・・・ xxxiv ・・・
"Here you go. Did you two wait long?"
Ao and Leo turned just as Ame slipped next to her brother with a grin.
Like them, she was still wearing her uniform.
She held a tray of orders in her hand.
It was spring, just after classes.
Ao and Leo were in their first year.
Ame was in her third.
The three of them were inside a small, quiet cafe.
・・・ xxxv ・・・
"Nah," Leo answered her dismissively. "Me and Ao were playing a word game."
He reached out and took his frappe from the tray
"'Both of you, try answering this: what's a five-letter english word that still sounds the same even when you take away its four letters?"
Ame thought about it for moment.
Ao did the same.
"... Queue."
Ao was the first one who found the answer.
"It's queue, isn't it?"
Leo grinned and clapped his hand.
"Correct! Ao won the game!"
Ame shook her head,
looking at Ao with a wide smile.
"Well, I was stumped. Congratulations, Ao!
For that... you deserve a cupcake!"
She took one from the tray and offered it to him.
Ao obliged, leaning in and taking a bite.
Beside Ame, Leo frowned.
"Hey, that was mine!"
"Heh... Not anymore." She grinned.
Then, she ate the rest in a few quick bites.
Leo made an exaggerated expression of horror.
He clenched his heart, gasping.
"My... cupcake!"
Ame and Ao laughed out loud.
It was one of those lazy, peaceful days.
At that time, nothing had been wrong.
・・・ xxxvi ・・・
"Ah... You're reading the same book again, aren't you?" Ao asked.
Ame looked up from the pages.
She had finished eating her fill a few moments ago and had taken the book from her bag.
She smiled.
"You noticed?"
"Ah—I noticed too," Leo inserted. "How many times have you been reading that story?"
Ame brushed the pages gently.
She looked at Leo with warm, brown eyes.
"Hm... I've lost count.
More than ten, I guess?"
Ao titled his head slightly. "Is it really that good?"
She nodded.
"Yep, it is. It's really, really deep."
"So... what's it about?" Leo asked curiously. "The cover doesn't even look that interesting to me."
"... Haven't you heard about not judging a book by its cover?" Ao asked.
In return, Leo shrugged.
Ame laughed.
Then, she grinned, closing the book and showing it to them.
Ao and Leo looked.
The cover consisted of an abstract pattern that seemed like green foliage.
There was a small child in the middle, his face hidden in the leaves.
She pointed to the title.
"It's about a nameless shepherd boy and a talking raven."
・・・ xxxvii ・・・
Ame started to share the story to them.
About how the shepherd boy lived his life alone with his sheep.
About how one day a raven arrived and told him he was about to die.
About how he decided to go on a journey to escape his fate.
About how, in the end, he chose to die instead of accepting eternal life.
Ame was a good storyteller.
When she explained it to them, Ao couldn't help but feel immersed in the sincerity of her words.
When she was done, Ao couldn't stop himself from asking her a question.
"So... the boy chose to die in the end? It was all useless?"
She shook her head.
"No, not necessarily.
If he hadn't went on that journey and experienced a lot of things,
then the boy would have never learned to treasure the meaning of life and death."
He thought about it.
It might have been true, now that she had said that.
A moment of quietness passed their table.
"That story... seems really dark," Leo suddenly commented.
Ame looked at him.
Then, she made a small smile.
"Yeah, it kind of is."