Chapter 10

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Looking around the darkened living room, I exhaled smoke towards the exhaust fan.

Tsubaki, curled up on the sofa, was breathing softly in her sleep.

As I drew another mouthful of menthol-flavored smoke, I recalled tonight’s dinner.

Using store-bought pasta sauce, the taste was neither good nor bad, but being able to eat something I wanted made it more satisfying than usual. 

Come to think of it, until today, Tsubaki had never asked for my input on the menu…

Perhaps, after today’s events, she had started to warm up to me a little.

This could become troublesome, even though I had brought it upon myself…

As I exhaled smoke, my eyes naturally wandered to the urn in the corner of the living room.

In that instant, images of her carefree and gentle smiles flashed through my mind.

If it meant seeing those smiles again, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she started to rely on me.

“…Cough.”

I turned my gaze to the small cough coming from the living room and saw Tsubaki’s shoulders trembling slightly.

…I should probably stop smoking now.

I put out the cigarette and looked back at her. 

Tsubaki took a deep breath, rolled over, and turned her back to me. Soon, she was breathing softly again.

Good, it didn’t seem like I had woken her up.

I had already disrupted her day when she seemed to be having fun, so I didn’t want to disturb her peaceful sleep as well.

“Why are you still defending her after she betrayed you!?”

The shrill, hysterical voice echoed in my ears.

Mishima’s words were true.

Even so…

Before I knew it, I was standing in the living room, in front of the urn.

Touching it, I felt a faint chill, probably from the air conditioning.

“Why did you have her bring the urn here? You were the one who left…”

The words slipped from my mouth.

Naturally, there was no response from the urn.

Tsubaki, too, was just quietly breathing in her sleep.

There was no one in this room to answer my questions.