Bonus Story:
Eterna Is like Usual: Second Form
WHEN ETERNA RETURNED to her room with her tea in hand, Ink was repeatedly touching the book on the desk. The house where Flum and Milkit lived was unnecessarily spacious, with plenty of extra rooms, so Ink had her very own…but she spent most of her time in Eterna’s room. At first, this had been so Eterna could keep her under medical observation after her heart transplant. At some point, Eterna stopped feeling uncomfortable about Ink being in the same room as her. She would’ve been lying if she said it wasn’t noisy with her around, but it was better than solitude.
“Ink, what are you doing?” When Eterna approached her and asked that question, Ink smiled broadly, looking all happy for some reason.
“I was just wondering what kind of book you were reading right now, Eterna.” Apparently, she was trying to feel the shapes of the characters with her fingertips. Ink couldn’t see, but in exchange, her other senses were sharp. When it came to something about as thick as the cover of a book, she could feel the slight unevenness of the printing with her fingertips. However…
“Can you tell?”
“Nope. I can’t tell at all. They’re all super complicated characters.” There was no way Ink would’ve been able to read the kinds of specialized books that Eterna read.
“Well, it’s actually a very difficult book, so that’s not surprising.” Eterna gently patted Ink’s head before sitting down in her chair. Ink hugged Eterna’s arm, squeezing it tight. She was always very physically affectionate, but this felt strangely clingy.
“What?”
“Hee hee, nothing!” Ink, clearly in high spirits, proceeded to bury her face in Eterna’s shoulder. Something was definitely strange here, but Eterna couldn’t figure out what had caused Ink to act this way.
“Well, whatever.” Eterna opened her book and continued reading. After a while, Ink opened her mouth to speak.
“Eterna, what are you always thinking about?”
“I don’t really understand the purpose of your question.”
“I can’t see anything, so I’m always imagining all sorts of things. Like, at first, I wondered if I’d be able to manage okay in this house. Then I wondered how I could repay you all. Stuff like that.”
“Everyone worries about things like that.”
“But lately, it’s been a little different. Now it’s like, I wonder how Eterna is doing, I wonder how Eterna laughs, how Eterna reacts to surprises, how Eterna looks when she’s embarrassed. I find myself thinking about you quite a lot, Eterna.”
“I see…”
“Ah, you were embarrassed just now, weren’t you?”
“I am not.”
“Your body temperature’s gone up, and your heartbeat’s gotten faster.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“You can’t hide it from me, because I’m clinging to you right now. Right?”
“Ink, your body is getting hotter, too. You’d be embarrassed to come out and say it yourself, wouldn’t you?”
“Yep!” Ink readily admitted. Eterna had no response to it. “Even so, I want to say it. I really like you, Eterna.”
“I see…”
“But still, I sometimes wonder why you think so much about me, Eterna.”
“I didn’t say that I do, Ink,”
“The book you’re reading.” Ink placed her hands over Eterna’s, which she was using to hold her book. Eterna’s heart started beating faster. “I don’t understand the whole title, but it’s a book about human eyes. Isn’t it?”
“That’s…”
“I already can’t possibly thank you enough just for keeping me alive, but you’re even thinking this much about my eyes. I can’t help but be so incredibly happy.”
Eterna hadn’t understood why Ink suddenly started clinging onto her or why she was talking about such things. But it all started to make sense if she assumed that the premise of the conversation was “Eterna was always thinking about Ink.” She was so embarrassed that she could die.
“Well…I want to do something about it. But it’s not like I’m thinking about you constantly, Ink.”
“Huh, really?”
“And in your case, Ink, I’m sure you’re also spending more time thinking about Nekt, too.”
“That’s true, but compared to when we first met, I dunno.”
“Also, earlier, you said ‘just’ for keeping you alive. I feel a little differently about that. Since I saved your life, I feel that I have a responsibility for the rest of your life, too. I’m reading this in the hope that there will be light in your future.” Whether because she was trying to hide her embarrassment or because she was totally serious, Eterna gave a somewhat stiff-sounding answer.
“Hmm, so then you don’t like me or anything like that.” Ink looked a little dissatisfied. “Hmm. Hmm.” Then as if she were pouting, she let go of Eterna’s book and plopped down on the bed.
“…” When Eterna saw that, an awkward look appeared on her face. After letting out a small sigh, she began to speak.
“Before coming to the royal capital…I lived deep in the mountains.”
Eterna didn’t talk much about her past—especially about the place where she lived before coming to the royal capital. It wasn’t because it was a difficult subject, but because she simply didn’t consider it worth talking about. It wasn’t like she had accomplished anything significant there. It was simply that she lived quietly in the mountains, as if time had stopped.
“For about fifty years, I lived without much contact with other people. My body didn’t age, and I rarely left the mountain. Eventually, the people in the village at the base of the mountain started calling me a ‘witch,’ fearing that they’d be cursed if they got close to me.”
Without realizing it, Ink had stopped sulking and was listening intently to Eterna’s story.
“That’s why…I have some thoughts about how I’m spending more time with people lately.”
“What kind of thoughts?”
“I might not be very good at interacting with other people at all.”
People told her that she was calm and collected, but she wondered if she was just bad at expressing her emotions. People seemed to think that she liked the quiet, but she wondered if she was just bad at making conversation. When she was with lively girls like Flum or Ink, she started to think that even more. Being so much older than them, she usually tried not to talk about such things…but, perhaps because of a pang of conscience for having made Ink sad, her true feelings had unintentionally slipped out.
Realizing from her tone of voice that Eterna was feeling quite down, Ink hurriedly hugged Eterna’s arm. “That’s not true!”
“But earlier…”
“Earlier was my fault! I was just being annoying!” Ink fawned upon Eterna, acting childish. It was true that Eterna wasn’t honest, but it was enough that she thought about what was in front of her. “Actually, not too long ago, you were the one who was more aggressive, Eterna.”
“As I watched Flum and the others, I began to wonder if I was correct about what constituted a sense of distance.”
“So you get down in the dumps like that too… Well, I guess that’s inevitable for a sixty-year-young child.” Ink climbed onto Eterna’s lap and hugged her tightly from the front. “Eterna, you know that I love you so much, so be more confident in yourself!”
“I can’t read in this position.”
“Deal with it!” Ink wanted to say. “That’s how it is!” But she held herself back. Instead, she leaned against Eterna and held her, as if to check her body temperature. Feel. Warmth. Scent. All of it reassured Ink. She savored the feeling of comfort, knowing that this was the place she belonged.
Eterna gently put her hand on Ink’s back and patted her softly, as if soothing her. Time passed quietly. Then Ink suddenly looked up and mischievously asked Eterna a question.
“Are you thinking about me?”
“I was thinking that, if nothing else, I’d like to be able to get along with you well, Ink.”
“You’re already plenty attractive, Eterna. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“You’ve grown up, Ink,” Eterna said, feeling Ink’s weight. There was the book, the heart, and the part about interacting with others, too. Ten-year-old girls grew up fast. When Eterna compared Ink to herself, someone for whom time had stopped, she almost felt like she had been left behind.
“I want to change too. I want to be able to make the people close to me smile more.” Eterna’s limit was that she couldn’t bring herself to say “Ink” specifically then, but…even so, her feelings had come across.
“Eterna…” Ink called her name in a sweet voice, her cheeks relaxing into a smile. She playfully pressed her cheek against Eterna’s shoulder and rested her body against hers. Then someone knocked on the door.
“Come in!” Ink replied reflexively.
“What? Ink, that’s—” Eterna tried to stop it, but she was too late. The door was opened, and Flum appeared, holding a plate of cookies with both hands. When Eterna went to get some tea earlier, the cookies were still baking. Flum had told her that she’d bring some when they were ready, but…
“Eterna, the cookies I was just making are done… Oh.” Flum saw Eterna and Ink embracing one another and surmised everything in an instant. “Sorry to have disturbed you. My apologies. I’ll just leave these here.”
She quickly placed the plate of cookies on the floor in a swift movement and closed the door.
“Wait, Flum, you’ve got it wrong! I don’t want this role reversal!” Eterna was panicking.
“It’s okay, don’t mind us! We’re just going to be doing our own thing over there, going all ‘Here, say ahhh’ and all that. I left the cookies near the door, so please eat them later. Take your time and have fun!” Flum’s voice gradually receded as she descended the stairs.
“That’s not the issue! Wait, Flum! Don’t act like the vibe here was the same as yours! It’s different from what goes on with you and Milkit!” Eterna desperately tried to explain herself, reaching for the door. However, she was unable to move because Ink was on top of her.
Eventually, Flum stopped replying, and Eterna let her outstretched hand fall limply. She stared at the cookies placed by the door, looking dejected. Ink, perhaps trying to comfort Eterna, spoke in a cheerful voice.
“Do you wanna feed them to each other too? Like ‘Say ahh,’ and all that?”
“No.”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed…”
“I’m not going to!” Eterna enveloped Ink in water and forcibly peeled her off.
The two of them then sat side by side and ate the cookies. While Eterna was disgruntled because Flum’s misunderstanding remained unresolved, the cookies were delicious.