“Honey, I’m home.”
“Welcome back.” Kazune smiled softly at me as she watered her flowers in the yard. “How are you feeling?”
“Not bad, not bad.” Got a little dicey back there, I thought to myself, but I decided not to mention it.
“So, did you solve the mystery?”
“No, sadly. No one showed up! I really don’t know what that was about.” It seemed I would never find out who I made those plans with…but oddly enough, part of me didn’t mind too much.
“Koyomi, did something put you in a good mood?” she asked.
Now this came as a surprise. As far as I knew, I was acting like my usual self. Nevertheless, Kazune saw right through me.
“Well…instead of whoever I was waiting for, I had the most lovely encounter.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
As I recounted the story, I felt myself smile. “I met the happiest little old lady at the intersection.”
“Lady?” Her expression turned threatening.
“Now, now, I’m too old to cheat. It wasn’t like that.”
“I’m just messing with you. Was it an old friend?”
“Total stranger, actually,” I admitted.
“Really? What was so lovely, then?”
“Well, I’m glad to tell you about it if you’ll listen.”
“Yes, yes, I’m all ears,” she replied, turning away to water the other flowers.
“She told me she was very happy with her life, and it really meant a lot to me.”
“I thought you said she was a stranger.”
“Yes. That’s just it, Kazune.”
“What?” She stopped and turned to look at me, and despite all the wrinkles, the surprise in her eyes was still adorable to behold.
“I didn’t know her, but I was still so happy to hear that her life was going well.” And I sincerely meant it from the bottom of my heart. “Isn’t that just the loveliest thing? I’m so glad I grew up to be the sort of person who can celebrate a stranger’s joy!”
Before I knew it, Kazune had set down her watering can and walked over to me. She put a wizened old hand on mine and listened warmly as I continued.
“I owe it to all the people in my life that I turned out this way. My father, my mother, my grandfather, my grandmother…Ryou, Eri-chan, Ai…and most of all…” I grasped her hand in kind and gazed into her eyes. “To you, Kazune. I wish I could send a message to every you I’ve loved before. I’d tell them how happy I am now—all because you were there.”
“…I see.” And with that, she gave me the sweetest smile I’d ever seen from her.
“Hey, Grandpa! Welcome hooome!”
Just then, I heard Ai shouting from inside the house. The phrase “indoor voice” simply wasn’t in that girl’s vocabulary.
“Hee hee… Shall we head in?”
“Yes, let’s.”
With her hand at my back, I went back inside my beloved home—the very portrait of happiness itself.
✦ ✦ ✦
But before I go, there’s someone else I’d like to send my message to.
To the countless other sides of my die, far more than just six—hundreds, thousands, millions! To every me in every distant world. To each and every me who loved someone other than Kazune.
Because you loved someone else, I loved Kazune. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve lived a truly blessed life.
And to that special someone other than Kazune, who loved a different me…
I send you all my gratitude and wish you the very best.
May you and your beloved find happiness somewhere in this world.