“Really? Were you on a trip with Liselotte?” Charlotte asked.
“No, I got targeted by an assassin.”
“What...?” She blinked, round-eyed.
“I was in a town nearby for work, and I was attacked by a practiced assassin. It was easy for me to strike back, but the murderer got away. So I went looking for him all over the place. Ah, brings back memories.”
“Like father, like son...” she said thoughtfully.
“Don’t bunch us together,” Allen complained. It was awkward to correct her when she said things without any ill will. Setting that aside, he pressed a hand to his forehead. “It’s the first time I’ve heard that story, though. It’s not like you to let an enemy get away, Uncle.”
“Well, it was a tricky situation—hm?” Harvey’s smile froze. He stared at Allen and Charlotte in turn, and asked hesitantly, “Did you say...you lived there over ten years ago, Charlotte?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right... Is anything wrong?”
“You look pale, Uncle.”
Harvey jumped up with a gasp, knocking back his chair. “I-I just remembered some urgent business I have to attend to! Must be going now!”
“U-Uh, okay. Take care...?” Harvey was in such a rush that Allen, along with everyone else, saw him off without any questions.
Looking back now, Allen thought there was definitely something fishy about that. He pressed a hand to his chin and fell into deep thought. “Maybe that story about the assassin was all made up, and maybe he actually used to have a lover around here... Let’s look into it later.”
“W-We shouldn’t. What if your parents get into a fight?” Charlotte hastily tried to stop him. But then she brightened up with an idea. “Or maybe your hometown is somewhere nearby, Allen? That might be why Harvey got so flustered.”
“Hm...I didn’t think of that.”
Allen looked around with this new perspective. It was an ordinary mountain valley. He had no recollection of ever seeing those gentle slopes, nor the flowers and plants growing in the meadows. At least, he shouldn’t have.
I’ve never seen this place before...have I?
For some reason, he couldn’t say for sure. He felt somewhat uneasy—as if he was going about his life with the buttons of his shirt done up wrong, or with an itch on the bottom of his feet that he couldn’t quite get at.
“Ooh, look, Allen.” Charlotte pointed at the bank on the other side of the stream, covered with thick clumps of weeds. “It’s withered now, but just there, there used to be—”
“Wild strawberries...?” The words came out of his mouth before he knew it, and he himself was more surprised to hear it than Charlotte. She looked at him with sparkling eyes.
“You can tell just from looking! You know so many things, Allen.”
“No, that’s not...” If he had studied the nature of the soil and the surrounding environment, he would have been able to conjecture what used to grow there. But he hadn’t gone through such a thought process to arrive at this answer. A vivid image of wild strawberries, red dotting the lush green, had flashed in his mind, even though he had never seen this stream before—or so he thought, at least.
Could it be that I really am from around here...? Allen became even more lost in thought, but Charlotte didn’t notice. She skipped a few steps ahead of him, excited to see her familiar haunts again. As she turned the corner around a giant tree, she said, “And on the other side of the tree—oh!” She stopped, rooted to the spot. Allen walked up next to her.
There it was—a small house stood beyond the tree. It was a simple cottage. Perhaps it had been vacant for a long time; there were cracks in the outer wall, and the clearing around it was overgrown with weeds. Several more years, and it might become buried in nature.
Gazing at the empty house, Charlotte pressed a hand to her lips. “Th-This is where I lived with Mom... I didn’t think it would still be here.”
She kept staring at the house, lost for words. She seemed overcome with emotions as memories of her mother came flooding back.
Allen couldn’t say anything to her—but not because he didn’t want to intrude. It was because he stopped breathing in shock, as if he was struck by lightning.
“H-Hey...!” At the sight of the small house, he was gripped with conviction. I... I know this place...! I’m sure of it! The moment he realized this, he went weak in the knees.
“Huh...?! A-Allen?! What’s wrong, Allen?!”
“Oh...”
Charlotte was screaming something. He was dimly aware of that, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he crumpled to the ground. Something irresistible lured him into closing his eyes, and he sank into sleep as deep and heavy as quicksand.
♢
One chilly morning, a little girl opened the window to see a shining white world. From the garden to the forest path and all the way to the mountains that soared in the distance, everything was pure, spotless white.
“Wow!” She was swept up in the excitement of seeing a snow-covered scene for the first time in her life. “Look, Mommy! Snow!”
“Oh my, it snowed quite a lot.” Her mother peered outside and smiled warmly at her. But she soon hunched over and started coughing quietly. The girl hastily stroked her mother’s back.
“A-Are you okay, Mommy?”
“I’m fine... I just got a little chilly, that’s all.” The mother smiled faintly and caressed the girl’s head. “Come, let’s have some breakfast. Would you like to go see the snow outside before that?”
“Is it okay...if I touch the snow?”
“Of course, dear. But don’t forget your mittens.”
“Okay!”
The girl put on the scarf and mittens that her mother had knitted for her and pattered out the door. A thick blanket of snow covered the garden, and every step she took left a small footprint. She felt like she was drawing on a brand new sheet of paper, as free as a bird. In her delight, she forgot all about the freezing cold.
“Hee hee... Oh?” The girl stopped in her tracks and tilted her head. She thought she was the very first one to walk through the snow, but she found another trail of footprints across the garden and into the little forest path. Curious, she traced the marks. Without meeting anyone on the way, she eventually reached the stream. The footprints finally led into a thicket covered in snow.
“Hmm...?” The girl braced herself and peered into the thicket. She caught her breath. “Wh-Who are you...?”
“Tch...” The stranger clicked his tongue. He was a young boy with unusual hair—white on one side, black on the other—and his clothes looked dirty. He was slightly older than her.
He glared at her and said bluntly, “Leave me alone. Go away.”
“B-But...”
“Shut up. Get out of my sight.” The boy threatened her with his sharp eyes.
“Eep...!” The girl let out a little cry and backed out of the thicket. He looked like he might lash out at her any second. She ran away a few steps, but then she stopped. Panting, she turned to look behind her. There was no sign that the boy might come out of the bushes.
“What should I do...?” Should she go back home and tell her mother that she found a strange boy in the woods? Or...
Still staring at the thicket, the girl hesitated. The snow around her was trampled with her own footprints now, obscuring the tracks left by the boy.
“Excuse me.” A voice called to her from behind.
The girl whirled around to find a man she had never seen before. Clad in a black robe, he gave her a gentle smile. He knelt to match her eye level, looked into her eyes, and broadened his smile to a grin. “Good morning, little lady. May I ask you something?”
“Wh-What is it...?”
“Did you see a boy anywhere? He’s a young boy with black-and-white hair, split in the middle like this...” The man’s description matched the boy she had seen exactly.
She made a split-second decision and slowly shook her head. “N-No, I didn’t. There aren’t any boys in this village.”
“I see... Well, if you come across him, please tell someone—a grown-up.” The man bowed lightly and hurried away.
When he disappeared from view, the girl finally let out a breath. “Th-That was scary...”
“Hey, kid.”
“Eek?!” Another voice came from behind, and she turned around timidly. The boy was glaring at her with a sinister look.
“Why’d you cover for me? What’s your motive? Spill it.”
“B-Because...” Tears brimmed at the corner of her eyes. With a trembling finger, she pointed at the boy’s knee. Some blood was smeared over it, and it pained her even just to look. “You’re hurt...”
“Huh...?” The boy’s eyes went round, baffled. A heavy silence fell between them for a little while. A fish splashed in the stream. As if the small sound was some kind of cue, the boy turned his face away from her. “You’re a weirdo...”
“Hee hee.” The girl giggled, scratching her cheek. Though he was still brusque, she wasn’t frightened of him anymore.
They were all alone in a pure white world that seemed to stretch on endlessly. For the girl, this felt like something special. Her excitement got the better of her, and she peered closely at the boy’s face. “U-Um, my name is Charlotte. What’s yours?”
After a pause, the boy answered in a small voice.
“Allen.”