“Koyomi!”
I could hear Grandpa calling for me through the sliding paper door. Two years after the airsoft gun incident, I still hated his guts. I didn’t even ask him for candy anymore. I was tempted to ignore him and go play outside instead, but he must have heard me stop short. He already knew that I heard him, and I’d get in trouble if I ignored him on purpose. Resigned to my fate, I slid his bedroom door open.
“What is it, Grandpa?”
I walked in with a perfect poker face and found him lying in bed. When we first moved here, he used to sleep on a futon on the floor. After a few hospital stays, he switched to one of those fancy remote-controlled beds instead.
“Come here, please,” he said weakly.
His voice was no longer as commanding as it used to be. Mom told me he was sick. Hurry up and die already, I thought to myself as I walked to his bedside.
“Want a piece of candy?”
“…No thanks.” I hadn’t eaten that candy in two years, but I could still remember how sweet it tasted. Deep down, I did want it. But for some reason, I couldn’t admit it.
“I see,” Grandpa muttered, though I couldn’t gauge his reaction. He didn’t press me further, however. Instead, he grabbed a box off the bedside table and held it out to me. “Koyomi, I wanted to give you this.”
“What’s in the box?”
It was about the size of a standard spiral notebook, barely weighed anything, and didn’t make any sound when I shook it. Maybe it was empty. But the outside looked like a treasure chest, so I was curious. When I tried to open it, however, it refused to budge.
“Grandpa, it won’t open.”
“Yes, I’m afraid the box is locked.”
“Where’s the key?” I asked.
“Hidden in a place only I know about,” he said.
“Why would you hide it? Just give it to me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you the key before I die.”
At that, my heart skipped a beat. Ever since he threw away my airsoft gun, I’d wished for him to die… Had he read my mind somehow?!
“Also…”
He started to say something else, but I was so frightened that I took the box and ran out of the room.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few months later, on a weekend, I was getting ready to go hang out with my friends from school after I ate lunch.
“Where are you going, Koyomi?” my mother asked.
I was putting my shoes on at the front door. It was weird she was asking me—I was pretty sure I already told her about it last night. “To hang out with my friends.”
“Grandpa’s not doing well, sweetie… Mommy needs you to stay home today,” she told me in a firm voice. However…
“Yeah, well, I don’t care about how Grandpa’s doing. Later.” And with that, I opened the front door.
“Then at least try to come home early!” she shouted after me, but I ignored her and took off running. Even Yuno barked at me as I left, something she normally never did.
Regardless, I went off to play with my friends, then came home in the evening like usual. For the record, I made sure to arrive before sundown…but by then, it was too late.
“I’m hooome…”
“Where were you, Koyomi?! Mommy told you to come home early!” I could tell from the look on her face that Mom was absolutely furious with me.
“I… I’m sorry… But how come?”
No, she wasn’t just furious—she was crying. “Grandpa… He…!”
I understood what death meant, as much as any other ten-year-old, anyway. But I didn’t have a clue how I was supposed to feel or what I was supposed to say.
“He kept asking for you, over and over… He wanted to see you…!” she yelled.
Her anger quickly gave way to grief, and she started crying again. Grandma was crying too. But…I didn’t have any tears for Grandpa. He didn’t like me, so why would he want to see me? There was one thing on my mind, however.
“Hey, Mom?”
“…Yes?”
“Um… Did Grandpa say anything about, like…a message for me? Or a gift?”
“He was going to give you something?”
“Yeah, he said he’d give me a key.”
“What key?” she asked.
I hadn’t told anyone about the box he gave me. Even if I didn’t like the guy, it was thrilling to have a secret to keep. But as I debated whether to tell her…
“Your grandpa got very sick very suddenly, so maybe he was asking for you because he wanted to give you the key. But…then he…!” She started sobbing again.
Personally, I was more disappointed about the prospect of never being able to open the box than I was about Grandpa dying. If I had known, I would’ve stayed home to get the key instead of playing with my friends. Where the heck did he put it, anyway? And what was inside the box? Would I ever find out?
Now I was filled with regret. Would I truly never get my hands on that key? Couldn’t he come back as a ghost or something real quick? I just really, really, really needed to see him one last time—