——Walking through the tunnel,
There was a different world——
On a huge monitor at the end of the street there were men, bathed in flashes of light, shaking hands. They were the prime minister of j.a.pan and the president of Garesuto, united in their appeal to the country and the worlds for good relations between them. The people on the street just ignored the monitor and kept walking to their respective destinations. This was usual for them? Among them, only one boy held his breath. For the first time since he came back, he felt a strange sense of loneliness. He shook his head, there is no reason for me to feel lonely, but he didn’t know where he was. All around him, people were pa.s.sing by with strange terminals he’d never seen before. Then, there were new buildings that weren’t there before. His memory of his world and this street corner were completely different. New fashion he spotted gave him the creeps. In the store window, mysterious metal armors were lined up. Even here in downtown, self-defense officials “seemed” like they were making their rounds. People’s hair, other than the standard blond, black and brown, now had other colours which n.o.body seemed to pay attention to. It has become and everyday scene and the people around don’t even bat an eyelid at the sight of it. The boy played here many times before, but now he was at a loss for words.
「Wait Shinichi, don’t leave me!」
The cheerful voice from behind almost made his heart stop. It wasn’t because of how sudden it was, but rather because he couldn’t notice “her” approach. He wanted to kill himself for not being aware of his surroundings.
「Ah yes! Sorry, Ms. Rinko-san」
The young lady he met recently was staring at him and smiling. He just noticed that he was close to bursting into tears. After noticing it, he suppressed it and bowed his head. Seeing his face, she thought he was dissatisfied so she pulled him by the hand.
「Come on, let’s go those people are waiting!」
「Oh, no, I can go properly without being pulled!」
「No! Don’t be shy!
Today we came here to buy things for you, Shinichi. Clothes first.
In fact, I dreamt of choosing clothes for a boy of your age!」
She was smiling and laughing while he could only show a bitter smile. I give up. She is a good, but slightly headstrong person.
———Therefore, I should not have come home
I made a wrong choice again———–