"
"You're bleeding, Dad!"
"Miyano-san?!"
That was an unexpected twist. Seems that the one who truly broke the moment was the old man.
He, however, just smiled painfully before he fell down on the floor. Good thing though, Airi caught him before he hit his head on the floor.
"Let's take him to the hospi... No, that would be a bad idea. A stampede is likely happening over there as we currently speak right now." I mentioned as the two of us tried to carry the old man.
"Then where should we go?!" Airi yelled at me as she repeatedly kept saying "You'll be fine, okay?" to her father.
"Why did this happen anyway?! Don't tell me you stabbed him too?" Before Airi could attempt to hit me again, the old man spoke.
"Airi, this is just a swallow cut. No need to worry about. Anyways, why don't you come home for a dinner so that we can have a good long talk, Airi?"
Swallow cut, my ass! You look pale, old man! This is all my fault. If only I just noticed it earlier...
As if reading my thoughts, the old man spoke again. "You... Don't always blame yourself. My wife's death was never your fault." No, I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm more worried about you!
"Meeting you was never a bad thing to me. In fact, it might be a blessing in disguise. You might not noticed it but you're always a hero to me and you'll always be to others... You saved me and Airi..."
"But your wife..."
"Shh... Like I always say, there's no need for her to forgive you on something that isn't even your fault.
"Old man..."
"I'm glad that I met you... Without you, I wouldn't be able to be with Airi again."
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
He lied.
The old man was dead when we arrived at their apartment.
He sacrificed his life protecting his daughter and even me...
The last supper with her daughter that he wished was nothing but an another unfulfilled death wish.
His lifeless body was sitting on the chair in front of his food as Airi and I gobble on ours quietly.
Of course, unable to accept everything that just happened tonight, we both looked tired and had dried tears on our faces.
Miyano-san... You even heated the food before you went to the park... You're so nice...
The food was in fact already cold but I felt a bit of warmth in it. It wasn't really badly made but all I tasted was the bitterness of the pain I was feeling over his death.
This just hits different this time... We're literally watching news a few moments earlier and now, he's... already gone.
"Hey."
All of a sudden, Airi called me out.
"What?" I lazily answered.
"About the past, tell me everything about it. I want to know the truth... I just want to know the reason why all of these happened in the first place."
"What for?"
"I want to know why my father trusted you so much and the truth behind my mother's death. Tell me? What really happened?"
"Well, me and your father met two years ago on the park where we were earlier. He then talked to me and stuff as he waited for you to finish your class that day."
"What happened next?"
"After receiving a call from you, he immediately stood up and walked away... Or that's how things were supposed to be until..."
"Until what?"
Well, after that, something like this happened.
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . .
"Sorry but I have to go now. My daughter is waiting for me. Nice having you company, boy! See you next time!" Old man Miyano said his farewell to me and walked away. He was waving his hand to me and so I was to him before he turned his back.
That was the nicest conversation I had in a while...
"Huh..?"
I didn't clearly saw it but it seems like Miyano-san was being surrounded by a group of high school delinquents not a few meters away from the bench where I was currently sitting on.
As I see it, there are three people. All of them are boys.
Worriedly, I sneakily walked up towards them.
As I get closer, I can more or less hear what's going on with them.
"...Give us all of your cash, ha?!" Said by the blonde guy.
"Money, huh... Here. This is all that is left in me."
What?
Even the delinquents were shocked when they saw the old man immediately giving away his pocket. Well, his surrender wasn't actually the shocking part but the way he's smiling towards them as if he's unfazed. Rather, he's looking at them warmly, as if they're simply his grandkids asking him for new year's money.
"You see, I met a nice guy just a few moments ago and gave him money too because he's poor. Anyways, have a nice day. Please spend your money wisely, okay?"
That rather ended unexpectedly peaceful...
"Are you mocking us, ha?!" I take back my words because the blonde guy suddenly punched him in the face. His friends followed and they started beating the pitiful old man.
Unable to withstand this pitiful sight in front of me, especially seeing the person who more or less gave me money without judging me for what I am, I tried to save him.
"HEEEYYYY!!! W-Wha... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I ran into the middle of the scene. "If you want a fight?! Beat me f-first!" I really did it. I felt like my heart's beating crazy. Man, they're so scary up close.
However, my main goal here was to make sure if the old man is safe. "Hey, Miyano-san, are you alright?" I looked back to the pretty messed up old guy behind me.
"Y-Yes... Don't mind me, lad." Fool. You can't even properly stand by yourself.
"Here. Let me help you ー! AAHHH!!!"
Unlike in the movies, real-life bad guys doesn't seem to let you finish your dialogue before they start beating the shit out of you.
"Stay away from here, you stinky fucker! Scram! Go away!"
"Motherfucker, mind your own business! Die!"
"Fucking moron!"
I don't know how long has it been but these guys kept kicking us until I couldn't find the strength to even stand up anymore.
"Leave me alone here, boy... I'm okay with this." Miyano-san suddenly whispered to me with a faint smile.
"Idiot... I can't just leave you here by yourself, old man!"
Just a small opening... All I needed was to make a small opening for this old man to escape.
With the remains of my dormant strength, which wasn't enough to save us by the way, I pushed off those guys simultaneously after having a good grip on their legs.
"OLD MAN! GO!" I also pushed the old man away. "GO SEE YOUR DAUGHTER! SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU!"
"YOU BASTARD!!!" The delinquents finally got up on their legs and started on attacking me over again.
"But..." The old man stopped walking away to look back at me one last time.
"DON'T LOOK BACK, JUST FUCKING GO AWAY, OLD MAN! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" That's all I managed to tell him.
I didn't know we're saying our farewells this way.
"H-Hey! Masa, don't let that bastard escape! He might call the police!" Yelled by the blonde. He's probably their leader because he's been the only one talking for a while now.
Without asking why, the man named "Masa" tried to run away but I didn't let it happen.
This was all I could do so I dragged his leg down again before he could even attempt to run away. His face fell flat on the ground which was kinda satisfying to watch.
"You bastard! I'll fucking kill you!"
It really pissed them off so they just started beating the shit out of me and totally forgetting about old man Miyano. I think it's better this way.
A bad guy dying from the hands of bad guys by saving a seemingly good guy... That... doesn't sound bad at all...
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Heh...
I was... I was alive...
The thing that proved that I still haven't kicked the bucket yet was the sensation of rain drops hitting my battered body lying on the ground... I'm glad snow doesn't fall in here or else, I'd die from pneumonia.
I couldn't move a muscle yet but I think it's worth it.
Maya, are you seeing this? Did I became a person worthy of your love now?
"..."
Meh, I don't want to die yet.
I wonder if that old man is alright though.
What if those guys come back again for unfinished business or something? I need to at least do him a favor...
"I don't think you should do that." Speaking of the devil, the old man appeared with an umbrella and her daughter looking at me from above.
"Why did you come back here?" I asked as I groggily tried to at least sit down but it looks like I can't.
"Here. Take my hand. Let me at least bring you somewhere you can relax. And about those guys from earlier, I already told the police about it. They are probably caught by them as we speak."
Without answering my question nor asking what my name is or fully knowing who I really am, the old man wholeheartedly lend his hand to me. He just smiled there, helping me out without questioning my existence.
He looked at me as if I was no different to anyone which is really weird.
In all honesty, that day was probably the best yet also the worst day in my life.
"Anyways, who's that brat behind you? Is that your daughter?" That time that I was more or less getting back in my feet, I saw a girl in a sailor uniform standing beside him.
"She is my daughter. Her name is Airi." Miyano-san introduced briefly. "And Airi. This is the kind guy who saved my life. Erm..."
"You can just call me ー!"
"Nice to meet you and thank you for saving my father, I'm Airi... And you stink by the way." The kid interrupted my introduction by mechanically butting in as she's fiddling with her phone. Talk about manners.
I couldn't blame her though. Seeing a suspicious guy around her father would obviously scare kids around her age.
After those brief introductions between ourselves, we all started to walk. I really didn't know that time where we're heading and I was just following the old man.
"Welcome home~! Oh... Who this person might be?"
When I first entered their place, the first and probably the only person who greeted us back was a good-looking lady which turned out to be the old man's wife.
"Ah, he's a kind young man I met outside. It would be dangerous if we just let him stay outside you know? He did once saved my life after all."
"No, that's..." I bashfully uttered.
"Oh, dear... Are you sure about this?" The wife asked.
"Yeah... Until the winter ends, please let him stay here. I think there's still one more room that is vacant just beside ours. He can use that."
Miyano-san leaned on me and whispered. "Sorry about that. My wife is just really stiff about this things hehe. As you can see, we're more or less tight on budget as of late so I might not be able to provide that much for you for this whole winter season. I'm sorry."
"No! I'm uh, if that's really the case then I'm fine being outside. I don't really like troubling you guys... Well then, farewell."
Probably feeling bad and hesitant, the madame spoke. "Well, I guess I'm fine with you staying if it's for the whole season only."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Ayuri is fine."
"Thank you, Ayuri-san."
Later that night, I had a dinner with the Miyano family as the old man prepared my room next door. He joined us afterwards.
Just like his husband, Miyano-san's wife was surprisingly kind and good to be with. She's just really stressed over their finances.
While Airi, she's just your typical kid. Bored in life and always fiddling with her phone even in front of the food. She's unsociable too.
"Thank you for the food." I clasped my hands and thanked God for giving me a chance to taste human food once again. If God has a face, it would be something similar to Miyano-san.
"You want me to show you on your room now?" Miyano-san.
"No, I'm alright. This is enough already. Thank you for making me stay here. Good night."
That's how my first day in there ended.
When morning came, I decided to have a jog outside because that's what I usually do to beat the coldness of the climate.
Surprisingly, this was also around the time where Ayuri-san usually do her shopping.
"Good morning, Ayuri-san." I greeted her as she came out from the door of their apartment.
"Good morning to you too... What are you doing, by the way?"
"Uh, doing some stretches... I need to stay fit or I will die."
"You're a pretty odd homeless person. Do they even do that?"
"I don't think so."
We then both laughed.
"Anyways, I need to jog now. See you later, Ayuri-san! Bye!"
With that, we then went separate ways for a while. Then we met each other again near the park as she's about to go home with her groceries.
However, before I could even went that far away from her, two guys from a motorcycle suddenly surrounded her.
Good grief... It's 8:00 AM in the morning for goodness sake. Do bad guys in this place even sleep?
From here, I could hear Ayuri-san's frightened screams and those guys laughter so I immediately ran back towards her.
We were quite a few distance away from the apartment as of the moment so I really doubt I could ask some help from Miyano-san... Or not.
I don't think any help will come because after all, we're near the park where only a wide grassland and tall light posts were around us. No people in sight aside from us.
If it comes to this... Ah, damn it! If I die right here then that's it. Whatever happens, happens!
"You bastards! What are you doing with her?!"
I stood up in front of Ayuri-san, protecting her from these... guys..?!
"Well, well, well. We met again! But you know, I'm not here for you as of the moment, I'm here for her money. This is our business time, you see? So hand her to us now and scram! You don't want me when I'm angry ー!"
I immediately punched the blonde's face before he could even finish his words.
"You fucker ー!"
I punched him again.
"A-Ayuri-san! Run! And uh, call Miyano-san or the police or something! Just go away from here, I'll handle this!" I profusely push her away because I really can't afford to have something bad happen to her.
"'Miyano-san'? Ain't that the bastard with you yesterday?! So that's his wife, huh? It was pretty annoying to be chased by the police, you know?" The blonde guy smirked deviously then he commanded his buddy to chase Ayuri-san. "Hey, Taka, stop that woman. GO!"
"As if I would let you!" I immediately tackled down the guy named "Taka" the moment he moved however, I completely forgot about this blonde guy. He's using Taka as a bait.
"NOOOOOO!!!" I then kicked Taka away and ran towards golden hair!
He took a knife from his pocket and was about to do something bad to Ayuri-san when I grabbed his hand and broke it.
He screamed in pain but we still fought each others head's on. Little do I know, Taka was actually planning to attack Ayuri-san too that before I could even react, I was already too late.
She was stabbed in the back as she was still currently in a call.
The scene was engraved in my mind permanently. The moment where the rift in their family started. The death of Ayuri-san.
My legs were nailed on the ground as I watched those guys running away. I was unable to move nor unable to react.
When I snapped back to my senses, I slowly approached Ayuri-san.
How do I explain this to Miyano-san... I'm sorry... This is just too sudden... My hands were shaking as I tried to feel Ayuri-san's pulse with my other hand speed-dialing the hospital.
Few minutes later, Miyano-san came. And just like me, he fell down on his knees and his face contorted into despair. Tears however, wouldn't come out from our eyes. It was just too big of a shock.
Throughout the day, Miyano-san never spoke to me. Not even once. But after coming back home from the hospital where we admitted Ayuri-san, Miyano-san began to cry beside me.
"It's all my fault..."
"Old man..."
"You only did what you could, kid. And besides, those guys' target is me, anyways... If only I didn't angered them ー!"
"Old man! I'm at fault too, okay! All of this happened because of me so please don't say that... Don't say that. We only met for a day, I know but this is just a one big chain of events that happened because I started a fight with them. I will surrender to the police now if you want."
"No... The fact that you fought for my wife despite barely knowing her is something I should be thankful for. But you know... Sometimes, the world isn't that kind. I'm sorry that you got dragged into this..."
It was one hell of a long day.
"Also uh..." He snuffed first before he resumed. "Don't tell Airi about this. She's currently on school right now by the way."
"Why?"
"I will gonna shoulder the blame by myself. I don't really want to trouble you about this. You've done enough for me. By the way, knowing Airi, she might do something reckless if you told her about those guys. Please... I don't want her to get involved with this."
"No, I will ー!"
"You shouldn't. Even without you, those guys were likely to attack her anyways because just like what you said, they usually do their crimes early in the mornings. That's when my wife usually do her groceries too... Again, don't tell any of this to Airi. She's just a kid. Let's leave her out of this, okay? That way, we can protect her. This is the best thing we could do for her... For you too..."
Why are you doing all of this for me, Miyano-san?
Later that day, Airi was so shocked from his father's sudden news when she first heard it in the hospital. She couldn't accept that his father couldn't do anything to save her mother so she began blaming everything to him. In his father's story however, some of the details were altered to not mention my name nor any the people involved in it. Not only he's protecting his daughter but he's protecting me too.
. . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
Days went by and the gap between Miyano-san and his daughter grew bigger that it became something I thought was beyond repair.
Airi went rebel why Miyano-san lived his life alone here. Even though they occasionally met in the house, none of them mentioned anything.
And then we're back here to present.
"But as you can see, Airi... I failed horribly at this. I'm sorry."
"So that's what happened, huh... And here I thought you really murdered my mother. No wonder my father likes you because you always put your life to save others. Even now... To be honest, maybe it's a good decision that you guys kept it a secret from me because if you didn't then I would definitely be a criminal by then and I would definitely lose my father that way. That blonde person was actually my classmate since high school so it's easy for me to kill him if I just wanted to."
"So you aren't mad?"
"Yeah... Actually, I feel refreshed after hearing all of that but you know what, your job is already done. You don't need to protect me anymore now that everything has already come to end. Besides, continuously living without my family would just be lonely. I don't really want to waste my last three days doing nothing so..." Airi stood up from her chair and took a knife from her pocket. It was the one I dropped from earlier.
"Thank you for everything until now but this is it for me too, I guess... My father really hasn't talked to me that much before he die so I'll meet him in the afterlife instead."
With that as her final words, she smoothly slit her throat and blood showered all over me and the table. Her lifeless corpse then fell on the ground.
At this moment, I was left with nothing but myself and a single box of cigarette in my pocket.
I lit it up using the stove of the place and went outside.
I sat down in front of their door and started smoking comfortably as I reassess everything that just happened throughout the night because apparently, it's already dawn.
Should I cry?
Nah, I doubt I could.
I felt empty as I watched the sun slowly rose.
This was a very long night.
And in the end, what was Miyano-san really trying to say to me? I was completely lost.
Why are you doing all of this for me, Miyano-san?
I'm back to square one again. Instead of getting answers, all I got were another bunch of incomprehensible riddles...
Seriously man, I'm not a hero. You're giving me too much credits, Miyano-san... You and your family died because of me.
It's all my fault.
"Senpai? What are you doing here?"